Cars you have owned that made you smile

[FotonDrv]

On 4/28/2017 at 10:18 AM, mk1 said:

Two of my current machines that still make me smile

 

I must admit that the MotoX bike would be serious fun without the bank officers fretting about their $$ going up in smoke, or shards of fiberglass.  A Vette was the first car I went over 100mph in but that was a long time ago (1962 in a '59 Vette).  The bike can go anywhere

 

[FotonDrv]

TonyB, when I was in college in 1971 I saw a Jensen Healey and had serious lust over it but no way to buy it   Had the VW Bus, the Honda 600 Sedan and the Ford 3/4 ton Supervan (which was a pig).  Liked the Honda and the VW since they both were nimble and could go darn near anywhere, although the Honda would float pretty easily (long story).

 

[FotonDrv]

On 4/28/2017 at 8:03 PM, ckreef said:

TY FotonDrv - that's what I thought in the beginning. It is a around the town cruiser but I can go out all the day on it without issue.  The riding angle just works. Of course I won't speak for Mrs skreef's back or butt on that pad - LOL 

 

Charles, I forgot to ask, were those straight pipes?  Some nice flames if the timing is a bit off

 

[FotonDrv]

On 4/29/2017 at 6:22 PM, cschaaf said:

I've never been much of a car person. 

I had a Geo Metro in college and it was perfect for me. It got great gas mileage. I went to college in a city and had to pay for parking. The lot right by the school had a 1/2 spot in one corner that was at a weird angle. They guy said, "If you can get it in that spot, you can park there for half price." I made it fit every time.

I can't tell you how many times I needed to haul something in it and the person helping me load it said, "This will never fit in there!" and sure enough, it fit.

Took it on a 1500+ mile round trip vacation. Put 125,000+ miles on it before I sold it and never did anything but routine maintenance.  I probably saved well over $6 on spark plugs  with only having to buy 3!

Not my picture, found one on the internet. I doubt I have any pictures of my old one.

 

It is pretty amazing what will fit into a small car, especially if it is a box on 4 wheels.  I stuffed a 50gallon gas water heater into the MINI and closed the hatch!  My Honda 600 was a pretty small motor yet enough power to tow my 350cc Yamaha single MotoX bike (chain removed).  I made a bracket to bolt onto the rear bumper that had a front axle (motorcycle) attached and then removed the front wheel of the bike and clamped it onto the car.  Funny seeing a car towing a motorcycle that has more power than the car

 

[ckreef]

3 hours ago, FotonDrv said:

Charles, I forgot to ask, were those straight pipes?  Some nice flames if the timing is a bit off

 

113 ci, 10:1 compression, straight pipes, no baffles. Very loud and proud. 

To be honest you loose a little mid range performance with straight pipes. Doesn't bother me any, it is way faster than I usually care to ride. 

 

[FotonDrv]

Charles, I never would have guessed that it would have lost some power with the joyous noise    Back pressure on the valves, or air flow through the carbs/intake maybe did that.  I do know that 2 stroke engines are very sensitive to the exhaust but I never would have thought a Harley would suffer.  If one gets old enough he might actually learn something!  Thanks

 

 

[ckreef]

3 hours ago, FotonDrv said:

Charles, I never would have guessed that it would have lost some power with the joyous noise    Back pressure on the valves, or air flow through the carbs/intake maybe did that.  I do know that 2 stroke engines are very sensitive to the exhaust but I never would have thought a Harley would suffer.  If one gets old enough he might actually learn something!  Thanks

 

 

S&S has a video out there where they put a bike with one of their motors on a dyno machine. They tested it 3 ways. 

Straight pipes, 

Straight pipes w/ baffles, 

Full exhaust with 2 single mufflers. 

For mid range performance that is the order from worst to best. There is like a 10 hp difference between straight pipes and full exhaust. Add a cross over on full exhaust I think you gain another hp or two. This really only counts in the mid range rpms but that's where you want the most performance riding around the streets. Of course who cares, mine sounds kick ass when blasting around and at 113 ci and only about 600 lbs it has plenty of go juice. Also I can still keep it fairly quiet if I go easy on the throttle. 

[erik6bd]

1970 Mustang Mach 1 351c 4 Speed shaker hood and 2004 40th anniversary built 4.6 Mustang GT. I smiled a lot 

Edited May 5, 2017 by erik6bd

[FotonDrv]

351 Cleveland engine?  Great engines! and I really wanted to put one in my Triumph just couldn't afford it.

 

[erik6bd]

1 minute ago, FotonDrv said:

351 Cleveland engine?  Great engines! and I really wanted to put one in my Triumph just couldn't afford it.

 

Yes they had 351 Windsor small block and 351 Cleveland that was a Big Block motor. Mine was pushing 375 H.P. But to be honest the 2004 GT with a mild built 4.6 V8 was so much faster and more fun to drive. 

[Bruce Pearson]

 I have been driving Volkswagen beetles for the past 35 years. My first one was a 1972 super beetle  put over 300,000 miles on it. Here's a picture of my newest beetle. 

[MacKenzie]

Wow.  

[FotonDrv]

10 hours ago, erik6bd said:

Yes they had 351 Windsor small block and 351 Cleveland that was a Big Block motor. Mine was pushing 375 H.P. But to be honest the 2004 GT with a mild built 4.6 V8 was so much faster and more fun to drive. 

My mistake, the Windsor engine was what I was thinking of for the motor swaps into small cars.  Thanks for the clarification!  The 4.6 liter V8 would have been fun to try to adapt into a small car.

[FotonDrv]

Bruce, your Beetle Mania is superb to be able to get 300K miles out of one!  Whats your secret??  Were they the 1600cc or were they larger engines?

 

[Bruce Pearson]

Nothing special on the engine except I used  synthetic motor oil with it. But to clarify things I did have to change the engine twice lol. 

[mguerra]

 

I wish I had never sold this little gem, it was a friggin rocket ship.

[mguerra]

This thing still is!

[Jon B.]

That bike looks like it is going fast...sitting still. 

[FotonDrv]

10 hours ago, mguerra said:

 

I wish I had never sold this little gem, it was a friggin rocket ship.

Those Datsun's were little incognito rockets that handles fairly well.  You must have had a good reason to sell it, like your wife having triplets

Your Ducati Super Bike is in a league of its own.  The only thing that can catch you is Motorola and a Lear jet, or maybe another super bike.

After Vietnam a friend of mine decided he wanted to go faster than what he could buy off the shelf and started this business making bikes.  They are ridiculously fast which puts big smiles on the faces of those who have purchased them.  http://www.barebones.net/machines.htm

His bikes took 1st and 2nd in 1999 at Daytona Speedway.

 

 

 

Edited June 7, 2017 by FotonDrv
added text and link

[robertz]

On 5/5/2017 at 11:49 AM, erik6bd said:

1970 Mustang Mach 1 351c 4 Speed shaker hood and 2004 40th anniversary built 4.6 Mustang GT. I smiled a lot 

That's one sweet Mach 1. Saw one on my buddy's uncle when we service his truck for new shocks and nerf bars installation. Makes me miss my 2000 GT convertible. Been kicking myself selling it.