BUMP!
This bike's just too beautiful not to hump whoops I mean bump this thread.
BUMP(-Hump-hump)!
Brilliant stuff. I really enjoy the choice you made with the XL250 fork. A very appropriate choice as a bit of a retro-fried paint job and they look very much as though the belong on a late '60s early '70s Honda works racer. You've got the four-bolt axle clamps thicker tubes - so much reminiscent of a GL1000 front end on a SOHC 750, or the GL1500 fork I'm hunting down for my "CB900K0 Bol Bomber", and yet the XL series comes with the much narrower yokes, so very appropriate for a drum front brake. And the 200mm 2LS drum at that - what better more appropriate or more to the point SEXIER front brake for a 350 twin based pseudo-"works" racer? Of course we all know that an actual SOHC twin 350 from Honda would've been more of a 1958-1959 type of thing, likely fitted with a leading-link fork etc. Or that even a telescopic fork on an early RC series twin would've been steel, with welded-on axle clamps, or that the more famous works drum brakes were 4LS and 230mm etc etc. However there were still a few other smaller Honda racers which this reminds me of, such as the RSC 125cc single ... wtf was it called? CB125S? The mid-late-'70s Endurance racer? Or there were some too-smoke versions too - the MT125R?
(((Incidentally - I've got a rear HUB here, which I bought mistakenly as I was trying to dig up a Yam TZ rear disc hub. Anyway, I BELIEVE it's from MT125R or some other 125cc wire-spoke racer, the RS125 or something like that. It's got a three-bolt disc of approx. 220-230mm, and no cush-drive on a four-bolt sprocket. S'pose I should post up an advert for it. But yeah, anything I'd be crazy enough to use it on, I'm mainly interested in using drums on that size of a bike anyhow. But if a person WERE into building some type of triple disc smaller displacement machine, a miniature of SOHC CB750F1 with or without the dual-disc front end, they might find this thing interesting. For a time I considered using it on my fire-damaged Passport down the road. But since then I've collected some interesting drum hubs and rims to suit 'em. So it really oughtta go to somebody who would use it!))))
COUGH. Sorry - didn't mean to hijack that. It's just that I don't actively THINK about the stuff on my misbegotten-parts-pile, I'm far too fixated on the crap I'm GONNA use, to give it a second thought! So best mention it before this train of thought goes off the rails!
Yeah anyway - this 350 twin racer doesn't fit easily into a pigeon-hole as a replica of a works racer from this or that era. With a single front disc, more to the point with a disc front and rear, it would be a dead ringer for the smaller displacement road racers of the late '70s early '80s - I believe the RS125 kept it's wire spokes well into the '90s, didn't it?
And normally, when I think I'm looking at more of an RC-series replica type of deal, I'd be disappointed to see more modern style rims such as these. But then I recall the D.I.D. type rim which came with this lil' rear disc hub I mentioned. And they're practically spot on.
Fact is, much as they're apples and oranges to the classic shouldered racing rims from Borrani or Akront, they DO resemble the OEM chromed-steel rims, & as such a faux-chrome spray or even a proper electroplate, would produce a "stealth" wheel, with all the looks of an OEM concours restoration yet race-spec ultralight performance. Which is pretty slick.
Speaking of slick - I get that you've chosen these TIRES for their sticky compound - no doubt so too the rims were chosen for their weight - and possibly for tubeless applicability if they've got the bead retention ridges inside? Well - given their size and width, and 36-hole spoke count, I'm guessing you picked 'em 'cause they're an off-the-shelf drilling pattern for say, XS650? From Mike's XS? In which case, there ARE some shouldered rims out there for the same stuff. Even so - the non- shouldered/flanged rims are always listed as "racing type", being that they're far lighter than shouldered rims, which are better suited for the street in that they're more rigid.
