Was sitting and thinking of bikes I have had the fortune to ride. Many outstanding ones came to mind. There is the Martin Ford V8 2 wheeler, a Black Shadow, and my old 48 Panhead obviously and some others.
Then I started thinking about the ones at the other end of the scale. Bikes that I for one reason or another should not have ridden (but as a result of youth, enthusiasm, foolishness and perhaps a bullet proof attitude I did ride)
When young I had a 50cc moped (well, used to be 50cc...) that I managed to get to do 80K/h +. I was interested in getting her to go fast, and so stopping was not on my mind. No brakes... Was going full speed behind a bus lying down and reching the hair raising speeds of over the mentioned 80K/h when the bus suddenly decided to stop. There was something happening ahead. Only had a split second to think and laid down her on the L/H side. I slid under the bus and smacked against the back axle. There I lay waiting for the bus to take off. And when it did I stood up, lifted the moped, started and off I went again. And that was in the days when you did not need to have a helmet when riding mopeds...
Also at 13 I was given a 150cc Vespa. Motor run well, but the handlebars were loose and you would have to turn them 45 degrees to right or left before the front wheel would follow. When going slow it was a problem. But as the speed built up the gyro force from the wheel made the front wheel run straight. She was best in a straight line. Used to end up in the ditch when the road turned.
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