Triumph Motorcycle?

[Jeff396]

Ah Bultaco's!!! I had an early 70's model with the fiberglass gas tank seat combo. It sure was strange starting that thing with the left side kick starter. The first time I rode it I almost hit a car as the brake/gear shifter were backward from what I was used to. Once you hit first, stepping on the gear lever will do you no good... /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Jeff

 

[Bird]

<font color="blue">( One of my childhood friends had a Cushman scooter )</font>

Cushman motor scooters were plentiful in my part of the country in the early and mid-50s. I sure wanted one when I was 14, but Dad vetoed that idea in a hurry. And if you had enough money, you got the Cushman Eagle, the top of the line.

Incidentally, I have a cousin who still has his 1956 3hp Sears scooter (I can't remember whether they called it a Sears or a Craftsman).

 

[5030]

Bird:

I think the Cushman that my childhood friend had, his name was Gary Greyshaw, had a transmission like the one in the picture but I can't remember how you shifted it. I think it had 2 speeds.

Talk about deja-vu, my brother-in-law sent me an e-mail this afternoon. He bought a motorcycle, his first in 20 years. Not a Triumph or Harley but a Honda Shadow. He said he was going to re-learn motorcycles and next year get something else. Whatever I have must be contagious.

 

[Bird]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Whatever I have must be contagious. )</font>

The last time I renewed my drivers license, I dropped the motorcycle endorsement so I wouldn't be tempted to catch it again myself.

 

[Egon]

5030:

Sounds like you should be carring a double 12 with 16 in. barrels.

Egon

 

[MikePA]

<font color="blue"> a southern (should I say good old boy), attempted to end our lives with his pickup truck. </font>
Sounds too much like the last scene in Easy Rider! /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[Thomas]

5030..
We also have those so call "good ole boys" in our state as well. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
Yeah I get those words and actions toss my way more so when riding solo on chopper w/my long flapping in the wind,but yet to hear or see any actions when us guys are out for scoot..hmm /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif..just lack of education!

Anyone remember Bridgestone bikes..hard ride but never quit on yer. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

37.7F..Misting

 

[jinman]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Must have been our Michigan license plate. )</font>

You might be right. When I was a young Seaman Deuce in the US Navy, I had a 1964 VW. I was driving from Maryland to Texas with my first child and wife in the car with me when two "fine Alabama gents" in a pickup decided to have some fun with the little VW. They would pull in front of me and slow down until I went to pass, and then swerve at me. Finally, someone else in a bigger truck saw what they were doing and pulled ahead of me. Since the odds weren't so much in the good ol' boy's favor, they chickened out and turned off the highway. I've often wondered if it was the VW or the Maryland plates that made me their target. I was sure grateful to the folks who came to my rescue. ...and by the way, the rescuers were Alabamans too. It's not the state, it's just the mentality and isolation of some of these rural places that allows things like this to happen and go undetected. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

 

[jinman]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( The dealer told me they got 50 mpg and he put one gallon in it. )</font>

/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif Now that is funny! How many gas stations did you drive by before you ran out of gas? /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif In 1958, gas was about $0.23 per gallon. Who was the dealer selling them? I only remember the one at the Pizza place in Denton, but that was in the '60s. Also, I'm pretty sure it was 3-wheeled, but I'm not so sure it was 2-cycle. It just smoked like one. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[EastTexFrank]

This has been a good thread ... nostalgia rules ... and yes, I am an old phart!!!! When I left the UK in '85 there wasn't much of a British motorcycle industry left and I must admit I wasn't aware that they had resurrected Triumph and Royal Enfield. When I retired 3 years ago, I started researching motorbikes but my wife put her foot down. She said that I didn't bounce nearly as high as I used to and that my medical/life insurance wasn't worth having so she preferred to keep me alive and in one piece. After reading this thread though I have started to lust and drool again. Perhaps some sort of supplemental insurance would do the trick /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[Bird]

