Jay Leno's Motorcycle Collection Is As Amazing As His Car Collection

[Music] [Music] Believe It or Not Jay Leno's passion for machines doesn't just stop at cars he has an equally impressive penchant for motorcycles fueled by a passion for Motor Vehicles J Leno's two wheeled toys are just as cool as his four- wheeled ones Jay Leno is a National Treasure during his long and successful career in Show Business he managed to invest some of the money he earned in his true passion Motor Vehicles his collection as big as it is is still finite and features other exotic cars and motorcycles from guests today we're going to have a peek at a few of the seven amazing motorcycles he has in his private collection in no particular order the egly Vincent is an improved version of the original Vincent Black Shadow that was produced from 1948 to 1955 with its 998cc vwin engine the black shadow was the fastest bike of its time a Swiss machinist and motorcyclist named Fritz egley built an entirely new frame for the black shadow that was stiffer and better performing overall Along Came Patrick gooday a Vincent Enthusiast who met egley in the early 20s he showed one of his modified Vincent cafe racers to egley who was very impressed with God's work they soon became friends and egley allowed God the rights to reproduce his now classic Vincent chassis God increased the engine displacement to 1,330 CCE added dual Muni carburetors as well as some other tweaks to get 100 horsepower from the engine there's something about these bikes about the the men that built them each one was individual and for all this particular motorcycle was bought brand new by Jay Leno and has been under his ownership for more than 45 years the bike cost $3,000 back in 1974 which was a lot of money back then John player special which was a cigarette brand from England that sponsored The Works team was the top-of-the-line model the bike had a unique look with big fairings that pushed the boundaries of how fairings were used in motorcycles back then and twin headlights which didn't sit well with everyone in terms of looks the engine was a classic British parallel twin with 828 CCC and 60 horsepower at 6,200 RPM that was rubber mounted to lessen vibrations transferred to the rider Jay Leno Norton was built before September 1974 and it had the usual Norton setup with the rear brake pedal on the left and the shifter on the right along with the kickstarter after September 1974 all motorcycles meant for the US Market had to adhere to the conventional setup of rear brakes on the right pedal and shifter on the left the engine on this particular motorcycle was based on the original design of the wankle aka the rotary engine which was developed after World War II the rotary engine was coveted in the 70s because it looked like the future and one of its advantages aside from more power per unit of displacement was how smooth and vibrations free it was of course the design had some inherent flaws that eventually steered most manufacturers away from it but regardless a motorcycle with a rotary engine is something truly special and unique the bike received great reviews when it was released but the conservative customer base thought it was too high-tech for their usual taste and the bike wasn't exactly flying out of showrooms it had a 497 CC liquid cooled single rotor engine and a claimed 62 horsepower one of the oldest and most interesting bikes in Leno's collection was never featured on Jay Leno's garage but Leno did show it off on an episode of my classic car with Dennis Gage the pope had some controls that would appear odd to modern writers like a left side pedal that disengaged the clutch at the halfway point and activated the brakes at a full press the rubber grips on both handlebars extended well past the end of of the metal hanging Loosely for several inches Leno explained to Gage that the dangling rubber was meant to make riding on the bumpy unpaved roads of the day more comfortable as Riders could lean back and grip the floppy ends and not have to hold on to vibrating metal handlebars he also showed Gage The cable-free Twist grip throttle mechanism that was integrated with and fully hidden inside the handlebars along with some other Advanced features this is a very very expensive motor motorcycle Leno said and very quick suspension front and rear you have a hand clutch and a foot clutch you got a three-speed transmission Leno even demonstrated the bike's elaborate starting process which involved manually oiling the valves and priming the fuel system after which the pope started on the first kick of the lever this motorcycle is an icon of the late 7s known for its distinct sound and impressive power the Honda cbx is a Testament to Honda's engineering prowess boasting a 1,044 cubic cm inline 6-cylinder engine it's this engine that gives the cbx its distinctive growl and remarkable speed but it's not just about power this bike is also a piece of History marking a high point in the era of the super bikes the cbx was a bold move for Honda a company known for reliability and practicality not necessarily high performance speed machines it's a symbol of Honda's versus versatility and willingness to push the boundaries Leno an avid motor Enthusiast appreciates the cbxs unique mix of power engineering and historical significance another gem J Leno has in his garage is this motorcycle made by the Scott Motorcycle Company it has a 596c parallel twin two-stroke water cooled engine which was very Innovative way back in the 20s the cooling system worked B based on simple physics principles without the need for a water pump what happened was that the engine would heat the water making the hot water push the cold water through the radiator and the water would keep recirculating this way the cooling would work best if the bike was moving and the radiator was getting some air to cool the water going through it this bike is actually a race replica of the one that came in third at the Isis of man race and doesn't have headlights turn signals or even a brake light now this one sounds familiar quite literally that American vwin sound of old arguably sounds better than today's big V twins from Harley-Davidson and Indian Motorcycles Jay Leno has had this bike in his garage for more than 40 years it was in bad shape as it was once crashed pulled together ridden hard and poorly maintained it was a handful but definitely worth it this is a true hard tail with a spring seat and a manual gear lever the engine on the original Chief was a 1,000 200cc air cooled vwin Jay Leno says the bike originally made somewhere between 40 and 45 horow which was pretty powerful for the time the bike weighed under 400 lb and had the characteristic low-end torque of the classic American v twin engine a blast to ride and listen to Leno fixed the mechanical bits of the bike but kept the beaten up look just like when he got it all those years ago well there you have it 7 amazing motorcycles Jay Leno has in his private collection which of these bikes did you find interesting share your thoughts on the comments down below while you're at it don't forget to hit that like And subscribe button to keep you updated with our future uploads until then I'll catch you on the next one

Channel: Its Just Cars!

Views: 43,232

Keywords: american cars, jay leno, muscle cars, vintage motorcycles, motor cycles, motorcycles

Id: xwSf9OLvjoE

Length: 8min 18sec (498 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 27 2024