You can find our The Lost Biker Stories book, tool rolls, stickers and prints here: https://www.thelibertatia.com
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Please do leave a comment and share your thoughts. If you’ve got a story, insight or pictures to share, you can also email hi@tuesdayatdobbs.com
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My other YouTube channel: @FreddieDobbs
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Time Stamps:
0:00: The Honda Helix (Honda CN250): The Original Maxi Scooter
6:00: £1,000 budget to get back on the road (Honda Blackbird, Honda CBR1100XX)
15:03: An American Dream (Harley Davidson Sportster)
18:57: The Aprilia Tuareg 125
20:43: Bike of the Week: Yamaha Bulldog (Yamaha BT1100)
35 Comments
You look like you need some shut eye Freddie. I wouldn’t spend £5 on the Honda anthrax 😂
I have owned 6 Hayabusa's since their release. But take it from me, the Kawasaki ZZR1400 is a superior bike.
Sarah connor had one in the original Terminator aceing the Harley Davidson Fatboy
The blackbird Honda was named, perhaps, after the Lockheed blackbird aircraft. Mach 3 plus
Rather drive a mini metro than ride a diversion 😂. No offence
South West m8
Back in the 1980s I quite liked the look of the Yamaha TR1 which was a 1000cc V twin.
I've recently retired and sold my work van and was initially looking to get a scooter,but in comparison to what I could get for similar money in bikes, I changed tack. I then got to looking at old air head beamers. You then did a whole two week session on them, which swayed me further. I bought a 1980 R100RT and loving it, plus no road tax or MOT 😊
Helix’s are definitely decisive. And yes, “looks only a mother could love” is a fair comment Freddie. 😂
If anyone’s interested, there are a few custom bike builders out there who have made naked versions of the Helix, which personally I think look great – although I may be biased.
Take a look here
http://brmoto.blogspot.com/2021/03/honda-wave-250-to.html
I recall one year during the 3 Flags Classic Ride from Mexico, through the USA, to Canada, there was one rider on a Helix that easily completed the ride.
A Honda Blackbird for under £1.5K with that service history, just goes to show bargins can still be had out there! Motorcycling can still be an affordable hobby/passion.
Oh man Freddie, don’t ever say anything bad about a Honda Helix. When I moved to my little town 25 years ago there was a group of old guys that rode them. I would see them parked at fast food place in the morning. All the old guys would get coffee. I rode in there on my old Panhead one time and they just stared me down. Lol. I think I saw a story once where a guy rode one all the way to Alaska. I guess there a cult classic. Congrats to the brother who got the stock Sportster. Your right, There hard to find stock. Got to tell ya Freddie, that bike of the week is pretty dam ugly. I would rather have a Buel in parts in a bushel basket than that thing. Or maybe a Helix. 😃
In the old days there used to be a massive gulf between motorcyclists and scooter riders. In this pc age I guess even dinosaurs (like me) have to be open-minded about our small-wheeled brethren. I won't laugh, but I won't be riding one either. Re Hayabusa: prices are also high because some people want the engines & transmission to put in kit cars. The ZZR 1200 would be my cheap, comfy superbike of choice. Re Bulldog: it's a bit of a tractor. Get a Suzuki SV1000 naked. Similar looks, V-twin engine. Owned one from new (2005) till 2013. Superb handling and performance.
That scooter looks like a death egg from Jetson's garage! "Jane, how do I stop this crazy thing?"
I've owned my 2003 BT1100 since 2007. It's a great bike and the description in the video is spot on. At the time, these were nailed to the showroom floor in the UK, but massively popular in Germany.
Hi Freddie are you aware of “Superbike Factory” Donington and other places ,warehouses rammed with used bikes ( bought as seen) ?.
The Hayabusa is Japanese for Peregrine falcon which predates on Blackbirds. The Zedzedarre is Japanese for Great Horned Owl that predates on Peregrines. Thats true…. honest guv … 😇
As the cafe owner said to me whilst connecting the jump leads to my buell. It's a passion. 😅. Bloody thing-but I love it 😁.
£1000 bike, for all things. Honda Deauville, and you'd have plenty of change.
nearly a £1000.00 for a valve check and no doubt sky high insurance on the blackbird probably tells you why its so cheap
I remember the Bulldog; magazine opinion was overweight and underpowered. The Buell is rather different; specially tuned Sportster engine in an ultralight frame with lightweight cycle parts, all designed by an experienced racer and race team principal.
