If Honda made a retro flat tracker style bike.

[scotteroni]

This guy made one out of an 85 XL600R.  Great interpretation.  I'd be standing in line at the dealership if honda offered one.

[miles]

I'd hit it.

[JonS]

I'd hit it.

Me too.

Here is one of Honda's earlier attempts.

[buls4evr]

 That is what ASCOT singles and twins were supposed to be.....No one bought them! They gathered dust on the floor of your Honda showroom. So they will never try again.Already burned once. You have to build your own. A Triumph Bonneville is pretty close to a good starting point.

[miles]

 That is what ASCOT singles and twins were supposed to be.....No one bought them! They gathered dust on the floor of your Honda showroom. So they will never try again.Already burned once. You have to build your own. A Triumph Bonneville is pretty close to a good starting point.

I had an Ascot FT500 single.  That bike was a lot of fun.

[Uncle Leo]

I think that's what they're trying to do with this ...




price is stupid high and the air cleaner mashes into your shin.

[ReSTored]

 That is what ASCOT singles and twins were supposed to be.....No one bought them! They gathered dust on the floor of your Honda showroom. So they will never try again.Already burned once. You have to build your own. A Triumph Bonneville is pretty close to a good starting point.

I always thought the old Yamaha 650 twin was a good starting point for a stripped down flat tracker type of bike.  Dirt cheap to buy as well.

Here are a few samples pulled from a quick google search....  

http://www.650motorcycles.com/JimG.html

http://motorivista.com/yamaha-xs650-street-tracker/

[rgbeard]

http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2011/05/19/honda-ft500-gets-a-new-life/

[jay547]

I had an Ascot FT500 single.  That bike was a lot of fun.

me too. i was on a forum and noticed a member had one listed in his profile. i told him i always liked them and asked to see some pic's. he said it was just rusting away in his back yard and if i came and got it, i could have it. i road-tripped to dallas the following weekend. i bought a few missing parts off ebay, cleaned it up, put a few hundred dollars in it, and rode it for three years. probably the most fun overall bike i've ever had.

[Uncle Leo]

Honda brought this over in 83 - 84, it showed promise but Americans wanted their V twins bigger and badder.  Our loss.

[phoenix]

Honda could screw up a free lunch. If they did make one, it would be stupid expensive and it wouldnt sell.

[veefer800canuck]

 I'd be standing in line at the dealership if honda offered one.

Yeah, you and one other guy.

Remember the GB500? North america didn't "get it" either.

[veefer800canuck]

Me too.

Here is one of Honda's earlier attempts.

This bike, exactly as it sits, is wicked cool, but after the safetycrats finished with it, and got it to conform to federal regs, plus every other internal design committee got finished with it, it would look like a bowl of oatmeal by the time it hit showroom floors, and cost like steak and lobster.  

[DogBoy]

Build your own. The world is littered with XR650Ls and the parts to make a street tracker are cheap. Like the bike in the video, it would be ten times cooler than anything from an OEM. Ascot singles are cool, too.

The bike in Jons's post isn't an attempt, its the RS750 that beat HD in the AMA flat track championship in the '80s.

[Snowbird]

Styled like a Sportster.

Styled like a boat anchor.

[canban]

If anyone is interested I saw this ad this morning

http://toronto.en.craigslist.ca/yrk/mcy/2778956498.html

[Uncle Leo]

Styled like a Sportster.

Yeah, the 750 does look sportster-ish, and not like their old flat-tracker, except for the paint colors. Which is why when they advertise it as "inspired by the world of flat tracking", it makes me go looking elsewhere for a motorcycle rather than Honda's inspirations. I wonder what inspired that drum rear brake?

[scotteroni]

The Ascot weighed in at 450 lbs and the xl600r in the original post  is more like 300lbs. 150lb makes a big difference in flick ability and handling. I think the old xr / xl's were  more torquey than the newer Ascot motors and if it had the dual carb set up on with the RFVC head as most did.. well then you'd really a hot rod compared to the newer offerings. I looked at an ascot a while ago that somebody stored in their dirt basement that was a piece of rusted junk with half the stuff missing. The guy would not budge from the $450 listed price.   don't think he ever sold it.

