Ramblestream Podcast
Welcome to Ramblestream, the podcast where we share the stories behind our simple, beautiful machines and the people who craft them. Rooted in Northern Indiana’s manufacturing spirit, we explore how we blend timeless, globally sourced components with a personal, built-to-order approach that connects us directly to every rider. Join us for conversations with makers and owners alike as we dive into craftsmanship, community, and the joy of riding something truly your own.
Ramblestream Podcast
Style Over Sense? Riding the Benda Line
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A Connecticut bourbon in one hand, a 250 cc V‑twin in the other: we kick off with community shoutouts and a lively debate about what makes a “thing” worth keeping, then dive deep into the most polarizing brand on our radar, Benda. From Napoleon Bob’s long, low stance and theatrical multi‑link front end to a cleverly disguised rear suspension that keeps hardtail lines intact, we examine where design ends, and engineering begins. It’s eye-catching. It’s controversial. And it raises the question every rider should ask: what problem does this design actually solve?
We break down the specs that matter and the ones that might be more set dressing than substance. The 249 cc V‑twin’s claimed 25 hp sits nicely for a lightweight bobber, and the sound clips win smiles. But that front suspension, with telescopic forks plus extra linkages and an angled shock, prompts a hard look at travel, damping, and serviceability. Then we zoom out to Benda’s wild siblings: a 250 hybrid boxer claiming 62 hp and an inline‑four naked with stacked exhausts and AR‑pretty visuals. It’s bold, ambitious, and guaranteed to spark arguments about heat management, battery placement, and the fine line between concept art and rideable reality.
Between the tech talk, we share winter riding advice that might save your bike: dry roads, the right heated gear, and a post-ride hot-water wash beat storage rot every time. We connect the dots to CF Moto’s formula: quality plus support equals market traction, and weigh Harley’s missed chance at a true lightweight gateway bike. The throughline is simple: motorcycles are most beautiful when beauty follows purpose. Funky front ends can be brilliant if they make riding better; if they’re just a costume, riders feel it.
If you love design debates, practical riding tips, and a little poetry with your pistons, you’ll feel right at home. Subscribe, share with a friend who rides, and leave a quick review, then tell us: is Benda brave innovation or overstyled theater? We want your take.
From livestream #110 - 12/22/25
Hello everyone. Welcome to the Ramble Stream Podcast. I'm Richard. And I'm Jansen. Each week we sit down for rambling conversations about motorcycles, the experience of riding, design, and whatever else catches our fancy. Bring a beverage of your choice or stories, and we'll see where this takes us.
SPEAKER_00If you're interested in thoughtful conversations, friendly and informative banter with fellow riders, and the latest dispatches from Janus Motorcycles headquarters, you're in the right place. Let's get started.
SPEAKER_01Good evening and welcome back for what do we got? 110? 110, y'all. Ramble Stream episode 110. Another chilly evening here in Goshen, Indiana, although not as chilly as it's been. It could be worse. And I'm just upper Midwest, it could be worse. I was just going to take it in stride and be grateful for what we have.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01If you're new to the Ramble Stream, tell us who you are, where you are viewing from, what you ramble with, and um what you are sipping on this evening.
SPEAKER_00So I'll go ahead and get started.
SPEAKER_01My name is Richard Worsham, co-founder and head of design at Janus Motorcycles. I'm broadcasting from the Ramble Studio in downtown Goshen at Janus Motorcycles headquarters, located in between the police station, city hall, record store, and coffee shop. Oh and theater. And theater. Literally right between those.
SPEAKER_00Um and I ramble with a KLR 650 and a 2017 Halcyon 250 serial number 68.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, if you're if you're and if you ramble with the JNS, tell us the serial number. And this evening, I am sipping on a bottle that just came in today. Kyle brought this back from Connecticut.
SPEAKER_00He delivered a bike to Elliot.
Community Roll Call And Pre‑Ramble Perks
Poem Break: Auden’s Numbers And Faces
SPEAKER_01And Elliot sent back um two bottles, one of Amaro and one of bourbon. And just proving me wrong that you can't make bourbon, you can make bourbon outside of Kentucky. Uh this is bourbon from Connecticut, apparently. Um, and we're gonna test it out right now. We're gonna we're gonna see what she tastes like. What tastes like while while you're doing that, uh I'll control myself. Uh my name is Jane Son. Also coming to you live from the Ramble Stream Studio. Um I don't know if you guys heard that, but that was kind of nice. I did. Um, I uh ramble in a Ford Lightning and soon to be rambling on a Phoenix 450. Uh what else? Um I'm sipping on currently some Wolfert Reserve, but uh as soon as I finish my Wolfert, I am going to try some of this bourbon whiskey from Mind Hill. Richard. Very different than that. Um Wolfert. I'm ready for a review. Well, let me put a little water in it. I feel like it really brings the favor out, you know. I don't know if you're whenever you say that, I don't know if you're kidding or not. Moment of truth here. Second set? It's gotta be good. It's like very aromatic. It's like spicy. Not not not like spicy we were talking about with like bullet, but like aromatic, I would just say. I'm I'm curious to try a kind of like a sweet, kind of savory like a caramel. It doesn't taste like a bourbon I've had before. I'll say that. That's either a really big compliment or a really bad one. Good. I like it. Wow, I'm I'm pumped to try it. Very unique. First comment. We've got Hurt and Pink Sock, also known as Jason 412. I don't know how. I think we should just call him Jason. I don't know why it changed, but he says, hello fellows working in Edison, New Jersey, Halcyon 250, number 1097, House on 450, number 307, Origin number 13, uh, Griffin 250, number 12, Phoenix 250, number 1010, Phoenix 450, number six, sipping on chocolate milk. And this I think was at 1031 a.m. So Arlesburg was he still sipping on chocolate milk? Chocolate milk at this hour? Which feels like an appropriate response. We've got Straw Dog who's tuning in at 12:52 p.m. We're early. All the early birds, all the early birds. We'll stream or we'll we'll scroll down here. Um Uncle Voodoo was on at 6:30. Uncle Voodoo's here. We've got Speed Racer here. Who else is here? We've got Charles, Charles McGagan. Good to see you, Charles. Carlsburg, in Ohio. Got Michael or Mark Carmichael, sorry. Lesson in Kentucky. He should tell us a thing about too about bourbon. Yeah, for real. Mark, what are what are your thoughts on bourbon and if they can be made uh outside of Kentucky? Got David Husky here. David Husky. David Las Cruzas, New Mexico, House Anti 50 number uh 138 and a Kawasaki Vulcan Vaquero. Vaquero. And he's sipping on a martini. Good to see you, David. We've got Tex Terrable Tracing here. We've got some of the uh pre-ramble guys who who just like swarmed the chat as soon as that ends. Uh, if you guys want to figure out what that is, the pre-ramble, it's uh the first 30 minutes, give or take, before the stream, where Richard and I uh level out cameras and have technical difficulties. Uh that's really all you get. Uh you can join. You also get uh access a week early to the videos uh and uh members only shorts starting at the beginning of the year, uh, which is really exciting. Dave Bowen using the button below. Hi Dave. Seattle checking in, having a dark cherry beer with forfeity chewy chewy, chewy, chewy, with forfeit number fit 41 and our Jerry Jerry, our orange cat. Cheers. Cheers. Hi, Jerry, your orange cat. Got Gary Smith here with his just plethora of motorcycles, really following through with the uh the the legend that he is. We've got Confedianic. What's up? Yo yo yo, sorry I'm late. I blame Jance's team of cracks. They're here and with us today. How are you guys doing? So glad you guys are here. We've got a good program for you today. We're gonna be talking a little bit about a brand that I had never heard of until Richard sent the link. Um, so I'm excited about that. And it's little twin that could, the little V twin that could. Some other oddities. We will be learning all about Benda. Benda Benda. I feel like I'm on the East Coast when I say Benda. Richard, I think it might be time for a little poem though. Great, great. This evening we're gonna be reading a poem from uh the great uh Debbie H.
