Ten WEIRDEST Motorcycles Of The 1970s | Countdown Pt 2

[@BikesDrones]

The winner is "the flying brick shithouse". The passing of the years has not dulled your schoolboy humor Phil. The internets No1 motorcycle historian, (comedic lecturer).

[@3Phils]

Ha! The trouble is, when I’m making these videos, I’m transported back to my schooldays… with hilarious consequences! Or arguably not. 🤣

[@pauloconnor7951]

@@3Phils They keep us young !!!

[@sanatandharma4435]

OMG! You have brought back some memories here! My mate had a FS1E and loved it! My other mate (Phil) asked if he could 'have a go?' 'Sure' replied Mark, but be careful!!!! Famous last words!! Phil revved it and then let the clutch out too quick. The FS1E went vertical and ran around the back garden with Phil hanging on for his life.....Christ we were laughing, doubled over, we were wetting ourselves! Well, all except Mark. Phil then let go of the FS1E and it smashed into the brick garage and then fell over. No damage luckily!! Thanks for this video. Phil really was a wankel!!!

[@3Phils]

🤣🤣🤣

[@CitizenSmith50]

I had a loan of a mate's Suzuki Rotary 1976 A model for a while back in the late 70's here in Australia. It was a beautiful bike; good handling, astounding acceleration, and good looks ! This model had the instruments, blinkers, tail lights and headlight housing of the GT750 (the designer should never have been paid for the silly previous model ), and the chain oiler which spat oil everywhere, and the secondary over-run distributor were scrapped. Rode it from South Aus to NSW and back, no problems ! Also I owned a 1974 TX750A model, by which time Yamaha had fixed all the problems; I changed the oil regularly, had after-market pipes, didn't thrash it, and consider it an excellent (by then ) bike for it's era, comfortable and responsive for those long, long rides; (and glad I didn't have the first model) ! Never even heard of the Amazonas, but a guy I knew in the 70's put a VW engine in his old green Sunbeam S7 and it cornered like it was on rails ! I've seen bikes run off into the bush, trying to keep up with it on twisty roads !

[@3Phils]

Great stuff! Yes, both Yamaha and Suzuki fixed all the faults in the end, but I think it was too late by then to save those bikes’ reputations. I had a mate who bunged a Hillman Imp engine in a Royal Enfield frame and toured Canada on his ‘Impfield’. Never missed a beat, apparently. There was a lot of innovation happening in the 70s, which I think gets overlooked sometimes. Not all of it worked, but it was fun to observe!

[@geraldscott4302]

I absolutely love 2 strokes, and currently own three. A Yamaha RD400 "Daytona Special", a Yamaha DT250, and a Puch Magnum top tank moped, modified to hit 50+ mph. The EPA can stick it where the sun don't shine.

[@3Phils]

I, too, love the smell of 2 strokes in the morning. Brings back all kinds of happy memories. I’m glad not everything is 2 stroke though!

[@gwilliamwallace]

The EPA is a menace.

[@davidellis7081]

I was "blessed" to have ridden both the Suzuki RE5 and the Hercules W2000 while in the employ of George Jacques at 441 Cycle Shop in Fort Lauderdale. I remember them both as "thrilling," but, then again, everything about that job was "thrilling" to a fresh-out-of-high-school motorcycle addict. The Suzuki was taken in trade for a BMW, while the Hercules was one of two, maybe three, that George hoped would be a successful second line of bikes to sell.

[@3Phils]

Interesting. Like you say, when you’re a teenager that’s mad about bikes it’s all thrilling. I remember being thrilled by my NVT Easy Rider moped for all of about ten minutes! 🤣

[@gordonyoung3668]

My sports moped of choice was the Garelli Tiger cross bought used with a big bore kit making it 75cc, only trouble was the bigger piston hit the cylinder head and it kept coming loose, what with that and the Del Orto shearing in half when i'm out and about made for fun times, you know the quality Italian engineering we keep hearing about. I would not give the Amazonas house room. great stuff Phil.

