I have come to the conclusion that nobody reads this blog (or forum), with the exception of Madnorton.
Here are a few possible reasons:
- The bulk of PUCH riders are Austrian, and most importantly live in Austria, speak German and not interested in an conversing in English.
- The American Sears Allstate crowd actually prefers emailing each other via absurdly awkward and Byzantine Yahoo forums (no offense Bill, it’s Yahoo not you!).
- Canadians and Brits view PUCHs as cheap, slow curiosities not work the effort to restore.
- In most parts of the world these bikes are, like point #3, just curiosities of little value, not collectible or iconic. BMWs are strong workhorses, British bikes serve double duty embodying the last gasp of British manufacturing supremacy, and the roaring 60s. American bikes … don’t get me started. What I am saying is that the humble Puch is like a nerdy reliable friend found in movies – inspiring no passion, PUCH isn’t the leading man. There is no swarm of ex-pat Austrians meeting in pubs on Sundays, waxing on about youthful trips to the races in the summer of ’66. You don’t find people telling you that PUCHS are just like the people that built them: strong, reliable and proud – godmit. No, the PUCH is pretty hard to get worked up about. To explore the movie star metaphor, motorcycles have stared as leading roles in movies, so it really isn’t a metaphor.
- BMW: Tomorrow Never Dies , R1200C
- Indian: World’s Fastest Indian
- Norton: Motorcycle Diaries & One Week
- Harley: Easy Rider or Wild Hogs (not worthy of a link)
- Triumph: Wild Ones, The Great Escape (admittedly a bit of a stretch)
- My forum and blog are just plain boring.
So dear reader, I can hear you asking what is the point of all this? It is merely a long-winded way of saying that, from now on, I am going to write about motorcycles, scooter, sidecars in general, whatever suites my fancy. That includes sidecars, Vespas, Nortons, MZs & PUCH.
Don’t be discouraged. I like the forum. I have a bunch of Puchs and I’m always interested in reading your updates. I also like the look of the website. Keep up the great work.
http://rumbum.com/537-restoring-a-wreck?reply_to=1638
Keep it up. Blogs about unusual vintage products are great, even if they have a small audience.
Down under in Australia there is a widely located (Its a big country) small in numbers audience of sg/sgs owners. I usually get comments filling at the pumps, and about one in ten of the public actually knows the 250 twingle, Isn’t it fun to tell the uninformed that it has two cylinders,one combustion chamber?.
Gets em every time – I agree that the Puch isn’t sexy though. Cheers, Ted.
Hi Ted,
Nice to hear from the other side. I was curious if PUCHs were imported to Australia- were they catalog bikes like in Canada & the US? I saw one on Ebay a while ago but it doesn’t seem there is a large number of them.
I’m reading! AND… my Puch Twingle is on the way to it’s former glory. I enlisted some help and it’s going for paint and chrome later this week!
Thanks for your support! Great to know you are out there, so I’ll keep posting!
I’m Austrian and my father used to save Puch motorcycles in the 70’s. I think that a bike being rare should be the most important argument to uphold a blog dedicated to it. You like your bikes and it shows on this site: great!
I have mounted a cozy sidecar on my “Allstate” Puch 250. Handles fine with kids in it. get a 200lb adult and you better be thinking ahead when braking! Made a slick simple sandwich mount for the down tube. I’ll try to send a photo.
Love to see & know more! Yessir!
Phil
I would say as a Canadian and the Puch being my first bike 40+ years ago. And that I have just purchased two this past week. That the Puch is alive and well. Maybe not looked at the same way an English or Harley is. But the do drum up conversation.