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Current Topic Rating:  | Join the Forum to Rate this Topic at: Classic Motorcycling Australia Forums
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dino
Level 1 Member
Victoria
9 Posts |
 Posted - 07 Nov 2007 : 7:43:05 PM
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hi everyone just wondering if there is anybody out there who knows of a decent mechanic in the eastern suburbs that i can rely on for work on my harley sportster its not much but i love it all the same doc hogs, first class motorcycles peter stevens all suck they're just interested in your cash and their service is just plain ****house. I dont mind backyarders or whatever just someone to help me out oce in a while. any help would be great. by the way love the program you are a credit to the industry
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acotrel
Advanced Member
Victoria
2147 Posts |
Posted - 07 Nov 2007 : 9:34:28 PM
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| Blacksmiths are a bit difficult to find these days!! |
Is your machine authentic or merely eligible? |
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john
Forum Moderator
Victoria
3130 Posts |
Posted - 10 Nov 2007 : 9:43:10 PM
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| Dino, surely those three words just do not go together! |
John Daley Sidecar #68
' there are those who do, those who dont do and those who undo. We must lampoon the latter." |
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dino
Level 1 Member
Victoria
9 Posts |
Posted - 12 Nov 2007 : 10:21:07 PM
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| maybe something I can go on would be good. come on fellas gals help me out here if u can |
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peen0_0
Level 3 Member
Victoria
224 Posts |
Posted - 13 Nov 2007 : 7:32:26 PM
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Dino, I don't have a direct contact, but try Bike Bitz out in Hiedleberg. They are good blokes and have a lot of contacts.
Hope that this is of more help than the smart**** comments previously left here?
Cheers, Tony. |
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dino
Level 1 Member
Victoria
9 Posts |
Posted - 15 Nov 2007 : 04:41:45 AM
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| thanks Tony I'll check them out if u think of anybody else I'd be grateful |
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GD66
Senior Member
Western Australia
390 Posts |
Posted - 02 Dec 2007 : 9:41:26 PM
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| What happened there ? Ten days of our lives disappeared ! Anyway Dino, to repeat : A mate of mine who has a Buell strongly recommends two Harley mechs : HD Developments Australia, who are in the city not far from Peter Stevens, their ph no is 9670 4747. And also Harley City, 770 Sydney Rd, Brunswick, service mgr Chris Wells on 9383 5033. Not really Eastern suburbs, but if they work for you, worth the trip. Apparently both institutions are known for their straight-shooting customer manner, so if you can keep the cow droppings out of the equation, you're halfway there. Good luck mate. |
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dino
Level 1 Member
Victoria
9 Posts |
Posted - 06 Dec 2007 : 10:44:03 PM
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sorry there bloke out riding done some stuff myself and it seems to be alright so thats good what you riding
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GD66
Senior Member
Western Australia
390 Posts |
Posted - 09 Dec 2007 : 10:17:33 PM
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Well, not a Harley, but hey we're only like-minded two (and three) wheels fans on this forum. Have a 350 Honda Period 4 racer. Yes that's right mate, I'm one of THEM....  |
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dino
Level 1 Member
Victoria
9 Posts |
Posted - 10 Dec 2007 : 4:48:56 PM
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| hey any bike is a good bike there matey I dont really care if you dont ride a harley do you race very often? |
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GD66
Senior Member
Western Australia
390 Posts |
Posted - 13 Dec 2007 : 11:12:40 PM
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Usually get 4 or 5 meetings a season in WA, plus have been east and had a gallop round at Phillip Island, Winton, Broadford and Mt Gambier, a variety of exciting venues from which to watch as the TR3 Yamahas disappear into the distance..... but, it's good trying to be the best of the rest, and all the other CB350 Honda punters are a good crew, from Keith, our fearless leader (and George and Eddie) down thru the ranks : Matcho Mick and Ben are two who regularly post on this forum, and I feel that the CB racers' group they are trying to promote on another thread may well lift off, merely because of the solidarity of the personalities involved. Yep, we'll never be spotted pulling out and passing a TR3 down the front at The Island, but we'll be seen giggling in the pits later.... |
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matcho mick
Advanced Member
New South Wales
570 Posts |
Posted - 14 Dec 2007 : 10:32:52 PM
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Ha!,speak for yourself GD  ,2 2nds P4 350 this years Island Classic,(dry races too)2 different TR's in front both times,i seemed to recall passing a few TR's in those races,JSimms will probably vouch for 1 pass down the main straight,(then again i'm decidedly a skinnier profile than Johns'  ),but your'e right about one thing,i'm still giggling about it ,cheers mate, see you there next year |
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dino
Level 1 Member
Victoria
9 Posts |
Posted - 17 Dec 2007 : 5:31:50 PM
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| good to see some solidarity between you blokes, never raced meself love to try though. I'm building up an old walla, its taken me a while though funds are scarce these days does it cost you much to keep up with the meets |
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GD66
Senior Member
Western Australia
390 Posts |
Posted - 18 Dec 2007 : 8:20:10 PM
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Well, yes is the short answer there Dino, but you have to rationalise just what the hell you're working for. I think most racers have sat at home and figured out that each time they go out to race, they could be maimed or killed, in fact they tell you that at the riders' briefings these days, BUT if you want to really LIVE rather than just exist to process food and pay tax, then whatever racing costs is bloody good value, you can walk away from a day at the races having done more living in thirty laps than some poor bastards do in a lifetime. The pre-war class at the nationals had a huge field including a big mob of Wallas, so my advice to you would be to get to a meeting as soon as possible, and get chatting to the riders in the class you covet. Without exception, you will find them approachable, enthusiastic and helpful, and they will give you some idea of the costs involved, and the mods required. Like all racing, biggest budget gets the win, but there will always be someone for you to race with all the way thru the field, and you will soon see that in historic racing, there's much more to it than the win, as the people involved are solid gold.
