Identification please!

[ibby4585]

I absolutely love this photo, all 3 bikes look brilliant together. But can anyone tell me what make the front front huggers are on the Lucky Strike and Repsol bike?? I think the Lucky strike one is Tyga maybe??

Thanks Kris

[micpec]

Not correct, Kris.

The first one on the Lucky Strike are made by few Japanese brands like Coerce and few others (I do not have my data here @work, but i may be able to check for you later this week)...the extended side(s) with some metal raster-flex (not sure how you name it in english) shows this design. The Japanese makes also offered ones with a bright high beam side light to show extra lights on the roads while driving at night. Also, in the past Michael Austermann sold trick carbon fiber fenders in this design with the metal raster-flex (now discontinued).

The fender on the Tyga'd bike looks like one of Tyga.

[ibby4585]

Cheers Jas.

Yeah ive heard of Coerce but didnt think they did one like that! think i prefer the Repsol Hugger to be honest, think its closer to the Endurance look im after.

ta
Kris

[Gavin jap4]

Lucky Strike is a BEET front fender

Repsol is not a TYGA one as it bolts at the bottom of the forks and the TYGA one bolts on using the original mounts it doe look very similair though

[tygapaul]

Tyga are actually linked very close to the bikes in the photo but nothing to do with the front fender! What a blast from the past! Before we set up TYGA I used to prepare and export 250s and 400s from Thailand to the USA.

The Castrol bike was a very clean and tidy example and was imported to Thailand in parts (as they all were) and reassembled for sale as a complete runner a bit rough but rideable. I saw the potential. I bought it and then stripped it down and then carefully rebuilt it with the Castrol paint etc to the specification of my good friend in Alabama who was, and still is, a grey import bike enthusiast. After it was completed and photos taken and approved by him, we stripped it down and sent it to the USA where he reassembled it along with the two other bikes (more of them later). So not including the factory assembling it, it had already been reassembled 3 times by now. After a while, he sold it on and the new owner had only had it a few months and suffered a garage fire. The NC30 was a total loss! I couldn't believe it after so much attention and work, this bike is no more.

The other two bikes were owned by a couple of Thai dudes who were moving on to Ducatis and gave me a good deal on the pair because the 400 scene was coming to an end. So I sent them along with the Castrol to Alabama just as they were and good Keith did the detailing work when they arrived. The fashion then was to buy NC30s and put Suzuka style fairings on them. The wider the better. There was also all manner of front fenders with mesh, spotlights etc. All manner of shapes and sizes. Some were inevitably copies of Japanese brands and a few were the original from Japan and some local designs. Mostly, the mounting was by a wing and a prayer (cable ties and steel bars clamped to fork pinch bolts)

You don't see many around these parts any more. In fact you don't see many interesting 400s. 15 years ago there were NC30, 29s, 23s and GSX-R400s at every set of lights in Bangkok mixed in with literally a couple of hundred 2 stroke 150s. What an experience that was. Outside Japan, Bangkok must have had more 400s than anywhere else at the time. The Wipawadee highway traffic lights at Ladprao was something to practice your starts and making your way through to the front of the field in quick fashion on the green to avoid being gassed by the 2T. Why they didn't let the 400s move to the front row of the grid I don't know but the stink wheels were packed in so tight sometimes you just had to start from the back of the grid and get a good splattering of oil. Too bad there was no you tube then because it wasn't the sort of thing tourists took photos of so not much remains as a record. Now Bangkok has more cars, less bikes (virtually no two strokes) and the light changes are now much like everywhere else in the World, so boring! You can actually breath, not get deafened by 100 two stroke expansion chambers or comatosed after 30 minutes riding and that's what they call progress!

To get back to the topic, Boy the ex owner of the Repsol is still an avid motorcyclist and I can ask him about the fender next time I meet him at the circuit but it was 10 years ago so he might have forgotten.

[ibby4585]

thanks Gavin.

Brilliant info Paul, so you owned all 3!! How long ago was the photo taken? If it was years ago im amazed as they look really up to date with the latest desings on here!!

Regards
Kris

[tygapaul]

Like I say, the Castrol was burned to a crust around 8 years ago so photo must be before that time.

[Spike16]

the latest designs being 90's race reps?

[pauliealdridge69]

Was searching through and found this! Lovely looking lucky strike that!

[royster81]

I have a beet aeroshark just like the lucky strike bike, if you want it to copy I lend it out.