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Bike of Your Dreams

Chickenstrip

Chickenstrip

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 8, 2022
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Okay, I don't know of a thread along these lines here yet, and I don't know if this is the best location for this topic (mods can throw in here), but here goes it!

What bike do you daydream about? What bike do you fantasize about owning/riding when needing some distraction, or trying to get to sleep (fantasy test rides are my form of counting sheep :lol3).

I'll start: The Aprilia Futura is a bike I've long lusted for but never owned. I'm not in a position to own multiple bikes ($$ and space limitations), and at this point my aging body probably couldn't take the sporty riding position for long enough to do real touring with, but I sure love looking at and dreaming about doing the 'perfect ride' (day-long twisties through rolling hills) on this, IMO, classic beauty.

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The Futura is a beautiful bike. Having owned one for several years, I can assure you it is much more comfortable than you imagine.

My daydream bike is a street legal travel Enduro that weighs under 200lbs with 40hp.
 
SandRdr said:
The Futura is a beautiful bike. Having owned one for several years, I can assure you it is much more comfortable than you imagine.

My daydream bike is a street legal travel Enduro that weighs under 200lbs with 40hp.
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I owned a Honda Super Hawk for about 65K miles, and my current bike is a Triumph Sprint RS. It came with an LSL bar adapter and I installed lower pegs - I'm grateful for the mods. Occasionally I'm tempted to retrofit the bike back to its sporty origins, but I do multi-day tours and I find that logging ~300 miles in day, especially back-to-back, is getting to be a challenge. Still, I dream! :lol3
 
I just watched Rocket Man's overview of the EICMA moto show and, for me, this Street Triple was the most inspirational. They've always felt a bit small for me, so I've leaned towards the Speedy, but beggars can't be choosers! :lol3

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Before I got back into bikes in late 2013, I was in the local grocery store parking lot in 2004 and saw a bike I'd never seen anything like before - and having been out of bikes for about 10 years at that point, I hadn't been paying much attention to any new models. Then I saw this thing and had to go look at it on my way into the store.

www.motorcyclecruiser.com

2004 Honda Rune, 1800cc Six-Cylinder Motorcycle Road Test

Cruiser staff go on a quest aboard the shamelessly stylistic 2004 Honda Valkyrie Rune.
www.motorcyclecruiser.com www.motorcyclecruiser.com

I was standing there ogling it when the owner came out of the store. He didn't know me from Adam but we talked for about 5 minutes and then he fired it up and let me blip the throttle (though I was hoping he'd offer to let me ride it!). I immediately wanted one, but it was not to be due to the price (story of my life). Now they're even more overpriced like the CBXs are.

rune.jpg
 
^ I could never own that bike (money, riding preferences and aesthetics), but I appreciate Honda going out on a limb. BTW, there's a Jawa Tino (?) YT channel that recently gave an overview of various Honda engines, the flat 6 in the Ruin being one.
 
Chickenstrip said:
^ I could never own that bike (money, riding preferences and aesthetics), but I appreciate Honda going out on a limb. BTW, there's a Jawa Tino (?) YT channel that recently gave an overview of various Honda engines, the flat 6 in the Ruin being one.
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As a lifelong DOHC 450 enthusiast, it always gets me when someone makes the statement that the 450 doesn't have valve springs, only to follow it up by saying it has torsion bars instead - which anyone who has ever seen a '60s and '70s Chrysler product (or the old VWs as well) knows they are springs, they were used instead of coils in the front ends. It's the only engine Honda ever did that on and they have been just as reliable as coil springs. With modest MegaCycle cams in it mine turns 10,500 rpm for its redline and will easily turn 11,000 on the same used torsion bars that were in the engine when I bought it with 14,000 miles on it.


The V-4 with oval pistons is just another example of Honda trying something because they can, which I have always loved about them. The CBX was another example though not quite as complicated or radical. It was my understanding they eventually gave up on it because they couldn't get the oval rings worked out to their standards but certainly an innovative way to get more valves above the pistons.
 
oldschool said:
As a lifelong DOHC 450 enthusiast, it always gets me when someone makes the statement that the 450 doesn't have valve springs, only to follow it up by saying it has torsion bars instead - which anyone who has ever seen a '60s and '70s Chrysler product (or the old VWs as well) knows they are springs, they were used instead of coils in the front ends. It's the only engine Honda ever did that on and they have been just as reliable as coil springs. With modest MegaCycle cams in it mine turns 10,500 rpm for its redline and will easily turn 11,000 on the same used torsion bars that were in the engine when I bought it with 14,000 miles on it.


The V-4 with oval pistons is just another example of Honda trying something because they can, which I have always loved about them. The CBX was another example though not quite as complicated or radical. It was my understanding they eventually gave up on it because they couldn't get the oval rings worked out to their standards but certainly an innovative way to get more valves above the pistons.
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I was surprised that NR750 has a red line of 14 grand. Also, I didn't know that it was a V-4, with four oval pistons ... thought it was two. Obviously I don't know a whole lot about them. :-)
 
Chickenstrip said:
I was surprised that NR750 has a red line of 14 grand. Also, I didn't know that it was a V-4, with four oval pistons ... thought it was two. Obviously I don't know a whole lot about them. :-)
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Honda has long been known for high-revving engines since their GP racing days in the '60s when their 5 cylinder 125 turned 22,000 and the 297cc inline 6 made 55 hp at 17,500. When Soichiro went into racing and attended their first IOM, he realized that they could not compete by doing what most of the others were doing - long stroke engines with a wide powerband, so they set out to design piston rings that would withstand ridiculous rpm ranges and went gear driven DOHC, multi-valve, big bore, short stroke to move as much into and out of the engine as possible using BMEP calculations
 
Street bike of my dreams is 400lbs or less with a short wheelbase 55-57 inches. 270° parallel twin with ~120hp, but torquey, not revvy. Made to fit a tall guy that likes to sit upright. 45-50mpg and 3-4 gallon tank.

I don't care who makes or what it looks like.
 
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