[@3Phils]

Thank you! My only Italian experience was with a Lambretta GP200 (no sniggering at the back). It was actually very reliable, great fun, and according to the speedo I could get 90 out of it. 🤣

[@mojoguzzi6407]

Not technically a moped but my first bike was a 65cc Aeromacchi sold by Harley in the states. Bought as a new "leftover" for $170 and was solid enough to get me and my cousin to high school, riding two up, with never a problem. Great little bike, super reliable and could hit 65 mph with a good wind at my back or a downhill slope. My brother inherited it and it started us both on our love of motorcycles, with many more to follow.

[@3Phils]

Thanks the comment. 😊 It’s actually given me an idea for a video - My First Two-Wheeler! Mine was a Mobylette moped by the way. It was already ancient when I got my hands on it and gave up the ghost not long after. But riding it around the back yard before I even got my first, provisional bike licence had me hooked for life too! 🏍️👍

[@RichardCummins-ni4em]

I recall back in the day a top Australian racer was contracted by our local Yam distributor to ride a TX-750 in our Castrol 6 hr production race. He apparently found handling to be dangerous and tried to back out of the contract whereupon he was told ride it or else ! He responded by over-revving the thing and it scattered engine internals all over the track [under the press tower].

[@3Phils]

Ha! Brilliant!

[@grumpybastard5744]

That was the 1972 race. As I remember it, most of the TX-750s entered suffered some kind of mechanical failure, and the sales figures plummeted thereafter. If the Phils wrew Aussies, not Poms, I reckon the TX-750 would have been in the bottom 5.

[@RichardCummins-ni4em]

Yeah GB5744, definitely not Poms, I was going to stretch my memory and say the rider was Brian Hindle ? @@grumpybastard5744

[@3Phils]

I’ve driven past the Calder Park Thunderdome in Vic a few times, if that’s any help? 🤣

[@viennapalace]

1972 was the year Joe Eastmure (riding a 350 (315cc) Suzuki) had the victory stolen from him because of a missing horn (the bikes were supposed to be bog stock & the marshals claimed Eastmure had some sort of cooling advantage because of one of it's horns was not fitted)

[@viennapalace]

Kudos Wobbly Phil (& all the other Phils)! Both parts 1 & 2 were probably the most comprehensive lists I have seen on the subject of weird bikes from my glory days & most certainly the only lists that had the bikes in the correct (in my opinion, anyway) order. Keep doing what you do & I'll keep recommending your channel to all my friends. Do we have a deal?

[@3Phils]

Well, that’s very kind of you to say so. 😊 Pleased to hear we’ve hit the spot - this time at least! We’ll certainly try and keep the standard high, but we’re bound to cock it up occasionally. 🤣 Delighted that you find us recommendable, we really only do it to entertain folk and as long as we can carry on doing that, we’re happy.

[@brucerogermorgan2388]

The TX750: I bought a new TX500 in 1972, shortly after they were released, the only new bike I ever bought. At the same time a friend of mine bought a Norton 750, as he wanted "A Proper British Bike", his words, not mine. About a year later I bought a house and decided to sell the TX500 to help fund the house, and my mate with the Norton bought it because he needed a bike reliable enough to get him to work every day. The Norton was a disaster. I did actually really like the TX500 and had no problems with it. Some years later I bought my first BMW, an R90S, and I still ride BMW's today. Unfortunately the R90S was stolen, so I replaced it with an R75/5.

[@3Phils]

Don’t quote me but I think the trouble started with the TX750, when they introduced the balancer shaft driven by a chain which kept failing. I don’t think the 500 had that, and, as you say, was probably as reliable as all hell given it was made by Yamaha.

[@Banditmanuk]

Cannot believe my beautiful FS1E made the list! It struggled major league with my youthful 6ft 4" 17st body back in 1980 It's still a shame the rotary engine never made it to proper mainstream usage. There's some brilliant old footage from Wiz Norton Racing showing one of their race bikes on the dyno with the entire exhaust system glowing cherry red and the engine sounding like it would explode at any moment

[@3Phils]

Sorry! But then, do you ride your FS1E uphill much these days?! There’s a great documentary about the Fizzy Owners Club annual outing where they’re quite candid about the ‘joys’ of riding their bikes. They all seem to agree they’re mainly in it for the social element. You would have been The God of the Bike Sheds in 1980, though, and I’m not saying I didn’t also lust after one back then!

