Troutman and Barnes, mojave 450 honda desert racer

[Rod.s]

I'm trying to find out more information on these bikes with the view of building a replica (love to find an original). This is a long term project so i don't mind the chase and research

Built in 1966 using a Honda CB450 K0 4 speed engine with little mods except for the Webber carb. I have the original June 1968 Cycle world magazine that featured this bike, and know of one that was restored by a member of the US VJMC. Apart from that, these photo's are all I can find.



I would love to find a webber manifold, these were used on several customs, this one fitted to a Brian Littler road frame. One was for sale 4 years ago on ebay and i passed it up as a curiosity will we ever learn!

Rod

[Michael Moore]

Tom literally dragged that rusty bike (not sure if it is the magazine bike or not) out of a hedge up in the Sonoma/Napa wine country.  I haven't heard from him for several years so I don't know if he's done anything with the bike or if it moved on to a new owner.

You missed the other photos:

http://www.eurospares.com/graphics/Honda/TB450a.jpg
http://www.eurospares.com/graphics/Honda/TB450c.jpg

cheers,
Michael

[Rod.s]

Tom literally dragged that rusty bike (not sure if it is the magazine bike or not) out of a hedge up in the Sonoma/Napa wine country.  I haven't heard from him for several years so I don't know if he's done anything with the bike or if it moved on to a new owner.

You missed the other photos:

http://www.eurospares.com/graphics/Honda/TB450a.jpg
http://www.eurospares.com/graphics/Honda/TB450c.jpg

cheers,
Michael

Michael, thanks for the extra links, your site is an inspiration for me

[firko]

The frame appears to have a strong Harry Hindall influence. Cool project Michael.

[EML]

Pretty simple to make that manifold. We do that sought of stuff mostly for turbo fit-ups/mods. and waste gate extensions, blow-off valves etc...

[firko]

An acquaintance of mine has had a 45mm Weber on his T140 Bonneville for years with little or no trouble. Vern Grayson has one fitted to his BSA 650 flat tracker and he swears by it and Jonesy's also fitting one to his C&J Triumph street tracker. I do wonder however, why more racers didn't (don't) use them on big twins. There must be a down side
                                                               

[Rod.s]

An acquaintance of mine has had a 45mm Weber on his T140 Bonneville for years with little or no trouble. Vern Grayson has one fitted to his BSA 650 flat tracker and he swears by it and Jonesy's also fitting one to his C&J Triumph street tracker. I do wonder however, why more racers didn't (don't) use them on big twins. There must be a down side
                                                               

Great bike! just love the reversed head (and barrel?) that would be a marvellous chopper and a real talking point. As for the Webber's not being so popular, most people that poohoo the Webber complain about tuning them

Rod

[firko]

Great bike! just love the reversed head (and barrel?) that would be a marvellous chopper and a real talking point. As for the Webber's not being so popular, most people that poohoo the Webber complain about tuning them

Each to his own I guess, I reckon the end result's a bit on the fugly side of the genre .
                           
                           
                           

[Rod.s]

Great bike! just love the reversed head (and barrel?) that would be a marvellous chopper and a real talking point. As for the Webber's not being so popular, most people that poohoo the Webber complain about tuning them

Each to his own I guess, I reckon the end result's a bit on the fugly side of the genre .
                           
                           
                           

Yep a styling disaster with an interesting start

[EML]

The rally car guys used Webers cause they were easy to tune

[firko]

It's a big test on my memory but I don't recall too many tuning dramas with the Webers on the red motor in my FJ back in the day, once they were set up by someone who knew what he was doing. I changed over to 1.75" and then 2" SU's purely because they produced better horsepower on the dyno and quicker times over the quarter. The Webers had a much better visual impact over the SU's however. I used to love popping the bonnet to show them off .
                                                                                             

[MX?]

Rod.S
Did you ever find any more info on the Littler framed bikes...or get to build one?