Recent content by Uncle Billy

In 1965 when I was 23, I quit college and enlisted in the US Air Force. After basic training in Texas, I was assigned to a training base in Biloxi, Mississippi for training as a radio communications technician. The war in Viet Nam was warming up then, and rumors abounded. The scuttlebutt was...

Right, Stroker, my tinnitus sings to me about at the pitch of those chambers, or at least the loudest component of the noise. Competitive pistol shooting didn't help either, or the incessant roar of no earplugs and 80 mph on a bike wearing an open-face helmet... Thanks for the welcome...

Ring, ding,ding... Anyone ever heard a TD2 or one of the other full-out 250cc road racers Yamaha used to sell to anyone who qualified for one? I mean the bikes with tuned chambers and NO silencing? I stood amid a pack of these getting ready to go out on the grid at Harewood Acres, a road...

These grabbed my attention. A few of them I've actually ridden, a couple I'm sure no one has ridden.

To me, traveling on a motorcycle that's well-executed for using 80% or 90% of its over-the-road performance in the twisty bits has its parallel in traveling on the same sort of byways in a Lotus Seven or its clones and spiritual brothers, as opposed to taking a trip on a limited-access motorway...

As small as she is, the 350 fits her well, and probably is pretty quick with her aboard. I love the clubman bars on an "enduro"-style bike- very European. I have all the movies on DVD from Sweden and I'll get the US versions as they come available; they're all appealing in their own ways...

What would I do about a maybe-abandoned scooter? I'd probably go online and buy some new tires or a better set of rearsets for my RD 250.... wait, I'd do that anyway, without the scooter.

A cat? How about this: Forty years ago or so we used to go to Mosport Motorsports Park near Toronto for motorcycle races and camp in the infield. Before it got too dangerous, spectators were allowed to bring their dirt bikes to ride in the infield between viewing spots because some of the...

I didn't mean to promote high performance bikes over cars- I have a couple of cars that turn me on too, but in different ways and with different meaning. What makes cafe-style motorcycles more meaningful to me than any of the other gearhead things I have is the intensity of the tactile...

Here's an essay I posted on a car forum about 10 years ago when a thread about Shelby Cobra-clone kit cars drifted into derision of sport bikes and cafe racers. They didn't take motorcycles very seriously at all, so I thought I'd speak for myself and those like me with this: I think it's...

Using premix, the amount of lubrication is determined by the throttle alone; using the pump, the lubrication is determined by the throttle setting AND the rpm. The oil pump insures that there's adequate lubrication for the bottom end and pistons when the motor is at high revs with the...

I spent a lot of time and miles on a 1984 VF750 Interceptor, with a complete camping kit aboard- tent, sleeping bag and mattress, gas stove, candle lanterns, first aid, cooking kit, change of clothes, etc.. I'd stay at KOAs if I needed a shower, but all I really needed was a dry patch of ground...

I found the parts to this kit car project for sale on the side of a road near here - I guess they were cleaning out the barn and wanted to get rid of this never-finished project begun in the 1970's. The body was on a '66 Beetle pan and drivetrain and it was barely driveable- the motor ran...

Here's my '73. It still needs its cosmetics picked up, but the drivetrain is pretty well sorted out: 350 cubic inch GM small block, 200-4R trans. I'm going to replace the automatic with a 5 speed Tremec because I like shifting. The suspension has been redone with new high-tech bushings and...

Been into cafe racers since about 1975 when I made my '73 RD250 Yamaha over, with rearsets, seat-tail combo, TD2B front brake, and a full fairing with a headlight, and clip ons. Those are too low now for me to use- arthritis, 70 years old, etc.- so I replaced them with Seca 550 bars. I'm very...