Reliant Robins

[garth]

Anyone own one /driven one?

For some reason I want one!
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You ain't a has been if you never was

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

You can drive them just on a bike license!

That's about all I know.
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My Flickr

[hellkat]

Feckin things.

Andy used to have one.
(in fact he had several)

I refused to get in the damn thing.
Then I fell off my bike and broke my thumb, and HAD to get in it to get about, as I had no other transport.

I always wore a big hat and dark shades.

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Not nearly as interesting in real life.

[hellkat]

Bastard thing - he put furry dice in it, too.

I think they used an angle grinder to cut it up, outside the house one day, there was loads of glass and bits of sawed-up car outside, and we lived one house in from the corner of the street.

Cars going past were staring, so one of our mates lay on the ground as if it was a car* accident, and then jumped up and went "Boo!" at rubbernecking motorists. It was quite funny, in retrospect.

He still says he wouldn't mind getting another one, cos he's only got a bike licence, not a full car licence.







*if you can call it a "car"
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Not nearly as interesting in real life.

[garth]

I've a full car license - I'm just an idiot.

They look like fun!

Either that or a lowered "racing" 2CV like I glimpsed on TV a while back.


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You ain't a has been if you never was

[KLR600]

[Finglonga]

Drove a mates years ago, funny thin is he hid furry dice in his as well and the whole of the interior was covered in black fur. He only let me drive it once as I dumped the clutch and popped a mini wheely and snapped the kingpin when it came back down. It was . . . . . . . interesting going round corners also.
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Andy Sez....
F.Y.Y.F.F.

[Endless Nameless]

Dad used to have a Regal- the fools and horses one, but his was a "car" not a van. I think it was a laugh for about 10 minutes then he got a bit fed up with it nearly falling over whenever he took a corner a bit sharp. He had a 2cv too, he didn't do very well for cars when he was younger...
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A2 passed 22/07/08; restriction up 22/07/10 (just so I don't forget)
'79 Suzuki GS550E. Yes, that's a GS550, not a GS500.
Supersports "In a video editing competition I'd kick your sorry ass"

[D O G]

I wouldn't mind a 'kitten' - they have four wheels, and would probably be great fun to hoon about in!

[garth]

[Jaloopa]

My Dad always used to drive a proper Del Boy regal van, but upgraded to a Rialto a couple of years ago. They aren't particularly comfortable to sit in for too long, but you can fit a surprising amount of stuff in the back, and can smoke most cars off the lights.
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mattsprattuk wrote: but at least the lifan could do like 104mph in 3rd gear

[leiba1]

I had one back in the early 70's. It surprised me that you could drive it on a bike license because it was just like a car except it only had three wheels. You did have to be careful going around corners but every thing else was car like. Parking was fun too, trying to get it parallel to the pavement without that front wheel to touch the kerb with. Don't bump any thing with one of them as the body was fibreglass and would crack easily, but saying that it was easily repaired too. When I finally sold it the buyer brought in a truck to take it away on but came across the problem that the truck he'd hired was for four wheel vehicles, no ramp for the front wheel. They got it up on there eventually and we all took the opportunity to have a good look underneath. In places the bolts were missing and the engine was held there by two great big wooden wedges. I saw it again many years later and it had been lovingly restored by the new, (different to the guy I sold it to) owner and looked really good.

[Kickstart]

Hi

In 1992 some guy got caught speeding in one at 108mph. His excuse was the speedo only went up to 80!

It was not a standard engine. The engine was used as a control engine in the 750 car club for ages and there were loads of tuning parts available. He had a full race engine in it. I have a feeling that one of the magazines properly speed tested that one on a runway at 120mph.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[Tarmacsurfer]

I drive a slightly later Rialto, being an old fucker who got his bike license early enough to get the free "B1" category that enables me to drive light cars

Not much I can say about them really, great little vehicles for bombing around town (will even do more serious journeys as well, some of the owners club are doing a run this year, around 6600km and travelling into the polar circle. Puts my runs into London and Wales to shame). Having said that, I do tend to mainly use mine for town work and closer runs, the fuel economy is stunning when the engines set up right, easily beats my ZZR1100 (bike ~40-45 per gallon Reliant is well over 60, sometimes into the 70s). As Keith say, they are easily tunable (the standard formula 750 engine before Fiat motors took over) and failing that then a few intrepid souls have put bike engines into a reliant chassis. An acquaintance of mine has a Kitten van, a four wheeler, with a TL1000 engine in it. It's great, the only problem being it's so light it goes sideways under heavy acceleration. Watching it doughnut is endlessly amusing.

If you're used to cars then don't go into it expecting car handling or car comfort. Yes, a good one will keep you dry in the rain (although bad ones do leak on occasion) but they are NOT cars despite the looks. Myself, I whole heartedly recommend the little things, great fun to drive once you get the hang of it and they're as much part of the whole "brotherhood" thing as bikes are, if anything the guys that drive Reliants seem to be closer.

Enjoy
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I'm immortal. Well, so far.

[thegubner]

[Dom_]

[leiba1]

You might think you've got one over on me and women in general but I must point out that I don't drive a car. In fact I don't even have a license to drive one and never had the inclination to drive one. That might explain my booboo about wheels and kerbs.