SPEAKER_00Auden. This one is called Numbers and Faces.
SPEAKER_01The kingdom of number is all boundaries, which may be beautiful and must be true. To ask if it is big or small proclaims one the sort of lover who should stick to faces. Lovers of small numbers go benignly potty, believe all tales are thirteen chapters long, have animal doubles, carry pentagrams, are Millerites, Baconians, flat earthmen, lovers of big numbers go hardly mad, would have the Swiss abolished, all of us well purged, somenotyped, baptized, taught baseball, they empty bars, spoil parties, run for Congress.
SPEAKER_00True, between faces almost any number might come in handy. One is always real. But which could any face call good for calling infinity a number that does not make it one?
SPEAKER_01That one felt like there were so many clever like clever double meanings that that's like kind of getting lost and trying to figure one out before the next came. It's kind of crazy. Uh I see Jansen finally got himself a table. Yeah, the table is a big benefit. I kind of nixed it at first, uh, and uh I think it's a good idea. What Richard was saying is uh he was wrong and I was right.
unknownYeah.
What Makes A “Thing” A Thing
SPEAKER_01I mean I well actually what happened was I nixed the table and then I got really annoyed by Jansen using the mouse on the arm of his chair. Using one of your books as a mess. My mess. Destroying the dust jacket. I uh I uh left my mouse at TT. Uh I think Neil might be using it um currently. So I thought he had like one of those fancy CAD mice with the ball on it and everything. Well, he sent me a message on Basecamp saying, uh hey, just so you know, uh your your mouse looked very lonely over there, so I made sure to keep him company. So something along those lines. We've got something that I'm excited about. Oh, we got a thing. Jansen is in charge of the things this evening.
SPEAKER_00And Jansen, since you're in charge of the thing, give us your three-sentence definition of a thing.
SPEAKER_01A thing is we're gonna try this every week. Yeah. We're gonna see if we get better at it. Until we kind of nail it. Um a thing is something.
SPEAKER_00I already used this the word in the definition.
SPEAKER_01Great, great start. A thing is an item that has value beyond its uh uh its literal worth due to sentimental reasons or uh just because you personally think it looks cool or is cool or can be used in cool ways. It has some level of like you can't just like just because you made a really cool like um mud pie. Yes. Doesn't mean that it has to last. There has to be some enduring quality to it. Right. It has to be useful outside of just itself. Does it? Yeah. Yeah, maybe you're right. I think it does. That's a good question. All right, here we go. So this is uh a very special one from Hong Kong. Straight from China, just like Benda. Yeah, I just had to keep with the theme. So this might look like just a model boat, but wait, there's more. It's bookends. So the story behind this, um, this was let me hold it. Yeah, I'll I'll put it. You can hold one or I can let me hold them for you. Um, so these uh I don't know where my grandpa got them. They're probably just he probably went straight from Hong Kong. He probably just got them from like Walmart or something. I don't know. Um, but he got I don't know what year. Um, but my dad's like 1980s. Yeah, 80s. Early 80s. Yeah, he got them from his dad uh when he died. Um, and then when my dad moved from my childhood house, um, he's like, Hey, do you want these? And or he asked all this my siblings, they're like, Hey, do you do you want these? And everyone else said no. And then I said, I do, I want them. Uh so now they hold my books up, all my books up in my in my office. Oh nice. What's holding them up now? Uh hope. Oh I've I've angled angled a moment. I have to say it's better than my bookend, which you know, if you hold this. I don't know, your bookends are pretty cool. My bookends are made out of Halcyon 50 parts that I welded together. Because I had no no that they were like literally, I was like, I need something to hold this up. I think that's cool. No, I I love, I don't know if this is made of brass or what, but brass. Um I love how you guys can't really see it, but they've like discolored, you can kind of see it there. Um, just about every in just weird, odd places. And I don't know if that was intentional or if water got on them or what, but I just it it's very cool. So it is neat. Um the fact that you have a connection with it's pretty neat too. I I love these things. What do y'all think? Is it a thing? They're they're dusty as I'll get out. Yeah, is this a thing? Richard is downplaying how cool that is. I I think he is too. You're you're housing on 50 bookends. Oh, oh, yeah. Well, they are they are cool, but they uh they also um could be upgraded. With what? What would you upgrade then?
SPEAKER_00Um I don't know. I was thinking like a bust of Homer.