191,000 miles on that helix 😮
Hi Freddie. Picked up my 1st ever scooter last year, a 2008 Suzuki Burgman 400. It was a non runner, I paid only £350 for it. Got it home and discovered it was only a main fuse. Replaced the fuse mot’d it and now it’s my go to bike for popping out to shops etc. I can’t believe how I lucked out, but it just goes to show check the simple things 1st, the owner I bought it from had dismantled half the body work and bought new ignition coil, ht leads etc trying to solve its non starting. It’s definitely converted my thoughts on scooters, with so much storage and practicality. I’ll always be a biker but I think from now on I’ll always have a scooter for a winter hack & utility rides. Regards Andy.
I’ve recently bought a Harley Sportster, a 2010 883R, the model with the twin front discs. It started its life on the Isle of Bute and ended up in Penzance Cornwall so it’s definitely well travelled. It has now just turned over 17k miles all for the reasonable price (I think) of £3500. Such an easy bike to ride too. Freddie I’d love to see one of my all time favourites on bike of the week, ….the totally bonkers Yamaha V Max, I’d love to buy one but I’m just not sure I could trust myself with it!
😅 reminds me of a sinclair C5 !
I rode a friends Bulldog. Lovely gentle bike, calm v-twin, nice handling, shaft drive and the ability to get past sub 60mph cars with ease. Also sooo comftable. Still holding there prices too.
"Real Motorcyclists" Have a tendency to look down on Scooters. At least I did until I road one offroad in the Mojave Desert back in the '70s. On one of our desert campouts, my neighbors came out with their 175 Lambrettas. I thought "this is not going to go well". To my shock and surprise, they did quite well on typical Mojave dirt — ground clearance being the only shortcoming. When I took one out for a ride, I was amazed by their controllability and comfort. Every Real Motorcyclist should take a ride on a scooter and discover how much fun, how easy, and what a pleasure they are to ride. The gas mileage will put you to shame. Cheers
I have just re-commissioned a 1996 H-D Sportster for a friend, the bike only has a 1000 miles on the clock and is completely Sock apart from new tyres and a new front brake hydraulic line. After quite a bit of Carburettor cleaning the bike runs like a dream. The only problem is I just don’t get the H-D thing, indifferent performance, poor brakes, very strange handling and some very different engineering practices. Coming from a Moto-Guzzi background I can’t help thinking that Moto-Guzzi build a better motorcycle and am still totally baffled as to how H-D made the school boy mistake of fitting the V twin engine 90 degrees in error.
Hi there. Nice to see my sportster in this video!!
Bikes are like me. As I get older, I prefer older bikes. My tandem now is this HD, a Moto Guzzi California 1100 kd (1996) and a couple of very old vespas (1958 and 1962… I sent you a picture a month ago or so).
Anyway… pieces of chunky meta and slow ride. What else.
Thanks for all. Cheers!
There was another "forgotten" hyper-bike of that era, the Kawasaki ZX-12R. I owned a 2001 model for over a decade. I loved it. Insanely quick, reasonably comfortable, and with a pair of matching Corbin "Beetle" bags, I could do a weekend tour on mine. The bike's only flaws were a very touchy on-off throttle, and a gargantuan appetite for gasoline and rear tires! In the States most of them are gone now, drag-raced and flogged into oblivion.
The Heliz is basically the same bike as Sarah Connor rode in the Terminator
Sara Conner’s ride in terminator 1 💀
I think the Honda Helix was the scooter Sarah Connor rode in the first Terminator movie. Looked it up, similar Honda Spacey.
I currently own a Bulldog. Actually had a test ride on one around 18 years ago and it took me this long to get one (now I'm older and slighly more sensible). I actually at the time ended up getting a Buell XB12. Body parts are not easy to get for the Bulldog and petrol tanks (second hand) are nigh on impossible. The Bulldog got mixed reviews at the time, it was being compared unfairly to sportsbikes when in fact it it probably competes with the Guzzi Breva and BMW twins. It's a great simple old school bike, retro with more modern styling. Solid and comfortable. The most sensible review can be found on Motorcycling Today from 2003. It's a really nice bike in my book.
Helix: With Ronald Reagan came manically changing fuel prices. Sometimes cheaper than 1974. Sometimes the highest prices our continent has ever seen. At the same time, most states did not issue specific motorcycle licenses. When you had a driver's license you were good for anything under 4 tons. All of Honda's scooters were something of a fad by the middle of the decade. Yamaha got in on the action as well. Some social scientists have said these new two-wheel operators were causing damage to the degree motorcycle licenses were considered a good idea.