When you were a nipper, like - what was the biggest bike around?

[cheshirecat]

For me it was the Munch Mamouth. OK it was a car engine so doesn't really count but to us spotty teenagers riding on 70's pasta frames and non stop wet weather brakes, it was on the outer limits. After some years I bought a Honda Wing (the original 1000 version), a bit of a lump in London traffic but surprisingly quick cross country.

See the Visordown clip

[BMWST?]

the first bike that really made an impression on me was an Mach 1.He came from behind me as i was walking up over a hutt valley overbridge.So he was off the pipe as he came up to the intersection,but he gave it to it as he went up over the bridge.The memory of that sound ,the blue flash, the blue haze still gives me the shivers.

[BigAl]

Gold(lead)wing was prolly the biggest, the one I most desired was the z900, art on 2 wheels.

[jellywrestler]

the first bike that really made an impression on me was an Mach 1.

mach 1 was a 250

[BMWST?]

mach 1 was a 250

This was the 500 sorry with the pipes almost parrallel to the ground

[jellywrestler]

This was the 500 sorry with the pipes almost parrallel to the ground

mach three then

[Motu]

The biggest bikes you'd be likely to see in NZ were the Vincent and Ariel Square Four, I've never come close to owning a Vincent, even a lowly Comet, but sniffed around a couple of Squaffs.

[SPman]

This was the 500 sorry with the pipes almost parrallel to the ground

Mach 1 was a Ducati.

We thought a Norton Atlas was big, and Vincents were massive.......then came the Munch.......it'd be dwarfed by some of the behemoths around today....

[Maha]

1972ish when I was in scouts one of the Scout leaders would turn up on his Blue Honda GL1000, mighty machine that it was.

[Fastmark]

That's an easy one, Z1300. Used to walk with my mate two/three times a week a couple of miles to the local bike shop just to drool over it through the window, sort of an early form of window shopping.

[slofox]

Ariel square four and the Norton Atlas way back when I was a lad - was in the olden days, eh.

[ellipsis]

...an old 28 inch wheel womens push bike I first tried to learn to stay on...the seat was so high I could only stand on the pedals and the front of the seat dug into my back when I pedalled...lots of blood on knees and hands until my older brother found a smaller wheeled thing...

[Robbo]

For me it was the Aerial Square Four, late 50's model at 997cc. and i only had a 350 Vellocette.
Had a mate that had one in the late 60's and had a lot of trouble with overheating of the two rear cylinders.

[jellywrestler]

The biggest bikes you'd be likely to see in NZ were the Vincent and Ariel Square Four, I've never come close to owning a Vincent, even a lowly Comet, but sniffed around a couple of Squaffs.

you're dreaming, my 1918 Henderson is 1000cc, my 1924 Ace is 1100cc and my 1920 Henderson is 1301cc, teen Indians were 1000cc then in the twenties they went to 1200cc and Harleys had 1200cc bikes in the twenties too.
The british produced a number of 1000cc bikes in the twenties and thirties too and yep the Vincent twins on standard bore were 998cc.

[jellywrestler]

1972ish when I was in scouts one of the Scout leaders would turn up on his Blue Honda GL1000, mighty machine that it was.

gold wings were shaft driven water cooled flat fours 1000cc and they came out in 1974, Holden produced shaft driven water cooled flat fours at 1054cc way Seventy Seven years earlier.