UFO/Aftermarket Compatability

[Fire-medic]

Hey, you might be old like me if you remember Uncle Tom from Mechanics Illustrated. I had a subscription to that mag for years during the 50's and 60's. Remember "MiMi"?

Yes, but you know it's Mechanix Illustrated.

Have you ever seen a hardbound publication Automobile Quarterly? It began around 1970, I think, and it isn't published anymore to my knowledge. I have a few volumes I've picked-up at used book stores over the years. They were always the classiest of the auto publications, heavy stock matte paper, great articles on autos and things related to them, like racing, advertising, stories of personalities in the automotive industry, just the kind of subjects that appealed to this gearhead. One of the volumes (Vol. 14, No. 1) was an article on "Uncle" Tom McCahill, and even had a glossary of his similes and metaphors. Here's one about the Mercedes-Benz 190SL, a noted dog of a performer, which cost twice as-much as anything else in its class: "for the connoisseur who likes to get Zippos in a Tiffany box." Or how-about this one about a 1950 Plymouth's interior: "the cold leather seats gave me a grave-diggers kiss."

 

[Fire-medic]

Well, I've taken the bike w/its sportbike canister on a UFO 4/1 header/midpipe for a couple of ~60 mile runs, and I think this Frankenstein system is a good idea. It was cheap to do. It's worked-out well, and I could live w/it just the way it is. The unaltered full-UFO is certainly for the exhibitionist, as it draws all-kinds of attention to itself.

The Frankenstein is more of a "it looks big (physically) but it whispers" kind of system. You can hear the intake again, the exhaust note is actually livable where your neighbors are concerned, and w/o putting them side-by-side to the dyno test (and, that ain't gonna happen!) I cannot really tell the performance difference. Both will pull to redline, if you want. Neither likes big throttle openings much-below 5000 rpm. Neither wants to run steady-speeds below 3000, and by that I mean, cruising at 2000+ rpm, it will at first, but then it seems to want to get more rpms to act happy. The throttle seems to be a bit abrupt around there.

I think I might experiment w/the VBoost being unplugged when it cycles open, & see what that feels like. After I decide about that, I think I'll experiment w/the Dyna 3000 ignition advance curves, to see what the subjective differences are. I could live w/it the way it is, but I think a bit of experimentation could reveal additional drivability enhancements, and possibly some performance gains. Once it gets to a point where I think it's about as-good as it's gonna be, then I might do a air/fuel graph dyno run.

Then-again, having had expensive repairs from my last dyno dilemma, I think I'll just ride and enjoy it. If you have a UFO 4/1, I suggest you experiment for yourself. My results say you should be able to retain performance and lose the ear-hurtin' roar. Good for the strip, that stock UFO, or maybe Daytona Bike Week, but I like quiet too. My ears tell me-so.:biglaugh:

 

[m-cman]

WOW, talk about memories. That issue with the Lambretta and sidecar on the cover is still in my collection. In the summer of 1957 I was traveling on a train from Louisville, KY to Albuquerque, NM. We were moving and I had taken that issue with me to read on the train. I was 13. I loved bikes/scooters all my life and almost wore that issue out. Read the scooter section so many times, I had it memorized.

Got my first bike in Albuquerque the next year (1958). Traded a new "English Racer" bicycle I got for Christmas the previous Dec even up for a 1948 Harley Hummer. Bike had hand painted flames like a 4 year old would paint. No front fender, no taillight, etc. A real POS. Hauled it to Dallas when we moved there in 1959. Never ran right. Sold it to a friend for $40. He put a used front fender and taillight on it. Spray can painted it and replaced the voltage regulator and it ran and looked like new. Think he had less than $100 in it. I got a job at the grocery store and as soon as I could bought a year old 1959 Zundapp Super Sabre 250cc 2-stroke. Rode it all thru high school. It was actually a great bike. This was before the Japanese bikes showed up. Still have a soft spot for Vespa scooters of that era. Thanks for the trip down memory lane... :clapping:

 

[Fire-medic]

A great story about your early days, and how you came to be a motorcyclist. I'm a bit-younger than you, but I also devoured the magazines. We got Popular Science, and they had a good amount of cars and bikes. I have an early 1950's issue I bought at a thrift/consignment shop which has a fascinating article on titanium, from 1953! Lots of pictures and interesting facts. I think the nature of those magazines 'primed-the-pump' for a lot of us.

My good buddy w/whom I went to college in MI & who works for GM @ the Warren Tech Center had a Jawa Californian as his 1st bike. Very reliable, not fast, but longer-lasting than the Japanese two-stroke twins of the 1960's.
http://www.motorcycleclassics.com/more-classic-motorcycles/jawa-californian-350.aspx
For a lot of kids, the thing is to have something reliable which they can enjoy as-opposed to something they can't ride because it isn't working. How-many of us tried a first bike that was pocket-change to purchase, and taught us mechanics, and the advantages of buying something actually useable.

In a few years, after getting some college under his belt, he went to Meriden UK and bought a new Triumph Daytona 500, rode it around England & Europe for a couple months, and shipped it back to MI. He kept that for probably 30 years before selling it to a collector, and now has a CBR600 F2 he rides to GM-Warren from Lake Orion on nice days. The Daytona 500 retained the "good" frame after Triumph went to the oil-in-frame model which affected the proportions and longevity of the bike. Kevin Cameron recently told of the Daytona 500's being beaten in late 1960's roadraces by heavily-developed Harley flatheads where the work by the noted tuner CR Axtell showed improving the cylinder head flow by lowering compression to allow better cylinder charging made the flathead once-more competitive. The Triumph T100 twins did win Daytona a couple times in 1966/67.

http://www.motorcycleclassics.com/classic-british-motorcycles/triumph-t100.aspx

 

[m-cman]

I have always considered the old Triumph's to be some of the most beautiful motorcycles of all time. That Daytona 500 is stunning. It is so small and full of beautiful details. My favorites were the 650's with the "package tray" on the tank. The 1965 Bonneville was the last dual carb 650 with the rack. The 1968 TR6R was the last 650 with one. That is the one I have. I have so much money in that bike I won't even add up the receipts. I spent years getting all OEM parts from all over the world. To give an example of the detail I went to, there are 3 different sizes and angles of spokes on one of the wheels. The angles are 110, 90 and 78 degrees. All replacement spokes are 90 degrees and you just live with them not fitting perfectly. I went to the original wheel builder in England and had them build me the exact wheels but in stainless steel. Then I had them make me new spokes in stainless steel in the three correct angles. Since the original spikes were zinc coated, I told them to not polish the spokes so they would look like the originals. All this for my satisfaction since absolutely no one that grades at shows would even notice. The original carb with the correct markings on the body was almost impossible to find. Finally found one in Canada. Had it re-sleeved because those old carbs were pot metal and the bores wore unevenly causing the slides to freeze up at the worst times. Like at full throttle in traffic.. :biglaugh:

Every painted part on the bike except the tank and fenders was powdercoated, even the oil tank and tool cover. Over 100 parts. Hard to believe there are that many individual parts on an old bike. The oil tank and tool cover were polished after powdercoating, then the decals added then a clear coat over that. They look like black mirrors. all nuts, bolts, washers were either re-coated or replaced. British Only still has original nuts, bolts, etc. There are 3 different thread types on this bike. Whitworth, the best known Brit thread. CEI, a thread designed in England specifically for and only for motorcycles to hopefully keep the items from vibrating loose. Also, 1968 was the first year SAE showed up on Brit bikes. Every new part from 1968 on was supposed to be converted to SAE. It never got completed as they went out of business before everything was redesigned. Funny as everyone else was going metric. Guess they thought their main market was going to be the US. Didn't see the Japanese coming.. :biglaugh:

I could go on for days but you get the idea. That bike is currently in boxes in storage. Haven't got around to putting back together after accumulating all the parts. The engine in on a rolling table with a special bracket that holds it off the surface so I can work on it. The bodywork is painted in the original style and colors. I attached a few pics of one.

 

[m-cman]

Duplicate post. Must be late...

 

[Fire-medic]

Wasn't the tank rack referred to as the "Nut-Crusher," or some-such?

I agree, I think some of the best-looking bikes of the modern era are the mid-to late 1960's Daytona 500's & Bonnevilles. I also like the TR6's, because they were actually used quite a bit in competition, depending on how you built them.

The first SOHC Honda 750's were just so-far beyond all the other bikes of the times, and the same thing happened w/the Kawi 900 in '73. Sure, they had their foibles, like the Hondas breaking the cases if you didn't pay-attention to chain maintenance, when it threw the chain, and the 900's forte was never handling, but Pierre desRoche figured it out and some Canadian had some success as a result...