SPEAKER_01Dante Alighieri. Janice McRider just commented, and this is the first time I've seen him all night, and he says, it looks like they're eating their microphones tonight. Hi. So, so glad that you're here too. Well, we're trying to make sure that the audio is good for you all, and the way that these mics are set up is that I was just we were just having this conversation, that you really have to be talking into the mic for it to sound really good. So we also realized I like to be able to see my face for you all to be, because it if you're you know, if you're deaf, you can like read my lips or something. We're trying to just helps with legibility, but we'll see. Trying to get best of both worlds, right? Trying to speak into them and make them sound nice, but also help everyone see our faces and not hide behind uh these microphones.
SPEAKER_00The Fathom, the Fathoms is that 14 says no, oh no, wait. Put them in the freezer.
unknownWhat?
SPEAKER_01We got a lot of comments here. Can you scroll up? What are you looking for? Put them in the freezer overnight, and the bookends will be real cool. Uh it's two things put together as one. That's what I was looking for. Uh it's two things put together as one. They're alright, I guess. Yes. Come on, they're cool. I like them, says John. Thank you, John. Reminds me of pair reminds me of a pair of bookends that I had as a kid uh with a locomotive on one end and a caboose on the other. That's awesome. And a tunnel portal uh for the upright. Yep, that's that's pretty cool. See, if you had those in your office. There are actually a lot of really cool bookends you can find at antique stores and stuff. Um they're pretty cool. I feel like there's a special art with bookends. They can be kind of tacky. And I think that's what makes them kind of artistic a little bit. Like could you imagine like a dog, the the head of a dog on one end and the butt of a dog on the other? I've seen them. That's good. That's good. That's nice. What kind of mics are there? They're omnidirectional. Uh no, they're I I don't think so. I don't actually know. I know that you have top talk into the top of them. Uh, this is the only place that they receive signal. Maybe at some point we will upgrade them, but then if you get the one, yeah, it's always uh it's always some, it's always something. Uh we've got racing. I'm glad you can actually hear us. Hoy, just started following Jansen on Instagram. Amazing guy for sure. I didn't read this comment before uh before I clicked on it. Oh, yeah, yeah. Thank you, buddy. Uh Jansen missed all of my comments on the Benda. Well, maybe I implother. You're skipping through so many of them, Jansen. Well, do you I I'm trying to get to the the ones that uh that I see 18 minutes in. I know we're kind of cruising. Richard, there are so few house 50 parts that you want to well, this was back in the day when there were lots of them and there were too many, and I think they were actually miscuts. There was some reason that we didn't want them. So it was they were in the scrap pile. We were actually just talking about Halcyon 50 parts today, about how we're storing them. We have pallets of them, and we don't necessarily need all of them. Right. But we also I feel really bad throwing them away. What do you okay? What you know how we make trophies for the owner's rally? Yeah, we would use them for stuff like that. I feel like I mean there's always gonna be a supply parts, right? As long as we, you know, save them. And like worst case scenario, we just get some more made.
SPEAKER_00We'd have to make some more.
SPEAKER_01Because we can do that, which is a really cool thing to say. It would take a little while. Yeah, but we could do it. Yeah. The mics are designed to project extraneous noise. So you have to speak dead on directly and close. Indeed. Rally. Go back up again. There are some good ones up there. Mud and snow is front and back of this time of year, or just park it? Mud and snow, front and back this time of year, or just park it.
SPEAKER_00I think he's asking about whether we ride or not. Mud and snow is fine.
SPEAKER_01Just don't get salt on your bike. Uh that's if that's what you're asking. I'm a fair weather rider 100%. No, I like riding in the winter. I hate riding in the winter. It's totally fine.
SPEAKER_00Just don't get salt on the bike. And if you do get salt on the bike, make sure you use hot water and wash it off. Hot water and soap.
SPEAKER_01A genuine article. A thing. There we go. I like that. A genuine article. That's a great article. That's a genuine article. That feels like a good one-liner for uh Dave Bowen said, look up the Benda P51. Yes. We'll talk a little bit about the P51. Uh we've got a we've got a link that we've got a few links that we want to keep. Yeah, we've got some links. We'll we'll I think maybe one or two. Um must be, yeah, for real. No Benda dealers, distributors in the US of A.
SPEAKER_00That's right.
The Benda Brand Enters The Chat
SPEAKER_01No yet. Although I think there have been some I think that they start they're they're working on it. They might they're bringing at least three models to the States. Are they? Like soon? Uh I think so. That's what the word. At least I've read that. Do you think that the the introduction and wide adoption, this is kind of gnosquireless, I think, of CF Moto has really made a headway for Chinese brands. Yes. I mean CF Moto is killing it. How did they how did I know the backstory? I should do some more research before I really speak about it. They would be a fun, a fun brand to kind of talk about the rainbow stream because it's so curious how widely adopted they were, and it feels like almost instantaneously. Well, there's two parts to that. One is they're well made and affordable, and the other one is that they have good support. And that is the key to making a brand kick off. Good support. Yes. Good thing. Yeah. I mean, if you like like to grow like that. Right. I mean, that's the key to rapidly. That's the key to like Honda. Yeah. And like when they can. Yeah. So just I think CF Mode is a great example. And it's also something that it's just showing what the the quality the quality can be there. Yeah. And I've not I've heard nothing but good things about CF Mode. Yeah. But yeah, me too. I've heard they've been great. Must a thing be useful at all? I think there has to be some intrinsic use. I mean that's a good I like the way you're kind of what the direction on that, like the that it shouldn't be purely efficient. Um but I think that a thing all things must have some be evaluated on an efficient level. Does that make sense? Like if a thing is purposeless, then Okay, then how would you explain your your cast what do you call it? Your uh your broken piece of pottery from uh Oh, yeah. I well it had a purpose. It had one. So again, we're getting into the is a garbage kind of is a garbage, yeah. I would argue my bookends to a lot of people would be garbage. Yeah. I mean, uh like if I ran into that like a thrift store and didn't have a story, I might not buy it for cheap. So the it's it's really important. I mean, I'm just saying in terms of that one. Right. If you found that in a garden, well it doesn't matter if it was made in like the first century it's a piece of broken pottery. Yeah, but you relate to that story. Well, because I know what's what it is. If you didn't know what it was, right. So you've happened to but you still have to know the story. Yeah. Right? That's a good one. Hmm. All right.
SPEAKER_00Um that's usually what thing means. It's something. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Must the thing be useful at all? I like that question.
