Talk Morgan Forums Community Vehicle Talk (non-Morgan) Another travesty, SS100 this time..

How about "Trafalgar" as a name for it.

"Victory" has been claimed by another, infact my Morgan MOT tester has one of these armchairs on wheels from the land of McDonalds - can't say I like that either - more a 916 design appeals to me but too much of a fat old git to ride one of those but the sound of those desmodromic units is unique and beautiful.

I have mentioned it before, a close friend of mine nearly lost his life on a 916 so he had it rebuilt to hang on the wall of his lounge and it is a work of art for sure.



Sushi Italian style



and McDonalds

P.S. The statement by the deluded owner that nobody in UK is capable of servicing it says it all to me the boy swallowed the sales pitch hook line and sinker.

Richard, while the Duke is very artistic in so many ways, the Italian machine that really knocked my socks off when I first saw it was the 1995 Aprilia RS 250 in Loris Reggiani replica, in red silver and blue, with beautiful polished frame and wonderfully sculptured swinging arm, that would be my choice of bike to hang on my wall.... BTW In terms of returns on investment, I ver considered my Morgan and these days my 991 as providing returns in the form of garage art as part of the joy of custodianship of such special machinery.

The only recent reincarnation of a motorcycle that I could image getting considerable enjoyment from both the original and the modern iteration is the 2026 Indian Chief Vintage. With a slightly longer buddy seat fitted, not the solo seat, the modern bike has IMHO captured the look of the 40's bike......and the modern rendition would be an amazingly simple to ride compared to the original with its foot clutch and 3 speed gearbox.



[img]https://www.tm-img.com/images/...retro-cruiser-motorcycle-1.md.webp[/img]

Oh no it's a two smoker George - pretty but I'll stay with the 916..

John ...Yes, I too thought that's a very creditable nod to their heritage ... inevitably bigger and heavier (as are most of the 2026 riders compared to their 1940 counterparts!! 🙂)

Mrs Image had an old Chief, but an earlier one without the deep valanced mudguards .... mad thing to drive ... the foot clutch was a proper 'suicide' clutch that was spring loaded to the engaged position like a car, meaning you couldn't put your foot down even if the bike was falling over unless you'd hit neutral on the hand gearchange .... the throttle was on the left side and there was a twistgip on the right for the manual advance/retard .... if you went into 'modern bike auto-mode' you'd run up to an obstacle slamming the ignition into full retard while grabbing for a non-existent clutch-lever and dabbing at an imaginary foot gearlever that was actually a clutch that wouldn't stay down ... all at unabated speed .... not a bike to daydream on!! 😆

K

K

I've always fancied an Indian Chief, but from the early 50's with the tele forks, but the foot clutch and hand gear change, I always thought would be a real challenge/risky to ride in a stop/start urban environment. They are IMHO really designed for use on the open US highways, where you have plentify of time and space and less pressing traffic to deal with the hand and foot controls. I fancy the new Chief, but it's really heavy I think pushing 330 klos wet,............ that .is quite a hand full.

They were always the more 'sporty' bike back in the day compared to the Harley .... the Harley foot-clutch had a friction plate built in so it stayed where you put it ... much more sensible and safe .. but less fun. 🙂

K

I love my '46 Chief and even ride it on longer trips. You get used to how it handles pretty quickly, and no, in its original condition, the clutch isn't a “suicide clutch”—the clutch pedal stays in the disengaged position. The handling is great, too; whenever I ride it, I’m always amazed at how good motorcycles could already be 80 years ago. The most outdated features on the Chief are the three-speed transmission and the brakes.

Lovely bike Jens ... sadly we don't have pics of a lot of our bikes from back then due to a time spent away in the States losing us a lot of our stored stuff ... must have been a mod from before she owned it as she definitely had a riding style of doing a slight right curve coming up to junctions so if the bike was going to lean it was away from her left foot 🙂

Was with her when she bought it and the guy selling it also had a complete military Harley 45 still crated and wrapped in rust proofing tape ... complete, new and never unpacked ... had the leather carbine sheath and convoy lights, the lot ... wanted £500 for it ... that was a lot of money back then but it's still right up there on the list of things I kick myself for missing out on 😆

K

Jens, that is a thing of beauty.