DDK - Die Deutschen Klassiker

After almost a year in the water-cooled wilderness I will be returning to the bosom of air-cooled on the 4th April.

As a little afternoon teaser, can you guess what it is from this?



And no cheating by checking the URL of the photo!

So what air-cooled delight are you returning to..........??

Well I looked at the URL. You should have tried harder really.

damn you Nige! i would have tried harder but at work I can't get on to any picture hosting sites!

It's one of these:



Not quite a classic 911 but German and aircooled, think of it as your 911's younger, less stable, cousin from Bavaria

Don't know bikes that well, all I know is that Ron Haslam is my in-laws neighbour and he's into bikes. Is that a proper good bike then?

Does it pull wheelies and go well fast. Can it jump like Streethawk?

a lot like Streethawk, but less weaponry!

Isnt it a shaftie? They cant wheelie.

why's that then

Ongoing topic amoung bikers- any pics of evidence are "photoshopped".

Think it stems from early bikes where the motor & gearbox turned in the same direction as the shaft, when you cracked the throttle open the bike leaned right over- resulting in gravel rash.

Very very nice looking bike. Can you stoppie a shaftie?

ninetenths wrote:Ongoing topic amoung bikers- any pics of evidence are "photoshopped".

Wassat then ?

Can you prove it was (photoshopped) or do I have to prove it wasn't ?
(I can't but I believe it)

I can't wheelie or stoppie particularly well, I tend to find it slows me down... I'll leave the high-jinks to Dougie Lampkin!

Bewildebeest wrote:

ninetenths wrote:Ongoing topic amoung bikers- any pics of evidence are "photoshopped".

Wassat then ?

Can you prove it was (photoshopped) or do I have to prove it wasn't ?
(I can't but I believe it)

Thats the most infamous of the pics - Was in "RIDE" IIRC
The lack of sparks off the Zorsts is the giveaway.

Sorry ninetenths but you still haven't convinced me. I spotted the lack of sparks but there isn't sufficient detail in the photo to show that the pipes are actually down. Plus the pilot looks to be concentrating awfully hard - as he would be - and with a pillion (particularly one leaning back) it would all help getting the front end up, and you don't know how many bricks are in the top box.

Secondly there are plenty of other pics of wheelie-ing shafties (Mostly Goldwings for some perverse reason) on t'internet. Can you PROVE that they have all been 'shopped ?

Thirdly can you give me a reason based on engineering and/or physics why a shaft 'can't' be wheelied ? It's true that bikes with an in line crankshaft (i'e' along the bike) get a bit weird if you jump them (that is - both wheels off the ground) due to the torque reaction of the engine but any similar effects from a shaft would be minimal and with one wheel on the ground none existant.

It's 'just' a case of having lots of power, skill, experience, throttle control, clutch control and big balls. (I only qualify on about 2 of those)

Finally I remember a chap called Archie Nyqvist doing stunts on a Z1300 back in the early eighties. His speciality was smashing the back light on the ground while doing a ....um .......er ......um ......wheelie. I saw photo's and film footage - all long before the days of Photoshop and t'internet. Admittedly I didn't see him in the flesh - but have you ever SEEN anyone try and fail and established that it was because 'you can't wheelie a shaftie' rather than any other reason ?

you can "wheelie a shaftie" pretty easily, maybe the myth comes when shafties were all big heavy underpowered lumps?

With 133 bhp and 115 Nm, and 178kg dry weight I reckon my bike will happily flip over backwards if I'm not respectful...