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Nice, I remember when Egli was a big name, so much has changed in the intervening years with bike tech. Particularly the tires, if you put modern slicks on that bike it would probably overload the frame. Thats what they found in the a lot of the classic classes that new tires transferred so much more of the grip to the bike that previously where they would slide they now bucked and spat people off!  Thats why MotoGP bikes are so stiff because the tires have so much grip and its really fascinating how granular the tire tech is, the rubber only works at a certain temp. Exceed it and lose grip, do a slower lap, lose grip, cold wind, lose grip on one side... The evolution of frames and suspension is all interrelated with the tires. 

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Rod was always a bit of a reclusive character. He lived up the Waikare inlet at the bay last time I had contact with him. Owns a lovely old Logan called Wanderer.

My favourite memory of him was at the classic bikes at Puke. Everyone turns up with their bikes polished to within an inch of their lives.

Rod turns up on his Vincent absolutely covered in road dirt. Best looking bike there !

He was a pretty good rider in the day on a Duc 750ss I think

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There also used to be a guy called Stuart Lind who rode the Egli at puke. I went to school with him but didn't know him. It was funny hearing the Z1's and H2's screaming their heads off and the Vincent going past at half the revs and faster

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42 minutes ago, twisty said:

Rod was always a bit of a reclusive character. He lived up the Waikare inlet at the bay last time I had contact with him. Owns a lovely old Logan called Wanderer.

My favourite memory of him was at the classic bikes at Puke. Everyone turns up with their bikes polished to within an inch of their lives.

Rod turns up on his Vincent absolutely covered in road dirt. Best looking bike there !

He was a pretty good rider in the day on a Duc 750ss I think

Rod owned the W Fife? Designed Mavis which was lost on a reef near Fiji if I remember correctly she was owned for many years by the guy with one leg whose name I can’t remember.

Saw Rod not too long ago here in Poncenby all leathered up on his Vincent Comet somethings never change.

 

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Robin Coleman had the Mavis and sold it to Rod, still see Rod at Tall ships some years or at AES in Beaumont st on his Comet held together with no 8 wire. Saw a whole display of new Egli at LeMans a couple of years ago but the prices....whew. If you want to hear the most amazing engine check out Goodwood Revival live on youtube this weekend -they are demonstrating a new build BRM V16 F1 car .

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wandering to the supermarket this arvo (covid-ercise) and we were passed by what I thought at first glance was an original Z1. 

36-792-world-record-price-1972-kawasaki-

But the pipes looked odd.  Too many of them...  It went around the roundabout up the road and came back towards us.  Sounded not like a Z1.  Turned out, it was one of these.  Looked original and mint.  Not a ride I would have expected to see in deepest Papakura.  Or even in NZ to be honest.

dc8eb6b2-40e4-43d6-8bed-a787310a48cd-xlg

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good spotting

not many about

terribly spindly forks amongst other questionable design decisions

if you like the z1

kawasaki they started making the z900rs in 2018

note the big upside down forks and radial calipers

https://www.motorcycle.com/manufacturer/kawasaki/live-2018-kawasaki-z900rs-long-term-review.html

https://bikereview.com.au/review-2018-kawasaki-z900rs/

040618-Kawasaki-Z900RS-01.jpg

of course there's a market for 4 into 4 pipes, but they're not cheap mass produced stamped iron with thin chrome

https://www.bike-urious.com/4-into-4-exhaust-2018-kawasaki-z900rs/

 

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yeah, front suspension wasn't a strong focus area in the early 1970's!  

It had me really confused - not as bulky as a CBX but obviously 6 cylinder from the sound and the fan of pipes.  The guy riding it wasn't going hard - it looked like it was getting its "once a month, 5km and then back on the battery charger" ride.

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friends of mine eagerly await each year when a new year of classic bikes can get the $50 a year rego

starts at 40 years i think, it makes owning multiple bikes much cheaper as a newish big bike costs >$500 for rego, most of that ACC levy..........motorcycling about the only? hobby that gets pinged like that by ACC.... 

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Those new Z900rs's are a good looking bike. I think they are the best looking retro bike made.

I used to own the Z1 that Ginger Molloy won the Castrol 6 hour on way back. I bought it from Laurie Summers for $900. Would be worth a bit now if I still had it.

I doubt I would think much of it now with the basic 1970's handling with no brakes !

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