SPEAKER_01Speaking of things, I got another pint of Christmas carol. Print of Christmas carol. Pint of Christmas carol. Another pint of a Christmas carol. What does that taste like? Uh let's see. Patina. Yeah, it's got a nice patina to it. It's it's it's actually really cool. I wish I knew how it got like that. I should I think I'm just gonna let it if I'm gonna keep an eye on it and keep see if there's any more uh uh pieces of patina that come up. I want a piece of a 50. That could be fun. Just mail out random pieces of 50cc. Oh, we got plenty of them around. Gary says, I will buy house down 50 spare parts. All right. Well give us a call, Gary. You got our number. We might have some extras. Um but do you know, do you think you can get the uh original manufacturer to make them? Uh what are you referring to? I'm not sure what you're oh are you talking about the extra, the spare 50 parts? Uh I'm not sure. Oh, we can make the parts, but like the it's the I think maybe he's talking about the motor. Yeah, maybe. I'm not sure. Who else? Who else is here love riding in the winter? What do you love about riding in the winter? I would love to hear your thinking behind that. You and Richard. You just get to keep riding into this. I did a whole I've done several videos about this. You know what it is. I did a video in my own garage and it was like freezing cold. You remember that one? It's like terrible. Uh-huh. But I talk about if you you know, okay, maybe you're not someone who has like a ton of money. Uh you just bought yourself a really nice Janice motorcycle, you you know, drained your bank account to buy a nice thing. You sold your car. Yeah, you sold your car. No, no, you bought it and and you want to like get more value out of this thing. What is the best way you can do that? Is it to drive to you know, trailer it to Colorado or California? Or is it just to invest in some like basic gear so that you can extend your riding season an extra like two months or three months into the winter? Because even here in northern Indiana, where we get tons of lake effect snow, uh, you can ride a couple of days every month at the minimum.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. No problem. Yeah. As long as you're bundled up.
SPEAKER_01I think half my parts.
Front Suspension Deep Dive: Multi‑Link Mystery
SPEAKER_00So like that's the beauty of that. And it's also like it's good for the bike. Like, you do not want to let a bike. Number one thing I say to people is like the worst thing you can do to a motorcycle is not ride it.
SPEAKER_01It's true. And just starting it up in your garage is also bad for the motorcycles. See, that's what I do. But they don't, though. Like, all you do is you just like build up condensation in the motor. Like, unless you're running that thing until it like builds up, works up to temperature. I would run it like for 15 minutes. Okay, well, maybe you're getting close. But not all the way. Yeah. I mean, maybe, I don't know. I don't know how fast your bike warms up. It's not mine anymore. But I just think though, there's a lot of reasons to ride more in the winter. And this is also the best reason of all is when you look over and the people in the car going like, what crazy person over there? Yeah, that's right. What so my here's my thing. You know how you remember when you were a kid and uh you swam in the summer and then you couldn't swim in the winter because you know it's cool out, and you can't go outside and swim in lakes, ponds, pools, whatever. And then the first swim is always so freaking exciting.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's a good thing.
Rear Suspension, Hardtail Aesthetics, And Links
SPEAKER_01Because you waited for so long. So there's like a seasonality and the the the the waxing and the waning of the season. It was like it was a it's an indicator to me of like, oh, like spring's here, summer's coming. It's like a almost like a light switch. But you can have that like it's Monday night, you stop riding, you go to sleep, and you don't ride, and then Tuesday morning, you get to do it again. It's gonna be like a much faster sequence. You don't have to wait as long. No, but I've never gotten an itch like that before. No, I know what you mean. I know. And but I mean like it's a very different thing to be riding a motorcycle in February and then to like get that first spring around. Right. Right. I I've I've never I've never done it before. Dry roads mean go for a ride, Shawlton says. Yes, I agree. I guess. Uh, this is probably the least I've ridden in 2025. Really? Yeah. I'm sad to say it and ashamed. But uh I've been so busy this year that I I have just kind of fallen to the wayside. Fall to the wayside and my my leisure activities, but 2026 is gonna be different. Your KLR is just sad. That's why it's my KLR is sad. My KLR is very sad. Doesn't get ridden enough. Yeah, it's true. Same as being in your car doing donuts. I mean, uh doing donuts is very fun. What do you say, Kelly? I want one of those tank badges that yeah, those are cool. We got a whole box of those. Yeah, somewhere. Uh we we I don't know what happened. The manufacturer stamped like it's a long story, but they stamped the badges the wrong direction. Um and so now they're yeah, we we have plans for them, but I just have to make it happen. Were we gonna make like necklaces or keychains or something with them? I forget. I I feel like we've talked about it before. Do that or we'll sell them. Yeah. Well well, I mean you can sell the keychains. Jameson Hoodson, what is it about not riding in the winter? Where did you get the idea you can't? It's not that I can't. It's that I don't want to. For multiple reasons. First one, I know it's my own doing, not having the right gear. Okay. So I second off, I hate to watch my video. I hate being cold. Third off, I love the feeling of the first ride in spring. Those are my those are my three reasons. There's so many comments, y'all. I'm so sorry if we if we miss some. Um, but I I don't know. Do you want to build an inventory bike? Um or do you guys want to keep ripping on comments? Or do you want to hop right into the what do you guys think? You guys want to build an inventory bike or do you want to hopefully? Do you want to build an inventory bike or do we want to um go right into our ramble? Jeez, the kid is sensitive. What they're just making fun of you. I just I can't you gotta stop being so like don't don't don't fall for the pait. I fall fall for it all the time. It's like, what do you mean I'm not being sensitive? Let's ramble, Confederate says. Let's ramble? Alright, alright. We got one. Build of the week. Oh. Build of the week. Okay, we got one of those. All right. Oh, but he wants he's called he wants a build of the week. Oh, yeah. We'll get back to it. Don't worry. In in due time. In due time, Kelly. Build of the month. I guess so. Ramble. We we're both there. I mean, speed racer says ramble. Um one more answer, and I think that'll seal the deal for us. I've had I have a heated vest and heated gloves. Mike, I I would like a heated vest just for outside of writing. I'm wearing my heated vest right now. Oh, the Milwaukee one. That glows. I don't have a battery in it, but oh well, who needs one? Too warm right now. Okay, I think I'm seeing more rambles than not. Okay, what's up with the bend of bob? What's up with the bend of bob? Uh let me pull up the while you do that. Let me just do a little preface to this. Um, I heard about Tets. Sorry, the I'm not making fun. By the way, like I am sort of making fun of it, but I'm not. Like, there's a lot of really