[@Banditmanuk]

@@3Phils The fizzy is long gone now but fond memories of 1st and 2nd gear uphill

[@3Phils]

Well, you were lucky, I had an NVT Easy Rider. Had to resort to the pedals even on the flat!

[@Banditmanuk]

@@3Phils 😆😆

[@richardjakobek7477]

Love your comments regarding the Fizzy and their lardy owners. 😁

[@3Phils]

Sadly I have witnessed a few attempting to get up the hill outside my house. 🤣

[@mikeclifton7778]

I seem to remember Faulkner's Motorcycles in Oxford having an RE5 for a long period in the late 70s..

[@3Phils]

I think I may have stopped and gazed at that too, in my time. Weren’t they in Walton Street?

[@barryphillips7098]

GOOD TO SEE YOU HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOR 🤣

[@sportsmancraft1]

RE5 handlebar we’re ridiculous, I fitted GT380 bars.

[@johnpomfret5146]

Bloody Hell! ..... A.R. Lowther Motorcycles based in Brierfield, Burnley, Lancashire. I lived in a nearby town as a 16/17yr old and used to call in there sometimes. I think it closed down around 20yrs ago

[@CaptHollister]

A clarification, the Amazonas both was and wasn't sold in the US. The Amazonas had no hope of meeting US manufacturing, safety, or emissions regulations. To get around this, it needed to be classified as a home-built motorcycle. What Amazonas sold was a kit to be assembled by the owner who was also expected to provide his own engine. I live in Canada, near Montréal, and strangely an Amazonas with 0km popped up on the local Marketplace this past summer. I'm pretty sure it can only ever be used as an office decoration which can never be registered for road use.

[@3Phils]

Interesting. Yes, I did read somewhere it was only available in kit form in North America. I don’t know about office decoration, it’s so big you could probably convert it into an entire coworking space.

[@davebaker9128]

Once in an English car shop I worked at we took a BMW r60 motorcycle with a blown up engine, cut and stretched the frame a few inches and installed a dual port 1776 cc VW engine with a homemade adapter plate, it had very pronounced torque reaction issues, (it wanted to throw you on the right side) but if you leaned left on take off it was extremely quick, but scary weird

[@3Phils]

Ha! I’ll add that to my ‘Car Engines In Bikes’ list. You could probably have towed a caravan with that!

[@davebaker9128]

@3Phils it wouldn't pull a wheelie, but it would yank the spoke nipples through the rim if you nailed it too hard, but it tended to break other things too, I'm sure it would've pulled a trailer (caravan) handily

[@PeteDarrell1972]

@@3Phils Than you can add something else too. A former friend of mine, a Danish guy named Steffen and/or 'Steve', used to live and became a mechanic in the UK, did build his own strange bike like a tractor, with a 1.6 OHC Cortina/Pinto engine as part of the self designed 'frame' and a Susuki fork. This thing did drive, only one 'gear' though with hand plus foot clutch to handle it! The rear end was built to be changeable to a trike with a Cortina axle too. When I saw that thing in Portugal, where I used to live, he's probably still there if he's still alive, I was impressed he had a legal british registration on it! His name as builder in the papers, while they didn't want to put Susuki or Ford in the registration. You should be able to find something about this thing, while he did win the first price for best 'rat bike' at the Faro-Bike-Week a few times with it back in the late 90th. I met this guy in 2004 when he needed any Pinto engine to put the frame back together. While I just changed my Cortina MK IV from 1.6 to a 2.0 Sierra engine I had what he needed. Crazy bush mechanic! He also had a few projects with Chevy big blocks V8 in the making...

[@3Phils]

Amazing! Thank you for that. I’ll add it to my list, which is growing quite long!

[@PeteDarrell1972]

@@3Phils I hope you find something about it. He used to live in an old English bus and his walls were taped with Portuguese news paper articles about his strange thing at Faro-Bike-Week. Tricky to find that online, at least for me...

