Fake Dirt Bikes.

[moonpup]

Found this and cracked up when I read his thoughts on the 350 GTO.

http://articles.superhunky.com/4/90

In case the page disappears sometime in the future, I've copied the quote below.....

"But the most insidious example of an almost dirt bike must be the Bridgestone 350, in faux-dirt attire. With dual rotary valves, and high pipes that exited on either side of the frame, it must have been like straddling a Nash Ambassador with handlebars. I can’t imagine anyone seriously thinking, “I want to ride this motorcycle in the dirt” it’s just too silly a proposition. And with Bridgestone’s infamous “rotary” shifting that let you shift from sixth gear to first without thinking about the consequences, this motorcycle was not only dangerous, but a true menace. Scary to look at, worse to ride."

[rocketman]

 Motorcycles were developed by the manufacturers in the early days primarily as a form of rudimentary transportation. They did not have competition in mind. There were no knobby tires,long travel suspensions or lightweight aluminum components. These things were all born of the desire of the operators to use thier equipment off road. Competitive spirit of man drove them to race and consequently out-do thier opponent. Whereas some manufacturers got into the race game with factory prepped machines,few offered production race bikes to the general public until the mid/late sixties. Most of these seemed to be smaller displacement machines,although there may be a few exceptions. The larger bore classes were chock full of converted street bikes,never intended for off road use. Uncomfortable? Maybe,but no more one than another. Seeing the market open up to production racers,improvements were forthcoming from the manufacturers and the sports themselves were transformed. Scrambles became motocross,and dirt track and road racing were extremely popular. Manufacturers saw this popularity and took the oportunity to cash in on the "look" of racing,emulating the racers re-designs of street bike models in bikes like the GTO's and "scrambler" styles produced by most all manufacturers of the day. Things that offered convenience to the urban street rider like the rotary shift were never intended for competition,it was an option offered to the operator who went from light to light to get back to neutural,so that down or back shifting was unneccessary. This feature would be locked out on any serious competition bike. Bridgestone deleted this option on its factory racers,and supplied special parts to modify the shift on all its smaller bore 50-90 machines for competition use. Race bike development was truly hand in hand and without it,there would be no motocross,no sport bikes,and a lot less fun!  Mark.

[rocketman]

 Here's the scrawl I left re the why's and wherefore's of bikes like the GTO that I referenced on another recent post. I had to look pretty good for it, so I'll open it back up to make it easier to find for those who are interested. Maybe more my opinion than pure fact, I wrote it after reading someone elses story from another post off the net about how crazy these bikes design seemed to the author. What do you think?  Thanks, Mark.

[Bikenstein]

  No one that I knew back in the day seriously considered Twin cylinder Yamahas, Suzukis, Kawasakis, Hondas and Bridgestones with high pipes as dirt bikes. I met and knew countless riders being a mechanic at Honda and Kawasaki dealers at that time. I venture to say that most any of these bikes above a 175 saw dirt only if the owner's driveway wasn't paved. It was a style thing only. Non functional but stylish. I like a little controversy sometimes because you get to hear so many opinions.

[coxy]

i bet the author rides a trail bike with road tires 

[Bikenstein]

Scary to look at, worse to ride. These evil handling machines are gone but not forgotten? Guess again superhunky   They're Alive!
After all you're talkin bout a GTR with high pipes

[Toystoretom]

this motorcycle was not only dangerous, but a true menace

Finally, someone who understands us!

[rburget]

I vaguely recall twin cylinder bikes having some success at hill climbing and flat track. I agree that the GTO and Hurricane Scrambler were ill-suited for serious dirt use, as their mufflers made me ride bowlegged while standing up on the foot pegs. In their favor, the high pipe models would not drag their mufflers on the road unless your lean angle was absolutely hopeless.

The 350's do not have a rotary shift option like the 175's though. My 175 had excellent brakes, with which I could lift the rear wheel off the pavement. That kind of force caused the "Sport Shift" lever to flop forward into "Rotary Shift" mode. This could come as an unwelcome surprise if you ever got into neutral from fifth gear, assumed that it had jumped out of gear, then found first while trying to get it back into fifth gear. Eventually, I lost my Sport Shift lever in an impact with a tree stump, so it was no longer a problem.

