[Guest]

Hello everyone,

I'm new to this board and just wanted to say a quick hello. I live in Edmonton, Alberta (Canada) and enjoy restoring old (classic/vintage) motorcycles for a hobby. So far I have several two stroke Yamahas (1971 R5 350, 1976 Rd 400, 1979 RD 400 Daytona Special) for "scooting" about town (although with the modifications I've done on the engines, intakes, carbs and expansion chambers they tend to "scream" more than scoot!) and a 1972 Suzuki GT750 water buffalo for highway cruising.

I am also the Chaplain for the Edmonton chapter of the the Christian Motorcyclists Association and enjoy meeting bikers at various events (like the CMDRA drags and rallies, etc.) as well as just from chance encounters on the road. Especially riding old "classic" bikes I find I get a lot of people stopping to chat about how they had one just like it when they were young or knew a friend with one, etc. If nothing else, keeping these old gals on the road helps me remember that old (like me at 51!) doesn't necessarily mean useless.

Hope to meet some interesting people on this forum as well. I have been hanging out at the usa2strokers.com forum for a while and have really enjoyed meeting people from all over the world through the wonder of internet.

Any other old time two stroke lovers on this forum?

Cheers,

 

[jetblast10]

Welcome and Enjoy!

 

[Bigdaa]

Oh you will meet interesting people allright Chaplain. Keep an eye out for Bob Fraizier, stay away from Motohead and Ragdoll, Devil's got ahold of them:devil2: . You can trust me cause I'm old and grew up exactly at the same time as you and learned to like bikes with a neverending passion. The ones you speak of restoring brings tears to my eyes. Look forward to sharing stories.

 

[ragdoll]

I'm a 2 stroker fan. But nevermind that.

Big Norm, I had an NSR250 for a while, it was fun. I enjoyed the sound and teh smell more than anything. It was a 1989... I'd buy another one, but it'd have to be a 1998 now.

I see by your profile under "Bikes you own" you have a Neuropsychologist... sounds expensive... what year is it?

What do you play? Where did you go to school?

Psychologist? Cool. I had a dream once of becoming a Psychiatrist but computers came easy and paid decent enough so I let that die. I'm jealous.

 

[XFBO]

Nooooooorrrrrrmmmmmmm, welcome!

 

[Guest]

Hi guys (and gals!),

I fixed my profile so under the bikes I own are now listed the m/cs and not my job. Right now I have three running bikes in my stable as well as one project restoration (a 1979 RD400 Daytona Special) that will take a while to finish putting back together. My "main ride" is my 1972 Suzuki GT750 water buffalo. For those not old enough to recall when this beast came out, this is the first year offering of this three cylinder, water cooled two stroke and it put out a respectable 67 horsepower in standard tune and had lots of low end torque (somewhat unique at the time for a two stroke) and it is a really nice bike for highway cruising. I had to search for a while to find a nice one to acquire a couple of years ago but discovered an add on the internet Cycle Trader for one in Calgary, took a spin down to check it out and later flew back and drove it home to Edmonton. Even with only 750 cc's it pulls nicely on the highway at 70 mph (in the good old days we still used miles, not kilometers!) with power to spare for passing, etc. I rarely have to down shift even going up hills and I have since re-geared it to increase top end cruising, cut my RPM's at 70 to just under 4000 and on steady cruising on the highway I'm getting about 51 miles to the gallon. Not bad for a 34 year old bike!

I have just finished a restoration and major modifications of my old 1971 R5 350. This was originally a piston ported engine but I've swapped the original engine out for a 1973 RD 350 - reed valves and six speed tranny, plus replaced the front end with an RD set of triple tree, forks and wheel to get a front disk brake. I've done some mods on the intake system (custom designed transfer tube plus boost bottles for each manifold) and installed a set of expansion chambers, etc. to give it a bit of "boost" and it really screams and likes to pull the front wheel if I give it a good hit of throttle. It is a real blast to ride around town, although I wouldn't want to try pushing it for extended high speed on the highway. Those old RD's were great little bikes, but tend to burn up pistons a lot if not jetted exactly right after intake or exhaust mods.

Re Ragdoll's inquiries, I am assuming this was in relation to my music. I am primarily a bass player and I lead worship teams for my church as well as on a more impromtu basis for CMA functions. Like motorcycles, I also enjoy having a "stable" of instruments. My main bass is a five string Ibenez Soundgear with active pickups, but I also use a four strong fretless Yamaha for more jazzy songs and an 8 string Hagstrum for more mellow and slower songs that need a fuller and richer tone from the twined strings. I also play 12 string acoustic (also a Yamaha) and have a Fender Squire Stratocaster for some rockier type tunes. I play lots of different style songs and cut my teeth as a teenager playing tunes from the then "in" groups like the Cream, Iron Butterfly (I actually saw them in concert once!), the Stones, Beatles, etc. I still enjoy getting together with friends and doing some jam sessions playing old stuff (from the Beatles, Eagles, and even a bit of semi-country like John Denver, etc.).

