I like soup. It is a great mid-day pick-up; or a restorative after a long day in the saddle. This year I sampled many euro-soups in our 3000 mile loop through 8 countries. I think it may have been a dubious French soup that upset my intestines for a week after the first night. Nevertheless, from Bouillon to BohnenSuppe and Goulash to Slovenian Jota and Spargeln Creme, we relished in our Gruppe Suppe (Phrase courtesy of Tom, this year’s organiser)

The lure of the Ring

Finally became a Quasar owner, 1978 Red Quasar, bought off Andy T. Engine is running well after Andy had a new distributor fitted. I'm going to look at sorting the dash out first and make a list of other jobs to look at later. Added more pictures after three weeks of tinkering.

August 2010, newly painted and with new electronic distributor. Now has driving lights on each fork. Now owned by Gavin Newell and I have the VF750 based mk2, July 2011.

This was the first time I saw a Quasar, 1980 when I was 14. I think the event was at the Police HQ in Preston and even had a Police version. The last pic is a group from the show.

(if he can use my name, I can use his title)
F-Roads

Ok this is the 'final' design - ready to go to the builders. The forks have been pared down to 3.6kg for the pair. They are 6061 – T6 alloy. FEA has been done assuming a 1 G stoppy with a 300kg all up weight all on the front wheel.

There's been a lot of discussion today (April 1st, 2009) about the relative merits of the Buell motor compared with the SV1000; the main concern with the Buell is the width of the primary and possibly cooling problems when it's faired.
The SV1000's only real problem is its length, though I am not too concerned about wheelbase; I'm sure it will still be shorter than a Quasar and by all accounts they go round corners very well.

So I thought I would post a few pics from back when I was designing the R1-based machine.

Been thinking about the Buell 1200 as a sutible engine for my FF, what it has going for it,
Very narrow,45deg V so short to, side exit exhaust so no problems with a hot crotch (eg a sv1000) enough horse power 95-104bhp, but much more importantly low reving low down torque, IMHO this is esential for real world riding ie power availble instantly.
It also has very respectable economy ive seen 55mpg quoted.

My first attempt at a Hossack front end was designed to be built as much as possible out of stock material - tube and box section - as possible. The ball joints were bought from a friendly neighbourhood motor factor for the princely sum of 600 baht (about €12).

It started with a tape measure. That didn't get me too far, so I got a friend to photograph me on my T-max from as far away as possible with maximum zoom. It wasn't nearly far enough, but the results are acceptable.

Since the re-build of BikeWeb has killed my links I am going to build this as a blog, rather than a book

I had been keeping this under my hat until such time as it appeared it would actually going to get off the drawing board.

Craig Vetter here in Carmel, California, USA. My goal in this “Freedom Machine” is to build a one-person vehicle that sitting upright and comfortable will go 70 mph, into a 20 mph headwind, while carrying 4 bags of groceries, and get 100 mpg. Oh yes… of all the vehicles at my disposal, I want it to be my first choice.
This is not my first FF machine. In 1980-81, I built this Streamliner around a Kawasaki 250 single:

This machine was good for 108 mpg in my fuel economy contest of 1982. But, then, the speed limit in the US was 55 mph. Today, we ride faster. Today, I want to know what is possible the way I ride now.
I began with a used Helix from EBAY, changing only the bodywork to reach my goals. No engine mods. No drive train mods. No wheel changes. Only streamlining.

Big Sur bridge, California, USA
You will note that the skin is kind of rough. This is because it is made up of thin, yellow plastic sheet-stock which does not form into compound curves very well. This is fine for now because I change it all the time. I have many problems to solve before I do final tooling. As I solve each problem, the shape changes. Making my prototype in this manner saves a lot of time, money and itching. To make changes, I cut this stuff with scissors and attach it with little plastic “Christmas Tree” push in fasteners. Much of this machine is made of plastic foam and inflated panels. All very lightweight, durable and inexpensive. Rather than to try to explain all here, let me point you to www.craigvetter.com for a chapter by chapter account of this project.
I maintain this web page to show you how easy it is to build something like this. This thing is screwed together with a million little 8-32 screws and self locking nuts. A band saw and drill press are my most exotic tools.
Will I actually achieve my goals? Well, this is my first choice in vehicles and I really can carry 6 bags of groceries. However, until all the holes are smoothed over, I do not expect much in the way of fuel consumption improvements. Stay tuned. I am happy to answer questions and respond to your comments.

Hi, I've just joined this forum but cannot find any section where members can either advertise items for sale or items wanted ... am I missing something? If this section is the only place to ask then what I am after is a standard screen for an FJS 600 Silverwing. Does anyone have one for sale?

The protest to try and combat Westminster Parking Charges for Motorcycles gathers steam.

Now we've got banners!

eg

Here

An everyday story of motorcycling folk.....images under 'touring'
Set-up
After Florence in 2007, this year we kept our Euro-tour to France. Not so far, lots of space, variety and character, as well as excellent roads and food.
The overnight boat from Portsmouth to Le Havre is my favourite cross-channel tool, regardless of who runs it. We had the usual crowd of bikes at the ferry: immaculate cruisers, laden sports and seasoned travellers. For some reason you never see them after the ferry.

Here's PDFs of the Motorcycle News article on weird and wonderful PTWs.

An introduction

Hi All

Just become a member

I have been interested in Quasars since the beginning (late 70's) when a guy living opposite me owned one.

A stroke stopped me from buying Paul’s when it was up for auction (and the price) but I have kept in touch with Mark since then attending one gathering and lending a hand at the Quasar Garage whenever I have visited Mark.

So what am I doing on this list?

1) I have built more Quasars than anyone else (OK - OK so they are only models)

2) Mark and I currently own the SOLO QUASAR and with the blessing of the Newell family I have undertaken to restore it to its former glory.

It seems it's about time I fended off Arthur Middletons attempts to 'correct' my comments on the limitations of low CG motorcycle designs.

I beleive the original article spoke for itself if properly read and understood, but some have asked for a clarification upon Arthurs comments - so here it is.

Can anyone tell me who makes hard panniers for a 400 Burgervan