CAFE RACERS..

[gooseman]

Last night on HD Theater, a 30 minute show about cafe racers..lots of scenes from 60s-70s Britain...mods & rockers at the Ace Cafe & racing cafe to cafe also record runs...just really cool stuff. It seems after owning my Laverda for 36 years that it is now coming back in style...of course it isnt British but the Italians had some good cafe style bikes..Ducati, Moto Guzzi, Laverda, mostly 750's at the time. Do you guys get these same programs?? jim

[manifold]

I've not seen any, but I do love retro stuff. Especially from the 60's/early 70's.

There were a great couple of documentaries recently about Colin Chapman, Graham Hill and Jim Clarke though.

Loved them.

[gooseman]

Good 'ol ACBC...i had a Europa twin-cam about 20 years ago. .what a great little car..if i remember right it was worse getting in/out than the Midas, the same high door sills though it had a spine frame, a sheet metal box that weighed 20 lbs or so...it would be nice to have the twin-cam engine in the Midas

[manifold]

Nice car the europa.

Heres one made by a company just up the road from me in Southport, based on a Brabus Smart Car running gear.

Im sure it must be a fun drive

http://www.banks-europa.co.uk/smart_europa.htm

[gooseman]

That is a really cool car...paddle shifters in a Europa..that is amazing. I have looked at some new cars that have them, a Mini clubman, Mitsubishi evo, Golf GTI...the Evo i looked at was close to top of the line, price about $46,000, a little too rich for me but WOW! an ominous black metallic paint, i noticed the race seats are just manual adjusted...i sort of expected them to be electric. The GTI looks a great car for the money...made in Mexico, i wonder about its quality but may be fine. For the same price as the Evo i could also buy a Dodge hemi Challenger, i think they may be in short supply so the dealer would try to rob you on the price.
The fiberglass on the Midas is far superior to the bodywork on the Europa, seems thicker & stronger most everywhere...maybe a result of Colin's philosophy of "make it light" above all.
I attended several local British car shows with my Europa & there was also a JPS car with 5 spd trans at a couple of them, his car was beautiful cosmetically with fresh black paint & striping. My car was beautiful mechanically and a 4 spd, it still had its original red paint..a little faded, a few star cracks. After the show, on the way home...he & i raced at more than 100 mph down a four lane divided hwy. ..my car was easily faster & accelerated more quickly. ..he was simply embarrassed & i never wondered again about the 5 spd box, my cars gearing was just better, jim

[manifold]

I've always had a soft spot for the Europa. Its a lovely little car. Well ahead of its time I think. I think the banks europa puts a nice modern spin on it.

Seats are probably manual for weight......a bit like my wind up windows on my car. I had a choice for the electric winders.....and went electric. I have too much electric on already, what with the megasquirt and injection (which is coming on nicely).

Your probably right about Colins philosophy...at a small cost to longevity. Hence the reason he had a few issues with the racing cars I guess.

Theres nothing wrong with 4 speed with the right gearing and final drive. I have a 5 speed dog box for the Ti Midas but to be honest I am not expecting that much difference, although, unusually, 5th is direct on that box. Not an overdrive like nearly all other modern cars. Not like you can use the top end anywhere without getting a ticket these days anyway.

[gooseman]

In the countryside a ways from my home, you can run a car or bike up on the top end without seeing a cop, of course its possible you might meet a state patrol or local sheriff's car. My 998 is running its best now and will touch 100 on the Metro speedo under the right conditions, granted it has a smaller diameter tire but this only makes for about 2-3 mph of error. Some years ago i hit 128 on my KZ1000, redline (8500) in 5th gear, the speed calculated as it would only read to 80mph on the speedo. Todays bikes will likely go 130 in the middle gears...i think the 600s will go 150 or so on top end.
They have speed trials at Maxton, NC where you can go for top end on an airstrip but you have to have a roll bar (too much trouble), their record for 1000cc is around 100 mph, as i recall held by a modified Geo Metro.....jim

[gooseman]

Here is a link to Maxton,N.C. & the ECTA, looks like a bike rider was killed recently...http://www.ecta-lsr.com/