BOD (Bike of the Day)

Todays bike of the day:


Ducati Scrambler Cafe’ 800. Air & oil cooled 800cc Desmo Due 90 degree twin. Simple cantilever rear suspension (no linkage, like the old Supersport) combined with old school retro looks.

I rode a Scarmbler Icon and Full Throttle, both in the 800cc version. Nice enough bike, doesn’t do anything unsettling, brakes well, corners well….difficult to find fault in them. Riding position on the Cafe’ is more Monster like though, and I’m good with that.

There is a black w/gold version too; which I find tastier looking. Definitely in my crosshairs as I look at newer bikes. There is currently an S4R for sale in Sac that Id like to get a good look at. Listed a $5.4K on CL it’s blue with the white stripe that I’m partial to. Dunno if I need another 996 in my garage though. One Desmo Quattro is enough to keep up with really.

Time for a new BoD.


FZR 600. A punched out version of the original 400 that came to the US first, the FZR hung around in the Yamaha line up all the way until the R6 came along.

Jaimie James and Dave Sadowski (RIP) both won AMA Super Sport 600 National titles on the ol FZR riding for Vance & Hines. The YZF600R that followed was far less successful.

Both were sold alongside one another until the R6 came along and the venerable FZR was finally dropped for Y2K. None were produced after 1999 though the left over stock was still sold until 2000-2001.

I’ve actually ridden all 3 and even owned a YZF600R for several years. All I can say about the FZR is, you sit atop the thing rather than down in it, and the forks are kinda floppy.

What mean is, as a rider I felt more perched atop the thing than slotted in to the cockpit and part of it. The forks….didn’t matter what I set the pre-load or damping to, I felt like I bottomed them out every stop.

The latter was kinda sad as the FZR seemed to punch out of corners, slow ones in particular. Didn’t ever worry about ground clearance and it handled decently otherwise. The brakes were fine, nothing stellar but they felt let down by the floppy front end.

It wasn’t terribly powerful, making just 80-ish hp. It did only weigh 399 lbs dry which is decent but not stellar. The main reason I chose it though, is one popped up for sale on CL recently. It made me think….I haven’t seen one for quite a while.

No sooner than I come to that realization that I actually see one on the road the following day. I don’t think I’ve seen an FZR 600 on the road in at least the last 5-6 years. Probably been a couple since I’ve seen one for sale on CL.

Thing is, not all that long ago they were super common to see. Not just on the road but CL was littered with them. Seemed like all of a sudden there were just a few on CL and then none in a matter of just a couple of years.

Same thing is happening to the EX slowly. Used to see them all over CL….not now, at least not here. Maybe 1 or 2 but none is actually common enough now.

today's bod... honda cbx! 6 glorious cylinders, 6 glorious carbs. who on this forum has ridden one before? how'd you like it?

Quite familiar with the CBX though I’ve never ridden one…..I did nearly get run over by one.

It was my first summer in the UK and some buddies and I went into Oxford. Now, it isn’t like I’d never been there, and I’d been in the UK around 5-6 months.

The picture I’m trying to paint is, I wasn’t a total Newb at crossing the street. Those here in the US might think it a simple thing, but remember, things are quite opposite there.

Here, we learn to look left, then right when we cross the street. We’ve done it for so long it’s now muscle memory. It’s automatic. Well….that can get you run over in the UK.

Traffic is coming from your right there so if you step off the curb or kerb while looking left, you’re looking the wrong way. I knew this. However, like many just before an accident I was errrr…distracted. By a very cute British lass in a somewhat sheer summer dress.

I stepped out looking left, mostly at her when one of my buddies grabbed me by the shoulder and pulled me back….right out of the path of a CBX. Before I could turn and thank him, a Ferrari came blazing by too….I was in fact looking to the right by then but due to the cars parked along the street, I didn’t see it either.

Back to the CBX….seems for whatever reason that I’d not seen one in person at that point. Sure I’d read about them, seen a few magazine pics but they are far more imposing in person. Like a barn door with 2 wheels and 6 pipes imposing.

In the years since I’ve seen quite a few…..there’s a whole group that used to show up in Monterey for the SBK weekend. Some true survivors in amazing condition and some resto-modded to the hilt.

inline 6 CBX? meh......V8 Guzzi FTW

V8 powerplant good for 170+ mph .....in 1955, some riders refusing to race it!

Aprilia SXV 550.

550cc V-twin Super Motard. One of the first factory ‘tards released for public consumption. Early ones suffered from big end failures particularly on the 450 versions.

The 77 degree 549cc V-twin had single overhead cams and 4 valves per cylinder with titanium valves.

It made a claimed 70 hp at the crank but was measured on a dyno jet dyno at 68.9 at the back wheel.

It was geared fairly low as it’s purpose was not railing around a road race course at top speed. Measured top speed was 111 mph which is pretty respectable for what it is.

It’s a pretty light bike too, at just 268 lobs dry. From the guys I’ve know who rode them, the frame was quite rigid, more so than one would think for a bike of its intended purpose.

It was somewhat ground breaking when Aprilia released it in 2006. It was the first V-twin super Moto. Won the world Super Moto championship in its first year of competition.

BOD for today, 31 January 2022

1982 Ducati TT2 just 600cc, four time F2 winner 1980-1984. Rider T Rutter, designer F Taglioni

jorge moros said:

It may be a Ducati, but it's the least aesthetically pleasing Ducati I've ever seen.

Click to expand...

Really? Guess you’ve not seen these: