Wildguzzi.com

General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: drdwb on February 11, 2017, 01:14:01 PM

Title: One thing I never really understood NGC
Post by: drdwb on February 11, 2017, 01:14:01 PM

(http://thumb.ibb.co/fKkrka/image.jpg) (http://ibb.co/fKkrka)


Just in case you can't resist. I know I'm being judgmental here. But even after all these years I still don't get it.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1981-Yamaha-XS-/262845584120?forcerrptr=true&hash=item3d32d152f8:g:l0cAAOSwx6pYnQT~&item=262845584120


Title: Re: One thing I never really understood NGC
Post by: kirby1923 on February 11, 2017, 01:33:46 PM
Don't know how old you are or where you have traveled but I think I can say without much doubt that if you had spent some time in California in the 60' you'd have a pretty fair idea of why.

Doesn't translate into word very well.

:-)
Title: Re: One thing I never really understood NGC
Post by: kenvil1 on February 11, 2017, 01:45:02 PM
It must be a scrambler, judging by the knobby front tire and the high mounted pipes.
Title: Re: One thing I never really understood NGC
Post by: flip on February 11, 2017, 01:47:41 PM
It must be a scrambler, judging by the knobby front tire and the high mounted pipes.

  :bow:
Title: Re: One thing I never really understood NGC
Post by: sib on February 11, 2017, 01:56:06 PM
Makes perfect sense to me.  Motorcyclists tend to be little boys who never grow up, and this is great for the guy who remains a little boy long after his legs can propel him adequately.
Title: Re: One thing I never really understood NGC
Post by: azguzzirep on February 11, 2017, 02:11:10 PM
I don't know about THAT bike, but I'd take a Captain America style chopper any day!

I think they are, too coin a phrase, "bitchin"!

Like Kirby said, you need to have grown up with it. It's like music. My dad liked big band music. He thought music couldn't get any better. I like Led Zepplin. Today's youngs like rap or whatever. It just depends on what you were exposed to, and when.


I loves me a chopper!😀
Title: Re: One thing I never really understood NGC
Post by: Turin on February 11, 2017, 03:26:10 PM
I don't get the knobby tire.
Title: Re: One thing I never really understood NGC
Post by: SmithSwede on February 11, 2017, 04:05:20 PM
Personally?   My reaction has always been:

Kill it with fire !!!
Title: Re: One thing I never really understood NGC
Post by: Groover on February 11, 2017, 04:11:08 PM
Those are sort of back in style. I saw a group of them last spring downtown Columbus. Young group maybe mid 20's, hipster-esc. I took this video.. you can see my G5 at the end of the video  :thumb:

https://youtu.be/5pCRK3XQIco
Title: Re: One thing I never really understood NGC
Post by: Lannis on February 11, 2017, 04:24:17 PM
I don't get the knobby tire.

Faux-scramblers (street bobbers) with radical knobby tires are "kool-looking" among the grand-poseurs these days, even though they don't go off road and would handle like a drunken hippo on skates, on the road.

This guy is starting a New Trend.   High apes and knobby tires ....

Lannis
Title: Re: One thing I never really understood NGC
Post by: Guzzistajohn on February 11, 2017, 04:29:39 PM
I'm not a big chopper fan either but an old school bobber.....that's bitchin'!

I don't get the big tyre
Title: Re: One thing I never really understood NGC
Post by: Penderic on February 11, 2017, 04:45:09 PM
Hah! It's not really a chopper unless the front forks are extended at least 6".

Like zo.....

(http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/ag77/Penderic/Penderic004/ugly%20chop%20job_zpsyyextdpe.jpg)
 :huh:
Title: Re: One thing I never really understood NGC
Post by: Mr Pootle on February 11, 2017, 04:48:30 PM
Hopper and Fonda have a lot to answer for.
Title: Re: One thing I never really understood NGC
Post by: Kev m on February 11, 2017, 05:47:09 PM
I hate em

But I kinda understand them.

It's a mechanical "FTW".

It's a "I built it cause I can, cause it pisses you off, cause normal is boring, because it makes going down the road a challenge, cause anyone can buy/ride a stock bike."

Not my kinda thrill, but I get it.
Title: Re: One thing I never really understood NGC
Post by: Chuck in Indiana on February 11, 2017, 06:35:01 PM
Personally?   My reaction has always been:

Kill it with fire !!!

Sledge hammer. Ahem.. 44 Magnum.
All of the above. <shrug>
Yes, I'm a flower child. Didn't get it then, either.  :smiley: That free love thing was ok, though.  :evil: :smiley:
Title: Re: One thing I never really understood NGC
Post by: ITSec on February 11, 2017, 10:05:46 PM
I was raised in a household where the bookshelf held publications by Bauhaus, Parsons School, and portfolios by Frank Lloyd Wright. I read them all, many times, and to my eye the expression of Wright's adage "Form and function are one" or (grandson) Ferdinand Porsche's "If you analyze the function of an object its form often becomes obvious."

A chopper to me is like a gargoyle on a medieval building. I understand the aesthetic, I know the history and lore, and I can (within limits) appreciate it for what it is.

