Triumph, BSA, Norton - British bikes & builds?

[decooney]

Triumph, BSA, Norton motorcycle owners?

Hello Members,
Just curious if there other members out here on Clubcobra into building or playing wiht (50s, 60s, 70s) Triumph / BSA / Nortons. Last year I picked up a frame, bits, and started building a 1970 T100R Daytona Flattracker/Streettracker, and with a few friends looking into building Bobbers. So far it's been lots of fun finding, customizing, and making bits just like we do with the Cobras. I ran into a few Triumph folks by chance at the last Cobra Bash, and thought maybe there are others here on CC.

It would be great to hear from others or see pics of what you are up to.

• Stock/Restores
• Custom
• Bobbers
• Trackers
• Choppers
• ????

Anbody out here into this as well?

Jockeyjournal members??

[Fred Douglass]

......Ariel Square-Fours, Vincent Black Shadows and (for me) Velocettes?

I owned (for about a year) a very stealthy (family didn't know about it) Velocette. It was a small, pure-race Isle of Man jobbie and its ORIGINAL "tyres" were V-shaped! Really! V-shaped Dunlop soft-compound types built for corners. Useless, with1" patch when the bike was upright. BUTT, when I slammed it over in a tight turn, and the full "foot-print" got to the road, you could actually see the front shocks compress because of these tires' cornering grip!!! No foot-pegs, raised exhaust, used the KNEES (almost) for "pontooning". Hardest-leaning bike I ever drove.

VERY fast bike. HUGE compression-ratio and accelerated heinously quickly, once I got street tires on it.

Didn't own or drive any other type of bike. The Velocette would just DEVOUR 750's, even though it was 500 cc.

Wish I still had the thing.

[jmillington]

Great minds think alike!

I have been restoring my '71 Norton 750 Commando that I bought back in '73. It's almost done.

Fred, funny you should mention Isle of Man; I've wanted to to witness the weeklong madness since I bought the Norton back in '73.

I finally went last year. I spent 11 days in England and the Isle of Man during May/June of 2008 on a motorcycle tour that included 7 days camping on the Isle of Man, and took a bunch of pictures. I didn't know that they raced both motorcycles and sidecars; it was all a sight to behold!

You can see some of the pictures that I took at Isle of Man 2008 TT Races.
The slideshow feature on flickr is pretty cool.

Originally Posted by Fred Douglass

......Ariel Square-Fours, Vincent Black Shadows and (for me) Velocettes?

I owned (for about a year) a very stealthy (family didn't know about it) Velocette. It was a small, pure-race Isle of Man jobbie and its ORIGINAL "tyres" were V-shaped!

<snip>

Wish I still had the thing.

[Fred Douglass]

.......I saw (again on SPEEDChannel) some totally fookin' LUDICROUS footage of an Isle of Man TT------probably from the 60's. There was ONE turn which missed the corner of a pub by about 3 feet, and both the pub and the curve were to the right. Therefore....the foo keen rider had to place his (apparently empty or defective) skull TOWARD the pub. You can do the math on that one, I'm sure. The guy was leaning into the already-insufficient space between him and the corner of the pub.

I've known a scad of Bwits...most of whom were professional sailors (grouped with their Aussie and Kiwi "cousins" that group in and of itself is full of "Section 8" types)....but amongst that group or their friends were fellow Poms who raced bikes and cars. The non-Amurrican English speakers (i.e. the above-mentioned groups) are absolutely nuckin' futs!
Have you seen the Aussie "sedans" with 750 hp engines)? Berserk.

Ditto Bwittish "hill-climbs". Americans are a buncha sofa-slugs compared to our wacko cousins from across the Briney. Their two-wheel racers display that national trait which made it utterly impossible for any furriners EVER to conquer their Sceptered Isles! They're all NUTS!

Check out the Volvo around-the-world races to see what I mean. Those sailor types (used to) years ago, kiss Mum and Dada ta-ta, sign aboard a monster monohull (multis are for Fwoggies and other lesser mortals) and head out to the world's race circuits. Absolutely cut the old umbilical. I met a young lady in Bermuda----after the Newport Bermuda Race---and she hadn't been home for 6 years. She was beautiful except for her teeth and the fact that she had hands like mine (hazard of ocean racing---oops!) AND...she was only 22 at the time.

The crew of a Kiwi boat called "Buccaneer" got on the de rigeur mopeds while in Bermuda, and were down at Royal Bermuda Yacht Club bar a few hours later. Every one of them was just coated with bandages, etc. Seems one (the leader) took a "roit tuhn" through a hibiscus hedge (and over a wall with a 12-foot drop). Of course they were all fortified with TREMENDOUS amounts of Mt. Queer Painkillah (rum) and equally of course, they all followed their erstwhile leadah!

One look at "The World's Fastest Indian" speaks volumes!

Chow,

[Fred Douglass]

......those pictures are better than the stuff you see in magazines! AND I mean it!!! (Now I'm reluctant to post any of my pichahs!) Are you a professional-photog?

Picture #3---with the guy "pontooning" (practically) with his knee is superb. I uster have leathers with little hockey-puck skid-pads in the outside of the knee. They cost more than a Bro-Bro tuxedo!

Ah, youth........what were we thinking? WERE we thinking? Ar-ar-ar-ar

[392cobra]

Originally Posted by Fred Douglass

......those pictures are better than the stuff you see in magazines! AND I mean it!!!

Those are some fabulous photos !


My second bike was a '66 Triumph Bonneville.Man I had fun on that bike !

I have a framed picture of me on it when I was 19.
My son voiced doubts about me ever being that young.

[jmillington]

Thanks!

I'm not a pro-photog, but I play one on TV!