I've had both 3.50x16" Super-Akront in hand as well as 3.00x16" Borrani "Record" aka "Rinforzatto" - as well as the D.I.D. 3.00x16" from Kawasaki KZ1000CSR, 48-spoke holes and all. And yeah - the D.I.D. was heavier than both others put together - I wish I still had their weights written down (lost the whole mess in a house-fire, along with my note-books and computer - bikes, 4LS drums, NOS parts pile.........) COUGH. Anyway - the interesting comparison was between the 3.00x16" Borrani & the Super-Akront 3.50x16" - the Super-Akront was a good 2/3rds the mass of the Borrani. Max. And a lot lighter than the later style of regular Akront 3.50" which replaced it, as well.
Just sayin' - not all alloy rims are created equal. As Steven Morrissey said it best "Some girls are bigger than others. Some girls' mothers are bigger than other girls' mothers....."
ANYWAY - As I was saying - Speaking of SLICK - doesn't it suck that we can't get a decent period-correct tread? On ANY brand of tire whether for road OR for track? Heck only the slicks themselves look like they used to! And even at that, a proper racing slick as described didn't appear in the fossil record until when? On the Grand Prix circuit perhaps the mid-late '70s? Drag racing a lot earlier, sure. But with huge tall SQUARE profiles.
If I could score some 16" front and 18" rear racing slicks, I suppose they'd suit the 3.50x16" Super-Akront I found to replace the other one, which I'm now planning to steal from the "KZ440LOL" project altogether, and run it up front on my "CB900K0 Bol Bomber" as a proper Freddie Spencer Replica rim-set.
(((Paired with one of two 4.25x18" Akront rims on hand, for either the Honda SOHC CB750F1 rear disc hub, or the "Front Hub Trick" with a bolt-up Cush-Drive. Very curious just how much un-sprung mass CAN be shaved back there. Smaller rotor? Smaller cush-elements? Short bolts connecting the same, instead of a GL1000 front hub's typical through-and-through bolts? Seems the SOHC rear disc hub could take a modified CB350F front disc for 260mm - but the DOHC front wire-spoke hub with five-bolt pattern could take 240mm from the GL500 Silverwing. It's probably a substantial difference. Meanwhile - the rim drilled for a "full-size" rear hub could lend itself to a weld-up type shaft-drive conversion, for the Sabre/Magna based CZ Type 860 replica I'm obsessed with. OR perhaps even a rear drum for the 900. I'm flirting with the idea. However light that rear disc can get, gonna compare each version with the original SOHC drum brake!)))
It's like there are the Firestone BALLOON tire replicas from Coker Tire, then it jumps to Metzeler MT series as about the closest thing to a proper diamond tread?
I keep seeing these marvelous bikes - full bespoke six-cylinder RC-series replicas, RC166 - saw a replica RC181 DOHC four 500 the other day, sporting BRIDGESTONE BATTLAX rubber just like we see all over the rest of the Honda DOHC-four scene! WTF. Enthusiasts with cash coming out their every orifice can have that replica engine built but they can't find anybody to mould a decent replica TIRE for them?
It's about time we all wrote to one or the other tire companies. It'll only take one, then others will follow suit - I figure much as 19" sizes would apply to the bigger road-bikes, anybody serious enough to need 'em that bad could lace up an 18" front. And we might even be willing to use 'em back-to-front, as needed. As such, a single series in 18" at widths/profiles ranging from 90/90 through 140/80 would be more than adequate.
(((For a start ha-ha. 'Cause I'd still love a pair in 110/80ZR18 & 160/60ZR18 for the "main" pair of wire-spoke alloy rims I've got for my "CB900K0 Bol Bomber", with the 3.0x18" shouldered rim best suited to a conversion of the PC800 Pacific Coast's "hub" in the correct size of rim for a wire-spoke GL1500 GOLDWING front wheel with "Faux-Leading-Shoe" front brake!!!)))
COUGH-COUGH. Yes. As I was saying before - a replica classic racing tire in 140/80 spec max width. (I've got a great pair of rims for that too!)
Truly though, at the smallest one might want to consider an 80/90-18 before wishing to examine the smaller diameters. And 140/80 would cover even some of the bigger late '70s Superbikes which are given the "Retro-Fried" treatment. Or more to the point, works machines of '60s extraction which wish to stretch their rim widths just past AHRMA regulation spec. I suppose there were some 120-spec "cheater" tires made for WM3 rims a while back.....