In the short term, the best thing you could do would be get in touch with HMRAV, then get down to the Island Classic on Australia Day weekend and blow your lights out. Get stuck in, son !! |
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matcho mick
Advanced Member
New South Wales
570 Posts |
Posted - 19 Dec 2007 : 11:56:31 AM
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| huh??,maimed,or killed?,geezas,biggest contemplation prior to going to a race meet is do i drink lite,or full strength beer,do i twiddle my thumbs while co pilot drives through Victoria's camera belt at "going to sleep mode",or engage sublite warpdrive & POR,look at it this way,you have more chance of being nailed on the main roads by some looney ,at least when racing all the loonies are going in the same direction,(mostly),so forget that bs,get your walla to a mechanic,sort the running gear,sell all the road stuff,(that'll pay for your track day intiation ),class C bekons Dino, |
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GD66
Senior Member
Western Australia
390 Posts |
Posted - 19 Dec 2007 : 7:07:31 PM
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| Yeah good Mick. Missed a couple : no cops, no side roads, no traffic lights, no radars, no gravel, no bowling ladies, and never more than a mile from an ambulance. Do it, Dino ! |
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acotrel
Advanced Member
Victoria
2147 Posts |
Posted - 26 Dec 2007 : 7:15:50 PM
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| It's a pity that 883 Sportsters can't run in at least one historic class. They're the right TYPE of bike just too modern in most cases. I wonder what happened to all the old race prepared bikes from the recently defunct class that ran at 'moderns' meetings? There's something to be said for running in BEARS races! I would like to run my 850 Norton against those old bangers, I might even get a competitive ride until the guys started boring them to 1300cc!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
Is your machine authentic or merely eligible? |
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dino
Level 1 Member
Victoria
9 Posts |
Posted - 30 Dec 2007 : 10:28:43 AM
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| my sporty is a 1100 they only produced them for a couple of years the engines a bit tired these days you gotta love those nortons though you have much trouble with the gearbox there fella. |
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acotrel
Advanced Member
Victoria
2147 Posts |
Posted - 30 Dec 2007 : 6:37:44 PM
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The gearbox has a close ratio set in it, and this tends to reduce the loads. I absolutely love the old girl. It's an 850 Commando in a MK3 Seeley frame. It's useless for chasing 1300cc CB750s, and I've found that there are now no Triumph twins racing in P4. Finding a class to be competitive in with it, is impossible. I'd even reduce it's capacity to 750cc if there were other 750s racing in any numbers. Years ago (early 70s)I raced against Don Emde on the XR750 Harley factory road racer - he blew me to the weeds, but the bike was superb!! Harleys are good things, however like all other historic bikes, when the guys start with the big bore kits, they stuff the racing!!
What we need is a BEARS class for 750cc four strokes! |
Is your machine authentic or merely eligible? |
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john
Forum Moderator
Victoria
3130 Posts |
Posted - 30 Dec 2007 : 6:46:31 PM
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Alan we tried 750cc races and few turned up.
You just need people to enter races, the class is set up and has been set up for about 5 years. There is no support as yet. |
John Daley Sidecar #68
' there are those who do, those who dont do and those who undo. We must lampoon the latter." |
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john feakes
Advanced Member
Victoria
791 Posts |
Posted - 31 Dec 2007 : 10:19:58 AM
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How did we get into this "bigger must be better" cycle? I can only assume that the easiest way to get more power was to increase the capacity and that once one started everyone else followed.
Personally I have always thought the opposite way believing that smaller was better in that it offered a challenge to develop more from what you had. My favourite bikes were the 50cc screamers, alas a thing of the past and largely forgotten.