cool stuff about this. Uh-huh. The thing I can't get past is I think it looks like it's AI. Like, I can't not think that this is AI. I've seen real videos, but like everything you can't. You know, things are like you think it's real, but it's not. It it's kind of like that. Like, I see them writing it. It's I it seems like this thing is AI. It they have one, maybe. No, I think they have multiple. I think they're for sale. They have like a new generation of them, too. Anyway, so I first heard about the Benda from I can't remember if I found it or if Chase, one of our designers, yeah, found it and was like so he was so blown away by it. Like this feels like a Chase mobile chase. Yeah. Chase was like, what is going on? So anyway, we started looking at the front fork specifically of the Napoleon Bach. It's called the Napoleon Ba. And I think it's because it's small. That's what you said. I think I think that's why. We're trying to figure out what's called Napoleon, and I think it's because it's small. I mean, as JNS motorcycles, I think we should be supportive of anybody who's coming out with a T50. Absolutely. And anyone who's coming out with something that with an alternative, or as we like to call it, a funny front end. A f just a silly, just a silly front. Silly front end. Look at this. What is going on? Okay. Do you want to talk about the front end or the back end first? Let's talk about the front end. That's the one that caught my attention. Let me see if I can find. I know they have a better picture of it on. Okay, here we go. You can kind of see both both. It's not a great image. There are some other ones like online, but if you're interested, you gotta search and half the things, I s I swear, they look like they're AI. I don't know. And if you go on YouTube, all the videos are like translated or maybe AI. Listen. I kind of like it. Okay. To be fair, it it actually is a really neat looking bike. It is a 250. It's so unique. Uh I love that they're trying something different, but to the front end, those are telescopic forks. Let's just be clear here. Yes. Those are conventional. I don't even think they're upside down. Are they upside down? Can you can you zoom in on that? Uh I don't know if I can. Let me see. No, no, wait a minute. No, they're not upside down. No. That that looks like the those are right side up. I might be wrong. I might be wrong on that. I can't really tell. These are like regular old telescopic forks. However, bolted onto the front is another shock absorber. Why?
SPEAKER_00At an angle. And it like. So if you can kind of picture what happens when this bike, when it hits a bump, the telescopic fork telescopes, you know, like it does, and then these things go like this.
Specs, Power Figures, And Sound
SPEAKER_01And the shock absorber is like adding another level of like suspension on top of the telescopic. Isn't that gonna be like I don't know? I haven't really any of them. I want to ride one really bad. Well, one would imagine that they've got a whole system that works together. Right. Hope. Right. But the point would be Why? I don't know. I think it adds a level of uh because it's not gonna add any more any more deflection. It's still gonna be able to bend because it's got a pivot right there. Right? Right. I mean, does when you're breaking. So this is basically the entire Janus Motorcycles design team is going like this is like the conversation we've had, but it's like, so wait, why? Why multi-link suspension? It is multi-link. It's six-point multi-link front suspension. Okay, yeah, I I agree, but but why? Help me understand yeah, what what it's doing, right? Other than looking really cool. Sorry, I'm I'm getting like very confused and excited about this thing, and I'm interrupting you constantly. So, well, Jason, then you talk about it. I won't interrupt you. I don't know. I just I the more we're I've I went in first. I saw it, I saw the link, I looked at it a little bit briefly, and uh I I hated it. I said, This is stupid, this is ugly, and I don't like it. Why are they doing too much? It's too extra. And then I started looking at it a little more, and I really love the stance, it's pretty nice. I love it's long and low. Just the the general like silhouette of it looks Halcyon like so nice. Yeah, and actually the stance reminds me of um like uh Curtis. What uh oh, like one of the the older no, the the new electric, the ones that are made in um I don't know actually where they're made now. I don't know if they're even being made. Curtis is like the new Confederate motorcycle, an electric motorcycle that I don't know about. We're they're like$120,000. Holy cow! No wonder I don't know about them. But they have this very similar stance, it's like long and low, and they have a very they have a funny front end. They use a gird, they use a girded front end. Interesting. Anyway, I'm okay. Front end. Looking at the front end, the suspension game goes. I guess I'm just yeah, they have a very strong suspension game. I have actually heard that the suspension is rocky. I I would imagine it would be a little too rigid. How would you know that? I don't know. This is like these people that get on like, oh, it's got a really sketchy front end on the Janus. And you're like, you don't know because you haven't ridden one. Yeah, but notice the you the words that we're using, we're saying rigid and rocky. We're not saying dangerous. No, I'm saying I've used heard from reviewers that it has limited suspension travel and it's very, very stiff. I think I've also heard that from some people about Janus. Yeah. But that aside, the the let's just finish out on the front end. What I'm trying to figure out is what is actually going on here. Like, I wish I had a chalkboard because I would like to that should be in the function. That would be like to draw out what's going on. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00What's going on there? Like other models. So there's the that's the front end. Soft. I really couldn't care less about the engine.
SPEAKER_01I mean, like, it's cool. Like, it look, but again, it looks it's a V twin 250. Yeah. I think everything on these bikes is made in China. Um, but with some really neat design. What is the the engine actually looks like it's AI though? Like, what is going on like those valve covers? They don't they look like you know what I'm talking about when I say made like AI? They look too nice. It looks like a video that AI created of what a motorcycle should look like. Well, let's go back and see if it doesn't look functional. Can we go to like an actual image? Well, you don't like these images? The images on their website? What it what is over here? This is the same thing. Um we have like here, let me stick it here. I mean, they can see this stuff. Are those are you would expect those to be pushrods, right? What the rake seems oh, it's just an illusion. Yeah, but like I'm talking finishing out on the engine. This is a little 250.
SPEAKER_00It's not a pushrod engine, I'm almost sure.
SPEAKER_01Um What is going on there? I would it has to be real though, right? Like And uh Napoleon 250, not to 500. Let's see if we can pull up some more images here. And then like zoom in on that thing. The quality's so bad. Same place. Alright, whatever. You can't zoom in on these images, it's really frustrating. Yeah, you can't even I had a hard time pulling one for a thumbnail. It's really hard to find information on these. Well, there's an image down there. Uh bottom left?
SPEAKER_00No, go over. Like that one right below that. Here? Down. Down. Below at the bottom. Right there.
