motor bikes

[Peggalums]

Does anyone agree that the bikes of the fifties sounded much meatier than the awful foreign tinny sounding ones on the road now? I was a petrol pump attendant, I new whitch bike was coming before it got to me.

[Toureman]

When I was working in a garage 42 years ago I could recognize most cars by their sound, you couldn't hear them now.

You must mean the British twin cylinder bikes of the fifties and sixties until they were pushed out by the screaming multi cylinder bikes from Japan.

I like both sounds, the japanese 4 cylinder bikes don't sound tinny though, they sound good.

I have a Kawasaki twin that still sounds like the old ones.

[Teddio]

The large V-twins such as the Vincent sounded superb but the old 250, 350 and 500cc singles sounded lumpy and agricultural. Also there were a lot of small single cylinder two strokes around that sounded awful.
Modern big bikes sound superb, especially the big V-twin Ducatis such as the 999S.

[Toureman]

Yes, forgot that Teddio, the Ducatis are best.

[sharkymoran]

Can't argue with the note from a triumph speed triple, nice!!!

[Loosehead]

Yes they sounded great but they where asmatic ants in comparison to today's "tinny" sounding bike. Ok so your oil leaking Truimph with a massive 18BHP sounds better but give me and R1 any day!

[xud]

Does any of you remember the Norton rotary engined bikes.
I watched them racing around the Isle of Man in 1990. The sound they made was difficult to describe. Like a two stroke and four stroke combined - lovely!
Oh, and don't forget the Honda RC30. They make a nice tune also.

[jollygreen]

I think the differnce is due to the engine dimensions. Older bikes tended to have longer, narrower cylinders and newer bikes have more oversquare cylinders which give more revs and a very different sound.

Ducati's are alone in having desmodromic valvegear which I believe is why they have a similar sound to the Rolls Royce Merlin. The desmo system uses a lever sytem to time the valve openings, instead of valve springs.

[manxbiker]

I whole heartly agree with you I have a Francis Barnet it is kept in a garage but ridden most days it also gets cleaned and polished at least once a week and serviced regular and it always turns heads and I whish I had �1 for every person who has come up to me to chat about it I was once pulled over by a motorcycle police officer I had not done anything wrong as I thought I might of done when he pulled me over but he just wanted to admire my bike and comlimented me on it

[eggobako]

any one remember the honda racing bikes of the 60,s they revved to 22000rpm from a 125! super sound