Another New Guy

[DanM]

Hi,

Looks like I'm the second new guy today. As a teenager in the late '50's and early '60's I love the ads by Berliner and Cosmopoltian Motors. What exotic looking motorcycles. My first hands on experience with a Ducati was in 1965 when my best friend bought a used 200cc Ducati Americano.

I’ve never owned a Ducati, but I’m in the process of purchasing a 1965 350 Sebring.

Dan

[JimF]

Post some photos as soon as you acquire the Sebring.

Welcome to the forum!

Jim

[DanM]

Jim,

Thanks and will do.

Dan

[DanM]

It took awhile to get the transaction and shipping done, but the bike arrived today!

[vintagetour]

Yea another Texacan!

[JimF]

Wow! It's brand spankin' new!

What a beauty!

[DewCatTea-Bob]

By: DanM...
" As a teenager in the late '50's and early '60's "

____ I wish I had been that old then... it was a great time to be a teenager in the 1950s ! _ Your age is probably right in between that of my older-brother's & mine, and only through him (born in 1942), was I thus able to learn of the great times I had missed-out on back in those great days.
__ Anyhow, it's nice to have you on here as an older member, (more likely educated more like myself) !



" I love the ads by Berliner and Cosmopoltian Motors. What exotic looking motorcycles. "

____ I-too remember & cherish the feelings inspired by those old cycle-mag ads showing Italian-cycles ! ... Recall those good-old days when you wanted a "cycle" (and not a 'bike') ?



" I’m in the process of purchasing a 1965 350 Sebring. "

____ And what a rare beauty it is !!
Thanks for the picture of it ! _ Got any more for us to look at ?
__ I once had a '65-Sebring in the early-'70s, but it had been chopper-ized before I got it, so I didn't keep it very long.



Duke-Cheers,
-Bob

[DanM]

Thanks. I just added some additional pictures in the Photo Gallery. I'll go over the cycle this evening with a fine tooth comb. I grew up in the Detroit area. I was fortunate that Michigan had the law that you could get an "under 5 horsepower" motorcycle license at age 14. I really don't think we were mature enough at 14 to ride a motorcycle. But, I didn't feel that way at the time! Don't forget the Cosmopolitan Motorcycle ads, Parilla, Benelli and Capriolo. Bob, I'm 2 years younger than your older brother. Thanks for reminding me of the "bike" term. If you had a bike back then, it didn't have a motor, it had pedals.

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=1086

Dan

[DewCatTea-Bob]

" I'll go over the cycle this evening with a fine tooth comb. "

____ Referring to your DUCATI-Single as a "cycle" (or a 'bike'), is okay for those who think of a DUCATI as simply just another motorcycle,, however for those of us who really love the Duke-singles (and wish to be noted for sharing THAT special feeling !),, well then, 'Duke' is the long-established preferred term. _ Cuz (at least in my opinion), it's somewhat of an insult to refer to a DUCATI-Single as merely a 'bike' or 'cycle',, and from the beginning of my experience with DUCATIs (starting in the mid-60s), everyone I knew-of who actually respected them, then referred to them as ''DUKEs'' !
So if ya FEEL as if you find a DUCATI-Single to be a rather special motorcycle, then ya really ought refer to it as a 'Duke' ! _ (Cuz even 'Bike' just isn't good enough !) !
Was not the term 'Duke' used during your past experience with DUCATIs ?
__ And by-the-way, your 350-Sebring was considered to be the head-king of all DUKEs back in 1965 !



" I grew up in the Detroit area. "

____ And I-myself on the opposite-side of the state.



" I was fortunate that Michigan had the law that you could get an "under 5 horsepower" motorcycle license at age 14. "

____ I thought it was age-15 !?
(At least that's how old we each became when my family/brothers started-out.)



" Bob, I'm 2 years younger than your older brother. "

____ Then that makes you closer to his age (than mine),
and it was guys around your age who I looked-up to for all their speak-talk concerning DUKEs (& other cycles).



" Don't forget the Cosmopolitan Motorcycle ads, Parilla, Benelli and Capriolo. "

____ I really don't recall much about "Capriolo" but, do recall Gilera & MV.
__ Back in the days when I first wished to own a motorcycle, my cycle of top choice was a 250-Benelli (cuz I preferred the horizontal cylinder), but my preference switched-over to DUCATI after I was disappointed to learn that the Benelli did not have an overhead-cam. _ So I then set my sights on a 250-Ducati.
If BENELLIs had been at least as common as DUCATIs (where I grew-up), then I might have become a Benelli-nut, instead.



" Thanks for reminding me of the "bike" term. If you had a bike back then, it didn't have a motor, it had pedals. "

____ That's right !
I was well into Schwinn-bikes back then, (before getting into cycles),, and to refer to a motorcycle as a bike back-then, was unheard-of ! _ Cuz "bike" was then well-established as the term used for 'bicycle' !
__ I'm sure that the newer term 'Bike', (in reference to a motorcycle), came into common-use after it became the coined-term in reference to very-nicely 'customized' HARLEY D.s !
And when that Bike-term then-next became elevated to commonly-indicate a motorcycle as being worthy of pedestal-mounting, then (somewhat naturally) most-all other motorcycle-owners wanted to also get-in-on the act as well and also use the term 'Bike' in reference to their-own (mere motorcycle) ! _ Which has really cheapened the term 'Bike', (much to the dismay of REAL Bike-owners !) !
Now these-days, pretty-much all Joe-average types loosely throw-around the term 'bike' indiscriminately, likely without any real sense of whether they're meaning to actually be in regards to a mere motorcycle or an actual well-customized 'Bike'.
It kills me how that commonized-term is so vastly over-used as it has come to be ! ... Such as even when a m.cycle-owner is actually in reference to something specific concerning his m.cycle's engine, he'll still state how the "bike" runs rather than how the 'engine' runs.
So it's a mind-set which has really sunk-into the psyche of today's cycle-riders, as it seems that they just can't hear themselves say that word -("bike") often enough !
__ Oh-well, enough of my 2-cents/rant on this word-issue.



Good-Cheers,
-Bob

[DanM]

" I was fortunate that Michigan had the law that you could get an "under 5 horsepower" motorcycle license at age 14. "

____ I thought it was age-15 !?
(At least that's how old we each became when my family/brothers started-out.)

Bob,
We're both right. I got my license when I turned 14. Around 3 months before my 15th birthday they changed the age limit to 15. I rode for those 3 months with an invalid license. When I turned 15, my license was valid again.

Dan