Hybrid Boxer, Inline Four, And Styling Risks
SPEAKER_01There we go. Okay. Uh open image. A new tab. Sound like an old married couple sometimes. Somebody's made some aftermarket exhaust for this thing. But check that out. So you can see what is going on. Is that an actual it looks like it's fake. So this has obviously just been uncreated. This is not a fake motorcycle. This is real. This has been. So it has to be just a real a maybe that's the biggest compliment. Like anything. It looks fake now. I don't know. Well, it's a it's a V-twin.
SPEAKER_00Um can we go to the spec sheet? Yeah. So it's all in uh it's 249 CCs, uh, V twin. Sorry. A valve.
SPEAKER_01We got all the power in um kilowatts. What is 19 kilowatts in horsepower?
SPEAKER_00I don't know off the top of my head.
SPEAKER_01Let me let me let me look at it real quick. It's an interesting little bike. The the last thing we can talk about. 25. 25 horsepower? 25 horsepower. How about 250? That's 19 kilowatts. Wow. That's that's pretty crazy. With a little v twin. It's really neat. I would I would they sound pretty good too. If you have a chance, look up the um some YouTube videos if you can find one in the thing. I would love to ride one. Yeah, me too. Multi-link suspension fork. Yeah, multi-link suspension. I mean, that's like very dual lever, telelever, paraler, 64 lever. Hey man, it's enough levers. ABS, you can just give it a cool name. Yeah, it doesn't have to mean anything. Call it Bender Bend a front suspension. I don't know. Okay, let's go back to the chat and see what they're saying. Let me uh hop over to Aaron. Eight valves on a 250?
SPEAKER_00Why? Oh, we've got eight valves on our four fifty.
SPEAKER_01I mean true. I mean, is it there's 700cc on inline four cylinder? Why would you not have a fee? I'll just a bend a lever. Oh my god. Inline four? They need to hire you. That's so good. A 1973 Yamaha DT250 is 23 horsepower, 29 horsepower. Um, yeah, but that was a two-stroke, wasn't it? That's a different thing. Yeah, no, this is a four-stroke. What about the rear suspension, huh? So let's talk a little bit about the rear suspension, which is actually pretty cool. It's it it's it's all really cool. So, what they've done is they've attempted to do very much what we did with the Halcyon 450, which is preserve the look of a hardtail bobber.
SPEAKER_00Um, so this is also the what Harley Davidson did with the soft tail line, and what Triumph did with the bobber.
SPEAKER_01This actually looks a little bit more like what this is probably more of a rip-off of the bobber, the Triumph Bobber. Yeah. Um, here we go. That's a great picture right there. But it it's actually, if you think about it, it's very much like a Halcyon 450.
SPEAKER_00It's even the what it has the rear hoop that goes up over the the back of the rear wheel. Um, and then in in some other images, you can actually see that it pivots, it goes down and then it comes up to the swing arm pivot.
SPEAKER_01So very much like the 450. It just seems like it's a lot of angles. Uh you're talking about the linkage, is that just the linkage shape? Is that just like part of the talk? What are you talking about? I'm talking about this little zigzag part of the thing.
SPEAKER_00Oh, the zigzag is not what I'm talking about. I'm just talking about the triangulation. Okay, very much like the Alcyon 450 here. So then inside of it, instead of having a big shock absorber underneath the seat, they put the shock absorber off to the side and they've used a linkage system that.
SPEAKER_01It's like I mean talk about multiple what do they call it? Multi-link multi-linking suspension. This has got like, you know, ten. It's literally multi-link. Uh, but it's a zigzag sort of um it's like one of those tape measures that you fold out.
SPEAKER_00And what it does is it it trans it transmits that load from that shock into the your suspension.
SPEAKER_01And it it works. I mean, this one I can understand how it works. It's a very complicated way to do it. Right. It doesn't seem like it's a very like mass production friendly, which is actually I'm I'm a fan of it because this little motorcycle is a 250. I don't know what the retail price on it is. I don't I couldn't find a price, I only found it in um RB, which I didn't have time to translate. What is RMB? It's the Chinese. Okay. Um but the zig damp. The damp is the sag. Exactly. I think that's what it but but overall what you're seeing here is a motorcycle that really values the aesthetic.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
Harley Minis, CF Moto, And Market Lessons
SPEAKER_01Yeah. It's all about this look. And it does a good job. I think it looks sharp. I do too. I I'm so curious to uh to know what a lot of people are. We've we we've said some nice things about it. Uh-huh. If I were to say some not nice things about it. What the heck are these things? Those are the that's where I would start. What are what are what would you even call those? Can you guys multi-linkage suspensions? Can they see my mouse? Uh I don't know if we can verbally describe it. I don't know if you can see my mouse on the screen, but it's like the um the supports, uh not the forks, but it's the supports uh coming down the front of the the motorcycle here. So it looks like to if you were to just glance at this bike, keep going. Show some more images.
SPEAKER_00Like right there, that image right there. You can see it on the very front, on the side. Yeah, so it should highlight.
SPEAKER_01I don't know if I can. So yeah, drive. Well, I don't know if they can see my balance thing. Can you see on your screen? Oh, I see it on the screen over there. Oh, that I guess they don't know. Great.
SPEAKER_00So anyway, you can see where they're where the regular telescopics are, right? They're back, they go straight from the axle up to the headset. Then in front of that are these like weird arms that just kind of fold with a shock absorber.
SPEAKER_01Well, do they even fold? Yeah, they do. They're pivot. If they didn't, the bike would not have any suspension. Fair. Fair code. If you have a hard front end. I'm I'm trying. Um I think they pivot right where this that that front little gatored shock absorber is. Yeah. So credit credit negatives here.
SPEAKER_00I don't there's an argument that can be made that this thing is kind of a drama queen. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01This thing is way more about looks than it is about function because some of these things, unless I'm con I'm demonstrating somebody tells explains it otherwise, uh-huh, do not appear to have a purpose. Yeah. It's like a the maximalist version of a house. It's like the Batmobile. It looks like it's trying to like have these like an aisle. It's trying to look like the Batmobile is a stage prop. You see what I'm saying? Yeah. And you know what a motorcycle motorcycles, I think, gain their beauty because the things that are beautiful, even if they're funky or if it's a funny front end, uh huh, they function. Right.
SPEAKER_00And there's an element here of sort of dare I say it, deceptively complicated?
SPEAKER_01Deceptively complicated and deceptively beefy. Maybe? Like it gives like a Yeah, because if those aren't upside down forks, it gives like a muscle bike kind of feel. If those aren't upside down forks, those are just like some really skinny little shocks. Uh-huh. And it and you can and so this is where we kind of get into the world of surmising.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. If you look at their other models, they've gone to great lengths on all of them to cover up the front forks, and they they it obviously they like this look uh-huh of a kind of heavy, beefy front end.
SPEAKER_01Right. So maybe it's just a styling thing. Yeah. But again. I would go with a girder. Yeah. Use a girder front end. Well, Arlsberg says those are weird-looking girders. If they are girders, reminds me, reminds me of the family truckster. It is not a girder front end. I can say that with definitive. It's not a girder. Janice McGrider says, Richard, it's simple. The purpose uh is to separate non-thinkers from their money. Uh well, people have said that about Janice motorcycle too.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01It's kind of it's kind of a fun little position we've put ourselves in. Yeah. That's why I thought this bike was really interesting. Talking about this bike in particular, because it makes no sense. Yeah, you're right. It doesn't really. And yet there's something about it that's like that's cool. I I So let's just take a look at some of their other models real quick. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because I think to get a little more perspective. Um they just came out with a 62? I want to say 62 horsepower, 250? 62 horsepower. So it's a boxer. Scroll down a little bit. So show these people these pictures.
SPEAKER_00It's uh it's like a BMW configuration boxer.
Closing Notes, Next Week, And Live CTA
SPEAKER_01That thing looks live. 250. 62 horsepower. But once again, look at those, look at the front end. It's like a it's almost like ethos. What's peeking out behind the front end? Is that a little telescopic for a telescopic foregum there? And it looks to me like it's not upside down. No. So really basic telescopic front end with some really wacky wings props that arguably to some look cool. Look cool. Yeah. And I'm in that like they look kind of cool. All right, fair enough. I mean, I I buy it. This is the P51, also named after a famous crazy to name that after an Americ after an American slider plane. Um that that doesn't look real either. That looks like AI. It looks like a real it looks like a rendering. Or is that is this like a piece of plastic that covers up the motor? It it has to be, right? Look at that. Look at the airplanes in the background. It's just some they're not even a it's like a it'd be one thing if it was a P51. It's like a Cessna 152, but they're like a little donky plane. Okay, okay. That's a little too much. Is it a speaker? Is it a headlight? No, it's a it's supposed to be a propeller. That's too much. I didn't even think about that. It's supposed to be a propeller. Like, stop. It's too much. I get it. I get it. It's all it's almost cool enough. They're in like that weird that weird zone where um I get it now. If you were to go all in, if you were to go all in and have like all the paint schemes, like P51 oriented and like the checkers and show me some other pictures. This is horrible. Okay. This one I'm not as big of a fan of. No. So this is a more traditional um well, kind of like a Janus rear shock under the seat. I don't I can't see a linkage on that. I don't think it's a linkage. I think it's a direct straight to the swing arm or rag suspension, just like a uh 450 LCN. Um, so they're going with more kind of like a naked insect look on this. Um, I think the interesting thing here is the interesting thing is it's got a it's the hybrid 250. 250cc puts out 62 horsepower, that's awesome. And it does so because it's got an electric, it's a hybrid. So the odd thing, we kind of think about this, is that you've got a giant battery pack underneath a hot engine underneath a fuel tank. What could go wrong? I don't know. I don't know, man. I feel like battery technology these days is to the point where it's not gonna if it's a lithium battery, it's still well you think about how they put uh these hybrid engines in like like supercars and stuff like that. And I understand that like very different like this is not a Ferrari, right? But I would imagine that there's some precautions. Do we have any images? I'm sure they put some thought into it. Is it let me see any engines that show images that show the configuration of the engine like closer up to the hybrid? I wonder if they've got it on their um this is just an article. Let me see if they've got anything on their website. So check this out. It's it's certainly interesting. I just like the fact that there's something different. Um there's the Napoleon there's the chinchola 300. Nothing's on their website. Let's like hold on, let's look at the chinchola real quick. Oh, this is just bad. This is like a little Ty Harley. I was gonna say, this feels this is like what Harley should do. This is what Harley should do. Is it what they should do, Richard? It's a little, it's a little uh sports tur. Liquid cooled sportster. Maybe not 300, but like it looks good. It uses modern technology, it's probably a blast. Yeah. Yeah. It's ugly. But the problem is Harley can't do it cheap enough. Well, and it's ugly. Yeah, it's I mean Yeah, you're right. But it is a little, it looks like it's supposed to look like a little Harley Davidson. And it's named a chintz. It's called a chin. Can we do a configuration? Yeah, what does it look like in yellow? What does it look like in channel? Look at maze. We got a maze. Oh, that's not even come on. You're not even trying. Yeah. Okay, I can do the green. A classic, like matte gray. Well, excellent. Enough of that. Uh let's go to the um What do you want to go to? I want to see the the hybrid. Uh they didn't have to. They don't have an image. No, I don't. Um the the LFC 700, I think, is the one that's coming to the States. I think they're gonna do this. This is the inline four. Okay, this looks like a uh almost like an FTR. Yeah, but not. Look at that thing. Look at those exhausts. Or like a Dicati. Yeah, that exhaust is crazy. That's super I mean, you have to say, this is pretty interesting when a new brand is launching new stuff that looks this wild. Yeah, I love it's a pretty wild look. I I would never be seen on it, but well, I would be seen on it. Give me the polarizing stuff, right? I'll I'll ride it. Yeah, for sure. There's no way, there's no way I would look at that and be like, no, I'm not gonna buy one. I'm not gonna write it. I I it it kind of looks like it's a DiVale. It looks like it's a Ducati DiVale. Or kind of like a um those look like look at that. Is that not computer generated? That's AR. That's generally that's that's a good idea. That's a rendering generated. Well, I mean, our some of our pictures are, yeah. I'm just saying that that's not real. That's not real. No. All right, well, what are we what do we got? Uh any other um Honda Root Scooter XL. Scooter XL. The four into four exhaust tips are ch are a choice. I kind of like it though, because they're true, they're trying something new, which is what I'm saying. 2025 Bend to Napoleon Bob 500 for sale. 6300 or 64. That's hard to beat. I mean, it's impossible to beat. That's called maintenance. Well, that's what that's what you get when you make a million of them. Yeah. Janice needs to build a Trob look alike. I would buy one. Yeah, that'd be a cool color scheme. I don't know what a Trob. We should do a Rainbow Stream on Troub. A Trob? Troub is a um They only ever found one of them. Oh, what? But it's like has like the engine, like it has the name like cast into the engine. It's found ricked up in a wall in Chicago. Huh. And there's there's no record of any other than one motorcycle. Is there any story? They don't know anything about it. I mean, there's there's some evidence, but there it's at the wheels through Time Museum. That's pretty cool. It's pretty cool. You can either have 300 pounds or no plastic. So I wouldn't say HD ever done that.
