Putting it into perspective...

[delgado3030]

Originally Posted by alantf

Lotsa BBC info

What makes the BBC superior

[alantf]

Originally Posted by delgado3030

What makes the BBC superior

When I was young, I never missed the original series. I'm not so sure (IMO) that the new series is anything like as good. :2tup:

[Mercutio57]

This is the first time I've checked this thread since my initial posting, and I must say it certainly is interesting to see what directions it has taken!

It is indeed ironic that the discussion quickly morphed into an "arms race," as one contributer so aptly put it. My point, quite simply, was that what is regarded as a tiny beginner's bike here is considered a substantial, full-sized machine elsewhere.

Put another way, it was a reflection on what is, or is not, "enough." And as I cruise my local roads, among motorcycles the size of cars, cars the size of trucks, and trucks the size of houses (and passing houses the size of warehouses!), it seems to me that for many of us there is no such thing as "enough."

Another interesting thing I've noted about my Poderosita is the way it gets people's attention right here in the U.S.

I live in a tourist destination, and on any warm weekend the streets of my town are packed with motorcycles, all of which are very large and expensive. The reality of the vehicular "arms race" is very evident. One might think that in the midst of all this fancy iron my little GZ would be dismissed or perhaps even laughed at, but the opposite is true. People often stop and look at it, ask me what it is, and tell me how much they like it. The fact of the matter is that in a society in which a Sportster is considered a beginner's bike many people have never even seen a little street thumper like the GZ. What used to be fairly common has now become a novelty!

On the name, Alberto Granado's Norton (only a 500, by the way!), was called "La Poderosa," which does mean "the Powerful One." It is feminine because the word for motorcycle, 'motocicleta,' is a feminine noun. My bike's name is the diminutive form, because she is only half the displacement of Granado's bike-- "the Little Powerful One."

Keep the shiny side up, folks!

[alantf]

My dad's Norton 500, complete with sidecar (& my mum). Must've been take around the last half of the 1940s.

[mrlmd1]

Alantf - don't you wish you had that now? :2tup:

[Mercutio57]

Great picture!

[alantf]

Originally Posted by mrlmd1

Alantf - don't you wish you had that now? :2tup:

You bet! He sold it & bought a Morris Minor 1000 van when I was still small.

[zenbutcher]

HAHA.. The real "La Poderosa" was also a Norton 500... That may be your Dad's bike with sidecar to the right!

[alantf]

Originally Posted by zenbutcher

HAHA.. The real "La Poderosa" was also a Norton 500... That may be your Dad's bike with sidecar to the right!

Well, it's certainly English. The sidecar's on the left. It's a wartime model (1939-1445) as it's got the shutter on the headlight, that had to be fitted at that period, so that the light couldn't be seen by German bombers. You can imagine how little light actually shone on the road, so the wartime accident rate in the "blackout" was enormous. It also appears to be painted army khaki, but I've never heard of a second world war army bike with a civilian sidecar attached. The English army only used bikes for dispatch riders (without sidecars) so I don't know who thought up that publicity photo. :??:

[dannylightning]

Originally Posted by patrick_777

http://www.viberider.com

that is not even right.