mobrown said:I owned (2) Hodakas (Super Rat & Wombat) and I can't believe neither one of those made the list. Great handling bikes and good power but the stupid shifting mechanism was absolultely an engineers's brain fart! The shifter arm was mounted to the side case and push the shift rod in and out. The thing would pop in and out of gear whenever it felt like it.
I feel liek the ulimate loser for buying (2) of them and feel very discontented that my loserism isn't reflected in the Top 10!!!
I humbly accept my status as a Hodaka-shame!
Ancient post, I would say, todays modern 4-strokes, why you ask? Simple, expensive, expensive, expensive. The engines are like a ticking time bomb,
LOL! I was making a jokingly reference to bone stock dirt bikes, round these parts all folks enjoy their modern machines, but, an arm and leg is needed to repair one. I reckon your machines are outstanding. I love all bikes, street, racing, etc. Had a couple old school Xl, and Cl scramblers. Really fun scoots. Rich, if you have an image of your creations, I would like to see how you bought it into existence, Red Rider....I guess none of the couple hundred modern four-stroke engines I've built got the memo. I'll make a note ;-)
LOL! I was making a jokingly reference to bone stock dirt bikes, round these parts all folks enjoy their modern machines, but, an arm and leg is needed to repair one. I reckon your machines are outstanding.
Indeed, 4 strokes are the future, and perhaps electric, who knows what the future brings, but for us casual hobbiest we hope the petrol burners will hang around for a little while. Speaking of 2 strokes, did you see that you tube clip on the Maico 700 2t? Great Cesars ghost! I know that thing would be a beast to ride.For years people have treated the manufacturer's service interval charts like they were a scam to sell more parts. Two-stroke engines were invariably hammered on till they broke and then people changed parts. Smart racers followed a hour based schedule for changing critical parts but most didn't. When two-strokes suffered "energetic disassembly" (to quote Mike Perry R&D Chief at KIbblewhite Racing) the broke less expensive parts but they still broke with a flourish. Many of those same people applied a similar approach to modern high-speed four-strokes, with less than desirable results. Given proper scheduled maintenance modern engines are remarkably reliable and affordable for the average weekend rider/racer.
No question that serious racers who put tons of hours on the engine will find modern 4Tsmore expensive to maintain, but that's the price of being competitive if you aspire to something other than casual racing.
Nice job Rich! Love those vintage bikes, and bike ads. I have ridden a few Euro bikes, a Cagiva, and a KTM, both from the 80's, I had a Bultaco Persang 350? and I was going to restore it but College cost ended that. So the sang had to go. I found this gent on you tube, and he has alot of vintage bike racing and restore, and some eye opening resto-mods. I think his name is Chris Montigini? Here is a clip of a nice Maico resto for you to check out....It's interesting but not a real Maico in my eyes. I was fortunate enough to work in a Maico shop in the 70s and got to experience the real thing.
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