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Message started by raydawg on 05/24/18 at 13:36:34

Title: Why was that?
Post by raydawg on 05/24/18 at 13:36:34

Ok, you young punks won’t have a clue about this, so.... ;D
Why did the 305 scrambler seem like a time machine?
Not sure of how it was perceived elsewhere, but along the Southern California beach cities, it was the ultimate ride.
You were assured of a beach girl sitting behind you, pressing her, uh, upper torso, tightly against your back.....
As you tried to remember to shift ;D
It seemed like such a rocket too, but when thinking how little the CC’s were as compared to today, how was that possible?
Was it because gas back then was real?

Oh well, just saw one zip by, sweet, looked stock too, got me to reminiscing....

Anybody else remember this machine?

Title: Re: Why was that?
Post by JLC on 05/24/18 at 14:41:22

Yes I do... Back in the day, must have been 1966 or so, I joined a motorcycle club in my home town in France. Most of us were under 25 years old, had little money, and ran old English motorcycles (mostly Triumph, BSA, Norton) or even older French motorcycles (Gillet, Motobecane, Terrot). Lots of wrenching! The more affluent members had BMWs (R50, R60, R69S, etc).

Then, a couple of years later, came the Japanese invasion, including the Honda 305s. I don't remember the scrambler as well as the CB77, which got quite popular with club members. I had a 1956 Ariel 500 single at the time, and darn, I could not keep up with those new fangled japanese bikes! If I remember, the horsepower of the 305 was shy of 30 hp, but they were light and you could rev up that engine to 9000 rpm. They seemed to handle better than my old Ariel too, and they did not break down like my Ariel did! My Ariel top speed was around 85 mph, those CB77 did "the ton".

Then came the Honda 750, and the H1. A few members bought those, and none of the older bikes could match their performance, tuned or not. That's the first time I saw riders do wheelies. The H1s were prone to do wheelies in at least the first two or three gears, whether you wanted it or not! Within 5 years, the old French and English machines were nearly all gone. Some diehards bought new Bonnevilles and Commandos, but the British were vanquished, and the BMWs remained an expensive buy for the well heeled riders.

Title: Re: Why was that?
Post by Papa Bear on 05/24/18 at 14:58:08

I had a new '65 BSA Lightning Rocket.
One of my buddies had a new 250 Scrambler.
He kept up with me quite well. ;)

Title: Re: Why was that?
Post by raydawg on 05/24/18 at 15:17:58

Oh mercy, you brought back another old, filed away, memory.....
I had borrowed a buddies 550, had four jugs, carbs, and tuned with 4 into 1 exhaust....
It was quick, could pull away from the 750 in the shorts.
I was on Pacific Coast Highway, stopped at a gas station on PCH and Topanga.
After juicing up and pulling away from the pump, I tried to impress a hot looking babe...
Gave it too much throttle.
That bike lifted it front wheel off the ground before I knew what I was doing.....
At this point I was just hanging on, while try to roll off the throttle, however the increasing speed and velocity was forcing me the other way...
Crap, I popped this wheelie for well over a hundred feet, clear across the gas station...
Finally got it back down, not sure how...
Folks started clapping, I kid you not, asking to see another one.....
Yeah sure, just let me change my panties first :-[