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Forum: General Talk
02-19-2021, 10:16 PM
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My first motorized vehicle was a new 1965 Jawa 50cc two stroke single cylinder, producing 3 horsepower. It had a 3 speed transmission and a top speed...when I crouched down, of 44 miles per hour. It was made in Czechoslovakia.
Not fast, but it was great to have a vehicle. I had it when I was 16 years old. Mine looked like the blue one, although it was a maroon colour with gray leg shields.
https://www.jawa-50.cz/ |
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Forum: General Talk
02-05-2021, 09:06 PM
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Beautiful motorcycle. Air cooled, boxer twin, shaft drive. Always wanted one, never got one. Have/had other motorcycles in my life, but not a air cooled , flat twin.
Back in the '60's my dream bike was a R60 or a R69s.
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Forum: General Talk
03-07-2019, 01:24 PM
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Beautiful motorcycle you have there. A work colleague about 15 years ago, bought one, used, with just a few miles on the odometer. He loved it, and used it for commuting to work, but didn't realize the significance of a 'thumper' roadster. There were some times I would talk to him about it and I must say, I wouldn't of minded having it.
Your later XBR 500 was nicely evolved from my SR 500, given that it has an electric starter (as opposed to my kick start only 500) and a balance shaft to quell the vibrations that a big single can generate.
I do love my SR, but I'm the first to say that the vibration this first generation Yamaha 500 single, can be sometimes a 'feature' I wish it didn't have :lol:...and electric start would be nice, rather than having to hoist my not inconsiderable avoirdupois on the kick start to get it to turn over. :D
---------- Post added 03-07-19 at 02:42 PM ----------
I know some bikes had automatics...CB750, the CB 400, a Moto Guzzi model...but like you I've always been of the opinion..a motorcycle needs a clutch and a manual transmission. :D In fact in my case all my vehicles from age 16 to 31...were manuals, until I caved in to automatics, due to downtown traffic grid twice a day in my city.
I liked the Honda CB series of sports motorcycles, although I'm more familiar with the '60's versions...the CB 72, CB 77 . In the 1960's I rode mostly 2 strokers, but always was impressed with the high revving, hi-po Honda CB's and boy did they sound good, real good. Two of my favourites were the CB 450...when introduced a technological masterpiece and ahead of it's tims and the CB750 four cylinder. Still recall the first time I saw a CB750...think it was the summer of '69 or '70 (can't remember) and there it was, at a red light, alone...with the 4 exhaust pipes...reminded me of an old picture of Mike Hailwood on a racing Honda four leaning it well over in a European race...perhaps the Isle Of Man TT.
Kodachrome...along with Kodak 100 and Tri-X...the films I used mostly back then. I could be wrong but I think the Ricoh XR2s might of been the top of the line camera back then.
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Forum: General Talk
03-07-2019, 12:17 AM
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Racer,
Nice bike. Honda 400cc twin, if I recall ? I would say you made a good decision getting that Honda...reliable, durable and fairly quick for a 350-400 twin in it;s time,
In 1978 I was looking at buying a motorcycle. I had a number in the '60's, but hadn't had one for about a decade at that time. I tried a Kawasaki KZ 650, looked seriously at the Yamaha 650 twin, Honda 360 (forerunner of the Honda 400) and a ;Yamaha SR 500 and the Yamaha XT 500...the last two being big, 4 stroke singles. I really liked the SR 500 looks and in the 1960's the BSA Goldstar 500 single and Matchless 500 CS appealed to me. I've always liked big single cylinder 'thumpers'.
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Anyway I got the SR 500 which I still have...and it's fast approaching 41 years with me, bought it in April 1978. I won't part with it and I'm hoping my son eventually takes custody of it, after me.
BTW, nice pix...what camera, lens and film (?) did you use ?
I'm assuming you took the pix way back.
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Forum: General Talk
12-22-2018, 08:16 PM
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The Jawa 350 twin, 2 stroke was quite a motorcycle. It was around for decades and was quite a good machine. Not extremely powerful, but still a solid performer, very durable, reliable. I never did get one, but I was interested in them when I was a young motorcyclist in the 1960's. A buddy...not a very big guy , had one and I was always surprised how well it accelerated. It wasn't a high horsepower job, around 18-21 hp, but it did have plenty of bottom end and mid range torque for it's 350cc displacement. Like many street CZ and Jawa motorcycles revving it to the redline didn't make much difference, it made more sense to shift it when it plateaued...guessing (no tacho) that would be around 5-5500 rpm.