But I'd never build one or even ride one, let alone own one - any more than I'd use a gargoyle as anything other than  a scarecrow.
Title: Re: One thing I never really understood NGC
Post by: rodekyll on February 11, 2017, 10:50:51 PM
Should someone tell him there's fish in his tailpipe?  That's gonna stink.
Title: Re: One thing I never really understood NGC
Post by: Muzz on February 11, 2017, 11:01:30 PM
The son bought a non goer "parts" chopper bike so the grandson nwho he employs can scoot down and get bits.

Registered as a 50 but someone has hung a 110. Grandson on his first trial ride. I have turned it in to a full rectified 12 volt system but it still has the magneto ignition. He reckons it's a real hoot. :rolleyes: :grin:
Title: Re: One thing I never really understood NGC
Post by: Shorty on February 11, 2017, 11:47:23 PM
Some people's religion is their motorcycles. Some got their motorcycle beliefs from a father or uncle. Maybe the father or uncle got his beliefs from an old greasy Easyrider magazine. Or a dirt bike magazine. Or a MGNOC monthly newsletter. There is a subculture of young guys who feel they are honoring the religion and their ancestors by "building a bike." They lack the skills of a craftsman, but not the zeal. They have learned some of the holy words of the religion, and include them in the advertisements.  They build what you or I call an abomination, and expect the "true brothers" to recognize their offerings to the gods. Or some such crapola.  :grin:    I must confess I admire a one off, monstered bike now and then, but this turdwagon is not one of them...  :evil:
Title: Re: One thing I never really understood NGC
Post by: azguzzirep on February 12, 2017, 12:57:48 AM
I wish they had posted a picture with someone sitting on it so we could see just how bad the ergonomics of this bike are.
Title: Re: One thing I never really understood NGC
Post by: wymple on February 12, 2017, 01:16:46 AM
Pull the stupid off the tail end and it becomes a steal. 650's are quite in vogue these days and this bike a bit less radical might well go 2500.
Title: Re: One thing I never really understood NGC
Post by: Arizona Wayne on February 12, 2017, 01:47:59 AM
Whoever made this morphodite POS has no understanding of what they think he/she put together and deserve zero respect for their effort.  :violent1:
Title: Re: One thing I never really understood NGC
Post by: Xlratr on February 12, 2017, 04:31:43 AM
I grew up in North West England, which is far away from California, in both distance and climate :-)
But I still "get it".


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Title: Re: One thing I never really understood NGC
Post by: chuck peterson on February 12, 2017, 07:03:51 AM
Naaaa....this ones better...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1978-Yamaha-XS-/332117255328?forcerrptr=true&hash=item4d53bb24a0:g:9zMAAOSwUKxYj88D&item=332117255328
Title: Re: One thing I never really understood NGC
Post by: chuck peterson on February 12, 2017, 07:22:06 AM
It's a thing, now...

https://boston.craigslist.org/nwb/mcy/5999926365.html
Title: Re: One thing I never really understood NGC
Post by: Scott of the Sahara on February 12, 2017, 08:17:11 AM
it looks like some one was copying a Schwinn Stingray bicycle from the late 60's early 70's
Title: Re: One thing I never really understood NGC
Post by: JJ on February 12, 2017, 10:01:48 AM
I do understand the chopper thing, and I say: "To each his own!"

Choppers, in general are not my cup of tea...However, I would have no problem riding something like this:

1938 Indian Scout Bobber! :thumb: :cool: :1:


(http://thumb.ibb.co/cTVr1F/Screen_Shot_2017_02_12_at_8_58_35_AM.png) (http://ibb.co/cTVr1F)

post pictures online free (http://imgbb.com/)
Title: Re: One thing I never really understood NGC
Post by: drdwb on February 12, 2017, 10:12:18 AM
Kirby
To answer the question about the late 60s California trend. 1973,graduated from high school one of my best friends got enough money from graduation and working to go out and buy a brand new Honda 750, it was a thing of beauty, of course everyone in our circle was completely jealous. He put straight pipes on it to get the sound he wanted and than decided to go to Caliofrnia. 3 months later he returned to rural Minnesota on a completely chopped out bike that looked very much like the original photo I posted. The bike looked and rode nothing like the original. Fast forward to 79 I'm home from college on my new 1979 Yamaha XS 750 Special I meet up with my buddy at a locale joint he's still riding this chopped out Honda now with about 50,000 miles on it, we decide to go for a ride at 70 mph his front tire starts hopping, at 80 he can't keep the front end down and at 90 he's just a speck in my mirror. Later following behind I watched as we went through a series of S curves ,mild sweapers that for me normally required just leaning at 70-75, my buddy on the chopped 750 had his hands full trying to negotiate at 65.

What I learned from this is the guys that get paid to design bikes usually know what they are doing, some owner modifications can help a great deal. But some of the stuff done just to look cool makes no sense ( to me) and certainly doesn't help and can be dangerous. But if your just going from from one joint to another and it's only a few blocks away I guess it's ok.

