What the heck, it's a slow day. Maybe no one will notice...

Folks,

Jake was correct a month or so ago in making claim as to owning a 44-horsepower, 380cc Greeves Q.U.B from 1972. He supplied documentation as to horsepower rating, I have been reduced to quibbling about the source. Brit magazines writing about Brit-produced cars and motorcycles have this bad rep, don't you know.

Not Jake's fault, of course. I have apologized to him, herewith retract my comments.

>Folks,
>
>Jake was correct a month or so ago in making claim as to
>owning a 44-horsepower, 380cc Greeves Q.U.B from 1972. He
>supplied documentation as to horsepower rating, I have been
>reduced to quibbling about the source. Brit magazines
>writing about Brit-produced cars and motorcycles have this
>bad rep, don't you know.
>
>Not Jake's fault, of course. I have apologized to him,
>herewith retract my comments.
>
>Dan

And I already told Dan he didn't owe me one. I have always enjoyed his input and articles and reading his work- still do.
I have to apologize to him, Brett Buck, and Ted Fancher, and Bill Byles and anyone else out there I may have offended or hurt the feelings of thru the years here or anywhere else on these e-boards. I have a VERY "oddball" sense of humor and being part American Indian/German/Irish/English mix, it sometimes gets in gear coupled with my temperment and runs amok...

Peace guys (and gals),

JAK

Jake,

I agree with you about yoursense of humor. Sometimes I was caught by surprise and even posted back some idiotic revengeful message.

Nowadays I just have to remember the day you "saved my life" and I just smile.

You might not remember it, so here'sthe story:

I had to disassemble and clean my OS.32 (I was using all castor fuel) and I forgot to mark the piston's right side into the sleeve. When I realized this I was in panic. I was ready to go to the field but I'm not THAT stupid to stick the piston the way I just "thought" was right and risk the whole thing.

I poosted a HEEEELP! note, and in some 20 minutes you confirmed that the side with a half moon cut was the "front" side, made to clear space for the crank.

Something like "the front is such and such side, SIR!"

In another 20 minutes I was firing it up at the field.

This guy saved my day, he can't be a bad dude...

BTW, I also have indian and german blood running in my veins. My great great grampa was a Xavante indian and he married this german missionary called Maria Gertrudes Von Bentzen. As you see my zeal for your soul runs in the family
On the other side another one of my ancestors was he Marquis of Santa Cruz and a powerfull man in Emperor Pedro II's court. I'm not proud of that, even because he was also a Roman Church Cardinal (!). The pope even sent to Brazil a document declaring his sons were NOT bastards, thus saving me from being a "great great son off a b####"...

Ion (blue blooded) Muniz

See....now it's stuff like this that makes the whole Forum such a worthwhile thing to check out. Thanks guys!
Norm

As I recall, I also told you how to get a stuck rear bearing out of a case. But you still got me beat because your English is a WAY lots better than my Portugese is!

Peace,

Jake

PS, did you all know that it was the Portugese that introduced firearms to the Japanese???

Oh,yeah,I forgot that one!

I took it to a mechanic-machinist and he wanted do take it off using a mechanical method.

After he got tired he finally asked me about the "gringo way" off removing bearibngs, and when he heated the engine with an acetylene torch the bearing just "plopped" out..

Ion (muito obrigado,meu chapa!) Muniz

See....now it's stuff like this that makes the whole Forum such a worthwhile thing to check out. Thanks guys!
Norm

This exchange between us human beings reminds of something
my ma told me many years ago as a kid and she said that, "the easiest things
are the hardest to do". Boy did I hate hearing that, because I did not understand
what she meant, and she did not always have a clear explaination for things
and I just would get frustrated even more. Years passed and there was some fatefull
day in my life and suddenly that qoute from my ma popped into my brain and it all made sense and I thought man, she was genius!! I guess I feel melancholy tonite as
Mothers day is here and my ma has been dead for 24 years. I was 19 when she died.

So to all you guys and gals that still have a living mother, give her a hug for yourself
and for me and the folks who don't.