In contrast my Yamaha YDS3...was a high horsepower 2 stroke, 250cc twin....28.6 @ 8600 rpm or so. Not much power at low rpm's but when you revved it over 5-6000 rpm (it, unlike the Jawa/CZ's...had a tachometer) it would come on strong right through to the redline, from my recollection of 50 years or so ago.
When I think about 1960's high performance 2 stroke twins , I automatically think about the Yamaha and Suzuki engines of the time. My understanding is that although their high performance abilities were developed by their engineering, there was obviously, IMO, a strong contribution in 2 stroke twin design from the Adler250 and Jawa 350 twin cylinder 2 strokers. Engine layout seems to share some design points, in my non engineering, eyes .
Also MZ , as mentioned before made significant inroads in 2 stroke engine exhaust timing and exhaust pipe performance design, etc...which upped performance potential in 2 strokes significantly/performance.
I think there is a lot of credit that is due to the Eastern and Central European motorcycle engineers and factories...that is not generally acknowledged.
The MZ in your picture has unusual barrel/head finning. Quite a bit when you think about it, but I would think that those relatively massive fins would dissipate heat away from the engine quite well, keep it from overheating and therefore contribute to reliability/durability.
Thanks for posting those photos...they brought back a lot of memories for me, particularly the Jawa twin.
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Forum: General Talk
12-20-2018, 08:10 PM
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Jawa ! My first motorized 2 wheeler or first motorized vehicle was a ' 65 Jawa 50cc scooter. Three speeds, 3.5 hp in a 2 stroke single, then a '65 CZ 125cc motorcycle, than a '66 CZ 125cc roadster with 19 inch wheels. A large department store sold them out here, another dept. store sold Austrian Puchs and a third dept. store sold first Hondas from around 1965 to '68, then Ducatis from around 1969 through the early '70's, I believe. You could by 250 Ducatis, possibly 450cc singles if memory serves me correctly.
I've always been a fan of Yamaha motorcycles. Reliable bikes, excellent technology , speed and value for money.
BTW, what type (model + engine size) of Jawa and MZ motorcycles did you have ? I've only seen one MZ in western Canada and that was back in the '60's. Of course Walter Kaaden the great engineer of MZ revolutionized power output of the 2 stroke engine through expansion chambers, radical porting and his development of the 2 stroke engine particularly in road racing. The Japanese firms of Suzuki and Yamaha...and I might add... 2 stroke performance engineering in general...owe an awful lot to Mr. Kaaden's engineering ideas at MZ.
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Forum: General Talk
12-20-2018, 06:11 PM
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Nice bike Wolfie. That model Yamaha of yours does punch above it's weight class I've heard.
Aside from my Yamaha SR 500 'Thumper' I had another Yamaha, but back in the 1960's. It was a '65 Yamaha YDS3 Catalina Super Sports. It had the 250cc twin cylinder 2 stroke, twin Mikuni carbs. I still remember the spec from the manual..28.6 hp @ 8600 rpm...5 speed manual transmission. Doesn't seem like much now, but then it would fly for a 250...had a nice 'Yowl' sound from around 5500 rpm up to redline.
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Forum: General Talk
12-20-2018, 04:00 PM
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I have two motorcycles. One is my old 1978 Yamaha SR 500, I bought new in 1978 when the model first came out. It has a 500cc, 4 stroke single cylinder. I like it because an essential motorcycle in my eyes. One cylinder, kickstart only, no electric start, disc brakes, relatively light weight. I like the looks of it, although it's big single cylinder does vibrate. A lot. :D
My other motorcycle is my even older, 1967 Matchless 750 G 15 CS Scrambler. It has a 750 Norton Atlas vertical twin cylinder engine, skid plate, twin Amal carbs, sports cam,, elongated Norton Atlas forks (more travel), low gearing, aluminum Lyta racing tank, lighter Matchless frame. Just as it came from the Associated Motorcycle Company (AMC) back in 1967. They were factory hybrids.
They were made for desert racing in the southwestern USA, most sent to the USA, some to Canada. The Norton N15 750 CS Scrambler was exactly the same, only diff was the badging..
It vibrates, is kind of rough and ready , looks great. A big English twin.
I've had a few bikes over the years, but I'm getting to the stage where I'm not going to be riding much more. Pretty well just drive a car now.
Our son has a BMW G/S. Before that he had a Yamaha Sportsbike.
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