I just hope my daughters don't show up riding or on the back of one of these.
Dave
Title: Re: One thing I never really understood NGC
Post by: kirby1923 on February 12, 2017, 11:09:35 AM
Believe me I understand the risk of riding such a kluge!
But it was the counter culture at work in those times an "in your face" thing. I was on the other side riding brit motos and the fast Japanese stuff sometimes.

I have to smile when I see one of these things...sort reminds me of my youth.

BTW the young college girls, mostly bank burners, loved to be seen on the back of a  "chopper".

Bitchin!!

:-)
Title: Re: One thing I never really understood NGC
Post by: drums4money on February 12, 2017, 11:11:45 AM
I see a cool chopper occasionally.  They don't make me wish for a chopper, though.  They make me wish I had one of these:

(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/91/3c/52/913c52abe25a3483f490cf8a22b98729.jpg)
Title: Re: One thing I never really understood NGC
Post by: kirkemon on February 12, 2017, 12:03:20 PM
Yea, I had a Schwinn Stingray but never a chopper. They seem unsafe, uncomfortable, and an eyesore to me.
I always wondered, what kind of person rode 'em and why?
Title: Re: One thing I never really understood NGC
Post by: travelingbyguzzi on February 12, 2017, 12:33:57 PM
Listen, y'all. I love my Eldo, but it can't throw a shadow on my 1200 Sport. You just have to accept it for what it is.
Someone who doesn't have the Guzzi religion may not get it, but might still respect it for being a survivor.
As a side note, I might have got a bit of religion from old greasy Easy Rider magazines, but the bikes were not involved.
Bill Lovelady      IS
Eskimo Spy
Title: Re: One thing I never really understood NGC
Post by: drdwb on February 12, 2017, 03:57:00 PM
I can see JJs Scout bobber, that's cool and functional.

Now after Drums4 Money post I recall where one of  My first aversion s to modifications came.
I also lusted after one of those Stingrays,they were cool, but in my neighbor hood most of us didn't get those. Instead we modified ours with add on parts,banana seat,sissy bar, butterfly handle bars. One of my friends even raked and extended his forks by cutting forks off another bike and slipping them over his, no JB Weld than,or maybe there was but we didn't know about it. And no neighbor with a welder. So all was well for awhile until friend Roger tried to pull a wheelie, front tire fell off, forks into the pavement, Roger slipped off seat and connected groin region with the upper bar going forward. We called him Roger one nut after that, lesson learned. Fun days, good memories.
Title: Re: One thing I never really understood NGC
Post by: Lannis on February 12, 2017, 05:28:16 PM

BTW the young college girls, mostly bank burners, loved to be seen on the back of a  "chopper".


I'm in the same generation as you, and I knew most of the girl terms, but "bank burner" is a new one to me and Google is no help ..... ?

Lannis
Title: Re: One thing I never really understood NGC
Post by: Sasquatch Jim on February 14, 2017, 02:44:31 PM
  I always liked the look of bird shooters but they are vulnerable to damage as are your ears.
 The bird shooters are the only part of that "thing" I like.

 I liked the bike Dennis Hopper rode in Easy Rider.
Title: Re: One thing I never really understood NGC
Post by: averb on February 14, 2017, 07:32:12 PM
I was raised in a household where the bookshelf held publications by Bauhaus, Parsons School, and portfolios by Frank Lloyd Wright. I read them all, many times, and to my eye the expression of Wright's adage "Form and function are one" or (grandson) Ferdinand Porsche's "If you analyze the function of an object its form often becomes obvious."

A chopper to me is like a gargoyle on a medieval building. I understand the aesthetic, I know the history and lore, and I can (within limits) appreciate it for what it is.

But I'd never build one or even ride one, let alone own one - any more than I'd use a gargoyle as anything other than  a scarecrow.
You forgot the function of a gargoyle

In architecture, a gargoyle (/ˈɡɑːrɡɔɪl/) is a carved or formed grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing rainwater from running down masonry walls and eroding the mortar between.

Steve
Title: Re: One thing I never really understood NGC
Post by: ITSec on February 14, 2017, 07:37:37 PM
You forgot the function of a gargoyle

In architecture, a gargoyle (/ˈɡɑːrɡɔɪl/) is a carved or formed grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing rainwater from running down masonry walls and eroding the mortar between.

Steve

But the spout could have been a simple, elegant, and functional spout - instead of a grotesque baroque monster. One is modern, the other medieval.

I used to be a big-time participant in the Society for Creative Anachronism, and I still have a great appreciation of their motto: "The past - not as it was, but as it should have been".
Title: Re: One thing I never really understood NGC
Post by: averb on February 14, 2017, 08:07:58 PM
But the spout could have been a simple, elegant, and functional spout - instead of a grotesque baroque monster. One is modern, the other medieval.

I used to be a big-time participant in the Society for Creative Anachronism, and I still have a great appreciation of their motto: "The past - not as it was, but as it should have been".

But a "simple, elegant and functional spout" would look out of place on a medieval building, that is the example you used.  Yes, I agree that a gargoyle is inappropriate on a modern building.


Steve
Title: Re: One thing I never really understood NGC
Post by: Sasquatch Jim on February 14, 2017, 08:15:12 PM
 I always enjoyed the way monster gargoyles puke when it rains.