Most Beautiful Vehicle's

[cryptrick]

Very nice, I'd have one of them

[Grant Lamontagne]

While I'm not a huge fan of street bikes, I do like the Honda Firestorm:



Def

[Grant Lamontagne]

Then there's the Campagna T-Rex... basically a 2 seater 1100cc racing bike!



Def

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

While I'm not a huge fan of street bikes, I do like the Honda Firestorm:

(Image removed from quote.)

Def

I rode one!, bloody awesome bike, lovely engine and forgiving chassis, although the forks are a bit soft if you drop it to hard out of a third gear wheelie

I very nearly bought one, but I ended up getting a Hornet instead for the cheaper insurance

[Grant Lamontagne]

I like that they left the goodies visible on it rather than hide them all with a full fairing like on most street bikes.

For some reason it always reminded me of the Robotech Cyclone:



Like you could hit a switch on the handlebars and it would transform into battle armor! 



Def

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

You NEED one of those in modern traffic!

[Grant Lamontagne]

Plus it saves parking fees when you can wear it into the mall!

Def

[Tsquare]

     I would love to have the austin martin with the inviso shields that James Bond drives.  That would be cool.

[Grant Lamontagne]

I would love to have an Aston martin... period!

Of course I've always had a soft spot for Lotus cars like the Elise:



And the Esprit:



The Esprit was of course the inspiration for James Bond's submarine car:



The fascinating thing is, that for many years, Lotus cars competed and were evenly matched with many of the other great super cars like Lamborghini's, except that the Lotus (until less than ten years ago) were powered by 4 cylinder engines!   Most of the Lamborghinis and Ferarris at the time were powered by ten and twelve cylinder machines!

Def

[edap617]

These are a few of my favorite things!

Yamaha Star VMax


Suzuki Hayabusa


Ducati 1098S

[Roadie]

Of course I've always had a soft spot for Lotus cars like the Elise:

Prefer the Exige myself, but the Elise is no slouch!

[yellowhammer]

Cryptrick, what Mike said about getting a bike licence is a bit out of date now I'm afraid You can ride a fifty on your car licence if you got it before 1992 only, otherwise you have to take a CBT. This normally takes a day but there's no specified duration - as it's a training session rather than a test you just keep going until your instructor is happy that you're competent. The longest I spent training someone on a CBT was 7 full days, and she still didn't get a certificate CBT lets you ride up to a 15bhp 125 for two years, must have L(oser) plates, no passengers, no motorways.

To take your test you must also pass a motorcycle theory test and hazard perception test - if you did it for your car it's the same, but now with more questions and a higher pass mark That's valid for two years as well.

Then you can take your full test via two one of two routes. If you take your test on a 125 you'll be restricted to 33bhp for two years. You can have any size engine you like, but if it makes too much power you must have it restricted. After your two years is up you can ride anything, so rip the restrictor kit out of your 33 horse Fireblade & off you go

The other route is DAS, or Direct Access. You take your test on a bike making at least 46bhp - most training schools use 500cc twins of some sort - and when you pass you can ride anything you like. Hurray! You have to be 21 to take this test though.

The two tests are exactly the same, the only difference is that, on a big bike, more emphasis is placed on overtaking if it's appropriate.

If you want to do it, do it now - the test is changing in April, with a separate, off-road handling test to be passed before you're allowed to take your full test. It will include extra U-turns, high-speed emergency stops, slow riding (10 metres in at least 10 seconds, feet up), slaloms, etc. It's going to make it harder, more awkward and more expensive. The idea is to stop people getting motorcycle licences, then they can't fall off and cost the government money

Sorry to go on, but I thought I'd spell it out as I've been a full-time motorcycle instructor for ten years & am probably a bit more up to date than Mike - what he told you was correct, but ten years ago... Sorry Mike

[ducktapehero]

I love the pics of the Shelby Cobra and the Shelby GT-500. I'm a big Ford fan. Especially Fords from the 50's and 60's.

Although it's not a Ford I also love the 1971 Hemi Cuda

[Grant Lamontagne]

The Plymouth Bakaruda is one of my favorite cars... but then anything that came with a Hemi is alright with me.