SPEAKER_00Nope. No. Harley bikes are too heavy. Mini me of a sportster, yeah, exactly. Street 500 was too heavy. It was under 400. It'd be popular. I completely agree. Yeah. And not use plastic. Harley sold the sportster design to a Chinese company.
SPEAKER_01What? Billy? Is that is that what that is? No. No. Harley's gonna try and come out with this.
SPEAKER_00Remember that X, what is that thing?
SPEAKER_01I don't. That 400, 440 they came out with. Then they also have this like other one they're gonna be making. Supposedly Harley's coming out with a six six thousand dollar motorcycle. Didn't they try that with the Asia? The the street uh yeah, the the the ones that they give you the ones that they give you at the the test. They did. The thing is, I've heard mixed reviews of those. The main thing was that they were really cool, they were too heavy, and they were just like ugly. Yeah. But if they had the the the idea was a good idea. Yeah. You know what I don't understand why you can't make a cheap bike not like I wouldn't say pretty, but just not ugly. Well, I would say the problem my problem is most manufacturers. My problem is is why you can't make a pretty motorcycle cheap. That's well it's it's how can you do it? Tell me. It's a weird problem. It's a weird problem because they they feel like they're one and the same, right? But uh Yeah, I saw that.
SPEAKER_00Arlesborough says, Richard, your buddies at SWM are selling Evo sporties.
SPEAKER_01Ask about them. I did hear about that. Oh, Kelly, are you leaving? We'll see you later. Merry Christmas. See you next time. Merry Christmas, Kelly. Kelly, I did see your comment that you were watching on your 85-inch TV, and that makes me feel weird because that means that we are huge, huge. Also, Kelly, I don't know if you've been on social media, but we posted some pictures of you on the Tale of the Dragon. We did. Um, it's all over, it's all over the internet. All over, blasted all over it. A storm breaker is like 11 grand sold in Europe. What is it? What is a stormbreaker? I'm not sure. Oh, you're out of here too, Speed Gracer. We'll see you later. Uh Strawdog says if Harley had made a mini bobber with a Buell Blast engine, they would have sold a million of them. Maybe there's people. I'm I'm of the camp that the Buell Blast was really cool. Other people, some people really thought it was a kind of a failure. Yeah. Um, that it vibrated too much. I just think it was a cool idea that they could take a Harley motor and just take the back cylinder off. The only problem is like, I just wish we could have you could still find one that had an uh unit transmission. Yeah. Like a bit last did. We we thought we we tried to think about doing that, but it would be pretty cool. Uh yeah, that classic Harley shake. Harley did, in fact, sell the Evo Sportster design. Look at that. Gosh dang. Does everyone get in chat gets a badge for being uh in the Christmas Ramble stream? Yeah, I I didn't even realize that this was the Christmas ramble stream until I sat down for the pre-ramble. I'm like, we didn't like wear Christmas hats or Santa hats. We don't do that. Man, I kind of wanted to wear a Christmas Santa hat. Well, you could wear one. Well, it's too late now. Maybe maybe next year. You know, we'll we'll get it next year. You can do it next year. Okay, that's fine. My favorite is the turn of the year. And we celebrate next year with the the month of Janice. The month. January of uh um we'll read The Darkling Thrush. Is that an angle? Yes. I think I've done it in the last two years by uh Thomas Hardy. Yeah, I I uh The Tangled Bine stems. I don't have any like traditions like that, believe it or not. I just kind of made it up for this. Oh. Well that's that's it on your Santa Claus hat. Do whatever you want, do whatever you want. Uh who Oh no, who is time to watch Jeopardy good night. I'm just realizing that I didn't change back the little Who's Mark? Who's Mark? Uh I'm Mark today. So Denson has some updates to do. Some technological so just just one.
SPEAKER_00Harley did not sell sports tooling nor Stormbreaker, nor blueprints. The Stormbreaker is a clone. So the Stormbreaker is this um got it knockoff. Interesting.
SPEAKER_01Got it. I'm I'm just so curious that it seems like Harley is doing everything they can uh just to survive at this time.
SPEAKER_00They have their ways. We'll see. Yeah. Aside from the forward controls, the bend of bob is cool. Yeah, uh, I agree. I completely agree.
SPEAKER_01And if I was gonna get one, I think those 250 is um pretty sweet. I would say that the forward controls kind of what drops. I would ride, I would buy one. Yeah. Just to like see how that front end worked. I I would also buy one. Just we could cruise around on our on our go on a bender with a barbendez. Well, that's that's all we've got. Uh again. Is it really Harley if they're on the brink of cells? I mean, I guess. I don't know. I feel like every time I hear about Harley, they're they're about to experience some kind of bankruptcy. Um, that's all we got for for this year. Uh see what I did, Richard. That's all we got for this year. Oh, that's right. We'll see you next year. Thank you so much for joining us. Next year is our first episode of next of 2026 is 111. 111 111. Great. That's pretty cool. If you're into numerology like our our poet was. Yeah. We will see you in the month of Janice. Yes. We will see you next year. That wraps up this episode of the Ramblestream Podcast.
SPEAKER_00Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed the show, subscribe wherever you listen, share it with a fellow rambler, and please consider leaving a rating. And join us live every Monday at 7 p.m. on YouTube for our weekly Ramble Stream.
SPEAKER_01You can also find us at ramblestreampod.com and on social at ramblestream. We'll be back next week with more conversations, more stories, and of course, more rambling. And remember, many of those who ramble may very well be lost, but that's probably the point.