Jim, that Isetta was a year old; had 6 or 7 thousand miles on it, if I remember right, and the Ford dealer in Denton had it on the lot. The salesman and I drove around the block in it, then he offered to let me take it home for the weekend. It didn't have a fuel gauge, but you could take the cap off and see into the tank and it looked like it was completely out, so he put one gallon in it, knowing that my dad owned a service station in Plano. I ran out of gas on FM 544 west of Plano and an elderly couple stopped and gave me a ride to Dad's station. The guy was laughing at the little car and asked me if I wanted to just put it in his car trunk and take it with us. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif Mother and Dad went for a ride in it and when they started off, a friend and I grabbed the back bumper and picked the rear wheels up off the ground so they couldn't take off, and Mother thought we were going to turn it over onto its nose. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif I think it was a 4-stroke engine. I know the salesman checked the oil in it before I took it, and I didn't put any oil in the gas tank. Of course, I guess it could have been oil injected but I don't think so.

 

[5030]

Frank:

I felt a little uneasy when I started this thread because it really not tractor related, but we all have other interests other than our tractors.

We aren't all motorheads either, nor are we computer freaks (not all of us at least!!).

It is nice to be able to recall the past and share it too. I guess that's why I am getting the Bonneville in 2 weeks. I am so excited about, I feel like 18 again (at least in my head).

Again, when I get it home, I'll take some pictures and post them. If anyone is interested, Triumph has a really nice website. It's www.triumphmotorcycles.com

 

[5030]

J:

I am picking it up in 2 weeks. I won't ride it home from Kalamazoo. I am taking my drop deck trailer and will put it on the trailer along with some farm implements and a Doctors buggy that my wife bought. I'm not even going to plate it until spring. It will be in the heated shop getting waxed and coddled until warm weather.

I probably won't ride it much anyway. We live on a dirt road, about 1 mile from the pavement. The road will have to be dry and smooth before it leaves the shop and that's pretty rare. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[jinman]

Bird, I was having trouble with my system or internet provider the last couple of days (kept logging me off for no reason) and only briefly visited the Isetta site you linked me to. Today I read it all and at the bottom they have a list of things called "Trouble Spots." Under there the following problem was listed:
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Turning them over, especially three wheel versions. It's not the exaggeration you might imagine, so check the car you buy for lop-sided bodywork and an ill fitting door. )</font>
I guess that must have been the three-wheel version they had for pizza delivery. Also, it was probably imported from England since the 3-wheeler was created to be licensed as a motorcycle in England (See, we aren't hijacking the British motorcycle thread. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif)

I had a buddy in junior high school who had one of the Cushman box scooters with the ratchet-up kick-start pedal you had to lift up with your toe or hand before jumping on it to start the engine. It had no gears to shift since it had only the centrifugal clutch. He wore out two sets of tires on it, so there is no telling how many miles that thing had.

Also, I always wanted one of those BSA singles (I believe they were 500cc) because they sounded so good. They also shook themselves apart.

 

[5030]

Jinman:

British Small Arms made a 500 thumper and a 441. The 441 was a Gold Star but I don't remember what the 500 was called.

I'd imagine starting them was like starting a 500 side valve Velocette. Better be a little over TDC or go to the hospital.

Kick start motorcycles remind me of my 41 IH "A". It had 6 volt electric start and a crank. The crank wasn't for the faint hearted. Most certainly a wrist breaker.

 

[Jeff396]

Well, you motivated me to get on over to take a look at the new Triumph Bonnevilles. They are quite nice and are looking more and more like the originals than ever with the two tone color schemes, knee pads and black fork legs. The only two things I was a little disappointed with were 1. no kick starter which I guess is the norm now and 2. What I expected to be raw metal on the engine was actually painted silver at least on the T100. That might be normal now too as I haven't looked at bikes in a while. Still, I was very impressed.....maybe next time they'll let me demo one. It was a bit cold today even here in the sunny south.

Jeff