The Cruiser Thread

[NonDairyCreamer]

And the Miata design was inspired by a Lotus. There were several Lotus Esprit?? (someone correct me if I got the model name wrong) that were bought by Mazda for the engineers to study and mostly copy. All of them "disappeared" when the project was finished.

[foxtrapper]

I've long heard that the Lotus Elan was a well studied/copied car for the miata. Other LBC clubs claim theres was as well, but I don't know how true that really is.

I've not heard a story about any Lotus Elans disapearing after the Miata went into production. Don't see any reason for that to have happened. Not even sure any were bought for study. Wouldn't surprise me if it some bought, just don't know that it really did happen.

At this point in time, my old first generation Miata has enough miles on it to rattle and buzz well, and even break down sometimes. So it's got "true personality" now, or something like that.

[JerryH]

My sister has a '99 Miata. Fun little car, a bit over refined. Doesn't even begin to compare fun wise to the beat up '67 911 I had 25 years ago. Flat out part of the Miata's problem is that it is Asian. The Asians seem very good at building reliable transportation appliances, but they usually tend to be boring. The Miata handles well, and almost anyone can drive it well. The Porsche had all kind of handling quirks, and it took a lot of skill to drive it the right way. Driving it on the edge was way riskier than the Miata, and you had better not mess up. That's where most of the fun came from. The challenge of making it do what you wanted without getting killed.

As far as "real" 2 seater convertible sports cars, I consider all the European sports cars to be real, the Triumph Spitfire, TR6, MGB and Midget, Austin Healey, Alpha Romeo, Fiat Spyder, and several others. They were all here FIRST. I can't get over the feeling of Asian vehicles being copies. Yes I know about the Datsun 1600, but it was not first, it was a copy of European models.

Now my definition of real does not mean the Asian models are not real, obviously they are. It's more like they are a copy of the Mona Lisa (or some other famous painting) but a little more refined, maybe with the brush strokes smoothed out a bit. Both are real, but only one is the original.

[NonDairyCreamer]

Originally Posted by foxtrapper

I've long heard that the Lotus Elan was a well studied/copied car for the miata. Other LBC clubs claim theres was as well, but I don't know how true that really is.

I've not heard a story about any Lotus Elans disapearing after the Miata went into production. Don't see any reason for that to have happened. Not even sure any were bought for study. Wouldn't surprise me if it some bought, just don't know that it really did happen.

At this point in time, my old first generation Miata has enough miles on it to rattle and buzz well, and even break down sometimes. So it's got "true personality" now, or something like that.

Mazda bought 6 or 7 for study and the executives kept them. Lotus Elan. The reason it happened is the Lotus was, is that good a design. And that is why Mazda took it for their goal.

[foxtrapper]

Originally Posted by JerryH

TR6, MGB and Midget, Austin Healey, Alpha Romeo, Fiat Spyder, and several others. They were all here FIRST.

First? The Spitfire is a side-shoot of the Herald. They just dropped a swoopy body onto the frame.

The TR6 showed up in 1969, a late comer. It came from the TR250, which came from the TR4A, which came from the TR4, which came from the TR3, which came from the TR2.

The MG B traces its lineage through A and the T types before that.

The Porsche 911 traces back to the 356 bathtub of the late 40's.

None of the cars you mention came first. By no means were any of them the first convertible, the first sports car, etc. None of them are the first anything. And in their time, many were derided as being too refined, too slow, too ugly, too boring, lacking in character and worth. Only with the patina of time have they come to be regarded as something special and posessing of "soul".

[Blakebird]

My dad drove me to school in his '52 MG TD in the early 60's...
The MGB and TR6 were cool cars, but not even close to being the first.

[hexnut]

I used to restore Triumphs. This is a 1968 TR 250 I restored frame up. I won best in show back to back 1991&1992 at the Vintage Triumph Register national meet.

[foxtrapper]

Nice! Wedgewood blue?

One hardly ever sees the bumblebee hoses, or even the wires any longers.

