I found my thrill, now searching for the right support forum.

[Holeshot]

Hey folks. Well, I think I may have found my *type* of bike design that suits me and my experiences. Now I'm having a heck of a time finding others that share this interest....

I'm a small fry, 5'6"/150lbs. 51 years old and have a background in Grand National/flat track and TT as well as a lot of early MX. Unfortunately for me, I was in the US military during the peak of the early AMA Production Superbike racing (1977 to 1983) so I totally missed out on it. Recently I've sortof rediscovered the genre. Perfect!

Steet legal replicas of this sort are easy enough to create. And they seem to be *right up my ally* in the way that they are modified and put together.

So anyhow. Does anyone know if there is a supporting forum for this type of bike? I've found a few "sportbike" and "superbike" forums, but they all pertain to modern designs. And besides, finding people that know the relationships in something basic as rake and trail (and their affects on the bike) is difficult at best. Most of the members of forums like that know all about tail kits and which type of bazillion dollar pipes they are going to buy.

Essentially I'm lookig for THIS PLACE but one that is centered around a different type of motorcycle. The folks here are sharp, and they have a good sense of what is right for the bike. Now then ... if only I could snap my fingers and swap this membership here into a forum that is all about the early supers.

(snap .. snap snap snap ..... snap .. dammit! c'mon .. work! ... snap snap)

Oh well. My snappin' finger is on the frits again. :biglaugh:

Thank you. Holeshot.

 

[Rollie]

Follow your dream , don't let anybody tell you it can't work , create your own forum . :clapping: unk:

 

[Buster Hymen]

I think Rollie has the right idea. Create your own forum and others with the same interest will find you. If a Google search doesn't show anything, than it probably doesn't exist. I can help you out in the forum set up if you want to go that route.

 

[Holeshot]

Hmm .. my own forum. Hadn't considered that. I've been a forum co-founder before and it was a lot of work at first, but it settled down to an easier pace fairly soon. Only problem was the main founder (and owner( was a bit bipolar and had a tendency to shut it down from time to time. He'd get a bug up his ass about whatever and start deleting accounts and such. A week or so later he'd be all "what? did I say something bad?" I split.

But this idea .. hmm. A small forum centered around those that appreciate this genre of bike. I already own a website (I build guitar pedals and effects devices for musicians for a living) .. Farndurk.com .... it couldn't be that much more of a hassle than dealing with that.

Y'know ... that's not a half bad idea. I was going to create another wbsite for my motorcycling doings .. but a forum sounds like more fun! The new website was going to be called Mach-X. Already paid for the add-on account with my website host, but that was only like ten bucks. So no great loss there if I go "forum" instead of "website".

Wow .... thinking .. thinking (can't you smell the smoke?).

So what's involved? Costs?

Thinking ..... (me likey!).

unk:

Thnking ... thinking ....

 

[wildweasel_pt]

Holeshot

If i understood your aim go take a look at zrxoa.com... For waht i've been reading there they have the same direction of thought...

 

[DakRatFink]

Also try http://www.thegsresources.com/

It is more specific ( one brand/model ) but I'm sure if you lurk there long enough you will people dedicated to the other brands of early superbikes. And soon you've got a movement.

 

[Holeshot]

Thanks guys. I am thinking that I kinda prefer the idea of my own forum though. I need to gather up the people that are into this stuff that ride all brands and types. Most of all, I need people looking to build some of these types so that we may share ideas. "Pre-fabbed" bikes like the Z-rex (ZRX) are really cool, but their owners aren't really the kind of ~builders~ I'm looking for, for the most part. That is not to say that builders are better people or anything snobhole like that. It's just that I wanted to get with folks that were experienced in actually doing things like laying down shocks, modding intakes and the like.

In other words ... I don't want to be the most well versed person in the forum! I want to gather people that will weld on their frames, understand ~why~ nickle bronze welding is still used by many frame builders and why it is still a viable method of modding bike frames. People that understand the rake/trail relationship, and how the dynamics of suspension affect handling. People that are more into the racing aspect of these older type tube-framed bikes are more likely to be "into" all of that stuff too. And lastly, to be able to gather Classic Superbike owners of all types together into one place. Criteria being:

Air cooled.
Upright seating.
NO FAIRINGS.
18 or 19 inch front wheels.
DOHC.

Why? That covers the time period from ~roughly~ 1977 to about 1983. Pre-faired, air cooled, DOHC, steel tube framed bikes that had to be modded to make them competitive. Mods that were within the grasp of the more common prep shop or garage. We were doing these exact same type of mods to our MX bikes in 1974 (I'm sure that's why I see so much appeal in the early supers) ... I was 14 then and my old man was making $$$ off of me from doing suspension mods to local hotshoes' bikes. Here's my 175MX that we had laid down the rear shocks on circa 1974, I did the fab myself, I was 14. As was the pipe (front half of it was from a Suzuki 185 "Git Kit" and the stinger was a weld-on for a Bultaco 250 that I welded on), the porting, the oversized carb, the forks, the seat mounts, and the clutch. I've forgotten everything I did to that thing by now. I was first in points three years straight on that bike .. a 175cc in the 250cc class, racing against grown men. I wasd 4'10" and 90 pounds soakin'. Serious fun! My point is, I'm not sure but my attraction to the early supers may be rooted in the way they are designed and built like my old dirtbikes were.

Look at that skinny little punk on that bike! Haahaa!!

Seems like it took about 2 or 3 years for the MX suspension ideas to hit the road racing bikes. So those ideas on these racing supers are like an extension of where I sortof "left off" when I got out of High School and joined the military. I had a roomy in the military that was a total GS1k freak. So I got an intro into what was up in that period from Brad.

Anyhow .. I think I may put some effort into looking into the forum thing.

I'd like to thank you fellas for helping me out here. Even though my inquiry hasn't anything to do with Vmax's. To be honest with you, I actually DID give the Vmax an honest shot. Sick fast, torque to the hubs of hell. And just way too big and heavy for me. It felt like riding a buffalo (yep, I actually have ridden a buffalo .. once! Haahaa!). In every respect. It just deosn't seem like the proper canvas for what I want to build. (For the record I am and always have been a total Yamaha FREAK. I've owned .. uh .. a dozen of them? Loved each one!) I'm more hands on, and willing to ride bikes that are "a little less pretty" than some folks are willing to ride. I think I'd be doing the mighy Vmax an injustice by doing a "race chop" to one. So these old styled race bikes are just fine for me. We have a pretty decent little shop here at home now ... (300amp TIG, 200 amp MIG, Mill, Lathe, Oxy-Acet torches, countless power tools, glass bead cab, stainless steel engine bench, full electronics shop. All leftovers from our repair shop of 16 years that we sold in 2009).

Rambling hard core here. Sorry .... thanks again for the help ..

Holeshot....

 

[Holeshot]

I think Rollie has the right idea. Create your own forum and others with the same interest will find you. If a Google search doesn't show anything, than it probably doesn't exist. I can help you out in the forum set up if you want to go that route.

We need to talk.

unk: