Comments on: Godden Weslake

By: joe momma

joe momma — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 21:48:06 +0000

…mule….this is what i was quacking aboooot a while back……this is the udder end of the scale……the ultimate ice racer……one of my pals used ride these in Socal back in the day……when he rides on the ice you would swear the throttle is stuck wide open…..these bears are a handful……that thumper will tenderize your forearms and make you weak in the knees…..this what i wanted you to envision when the “hardtail with no brakes and strange tires” arguement ensued…..this is the polar opposite of the glx 2900 with flatscreen display and fatgirl to push….also, nearly everythang you know is wrong…..if you try to slow down by letting off the throttle….the rear tire will hook up and you accelerate, often with a wheelie…..

By: Mule

Mule — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 16:53:14 +0000

We had a flattrack practice a couple weekends ago and shared the track/evening with all the top So-Cal speedway guys. In the staging area, we waited for our turn to go out on the track as the speedway bikes railed around. From our vantage point, we watched Ricky Wells go into turn 3 about 20mph faster than the flattrack bikes almost backwards with the throttle to the stop, fully crossed up. The distance/closing rate between where we shut off and the wall was consumed so quickly by Mr. Wells that to see it was truely awe inspiring. If I hadn’t seen it, I wouldn’t have beleived it. Meanwhile, Henry Wiles and Jimmy Wood were ridng about as fast around the track as is humanly possible on a conventional FT machine. They were not even in the ballpark. Not even close!

So to Mr. Thiago, as everyone else has said, this bike would not seem so stupid if you knew what is was used for. Disappointed with Bikeexif? Educate yourself about the world of motorcycles and you’ll find it doesn’t get much better than Bikexif, even if you don’t understand what you’re seeing.

By: craigj

craigj — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 13:41:59 +0000

If you’ve never seen Speedway racing live … sell your first born and go!

Admittedly I’ve only seen the Canadian championships, nothing like the full on nutters in the UK or eastern Europe, but it’s so intense it makes MotoGP look like a Sunday afternoon ride! If Saturday night short-track is the soul of NASCAR and American (car) racing, then Speedway is the soul of bike racing … 4 guys, 4 laps around a football field, inches apart, banging and passing … and no brakes.

Then take the same bike and go ice racing. Hundreds of spikes the length of your fingers, lean angles approaching 85deg from vertical, 4 guys inches appart, no brakes … around a hockey rink! Oh, and if you go down? Hamburger!

By: seventhskyline

seventhskyline — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 01:27:14 +0000

This makes up for every poxy ‘street tracker’ or ‘dirt track inspired’ rig posted, and then some.
I would love to have a slider of that era in my shed. Pure fast, beauty which has arisen entirely out of function.

Thiago said:
Sunday 12th December, 2010 at 6:55 pm |
Stupid looking bike. Dissapointed with bike exif!!!!!

And this is why people will build rubbish, form over function “customs” and be exalted for it. This bike looks the way it is because it is built to perform in two specific ways; to go fast, and turn left. Hang your cycling cap in shame.

That is why you can’t really build a speedway inspired custom bike too. Add brakes, gears*, a light, rear suspension, instruments, a bigger tank, base it off a street bike etc and immediately it has nothing in common with a speedway bike. Nothing.
Build it out of speedway bike parts and….its a speedway bike.
Not really any latitude for customisation.

*Clearly Japanese speedway, some ice race bikes and long track bikes being an exception.

By: Moto.GP

Moto.GP — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 18:01:01 +0000

Fantastic machine. Although beautiful, its looks are irrelevant. It’s a race bike, not an affectation.

By: Zyon

Zyon — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 23:23:47 +0000

I did not understand the purpose of this motorcycle when I looked at the pictures. There was some informative posts that helped me understand why this motorcycle is the way it is. It takes ball to go on something with no brakes! Great looking motorcycle.

By: Den

Den — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 21:43:06 +0000

I think, that Chris, as a creative knows that rules are meant to be broken, and as this site is focused not just on bikes, but on great photography some ground rules can give one a way in which to judge form and content. I have seen some wonderful photographs of sheds and garages (not all containing motorcycles), but I have also seen many many more that are terrible. Just like the cliche of a beautiful woman on a bike shot, I love bikes and I love beautiful women, but I have not seen that many (compared to the millions out there) great photographs of a woman on a bike.