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[oldironnow]

[Allred]

That '52 Black Shadow is absolutely magnificent.

A nice, very clean Bonneville.

The Munch4 has to be the ugliest machine of any kind made by man!

Nice clean Laverda, but I could never get excited about them.

Gotta love the Tiger Cub, terrible little machines that they were.

[motogrady]

Allred wrote

That '52 Black Shadow is absolutely magnificent.

A nice, very clean Bonneville.

The Munch4 has to be the ugliest machine of any kind made by man!

Nice clean Laverda, but I could never get excited about them.

Gotta love the Tiger Cub, terrible little machines that they were.

Funny you mentioned the Laverda, that's the one that caught my eye.  I've seen one in my lifetime, thought even then I'd like to have one.

The Munch4, never heard of it.  Really cool, ugly as all get out, but a transverse in-line 4 being out there before Honda?  

Learn something every day!👍

[Allred]

motogrady wrote

Funny you mentioned the Laverda, that's the one that caught my eye.  I've seen one in my lifetime, thought even then I'd like to have one.

The Munch4, never heard of it.  Really cool, ugly as all get out, but a transverse in-line 4 being out there before Honda?  

Learn something every day!👍

Don't yearn too much for the Laverda, while it was a sporty looking bike for the period, was a full 1,000cc, and even came stock with "clip-ons" and rear sets, being a low production Italian machine it lacked the reliability of a Japanese bike. Its strange 360 degree crank meant that it suffered more vibration than a 3 cylinder should, and it took them several years to submit to a more normal 120 degree crank layout. Expensive and not known for the best reliability sales were not brisk. A couple of buddies of mine bought them, but didn't keep them long. I think the much later models became sorted.

The Munch4 was a bit of a fake in that it was just an NSU car engine dropped into a frame based on what was for all intentions a Norton Featherbed.............and then tacked on all the ugliest parts they could find. With just 55bhp and weighing in at nearly 700lbs it was no sportster, and at over 3 times the price of a Honda CB750 it wasn't a fast seller either.

[motogrady]

Ya, easy to believe that.  I mean, what Italian bike was ever known for its reliability?

As far as the Munch and the NSU car engine, I thought I read somewhere that is what Honda did also.
Basically took an NSU motor and built a bike around it.

[Allred]

motogrady wrote

 I thought I read somewhere that is what Honda did also.
Basically took an NSU motor and built a bike around it.

Don't think so, Honda's CB750 design was based on the knowledge gained from their line of inline 4 cylinder racing bikes.

[Fatfatboy]

Allred wrote

The Munch4 was a bit of a fake in that it was just an NSU car engine dropped into a frame based on what was for all intentions a Norton Featherbed.............and then tacked on all the ugliest parts they could find.,,,,

I knew there was something I liked about that ugly bug-eyed beast. I seam to gravitate to the odd and unloved.

The sound of that Yamaha DT 250 gave me a yearning.

[oldironnow]

The Munch used to be mentioned now and again in our magazines.
I remember the Buell-type nut who was infected with its idea and genesis, and used some kind of odd aluminum alloy for the wheels and things - "Elektron"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elektron_(alloy)

Münch, an above-average gearhead:

https://revivaler.com/munch-mammoth-1200-tts/


That Laverda ^ does not reach out to me.

This triple does:





.

[Mad4TheCrest]

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