But what I'M talking about here is a proper late '60s early '70s Grand Prix applicable Avon with the triangular peaked profile for the quicker turn-in - Know the ones I mean? You see 'em in pics of the early CR750 or TZ700 etc.
So just how many sizes would be needed? 80/90 & 90/90 at the narrow end. 100/90 110/90 & 120/90 making up the meat-&-potatoes of all sales. Perhaps a 19"-er could be offered in 100/90? Not entirely necessary, but it's one possible size. Then extending further, a 130/80 and 140/80 or thereabouts? 150/70 & 160/60 if they're feeling TRULY generous(/greedy?) and wish to include '90s era BMW and Guzzi Sport-Touring machines in their market share? From there, of course. 16" sizes would be next. And I'm not even thinking of the cruiser set right off the bat here. Not even the "KZ440LOL" with it's Maxi-Scooter spec wheels, 4LS Suzuki drum in 3.00x16" Borrani rim front, rear, and future-possible side-hack wheel with T500 2LS drum. Though Maxi-Scooter rubber extends that investment-risk (/market-share) even further. No actually I'm thinking of the narrower 80/90 & 90/90 stuff. For the earliest versions of Honda twins which sported the 16" WM3 rims etc. Now THAT is a segment which could REALLY use a good replica-tread tire in racing compounds! All of the CB160 racing going on out there. Never mind the huge market abroad for the Cub-Clone bikes, with their 17" Cub-Clone rims and tires ever widening past the Michelin "Gazelle" range. I'm not saying they need to cover the 17" sizes, but 16" specs could cover a lot of different bikes especially if they covered the same range of widths, going up through to the 140/70 spec for the Maxi-Scooter segment.
Of course, making tires isn't the same as making rims - you don't pick a width for an extruded profile, and then decide to butt-weld it into different diameters. Each and every size of tire needs it's own master sculpt and then series of vulcanizing moulds made for each and every one of 'em.
But are they all scrapped? Is it impossible to dig a few of those moulds out of the basement and fill 'em with a more modern compound of synthetic rubber? You would think that some of the more well known brands might keep around a few originals. Maybe even a master sculpt or two. Maybe even a set of moulds?
I'm not suggesting they take the same moulds and throw RADIAL belts in there. Really, the only thing that need change would be a softer compound and subsequent lower expected mileage.
The retro era diamond-tread sipes are just so ... so damned SEXY. Call me a lunatic, but IMHO these every last details are just as important as the rest of the bike. If you're already sporting waffle grips on the bar, grommets on your wiring loom, peg protectors, toe shifter & kickstart, the little bellows at the ends of your brake cable(s) - then you're already waaay ahead of me on this one!
More to the point, a proper RIBBED front tire! Can I get an AMEN???
Couldn't even find 'em for my old Passport Cub-clone. Had an original one, hung onto it for photo ops even after it was hard and cracked it just sat on a spare rim!
Hell if I could get one for my 900 I'd stick it on THAT - even knowing full well it would try and kill me on certain roads! Ha-ha. Rode that Passport with ribbed tire on a freeway overpass with the grooved run-off surface, nearly went over the rails for a five-story drop into Calgary's Bow River - where the seasonal water temps might kill you before you smashed into the rocks on the bottom. Took it into construction zones one too many times, with the re-surfacing machines that cut grooves into the asphalt. Yikes. Even worse than a normal bike tire!
Even so - I think I could map out my travels that much more carefully, and would do it with a smile - IF my bike were to have some period-"correct" retro-fried TIRES on the thing.
I mean - ask yourself who on the entire classic bike scene WOULDN'T purchase a set? Even just the one set, just for photos after completing a restoration, or resto-mod build?
Look at all of the OTHER "retro-grade" crap we snap up like hotcakes. I figure it's about time we could complete this picture, enable our bikes' TIME TRAVEL capacity.
Time for the entire Loyal Order Of Water Buffalos to bang our tables and shout "We Want Cactus Juice!"
Hmm - the Water Buffalo. That's one MORE classic bike which could use a set of high performance tires with an old's-cool diamond tread pattern....
-Sigh.
