In the mid 70's there were precious few small capacity British marques. Most were the same as the pre-war models and mainly four strokes. However with Japan twenty years on from the end of the WWII Japan were creating exciting two stroke bikes. Japanese engineering was in the ascendancy as the UK bike industry was in decline. Triumph and Norton were about the last UK mass manufacturers. The Triumph's Bonneville & Norton's Commando were their respective iconic swan songs. Lack of investment in design and marketing since the end of WWII put paid to their development. Japan's development post war created fast and lightweight two strokes. Being Japanese they rung every ounce of performance out of the engines, created funky designs with high specification [for the day] such as electric start, electronic ignition, reed induction, separate two stroke oil tanks, disc brakes. Every year brought more exotica and with a price tag that was within reach of us ordinary plebs.
I went started with a Yamaha 70cc step-through automatic, then a Honda 250cc Dream later I had a Yamaha RD250. The Honda was in the shed "healing" from a dropped valve whilst I was whizzing about on the Yam. The RD was sexy.
After meeting Hazel, who would later become my wife, I set out to pass my test. At the second attempt I am passed, on the RD. Unlimited cc here I come. My Geography teacher rode a BMW and he influenced my choice of "big bike". The Japanese bikes were sexy but not bullet proof. BMW had and air of invincibility born out of German engineering prowess. The first BMW we bought was a second hand 1979 R80/7. We had fun on it and it was "quite" reliable. It had it faults but the repairs were manageable with my mechanical skills. The R80/7 is a 800cc twin cylinder engine. BMW's were made for covering long distances. We joined the owners club, went touring and made friends we have to this day.
Later in the blog I may let you in some of my motorcycling history and the adventures along the way. The reason for this blog is that I have come into possession of an R80/7. H and I have been looking for an 80/7 for about a year. The circumstances that made the bike available are quite sad but I am not going to dwell on the events. Let us just call it an unfinished project. I collect it on Monday 10.03.08. I can not wait.