I had gone to some trouble to mount my 175's air cleaner upside down, so the opening was on top. I also carefully sealed all the wiring so I could cross shallow streams without worry. I had not noticed that inside the carb covers, under the carbs, were some short tubes containing some very coarse metal that looked like a scouring pad, that vented directly to the outside air. The whole air cleaner assembly looked less critical after my engine sucked water up one of those holes.

I put trials tires on my Hurricane Scrambler and ran it on a TT course until the jumps made the rear shocks seize up. The little BS finally met its end when a Dodge Dart wadded it up while I commuting home from school. I immediately got my first GTR after that.

  Bob B.

[rocketman]

  Thanks for your story Bob, I think my point seemed to be getting lost a bit. The "scrambler" look for marketing purposes simply followed the real world use of the machines. Early on, no matter the use, trail bike or competition, If it was in excess of 250cc or so, the likelihood of it having multiple cylinders was pretty good. I liken it to what comes first, the chick or the egg? Think of it this way. IROC Camaro, or IROC racing? Pontiac Trans Am, or Trans Am racing? All I know is when those multi-cylinder 2 strokes fired up, everyones attention was quickly focused on the event. There is no substitute for that sound. I've seen many a Yamaha big Bear, lots of 175/200 Bridgestone twins and a 350 or two being dirt tracked with upswept chambers to keep them out of trouble. Family friends from New England hillclimbed a 750 Kawasaki H2 with THREE upswept expansion chambers. Hillclimbing can be real hard on down swept pipes. Change came after crushing multiple sets of pipes. I don't think Kawasaki had any desire to go into production with this look however!  Thanks, Mark.

[OldSwartout]

I agree that people didn't consider those high-piped twins real dirt bikes, although I built upswept (unsilenced) expansion chambers for my 175 and rode the Jack Pine, various cross-country and hare scrambles, and even a few motocrosses with mine.  Yes, you did have to plug up those screens in the bottom of the carb cavities.  I rode mine through a flooded barnyard near Muncie with the water near the top of the cylinders and it kept running.

The fad of upswept pipes on old street bikes is similar to the current fad of putting tall suspension and upswept pipes on big 650, 800 and 1000 four-stroke twins and convincing buyers they are dual-purpose bikes.  They may be better on unimproved roads or fire roads than those old 60s and 70s bikes due to much better suspension, but they are a long way from a real dirt bike.

[Bikenstein]

In the spring of 1970, there was a decent hill on a powerline in Mcdonough, GA. Many high piper twins and others attempted to climb this thing which was pretty steep (looked like a sheer wall for the first 50 or 60 feet). At the top of the first terrace at 60 feet was a boulder with a vertical face for about 3 feet. No one had made it over the first terrace until one day a shiny new stock Kawasaki Big Horn showed up. He backed up to the creek, revved his engine a couple of times and blasted toward the wall. Wound out in second gear he hardly dropped any speed or rpm as he tore up the face of the "cliff" shooting a huge rooster tail behind. As he hit the face of the rock, he backed off the throttle enough to suck the front end into the hill and he sailed sideways through the air halfway to the second terrace, and crashed into the hill. The bike slid and hung on the terrace. He pulled it loose and slid down the hill in a cloud of dust. He was determined to conquer this hill before the astonished crowd, so he drove over the creek on the 12 foot 2x6 and went out a piece, turned around and revved his engine to clean it out. He hit second gear before he hit the 2x6 and was wound out in third gear as he hit the foot of the hill. The force bottomed the forks and shocks out but he kept the throttle on flying up the hill, hit the rock and jumped clear over the second terrace blasting higher. At the third terrace his front end came off the ground and he wheelied the last 70 feet to the top and turned around triumphantly. The first and only rider to ever conquer that hill. He also climbed it 7 more times before they dug the rock out. I only wish that Bridgestone had built such a machine.