It's nice to see Dodge is still producing cars with a Hemi, unlike Ford and GM which reserve real muscle car engines for the top of the line stuff, but I don't think the new Hemis have the same mystique as the old ones.  I'm sure Mikey will be along shortly to tell me how the power of the new ones is greater, the fuel economy is better etc, but it's just not the same! 

Still, I wouldn't be too upset if one of those new Calibres were in my driveway!



Mind you nothing beats a car that goes "meep meep!"



Def

[665ae]

, but I don't think the new Hemis have the same mystique as the old ones.  I'm sure Mikey will be along shortly to tell me how the power of the new ones is greater, the fuel economy is better etc, but it's just not the same! 

Nope... I'm not going to correct you.  The old Hemi's are much cooler

To get somewhat back on topic, here are my Three...







And here's an honorable mention

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Did you ever get that enfield mate

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Sorry to go on, but I thought I'd spell it out as I've been a full-time motorcycle instructor for ten years & am probably a bit more up to date than Mike - what he told you was correct, but ten years ago... Sorry Mike

Thanks mate, it's been a while since I passed my test (let alone rode a bike )

I'm just old and out of touch 

[Grant Lamontagne]

Good choices Mikey!  I love those old Jeeps- they'd run on anything!  Gasoline, kerosene, diesel, vodka... if it burned those things would run!

Def

[I'm Still Bison]

 A bit off tangent,but a vehicle that can rack up a million miles and still running strong,is the most beautiful vehicle!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080212/ap_on_fe_st/odd_million_mile_truck

[665ae]

Did you ever get that enfield mate

I've had to put off buying a bike until next year... I'm still planning on picking up an Enfield when I can

[cryptrick]

Yellowhammer -  Info is much appreciated, many thanks

Never knew about the change whereby an off-road is introduced. They're always changing something
Hmmm, I'll have to have a good think about which test to take as I can't take the Direct Access one as I'm not over 21 and won't be till another 7 months   I'l perhaps get a CBT and go from there. Thanks again for taking the time to post. Cheers buddy

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Did you ever get that enfield mate

I've had to put off buying a bike until next year... I'm still planning on picking up an Enfield when I can

They are cracking bike mate

[665ae]

Did you ever get that enfield mate

I've had to put off buying a bike until next year... I'm still planning on picking up an Enfield when I can

They are cracking bike mate

They look like a lot of fun to ride.  Plus, I don't see many of them around here.  There's one guy that rides an old Triumph that I pass on my way to work during the summer.  Other than that, everyone rides Harley's or Street Bikes...

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Did you ever get that enfield mate

I've had to put off buying a bike until next year... I'm still planning on picking up an Enfield when I can

They are cracking bike mate

They look like a lot of fun to ride.  Plus, I don't see many of them around here.  There's one guy that rides an old Triumph that I pass on my way to work during the summer.  Other than that, everyone rides Harley's or Street Bikes...

That's why I like enfield, there rare, you park it in the car park and you can always find it . You can actually work on them yourself without special tool's plus there cheap and chearfull to run

Plus they sound gorgeous on open pipes

[Sea Monster]

what are all these space machines?

There's only one bike for me.



(That's not my bike, unfortunately the website didn't have a good pic of mine)

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

There cracking little trail bikes, it's a modded ct110 isn't it

[Sea Monster]

There cracking little trail bikes, it's a modded ct110 isn't it

Aye, Honda CT110.

Biggest selling bike in Australia or somesuch (our postal service uses them), which makes them easy to get second hand.

We put new carbies on them, bore out the insides, custom exhausts, forks, and we set them up to run on Racing Fuel A

We don't like to see it as Modding. A postie is a beautiful thing, you just need to cut away the edges, apply some love, and its true racing potential will be revealed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrBS_O73XrQ

The Starting Grid

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Ah, sod it, I want one now

[Grant Lamontagne]

Does this count as a beautiful vehicle?  It's certainly got the "beautiful" part covered!



I've always had a soft spot for Clydesdale's and Belgian Draught Horses! 



Def

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

They do look like sturdy beasts, don't they

I'd say it was the ultimate bush vehicle