Motoscrubs.com

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

Post some photos as soon as you acquire the Sebring.

Welcome to the forum!

Jim

Jim,

Thanks and will do.

Dan

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

Yea another Texacan!

Wow! It's brand spankin' new!

What a beauty!

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

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

" 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

DewCatTea-Bob wrote:

" 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