Subject: from a long lost looper
Author: Michael Jones
Date: Dec 10, 2001, 9:11 PM
Post ID: 1709123742
Hi, folks, remember me? I left the list more then a year ago because I
moved to Romania (temporarily). Well, I miss you all and thought I'd
drop you a note. My brother is still babysitting my '69 Ambo. He rides
it now and then to keep it in shape. He has had no problems with it at
all - I'm proud of the old goose. He really likes it, so he unloaded his
little Kawi and is looking for a v-twin of his own, but it has to keep
up with his buddies ST2, so another Ambo won't do. He test-drove a new
Sport, but said the ergonomics weren't right for him and the vibes were
like a jackhammer. He's ridden a lot of others now and is leaning
towards a Cagiva, I believe.
For my part, I am still in RO, and may be here until summer. In June I
broke down and bought another bike. I have only heard about 3 guzzis in
the whole country, and very few beemers. There are lots of 2-stroke
street bikes here - old MZ's, Jawa's, IJ's, and Romania's own Mobra's.
There are also some Urals and Dneipers. But what really took my fancy
were the old Simsons. They are an East-German clone of the old BMW 250cc
singles, with shaft drive, overhead valves, nice looks (according to my
tastes, remember I ride an Ambo in the U.S.), and 14 horsepower! It's
like a one-cylinder Ambassador. They stopped production in 1962, but
mine is a '61. It has a beautiful voice and is really simple, but is
also somewhat underpowered, even by my low standards - with a passenger
on back the hills require more then one downshift. It isn't that well
maintained, despite the shiny paint (I didn't know - he said it was
perfect), so I have had plenty of opportunities to push it, but it is
much lighter then the Ambo and is as much more fun to push as it is less
fun to ride. I don't know what I'll do with it when I leave here - it
would be a wonderful bike for my wife, but it won't fit in her suitcase.
Oh, well, if anyone is interested in finding me, I still live at
mjon-@yahoo.com.
-Mike (69 Ambo, 61 Simson)