[@seanwheeldon9315]

That amazonas looks wild

[@tomwagner6334]

😂 The 50cc bikes were our lives in Paris. In France you could ride 50cc bikes (with pedals but we took those off right away) at 14 years old. No license required, just proof of insurance. Beta, Kreidler, Gitane Testi, Flandria, Derbi, BPS, Malaguti, Fantic, Gilera, and so many more we had and modified to get a few more kph out of😂

[@PeteDarrell1972]

In Germany we could ride them at age 15, plus you needed a kind of drivers licence you could make in an hour for them. Mainly Vespa (Ciao, Bravo, Si, Boxer) and Hercules 2speed for the 'big boys' on the road. Kreidler, Girela, Puch,... were rare to see. Fun fact not funny but typical German, everywhere in Europe they drove between 50 and 70km/h and you could carry a passenger, but in Germany their official legal top speed was 25Km/h, plus single use only! Most did make it at least 30km/h though. Any kind of modification was hard controlled by the cops, especially where I lived, a few km from the dutch border, where you could get all kind of tuning parts for a few Gulden. Since 1985 you even needed to where a helmet on them too, while every bicicle rider that passed you had non and laughed...

[@3Phils]

It’s funny, bicycle riders get away with it here too! The speed limit on the Inner Circle in Regent’s Park in London is 20mph but you regularly see clubs holding time trials around it doing twice that speed. They can only be prosecuted under the Wanton and Furious Riding Act of 1861, apparently.

[@PeteDarrell1972]

@@3Phils I live in London too since a few years. 20mph everywhere, but nobody cares about the E-Scooters that go much faster. One guy in my neighbourhood has one of this freakin' stand-on things. That one drives at least 50mph if not much more and he's driving it everywhere like that. But most neighbours drive their normal bicicles with a yellow west and a helmet with flashing lights... lol

[@3Phils]

Yes, mostly bicyclists in London are respectful, although you do get a few nutters and a few ‘road warriors’. But don’t get me started on e-scooters! Grrr! 🛴🤬

[@PeteDarrell1972]

@@3Phils Ask me... lol ! Here in London I don't have any kind of vehicle. Only walking and public transport. This freakin' E-Scooters are a pain in the a...! You can't even hear them, coming like a bullet, even on the pavements... ! Talking about respectful bicyclists... Go to Amsterdam and you'll soon figure out what is the biggest thread for your life... ;-)

[@oojimmyflip]

Why isn't the Jawa 350cc two stroke twin in here? It is still for sale in 2025 brand new, the only changes since 1969 are electric start and a front disc brake. How often do you see a two stroke these days?

[@practicalplinking6133]

Every one was an idea from somebody that knew nothing of RIDING motorcycles !!

[@johnvanstone5336]

Love the humour!

[@3Phils]

Thank you! Tbh I thought I was adopting a more serious tone in this one! 🤣

[@apacherider7110]

Don't knock 70's mopeds. It was our passport to the world of motorcycles.

[@3Phils]

It was! And if you look at the channel’s community posts I’m currently preparing a video I’m calling ‘My First Motorcycle’ which will celebrate that. I think you may have misunderstood the tone of this video, try thinking ‘tongue in cheek’ and ‘pinch of salt’! 😊

[@douglaskerr6813]

Maybe a VW hot rodder could make that 1600cc dance

[@sciencetroll6304]

I remember the rotary Suzukis being called ' waterbottles ' as people thought them having a radiator more strange than being rotary.

[@philhawley1219]

No more strange than the GT750 triple that preceded it by several years that was also water cooled.

[@3Phils]

Yes, here in the UK we used to call the GT750 ‘the kettle’ because it was water cooled, which we’d hardly ever seen the like of before, and, I suppose, we used to have visions of it boiling on a hot summer’s day.

[@philhawley1219]

@@3Phils The idea of a water cooled two stroke was not new in Britain. The Scott two stroke twin came out in 1909, won the TT in 1911 & 1912 and survived until the 60's. Nothing new under the Sun, even if it does rise in the East.

[@3Phils]

Indeed!

[@brucerogermorgan2388]

No, the Waterbottle was the GT750 two-stroke water cooled triple that used more petrol than my car did at the time!

[@louisavondart9178]

I only ever saw one RE5. It was sitting in the showroom of the Suzuki dealer for years. I think they wrote it off as a tax loss.

[@3Phils]

Yes, I also recall they didn’t exactly shift from the showrooms.

[@philhawley1219]

@@3Phils I've only ever seen one RE5 on the road about 1982. Apparently the price of the R&D and setting up production, the poor sales and the subsequent warranty claims nearly bankrupted the Suzuki motorcycle division. Just another victim of the great white Wankel elephant hoax. The only people to conquer the original problems was Mazda and even they gave up the job as an expensive dead end due to unsolvable new emissions problems .

[@3Phils]

@philhawley1219 Well quite. I seem to recall reading somewhere that Suzuki kept the cost of a whole ‘nother bike in reserve for each sale, just to cover warranty claims.

[@kasperkjrsgaard1447]

I saw one a couple of years ago at a motorcycle meeting here in Denmark.

[@3Phils]

Yes, I think there are enthusiasts around still. There’s a KZbin channel I mention in the video called ‘rotarymike’, he’s got lots of them on there. There’s a link in the description.

[@darthvirago]

I had a Gilera 50 back in 1972. It was OK. It didn't have a battery or indicators and the headlamp was a bit weak.

[@Free_Ranger_CT110]

Suzuki RE5, didn't want one back then, don't want one now.... But I'd have another GS750...

[@3Phils]

I remember the RE5 looked shockingly different back in the 1970s… to the point of being a bit off-putting! Now it looks quirkily quaint, to me at least. A bit like the Pompidou Centre in Paris.

[@Free_Ranger_CT110]

@@3Phils or the gerkin in London. There's a building in Auckland, NZ locals call 'the toilet seat.' The architect must be a trainspotting fan.

[@3Phils]

@Free_Ranger_CT110 🤣

[@EbenBransome]

@@3Phils The Pompidoleum is being rebuilt up to date, the RE5 won't be coming back. Nor will the Wankel, ever, except in some weird Mazda.

[@3Phils]

Huge thanks to everyone who has watched, liked, shared and commented on this video. Don't forget there's a Part One you can also watch, the link is in the description (it'll also pop up in a box at the end of this video). I'm glad so many people have enjoyed the trip down memory lane! On a slightly discordant note, it seems that one commenter has again had a go at me for sounding 'awful' and likening my voiceover to AI. It's hilarious, because I spend three, hard days a week crafting these videos for your entertainment, just for the pleasure of knowing I've amused and informed a few folk (and the couple of bob KZbin chucks at me as my pitiful share of the profits they make from the ads). It's quite dispiriting when armchair critics think they can mouth any old crap at me. Don't get me wrong, I'm more than happy to take constructive criticism, corrections, suggestions and even helpful advice on how to improve my videos. And I have to admit, because I like to be precise with my voiceovers, they do have a certain AI quality! But please, you wouldn't go into a pub and throw sh!t at the landlord. Or if you did, you'd have to expect a very robust response! Which is exactly the way that I look at it. Rant over.

[@mikeclifton7778]

It would have been good to see the Shifty 900 in the Top 10, a Fiat 903cc car engine with foot-operated H pattern gear change!

[@3Phils]

Yes, I’m going to have to look into that!

[@cedhome7945]

You can swap the Amazonas engine for a 3ltr unit and a tune up ....if really wanted to make an impact ( especially with anything else that pulled out on you) 😄

[@3Phils]

🤣

[@pashakdescilly7517]

I love the pic at 7:49

[@chomorrump-d9f]

suzuki RE5 was one of the best bikes ever, i had 2.

[@3Phils]

There have been other comments to that effect, but some folk have said otherwise. Maybe yours were towards the end of the production run, after Suzuki had sorted a lot of the technical issues out? Nonetheless pleased to hear yours were good ‘uns! 🏍️👍

[@ivancounsell4077]

That wasn't a Garelli Tiger...

[@3Phils]

Whoops. I did wonder when I was editing it in. I’m not an expert on Garellis.

[@k1ckyscotland988]

Puch? We always pronounced it "Push".

[@3Phils]

There never seemed to be much agreement in our schoolyard about how to pronounce it. The local GP’s son had one, and even he wasn’t sure. I’ve even heard it called a ‘Puck’!

[@EbenBransome]

Start off saying "pook" and cut the oo short. Now pronounce the ch as in Scottish loch. An actual Austrian will now understand you and be too polite to laugh at your pronunciation.

[@3Phils]

Thank you! 😊 I’ll practice it next time I bump into Arnie!

[@cedriclynch]

With a clean silencer baffle, correctly set contact points, correct spark plug and the absence of certain misguided "tuning" modifications that were common in the 70s a Fizzy will quite happily carry an overweight elderly rider up even a steep hill.

[@cedriclynch]

​@@3PhilsI used to do motorcycle repairs in the 1970s. My customers who had Puchs usually pronounced it "pooch". The Puch VZ50, VF50, M50 Sport and M50 Grand Prix had a very flimsy crankshaft and were very prone to big-end bearing failure; however appointed Puch dealers were required by the company to keep all spare parts in stock at all times. The Yamaha FS1E and Honda SS50 have huge crankshaft bearings that almost never fail.

[@geoffreypiltz271]

While on the subject of "the flying brick shithouse" what about the Moto Shifty 900 that used a Fiat 127 motor and gearbox with the original shift pattern actuated by a foot pedal! Heel toe 1st-2nd, push sideways(!), heel toe 3rd 4th. All up weight 269kg or nearly 600 lbs for 53 hp.

[@philhawley1219]

Unbelievable that it was imported into Britain by Slater Bros, the people who developed the Laverda Jota. I don't suppose they sold many.

[@3Phils]

I don’t remember that, I’ll scuttle off and do some research. The Amazonas had a VW gearbox too, I believe, which took a lot of shoe-horning.

[@philhawley1219]

@@3Phils I have a copy of Superbike from about 1980 reviewing the Shifty. Not a particularly flattering article but the dollybird on the centrespead is spectacular!

[@3Phils]

Aha! Maybe you could email me that for, er, research purposes. 😉

[@EbenBransome]

I think it's a bit unfair to lump the Italian 50cc bikes in with the Japanese ones. The Gilera for instance was far from weird and with a little attention to porting and carburation could achieve the 7BHP you'd find in Italy, as could others with the Minarelli engine. They just smoked a lot, which could be probably reduced with modern oils. Blame Italian tax bands which meant for instance that essentially the same bike might exist as a 250 and a 125. The Amazonas too made a lot of sense in a country which made a lot of air cooled VWs; parts available even in remote regions. Just as at one time India could only really support scooters and the RE bullet, an undeveloped country can only manage to support a few engines. I agree it's weird by European standards, but in Brazil the ability to travel long distances on bad roads with a reasonable chance of finding a mechanic if anything broke, took priority. My only experience of Brazil was an engineering conference in the equivalent of Margate, but I did learn a bit about developing world problems just as I did in India.

[@3Phils]

All fair points. I have to admit I always looked upon my mates with the Italian mopeds with envy, they just seemed so exotic at the time. And yes, rumoured to be faster than the Fizzy with the right treatment.

[@EbenBransome]

@@3Phils As a student I worked for a company that had a lot of Italian mechanics who never went home after WW2. They all seemed to have imported Italian exotica. At shift end it was like a little GP start out of the yard, clouds of two stroke smoke and howls. Then a long way behind the thump of my British single.

[@davidcolin6519]

I can understand the 2 stroke 50s. They were a bit rubbish, but they were simple, lightweight and actually reasonably reliable (mainly because they were understressed). But the Honda SS50 was truly dreadful. It was slower than ANY of its rivals and was so slow that alol the gears in the world were never going to make it go fast enough to keep up with any of the 2 strokes. And they were so slow that even using a decent hill decent would allow the rider to catch up all the ground lost everywhere else.

[@3Phils]

Yes, there was one in our bike sheds and my poor mate Phil always looked a little forlorn on it!

[@mrjoneseastend]

You didn't mention the other Wankel of the 70s the dutch Van Veen OCR 1000.

[@3Phils]

Well yes, as I said in the video, I could have filled the entire top five with Wankels! But tbh I’m saving the Van Veen up for a video of its own.

[@mmark8394]

Norton police water-cooled and air cool racers anyone?

[@Chrisjude100]

Jaw Jet Toe Jew Jar Row!

[@mv4ago]

AI commentary??? It sounds bloody awful.

[@3Phils]

Oh yes, and who are you? Larry Bloody Olivier? Do us a favour and cock off.