Did all my high school and university training here in Edmonton, but have had to supplement my academics with training courses and workshops in various places. Back in the '80's I spent two weeks in Monterey, CA taking training in neuropsychology. That was a fun trip. My wife and I went down in a motorhome and we pulled a trailer that had my R5 on it and I would commute into downtown Monterey on the bike from a trailer park in Salinas. It was a great way to experience California in the summer!

Hope to chat more with you fine people (even if Bigdaa says the Devel has got ahold of some of you!!!).

Have a nice day.

 

[Motohead]

Oh you will meet interesting people allright Chaplain. Keep an eye out for Bob Fraizier, stay away from Motohead and Ragdoll, Devil's got ahold of them:devil2: . .

Bigdaa... the Devil checks under his bed every night in fear of me...

 

[LittleNinja]

:001_cool: Welcome!

 

[dadogs]

Welcome aboard Chaplain. My father is a Methodist preacher out in Colorado but for some reason I still can't get him to join this site:blink:

 

[jetblast10]

My sister-in-law's husband has a RD400 (not sure what year) decaying in an open garage under his stilt house. Perhaps one day when I have a proper workspace and he's really strapped for cash he'll sell it to me cheap and I'll do a racebike conversion.

 

[RSixxy]

Welcome Norman! We look forward to your stories and experiences. Also please post up some of your project restorations, that would be very cool to see.

 

[RC51_CBRXX]

Welcome Norman. Another addition to the wonderful site and it's great individuals. And, finally some of the professional help we need.

Now that we have a Chaplain. Can WIM and Sproty finally tie-the-knot on-line?

 

[ragdoll]

My main bass is a five string Ibenez Soundgear with active pickups, but I also use a four strong fretless Yamaha for more jazzy songs and an 8 string Hagstrum for more mellow and slower songs that need a fuller and richer tone from the twined strings.

Aw man, 5 string Soundgear... Awesome. I have a friend...(pause for emphasis) that has a 4 string Ibanez SR400 Bass. Loads of fun. I'm not very good at playing it, more for guitar myself, but come to think of it, I'm not really good at that either. Bass is super fun for some reason.

 

[SportyChick]

Now that we have a Chaplain. Can WIM and Sproty finally tie-the-knot on-line?

Hell no...................I mean definitely NO!

 

[turn_1]

Welcome aboard!

 

[Guest]

:scooter: Welcome norm!!!!!! i also have vintage of my own i have restored a yamaha 1981 seca 750. its a sweet bike just to bad most people dont appriciate it around here. no respect for thier grandpa's sport bike, but whatever i love it!!!

 

[Bigdaa]

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

R Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiivvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

RD, Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
And the Daytona. I remember sitting on a Daytona, brand spanking new in the Yamaha shop here in Goleta. If only. Great bikes in the 68 to 78 era. Just tops in two stroke bikes. I remember the howl of the Suzuki Tripples, the 380 and 550 ram air and the venerable 750 Water Buff. I rode the Buff! I remember the cute little 185 Suzy ram air twin, and the 200 Yamie RD. And Denco expanison chambers, ahhhhhhhhh yes. These bikes needed to remain in production for at least another dozen years and evolve into water cooled and emiision compliant powerplants. That way, I might find one to bring home and tinker with.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the welcomes!

For those of us long enough in the tooth to remember the "glory days" when the two strokes were the kings of the road (at least in the minds of those who owned them) it is actually quite surprising just how many people we meet just driving around town who spot the old bikes and come running to talk about how they used to have one, knew a friend with one, etc., etc. Last summer I was in the bank doing a deposit after work and when I came out there was a chap just standing staring at my RD 400. He spotted it and was waiting for me to come out so he could hear the sound of the engine to bring back memories of his teen years! Similarly, when riding my water buffalo I can't count how many times people have come up to ask what year it is, etc. Even stopped at a red light I have had lots of guys (funny its never the women who notice or ask) who will turn down their windows and start asking questions about the bike right in the middle of the road. It may not be a "babe magnet" like a fully dressed sport bike, but for openning up conversations with other bikers I meet these old two strokes can't be beat!

I would also second bigdaa's comment re what the state of the two stroke power plant would be like if the pollution nazis hadn't run them off the showroom floors. Perhaps a glimpse of what we could be running under the cowl of the sport bikes can be seen if you want to take a quick peek at the aaen two stroke race engine in the link below: 800 cc four cylinder water cooled power plant that puts out 200 horsepower! Oh, what I would give to get my hands on one of these, put some splines on the shaft and marry it to a nice six speed tranny and cram it into a m/c frame! Drool, drool!

http://www.aaenperformance.com/V4_racing_engine.asp

PS... I'd like to upload some pics of my bikes and projects, but I can't figure out how to do it. On the other forum I use when I hit the button to load a picture it goes to a "browse" feature that lets me select from pics on my hard drive, but on here I get a message to specify something called a URL and a prompt for some sort of a web address. Duh??? Unfortunately, when it comes to computers I am something of a dinosaur and this just baffles me. (Then again, as I tell my kids, even if I am a dinosaur, they should remember that the dinos ate an awful lot of tiny little mammils before they went down for the last count, so don't get too cocky!)

Any advice on how to actually get a picture onto this forum?

Thanks,