Beamer in Saigon

[PatMarlin]

I've been wanting to do this for years here at CB. I bought a new printer with a scanner and got it working this evening.

I know there's some bike fans here, and members that have served in SE Asia that might get a kick out of this.

I was in SE Asia and Saigon in 1997, and while walking down the streets shopping I snapped a pic of this old BMW. It stuck out like a sore thumb as the only non "Honda 90" motodop scooter I saw in the whole country.

I had to take cover while taking the pic as you can see, we got hit with a downpour.


http://www.patmarlins.com/Pat'sBeamer.jpg

[PatMarlin]

That doesn't even look like me, but it is. Weird.


http://www.patmarlins.com/PatinSaigon.jpg

[Southern Son]

I don't know about anyone else, but I cannot see and photo, just the bix with an X in it?

[Bret4207]

I'd settle for a one of the Honda 90's! I had the forerunner, a Honda 55. Loved that thing.

[Czech_too]

An OLD single! That's gotta be a '50's era m/c I would guess.

'Snortin' Norton' here

[MT Gianni]

[QUOTE=PatMarlin;1406834]That doesn't even look like me, but it is. Weird./QUOTE]

Sorry Pat, same shoulders, cheekbones and eye sockets. It does look like you.

[wallenba]

The poor guy who owns it probably does'nt even know that some westerner would pay him a small fortune for it. Looks all original too.

Here's one for sale $4500.00 http://motorcycles.yakaz.com/bmw-r27-for-sale

[uscra112]

Actually, as of 3-4 years ago, it was the S.E. Asians who were paying crazy money for the old BMWs. At that time I was selling off a lot of my old-style Beemer stuff on eBay and got many bids from S.E.Asia. If you buy parts for those old iron-barrels in the US today, many of them are made in S.E.Asia. True to form for that part of the world, most of them are Junk. ( And I had to cut off all SEA bidders because they always tried to run some sort of scam to get me to ship without proper payment. )

BTW that is an R25 model. Late '50s. Plunger frame, rode like a truck, but a great little engine. Shaft drive, dry clutch like a car, would run on 60 octane gas, and it had magneto ignition so it never needed a battery to make it go. Ideal for primitive conditions. A later version of that engine actually powered the Isetta micro-car in the early '60s.

[MtGun44]

Bret,

In Jan 1971 I crashed my Honda S65 and it put my in the hospital for 90 days. Nice bike but
nasty outcome. I stayed off of them for 39 yrs, picked up an old 1975 Honda CB125S2
in decent shape in late 2009 and put it back in top condition. Not a daily driver, but nice to
just get out on the back roads and cruise around to enjoy a bit now and then. Also, since
it gets around 90 mpg, my emergency transport if we get cut off from mideast oil in some
sort of Israeli/Iran 'disagreement', which I kind of expect to happen.

I never heard of a Honda 55 - maybe you are thinking of the Honda 50 (step thru frame
and leg protector plastic fairings, or the S65 or S50 - which were both "regular" motorcycles,
but not much performance. I rarely ran my S65 on the highway in those days, but a friend
had one and he occasionally got it up to (IIRC) about 58 mph by laying on the tank and
putting his feet on the tail light, doing everything to reduce drag.

The CB125 isn't much faster, but it will get to 55 quickly and top out about 62-65 or so
in the flat with no serious headwind. No powerhouse but it starts on 2nd kick and runs
nicely, everything works and gets excellent gas mileage.

Back on topic - I didn't know that BMW made single cyl bikes. All the ones I have seen in the
last 45 yrs were flat twins. So - what were you doing in Saigon?

Bill

[PatMarlin]

Sorry Pat, same shoulders, cheekbones and eye sockets. It does look like you.



But that guys doesn't have any gray hair John? ...:mrgreen:

[uscra112]

Yes, there was a 55cc Honda step-through. One of the few pushrod Honda engines.

I was selling Hondas in the '70s, and I always thought that little 125 was a pretty nice little get-around bike. Wouldn't mind having one today - they'd get 80 MPG. Take care not to rev it up cold - the top-end oiling is a bit dodgy for the first 15 seconds or so. For the rest of it, the little thing will go forever.

The BMW singles were very common in Europe; much more so than the twins. They exported most of the twins to the USA. The singles were big in Europe because people couldn't afford cars, and gas was ridiculously expensive. The last single, the R27, was built in 1966.

[MtGun44]

I'll take care of the CB125, it runs great about 4500 original miles. I guess that fact that they
didn't import many singles to the US is why I have never seen one before.

I hadn't heard of the Honda 55, just the Honda 50, which I had scavenge a wrecked one
to get some parts for my S65.

Bill

[uscra112]

I guess that fact that they
didn't import many singles to the US is why I have never seen one before. Bill

In the bad old days I lived in Cambridge, MA. Being around Hahvud Squayah we saw all the stuff that the stoonts brought back from their European travels.

BTW I now rate myself as a Refugee from the People's Republic - I even drive to Maine via VT and NH, just for spite.

[Bret4207]

http://www.motorera.com/honda/h0055/trail105/trail105.htm

There ya go Bill. Take a gander at the size of the rear sprocket on that thing! IIRC It topped out at 28 mph in 3rd (3 speed tranny, no clutch). You could take the outside of the big sprocket off and there was smaller on inside it, they just bolted together The little one would probably get you 55-50 mph but it had no guts for the woods. I worked an entire summer cleaning my folks bar every day to get the $50.00 for that bike. To this day the sight of an ashtray or smell of stale beer turns my stomach. Drunks are pigs. Anyway, I got the bike around 1970 and for 8 years it always started and I abused the heck out of it. If finally caught fire and burnt up while I was riding it one day.

I miss that bike. It was the next best thing to a horse.

[PatMarlin]

We road those little Honda step threws all over Cambodia.

If you look real close to the left, there are live chickens tied by the claws and hanging upside down from the handlebars. Our travel livestock.... :mrgreen:


http://www.patmarlins.com/hondaPat.jpg

[beagle]

Boys, you're bring back old memories here. Got a picture of self riding a Honda 50 with a Swedish K slung over my shoulder here in my clutter somewhere./beagle

[MtGun44]

Bret,
I had never run across that particular version. Boy, the sprocket is huge,I'll be it could pull
pretty good in the woods. My little S65 was OK on the dirt roads, I never ran it over about
45 mph, I expect it would go faster, but not good on dirt roads.

If you like that one, you ought to keep an eye on eBay, I have seen a few Trail 90s go on
there in the last couple years. Those old bikes are a lot of fun. My current 1975 CB125S2
will accelerate smartly up to about 40 and then starts to slow down, but will run up to 50-55
quickly, and then depending on grade and wind will make about 65 on the flat with no head
wind. I saw a XL125 in pretty good shape for sale about a year ago on eBay. It was complete
and running, not mint but looked like it would go just fine. No fast, but low geared. About
$700 to 1000 should get one nowdays depending on condition. Simple to work on, parts aren't
too hard to find, but most of the new stuff is in Thailand and shipping tends to double the
prices.

The trail 90s are in demand for the RVers, they can hang them on the back to get to town
if needed. A 'dinghy' as it were. They had a two speed gearbox after the main one, so in
low range they were geared for the woods and in high range would run on the road. I'd
imagine (never ran one) that 50-60 would be top speed on the road.

Bill

[fatelk]

I'm quite familiar with the Honda 55 trail bike; put many miles on one my grandfather had for decades. Before he passed away he gave it away to a stranger passing by who stopped and asked him about it.:(

I put many more miles on my first bike, a '77 Honda XL75. Beat to heck already when my dad bought it out of another farmer's junk pile for $25, there were no usable parts left at all when my siblings and I were done with it.

Neat photos, by the way.

[mroliver77]

I had a Honda Elsinore that was set up as an enduro. It was a great bike. A fellow was at my place buying BSA parts and seen it. He wanted it MUCH more than I did. Friend rode a BSA 500 single. What a thumper!
J

[jsizemore]

Pat, Did you find what you was lookn' for in SE Asia?

[MT Gianni]

mroliver, my current bike is a Suzuki DR 650. The single cylinders have come a long ways but I still like them. I really wanted a Triumph 500 back about 1970 but not near enough money in my pockets as a teenager.

[Jumptrap]

I thought some of you old farts might find this site interesting....the Chinks are busy making copies of the old Honda's and these folks are selling them, right here.

http://www.smithsenterprise.com/m90.html

[PatMarlin]

Look what the cat drugged in. How ya been Jumptrap?

[PatMarlin]

Pat, Did you find what you was lookn' for in SE Asia?

Yes and no. It became to dangerous, so I decided to leave it. But had an adventure of a lifetime.

[Jumptrap]

Look what the cat drugged in. How ya been Jumptrap?

Pat,

I'm doing OK, thanks for asking. I read the headlines here a couple times a week but rarely ever find anything worth commenting on......therefore, I don't! The CB 'family' I knew, more or less no longer exists and I don't know this new crowd and they don't know me. So, in order to avoid a pissing match every time I tell it as I see it, like an old dog, instead of chasing every car that drives by....I now just lay on the porch and lick'em. Must be a sign of advancing age or wisdom....whichever it is....it works for me.

Every time I read a post on Savage 340's......I think of the three I have in the safe that haven't seen light of day for 8 years now, same with the Martini cadets, the small legion of marlins and winchesters and all the others. I grin when Chinese SKS's are derided as poor cousins of the Russians and Yugo's and marvel at how the pinned barrel has failed to fall off after more than 10,000 rounds have gone down-range. Too many arm-chair experts for me. If I were tell about loading 36.5 grains of Bullseye in a 1944 Mosin before it let go, I'd be called a blatant liar. Most of that mil-surp stuff is junk and I spent a lot of time playing with them....it was a cheap form of entertainment. Folks would be a lot better off spending their time shooting nice, well made guns. On the other hand, I'd be everybody's best friend if I were to advertise for sale my mold collection...which I have considered doing. There's enough bullet casting stuff in the shop to make a good downpayment on a new car.

[PatMarlin]

Yaw lot's changed around here, but good to see you poke your nose in still once in awhile.

Remember we had talked years ago about my old fishing partner "Chuck Kazee" - a serious huntin' fishin', and shootin' scrapper from your neck of the Kentucky woods. I finally got a scanner, and I want to dig up a pic of him and see if he looks like the Kazee's you used to know.

Darn I miss him.

[Bret4207]

I thought some of you old farts might find this site interesting....the Chinks are busy making copies of the old Honda's and these folks are selling them, right here.

http://www.smithsenterprise.com/m90.html

Dang man! Not quite the Trail 90 I recall, but close.

Nice to see ya you old reprobate! Know what you mean about the "flavor" change here, but it's still better than most other places. Not as much fun as it used to be, thats for sure.

[Jumptrap]

Pat,

I had plum forgot you mentioning that Kazee man. I knew of two.....and I probably told you about both of them. One was an old man when I was still a kid. He was one of the last true hillbilly muzzleloader gunsmiths alive. His shop was nothing but an old wood shed and his tools were an assortment of hammers and files. He is long dead.

The other one was Jim Kazee, he was a little older than me, might be 60 if he was alive. Jim was a hoot...we called him Kra-zee on the railroad. He got killed not a mile from his house after driving home from a Florida vacation, turned his car over and was pinned beneath. That was at least 25 years ago.

Both of them lived in Boyd county, which is east of here.

Bret, those Chi-Com Hondas are probably pretty good bikes. I never liked the Trail 90 because the seat hurt my big ***. When I was a boy, the rich kids had trail 50's and 70's...like those Chinese knockoffs. I rode Shank's pony.

[Tom-ADC]

Pat, my hats off to you, there is no way I would go back and visit that country.
What I lost there can't be retrieved.