Wacky inventions

[JohnnyO]

GMC wasn't it Skunk Works that made those linkages to fit the elsinore etc and jack the rear of the bike up another 6 inches

[JohnnyO]

That's a cool idea to make a bike using all those parts. Bought an xr75 this week with 2 red plastic levers that flex to the bars before anything happens.

[Graeme M]

Yep, Skunk Works. They were as trick as! A mate fitted them to his XL350 and it looked so cool with a seat you needed a ladder to get on to. Wish I knew where that bike is now, it was so trick in a sort of schoolboys fantasy of trick way...

Here's a hopeful soul:

http://wantitnow.ebay.com/AHRMA-70s-Vintage-Skunk-Works-Rear-Suspension-Linkage_W0QQadidZ320351208602

[GMC]

Yeah I think Skunkworks was it.
They also suffered from soft suspension if you used your original shocks which I think the adds claimed that you could.
By adding twice the travel meant the rear suspension ended up twice as soft

[asasin]

hey! I had a nice pair of booty savers as well..actually I had quite a few pairs 
they were in the cheapy bin next to the plastic levers at McLeods in the days when you could actually go there and buy quality things..in the end, these so called boot savers got cut up and reworked into crossbar pads, the beginning of my patchwork and quilting interests  those bars are trick but not as trick as rubber bars! Long live the PP No-Dive!! I must fit that someday soon as well

I have a no dive on a RM 125 B, I like it the only thing is you do have to lean on the brakes a bit harder( may try different compound) At the weekend we had a down hill ito a 90 corner with a bigish bump just before it(previous track crossed this one) under full brakes ,didnt feel it. really cool!
I know its not vintage but what happened to the 2 wheel drive revolution yamaha was into

[Tim754]

Asasin This is the "wacky inventions" thread... sort of sums up the 2 wheel drive solo. Many have tried the 2 wheel drive bit, a few like the Yamaha were expensive, over complex and over engineered nightmares that showed SFA real life benefits, the rest were just crap.

[ba-02-xr]

While mowing the lown today thinking of this topic I remembered the little peace of rubber you could buy in the 80s that slipped onto your finger & worked like a windscreen wiper for your goggles. Trouble was as with a W/S wiper when there is mud on the lens all it does is smear it & scratch the sit out of them.

[asasin]

I have those bits of rubber sewen into my new road bike gloves and they work on a full face road helmut good ( no mud but)

[ba-02-xr]

Try them with mud & see what happens

[mx250]

It would seem that Preston was 'ahead of his times' (by about 30 years ).

This is the '09 WR450 OEM.

[mx250]

Okay. lets be honest......how many of you bought and fitted one of these? I did. Remember going up to Competition Developments in the wilds of North Ryde to pick it up.

Probably should have taken it back and shoved in to a very dark and unpleasant recess . I can't remember what became of it, I know it didn't stay on the bike, a DT360 used for enduro's, for very long.

I wish I could lay my hands on it today, along with the hex grips, nylon sprocket and plastic levers: have it as a reminder that I was once young, trusting and gullible .

[vandy010]

i suspect that Dave Tanner's at it again.........
that 211 kawasaki don't look pre~75 legal to me at all.......

[husky61]

i think its cool how companies , particularly Engineering companies borrow names.

Skunk Works is an official alias for Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Development Programs (ADP), formerly called Lockheed Advanced Development Projects. Skunk Works is responsible for a number of famous aircraft designs, including the U-2, the SR-71, the F-117, and the F-22. Its largest current project is the F-35 Lightning II, which will be used in the air forces of several countries around the world. Production is expected to last for up to four decades.

"Skunk works" or "skunkworks" is widely used in business, engineering, and technical fields to describe a group within an organization given a high degree of autonomy and unhampered by bureaucracy, tasked with working on advanced or secret projects.

Well the shock extensions as shown by MX 250 were very "hi-tech" and a very advanced project during their development , its a pity they didnt work , but having said that they did look very factory / trick on my Rt-360 yamaha.

Shoey

 

[mx250]

Looky what I just found out in the garage.......

[frostype400]

hey mx250 whats it for looks very similar to a pe400 one thanks Michael.