Anyway, it doesn't really matter because the important thing is to race and winning is merely a bonus that only one rider can get, and can only get if someone finishes second. Far more important to have fun with some of the best people in the world. Just make the most of whatever you've got and enjoy yourself. Cheers, John |
125 RIDERS' ALLIANCE
A wise person simplifies the complicated, a fool complicates the simple. |
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acotrel
Advanced Member
Victoria
2147 Posts |
Posted - 31 Dec 2007 : 7:05:42 PM
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I believe the best class to race in these days must be 125cc GP. 50BHP and the low weight must provide the absolute best fun. I'm disappointed that 250cc and 350cc fourstroke classes don't get run as separate entities these days. Those little Aermacchis and Ducatis would have to be some of the best bikes ever built. The bike I'd most like to own would be Darryl Bailey's Spondon Ducati 250, what a lovely little jigger that is?
John, I don't believe we could get a 750cc fourstroke class up and going simply by providing opportunity to race. It'd take a year for anyone to get mobile, if the class was established today. The only hope is that guys like the young fellas from Albury will get a group of interested parties together. The damage was done in 1973, when the proposed capacity classes were never stated by the Velocette Owners Club. What would they know about historic racing anyway? It's all the fault of blokes like myself who were still racing old garbage in 1973. We didn't take enough interest in what the whackers were proposing with their ideas about historic racing. One VOC member in particular still believes 'cheating' is OK because the factories did it in the olden days- what an idiot? (The legacy has been there right from the start!!) |
Is your machine authentic or merely eligible? |
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GD66
Senior Member
Western Australia
390 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jan 2008 : 3:50:30 PM
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And the relevance to finding a good Harley mechanic would be ......? |
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dino
Level 1 Member
Victoria
9 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jan 2008 : 8:06:46 PM
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| yes good point there but hey all opinions on two wheels are good. Watching two wheel torque i see a guy called pete who helped with a 1300 kwak does anybody know this guy love to meet him even try and learn something I've got a spare set of hands for free hire just to learn. any thoughts |
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GD66
Senior Member
Western Australia
390 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jan 2008 : 11:51:30 PM
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| Dino, recommend you set aside Australia Day weekend, and get your butt down to Phillip Island for the Island Classic, introduce yourself to a few of the Class C guys on their pre-war V-twins, and then prepare to be amazed at their on-track exploits. And if you wanna get involved, give a hand, give a push, or just shoot the breeze, I can promise you'll be welcomed, and you'll go away stoked. Cos racing's great, but it's so much better when you know someone that's out there. Do it, mate ! |
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Ben
Honda CB350 Racers Promotion - Moderator
Victoria
288 Posts |
Posted - 02 Jan 2008 : 08:55:54 AM
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I agree, go for it Dino. I did not know anyone at my first visit, and only one other at my first meet (daunting experience!), but people are quick to welcome a new bike to the track and you will soon find your niche. Try to find the HMRAV tent and have a chat to John D, he will help you out and is likely to convince you to weld a god awful extra wheel on the harley. Be careful!
Good luck.
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Try Everything |
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acotrel
Advanced Member
Victoria
2147 Posts |
Posted - 02 Jan 2008 : 09:00:14 AM
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| I sort of wonder about a class which promotes pre-war Harleys and Indians yet allows Triumph five speed boxs to be used? C'mon guys! How far is this idiocy going to go? Next someone will come out with a four valve Rudge with a six speeder behind it! Like the guy who used to race the fourvalve BSA in P3, the owner will be the class champion for the next 15 years, (that's if he happens to be a 'nice guy' so noone will protest)!! |
Is your machine authentic or merely eligible? |
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acotrel
Advanced Member
Victoria
2147 Posts |
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trifield12
Level 1 Member
Victoria
13 Posts |
Posted - 02 Jan 2008 : 2:31:04 PM
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| dont get to excited about nortons against 883 sporties, i remember karel morlang telling me he couldnt believe the harleys where faster than his norton around the island, sub 50seconds was their speed from memory |
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dino
Level 1 Member
Victoria
9 Posts |
Posted - 03 Jan 2008 : 7:36:24 PM
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| yeah I've noticed that alot of the wallas run 4 speeds so my 3speed wont have that much of a chance but tuning is the key theres alot to be said for setting up a motor so thats what I;ll be aiming for, so as I understand it the bike has to be stock in regards to brakes and overall appearance? I'm running a sporty tank and seperate oilbag with disc breaks, so I will have to change that? |
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acotrel
Advanced Member
Victoria
2147 Posts |
Posted - 04 Jan 2008 : 09:05:32 AM
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| An 883 Harley isn't 1300cc, and hasn't got four cylinders. If Karel Morlang was a bit slower than them, he must have been a lot slower than something else. Are ALL Period 4 bikes slower than 883 sporties? |
Is your machine authentic or merely eligible? |
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