[Snowbird]

Yeah, the 750 does look sportster-ish, and not like their old flat-tracker, except for the paint colors. Which is why when they advertise it as "inspired by the world of flat tracking", it makes me go looking elsewhere for a motorcycle rather than Honda's inspirations. I wonder what inspired that drum rear brake?

I had a Sportster. I'd like to try the Honda.

[scarecrow]

Don't hold your breath waiting for anything knew to hit these shores. American motorcycling has become stale.

[buls4evr]

Don't hold your breath waiting for anything knew to hit these shores. American motorcycling has become stale.

  You know it is a terrible problem for mfgrs. They can't sell bikes so R&D is greatly reduced. If no R&D then nothing new. In the spirit of early flattracking ALL the bikes were a road bike to start with. Everyone built their own and we are back to that again. If you expect to build one today I would start with a Triumph Thruxton then go to Storz catalog and look for a seat ,bars,tank maybe and a n Acerbis #plate headlight combo. Then you get the newer tech and the old look with a pretty good performance package for the street.You have to be creative.

[pcrdude]

Honda brought this over in 83 - 84, it showed promise but Americans wanted their V twins bigger and badder.  Our loss.

I had that bike but in Candy Apple Red.  Sold it after college because I was broke.  It was a really fun bike, and a good transition from riding on dirt to riding on the street.  I wish I still had it.  It was sort of like a 500cc V-Twin Nighthawk.

Edited to add that it weighed in at 396 pounds dry.
http://www.cyclechaos.com/wiki/Honda_VT500

[X1Glider]

Seems like I should have kept this then.  Dual carbed too.  But man, kick starting it was a bitch after falling over when you were exhausted from 4 hours of enduro riding.  I should have kept it for the street, looking back.  Flat tracker sounds great.

[JSharp]

I had an Ascot FT500 single.  That bike was a lot of fun.

Neat bike.

I worked at a Honda/Kawasaki dealer when those first appeared. Everyone at the shop loved it. Unfortunately the customers didn't. We only got one and IIRC we ended up trading it to another dealer in exchange for something else.

[spd2918]

Cool bike; shows what talented people can create.

I love the look of flat black bikes, but I fear they are invisible to dullard soccer moms and teenage texters.


I'd love me a GB500:

[Rincewind]

Cool bike; shows what talented people can create.

I love the look of flat black bikes, but I fear they are invisible to dullard soccer moms and teenage texters.


I'd love me a GB500:

   I occasionally look up the values on the GB500's, which usually seem pretty high (cult bike, limited quantities).  That said, there's one on ebay bidding now...  

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Honda-GB-500-TOURIST-TROPHY-1990-HONDA-GB500-TT-/250965462662?pt=US_motorcycles&hash=item3a6eb50e86#v4-40

[Hardware]

Ummm...WTF is that leaned up against the fence?  A dead...something?

[bomber]

GB500s are aces -- so, too, are Yamaha SR500s . . .  you can play toss and catch all day long, have the time of your life, burn almost no gas, and tires last damn near all summer!

[BashamR6S]

Thats a very cool little bike, wish we could see something like this in the near future.....

Bash

[Meemuh]

Ummm...WTF is that leaned up against the fence?  A dead...something?

Looks like dead horse wearing a hat drinking a beer.  Is that odd?

[mugwump58]

This could just as well have gone on CL Gold

[Uncle Leo]

I didn't realize the twin was a shaft drive. I guess that precluded it from flat-tracking.

[RodeRash]

I built my own years ago.  
Trackmaster built a frame for me with a kickstand.   I added the rest.
XS-650 motor bored to 750 cc.   Big valves, cam, carbs etc.  The motor was a clone of what was being raced on the dirt tracks at that time.

The State of Colorado issued a vin number and a title.
I've NEVER had a bike that vibrated like that thing.     It was a blast to ride on dirt roads.
It was a quick handling bike on tight paved roads, but the frame and the forks flexed quite a bit.

Sorry for the poor quality pic.   I had to scan it from an old picture.

[Uncle Leo]

"I've NEVER had a bike that vibrated like that thing. "

Ahhh, the legendary Twingle !  I had an XS-650 and to this day I know that when I die I'm going straight to heaven because that thing took care of any suffering I'd deserve in purgatory.  I think I still have a credit balance!