The Husky 250/360's w/the burgundy/polished tanks were pretty, and the solid-color Yamaha 360 of 1972 just looked right, in silver, even if the back-end did have a tendency to swap side-to-side over rough terrain, which was solved when the dedicated MX Yamahas were released, not ones based on the Enduros. The first YZ's were twin-shocks, and then the Monoshock changed motocross almost overnight. Some manufacturers struggled-along w/twin-shock designs, but they eventually all caved-in. Rumor had it the European stars riding for Yamaha had titanium framed bikes, which had to have weights to make the class minimum.

I also liked the very early Sportsters, though they didn't change-much. The Norton Commando looked great as-well, but the English idea of correct manufacturing techniques apparently didn't include 'longevity' where the 'Combat' engine was concerned.

The Bultaco Metrallas were great lookers, and they ran-well too. The Montesas of both dirt and street use also looked 'the business,' the 'VR' dirtbike was particularly appealing to me. And who can ignore the 250/350/450 Ducati singles which had great 'bones,' the engine was a metal sculpture. Then they decided to combine two of the singles on a common crankcase, and Ducati changed forever.

Guess I'm just stuck in the 1960's & '70's.

 

[Rollie]

Here's my UFO Aftermarket Compatability contribution to the current thread. :rofl_200::rofl_200:

In the early 70s I went to buy a Triumph Bonneville , based on falling in love with the sound and looks of a friends copper colored T.B. he used to ride to our mutual college bar. The dealership was out of T.B.s , but asked if I has seen the new Yamaha 650 , released the year before. I told him I didn't like the sound of the Yammies , that I wanted the sound I heard from the Bonneville. He said this one didn't sound like what I had heard from any Yamaha before. He cranked it up and I was very surprised at the deep growl and lope of the motor. Dealer said the guy that traded it , used to buy and trade his T.B. every year. The prevous year he talked him into trying the XS-650 , as it was the first year ( 1970 ) , and he liked it so much ( no electrical , leaking or reliability issues ) + he claimed it was a bit faster , he traded it in on the '71 model. I bought it . Still got it.

 

[m-cman]

Well, I can tell stories all day. My first Jap bike was a new 1966 250cc Big Bear Scrambler. Became friends with the owner of the dealership and he offered me a job. Worked part time there (El Paso) in 1967-68. When the DT1 first came out in 68, I bought one at a discount thru the shop and they sponsored me in all the local desert/dirt races. The bike could be set up for racing in just a few minutes. Everything could be removed easily. Had bullet connectors on all lighting. I raced totally stock. The Yamaha GYT kit hadn't been introduced for it yet. It was a beautiful pearl white. Was almost afraid to race it as it was so pretty. :biglaugh: And you are right about the rear end bouncing side to side over washboard terrain. It was like a bucking horse! The best racer in the area rode a Matchless 500 single. Don't know how he did it on that heavy bike.

The Triumph package tray did have a reputation for relieving guys of their private parts in certain accidents. Don't know if that is why they discontinued them though. That Canadian guy wouldn't be Yvon Duhamel would it? :biglaugh:

On the Yamaha XS650, I bought one in 1971 (the gold one) and also in 1978, the first "Special". I have three friends that have them now. An all original 71 and 72 and several modded ones.

When you have been riding for 55 years, you have plenty of stories... h yeah:

 

[Fire-medic]

Yes I always like to read accounts of how guys began biking. I was able to see the beginnings of the dual-purpose rush. I recall the 305's setting the British and American bike owners on -notice ant then the DOHC Honda 450 which seemed to be right-out of Honda's F1 efforts, as no one had such engineering for their streetbikes.

The DT-1 was what you got if you didn't have $$ and could be modded to work. I also used the quick-disconnect lights and made it a half-year before I made it a 'dirt-only' ride (my 360 Enduro, a '72 I still own, bought new, 41 years ago next month). That bike gave me some of my most-fun times w/buddies riding in SW MI & racing enduros and hare-scrambles.

My first road-burner was a Kawi Mach III 500 I bought several years old. My buddy w/a brand-new Sportster 1000 (1st yr) couldn't beat me which I didn't mind. One of my firefighter buddies still tells the story of accepting a ride from me which consisted of an immediate block-long wheelie w/him hanging-on for dear-life. He had a Sportster at the time too. That was nearly 40 years ago.

Lots of fun on bikes, lots of tales to tell. What does this generation have, "I overclocked my CPU for 10 seconds before it melted!" I keep seeing articles where the younger generation isn't even getting their driver's licenses when they become eligible. They don't have the enthusiasm for cars,trucks, or bikes the prior generations did. I find that sad.

 

[jwood]

My neighbors love my quadzillas 0430 when I go to work, so they say

How are the quadzillas at cruising speeds? 55 to 70mph, is there a need for ear plugs?

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