Just kidding; this trip was an excuse to buy a Nikon D300 and a couple of nice lenses.

I've always loved photography, and I figured this was an excellent venue to practice that skill.

Originally Posted by Fred Douglass

......those pictures are better than the stuff you see in magazines! AND I mean it!!! (Now I'm reluctant to post any of my pichahs!) Are you a professional-photog?

Picture #3---with the guy "pontooning" (practically) with his knee is superb. I uster have leathers with little hockey-puck skid-pads in the outside of the knee. They cost more than a Bro-Bro tuxedo!

Ah, youth........what were we thinking? WERE we thinking? Ar-ar-ar-ar

[392cobra]

Freddie,
Would that be the Velocette Venom Thruxton ???

What year ?

[Fred Douglass]

........that would entail my remembering something from 1965!!! Yikes! You must be correct. Somewhere in the slag-heap which passes for my study/studio there's a registration. I may dig a bit. If you don't hear from me for a few days, send an avalanche rescue team!! Ar-ar-ar.

I DO know my Velocette had the weird, hyper-long "petrol" tank, an even stranger seat (with a depression for yer nuts, yet!). You actually lay down on it----they even had a rubber pad where your chin rested on the tank just behind the central "tacho"! No speedo, remote oil reservoir, recessed petrol filler-cap. Ridiculous, tiny, down-angeled clip-ons. The real deal. I remember I had to "double-foot" on the starter sometimes. It must have had a bona fide 12.50:1 c-ratio....I used octane booster like mad. I bought it for $350 from an older guy who stated that he "was scared sh*tless of it"! Ar-r-ar.....I soon learned he was a wise man.

Silver paint. Black accents. Polished (non-stainless) steel and "aluminium" EVERYWHERE. A real show-boat, but Boy! Did it fly! Took it to Watkins Glen-----(a long rippah from Cambridge, I'll tell ya) for the 1965 Grand Prix. I had a big(gish) war-surplus tent, under which both I and the bike lived dipsomaniacally for 3 days in October. Even got maced by the Montour Falls po-lice during the Great Annual Sh*t-house fire. Bike looked hooty, with the big baggage roped to the back!

Great days. No helmets! Needed a wool watch-cap riding in Up-("out"?)state New Yawk, though.

Sure wished the USGP was still held there. I dated a gal named ____ Clute whose father invited his close friend Cam Argetsinger (RIP 2008) to dinner several times. Old man Clute owned a big share of the Watkins Salt Company.

Chow,

[Fred Douglass]

.......maybe late 50's???? Cambridge Cycle stored and tweaked ever since it was new. I was its third owner.

[392cobra]

http://www.khulsey.com/motorcycles/v...velocette.html

Their 500cc was the first 500cc to average 100 mph for 24 hours.

[Fred Douglass]

The more I look at your latest insert----the Thruxton with 500 cc. sure looks like it. But, why was mine SILVER??!!

Lotta that stuff looks familiar!

[tcrist]

I don't ride motorcycles anymore. Years ago though, I had a 54 Triumph. Hard tail frame with a sprung rear hub (spring in the hub instead of a spring/shock combo).
I also had a 1972 Triumph Tiger. My ex-brotherinlaw had a 60 something Triumph Bonniville chopper.
Those were the days of no helmets and riding free. I sold all of my bikes when Calif. enacted (not voted in) the helmet law. I refuse to ride with a brain bucket.
I say "let those who ride decide".

Terry

[Wayne Maybury]

I had a 1959 Matchless Hurricane 650. I kept it for 3 or 4 years then sold it when I bought my first car, a 1956 Ford Victoria 2 door hardtop.

Wayne

[392cobra]

A Real Biker.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4uCYQz_NqU

[Fred Douglass]

...that bizarre, Baroque and otherwise freaky mustache riding around Scotland with a buddy. Both were on Triumphs, I believe.

When I lived in Bahia Mar (Fort Lauderdale) the crew member(s) on the Castro family's (Convertible sofa fame, not Cooooban Cwommie!) gorgeous yacht were always disassembling and rebuilding this terrific Ariel Square Four. Of course they were doing it on one of the finger-piers, and the yachties' most-feared sound ("ploop"!) was always audible. Valves, nuts, bolts, etc. were frequently tested to see if they floated! Ar-ar-ar.

Janie Carter will corroborate this scenario. Although she may have been more focussed on the blonde stud who owned the bike....

These Mensa guys would use their bikes to "hill-climb" the cement-bag rip-rap which bolstered the 16th Street Causeway Bridge in Port Everglades.

Bernadette Castro, whose father owned the fabulous yacht "Southern Trail" (which employed the Ariel Square Four guy), went on to become the State Conservator in New Yawk in Patace's (Sp?) administration. Small world.

Bob Reynolds, my mentor at Valor Tours (look up THAT website!) is utterly protean---among his plaudits are, of course, placing or REplacing WW II (check out Tarawa) monuments around the Pacific, flying "Lancs" in The War and.......owning an Ariel Square Four!

I was always partial to Bwittish bikes.....those new Triumphs are tewwific!

How's that for a Douglass "boomerang" story. ADD anyone? Ar-ar-ar!

[jczar]

I still have my Triumph Bonneville. I purchased it new in 1972. Everthing is original except the handle bars and exhaust. It still has the orignial tires and they still holds air. I haven't ridden it since 1989 except two years ago I put in a new battery, kicked start three times and ran like a charm. Took it around the block a couple of times. I might restore it this winter just for the $hits and giggles.

[tcrist]

lOVE IT !!!!!

[WildBill1965]

Man, if I only had it now 1968 BSA Firebird Scrambler 650, stolen and never recovered!