[hexnut]

Originally Posted by foxtrapper

Nice! Wedgewood blue?

One hardly ever sees the bumblebee hoses, or even the wires any longers.

No Valencia blue. The orginal color. Only year offered on the TR sreies. I believe it was used on the GT 6 though.

Yeah it took me two years to find a complete set of the striped hoses. The battery is a Lucas tar-top. The car was restored 100% orginal.

[ahwarm]

In August 2012, I got a hair up my butt to get in to adventure riding. I read a ton of ride reports about people riding bikes from tip to tip of this world and I needed to do it. I'd never ridden a motorcycle on a road in my life ( maybe once or twice on a dirt bike in the sand ) and had no idea what to get. I kicked around a bunch of ideas and ended up with a 2003 KLR.



Well, as much fun as that sounded. I never cleared it with the wife about going on adventures without her, so I used the bike to commute back and forth to work and let me tell you. It was horrible commuting. At higher speeds, it seemed unstable. And it just wasn't geared for commuting on a So Cal freeway at 70mph so about a month ago I decided to sell it and I bought this.



2004 Honda Shadow Spirit 750

And I love it so far. Have put about 3,000 miles on it and have had a blast. I like the forward foot position and the lower profile. I'm 6'1" 215 and I sometimes had issues touching the ground on the KLR. I can cruise along at 75mph and have no problems. The only dislikes I have is the tank being pretty small. I could use a bigger one. Also, the wind hits me pretty hard. A windshield would probably help but I like the look without one. Any thoughts on this?

I'm no expert in motorcycle riding but I like the cruiser a lot better then the KLR. Just a complete different type of ride. I'm sure the KLR is great for what I wanted to do but the Shadow will work out for what I am doing and that's commuting with a few long day trips in between.

Andy

[Byork]

Originally Posted by ahwarm

A windshield would probably help but I like the look without one. Any thoughts on this?

I'm no expert in motorcycle riding but I like the cruiser a lot better then the KLR. Just a complete different type of ride. I'm sure the KLR is great for what I wanted to do but the Shadow will work out for what I am doing and that's commuting with a few long day trips in between.

Andy

Awesome. Congrats on the Shadow. That is about the same reason I sold my KLR last week and picking up my Vulcan 900 Saturday . I chose to get it with the windshield because I know the little woman will enjoy it (so will I), but if I get the itch to take it off I always have that option.
I want to post a pic of each like you did when I pick mine up. Can't wait...
Again, nice bike ahwarm! (both of them )

[manban9888]

I've really enjoyed this thread and believe the forum should have a cruiser section. I agree w Jerry that a cruiser is agreat adventure bike as it opens mc travel to those who prefer comfort. I have a passion for riding and ride just about everyday but don't see Harley as anything but a decent mc. They are nice bikes but prefer my Vulcans. It's all a matter of opinion cuz I don't own a goldwing but don't see how riding one w tremendous reliability anywhere you want to go can be boring. If Harley is character in a bike then I guess I want a bike w little of it. I don't mean that as a dig just illustrating how passionate riders can disagree. I haven't owned a Vulcan 750 but rode a friends and I was very impressed w it. It was nimble yet powerful and fun to ride. I hope cruisers get their own section here and hope to meet you guys on the road

[EricD10563]

Originally Posted by ahwarm

Also, the wind hits me pretty hard. A windshield would probably help but I like the look without one. Any thoughts on this?

Andy

What about one of these, they might have quick release brackets available so you can take it off easily.

http://shop.nationalcycle.com/perl/cycle/browse

[foxtrapper]

Windshield will make a big difference for you. Pick the style you like. Only caution I'd give is that those like the Spitfire, that mount on sticks, have a habit of vibrating themselves loose very frequently and regularly while riding.

[mikesova]

I don't like forward controls. I rode my brother in law's shadow a couple years ago. I didn't feel as in control as I do with my bikes. I also like to be able to stand up while riding, which isn't do-able with the forward controls.