> See....now it's stuff like this that makes the whole
>Forum such a worthwhile thing to check out. Thanks guys!
>Norm
>
>
>This exchange between us human beings reminds of something
>my ma told me many years ago as a kid and she said that,
>"the easiest things
>are the hardest to do". Boy did I hate hearing that, because
>I did not understand
>what she meant, and she did not always have a clear
>explaination for things
>and I just would get frustrated even more. Years passed and
>there was some fatefull
>day in my life and suddenly that qoute from my ma popped
>into my brain and it all made sense and I thought man, she
>was genius!! I guess I feel melancholy tonite as
>Mothers day is here and my ma has been dead for 24 years. I
>was 19 when she died.
>
>So to all you guys and gals that still have a living mother,
>give her a hug for yourself
>and for me and the folks who don't.
>
>Paul Heimgaertner

I can go with that.
Your mom was a wise lady.
Mine passed along the way on Dec. 23rd, 1988, which was a Friday and Christmas weekend around 5:00 AM here at home- it wasn't a really Merry Christmas that year...

Peace,

JAK

I'm afraid that I too, found a 44 HP claim for the Greeves difficult to believe. (It was one of those rare instances where I didn't suspect that The Daniel might have a prune in his whiskers..) I've ridden a Greeves 380 and the Suzuki 400 I had (which really did have over 40 HP) was MUCH more powerful.

That doesn't mean the Greeves weren't great bikes. While I was stationed in England at RAF Fylingdale, I attended several "scrambles" where Greeves were king.

And my Suzuki 400 was super fast, but had terrible handling.. It was a dangerous bike. The last dirt bike I owned was a big Husky 390 WR, a true joy to ride fast through the desert.

I dearly love riding motorcycles, both dirt and road types. It's a superior experience.

[photo not recovered: 3e69bb3870f12ad5.jpg]

"Harlez-vous francais?" (Can you drive a French motorcycle?)

Larry,

Your Suzook 400 only had three problems: 1) more motor than even the best chassis of the time could handle, 2) one hinge at the steering head of frame, 3) another hinge at pivot point of rear swing arm.

Other than these minor quibbles, a good motorcycle. Especially if one was constipated and wished fast, fast relief from the blockage.

Correct! The expansion chamber kept breaking from vibration (they say that means it is working). But that engine had the power! A step function.

I actually rode that bike at the Mile High Enduro at Cloudcroft one year. Finished about 85th I think - a "motocross" bike gets pretty exhausting over stumps and narrow, rocky, muddy trails..

[photo not recovered: 3e69bb3870f12ad5.jpg]

"Is sloppiness in speech caused by ignorance or apathy? I don't know and I don't care." -William Safire

Larry, Dan,

Once owned a motorcycle which was hinged all the way from the front wheel spindle to the rear wheel spindle, remember the Kawasahi H2 750 triple 2 pop. The hinged frame would soon cause a nasty un-hinging sensation generally located around the seat of your pants.

Long time ago the Greeves Silverstone became my 1st love..won a race on second outing.

Regards,

>Larry, Dan,
>
>Once owned a motorcycle which was hinged all the way from
>the front wheel spindle to the rear wheel spindle, remember
>the Kawasahi H2 750 triple 2 pop. The hinged frame would
>soon cause a nasty un-hinging sensation generally located
>around the seat of your pants.
>
>Long time ago the Greeves Silverstone became my 1st
>love..won a race on second outing.
>
>Regards,
>
>Frank

Frank,

Both the H1 and the H2 came out back in the days when Kawasaki could easily afford either engine development or chassis development. But not both at the same time.

I have never ridden the 750, although once had a short go with a 500 a friend brought along on a dirt-bike trip. Ever since I have wondered if the motors really were as powerful as they seemed, or if the chassis were mutuated and devolved back to pre-Featherbed days.

Does anybody remember "specials" using a proven chassis fitted with either of the Kawi triples? I don't, which makes me wonder if the motors were merely good devices, not blazing fast and so not candidates for much effort in refitting to a serious frame, forks and rear suspension.

Dan,
Friend of mine fitted the Kawasaki triple into a Rickman rolling chassis. Longer wheelbase than the kwacker, Reynolds 532 tube construction. Handled real good. Now the flaws in the engine became evident. The bike was never raced seriously and ended up in the hands of local cafe racer.

Regards,

LAST EDITED ON May-10-04 AT 05:48 PM (CDT)
 
I think one reason the Mach III (H-1) got the reputation it did was it arrived on scene at a time when the quickest bikes around were the Sporty and assorted Brit twins. It hit these shores just a hair ahead of the Honda 750 (as I recall) and the Suzuki 500 Titan wasn't really competition for it.
It sure was impressive looking coming off a redlight, especially with a girl hanging on for dear life on the back in a cloud of two-stroke exhaust (I've only done that one time in my life and I swear I'll never do it again!).

JAK