Triumph Motorcycle?

jinman · Nov 28, 2003

( The dealer told me they got 50 mpg and he put one gallon in it. )

/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 · Nov 28, 2003

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 · Nov 28, 2003

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 · Nov 28, 2003

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

TresCrows · Nov 28, 2003

"Must have been our Michigan license plate."

Oh yeah, it definitly was that /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif. We never actually tried to hit them, just liked to watch them run. My boss is from Mississippi, he married a girl from way up in some northern place. He likes gumbo and rice and "hot" foods and spicey foods. She thinks salt is "spicey"--what is up with that?

Yeah, I hope you like the bike, when are you getting it? Maybe she will get back on it for a quick ride to the Dairy Queen or such /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif. Be careful, have fun, and don't go down south with Michigon license plates /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif. They was always our favorites to shoot at, even better than Ohio. I wonder how many folks get back up north and find out they got a hole in their plate from a .22 /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif. I might be kidding, but then-------. J

5030 · Nov 29, 2003

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 · Nov 29, 2003

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:
( 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. )
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.

Bird · Nov 29, 2003

Jim, speaking of turning Isettas over, the first time I saw one (customer at the service station), I asked him if he wasn't afraid of getting killed in a collision and he said, "Nope, if someone hits it, they'll just knock it out of the way like hitting a baseball with a bat." /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

And yep, that ratchet kick start was standard on the Cushmans I think. And you remember the differene in the throttle between those scooters and motorcycles? You twisted the throttle the opposite direction. I once worked an accident in which a guy was trying out a friend's motorcycle. He had ridden scooters, but never a motorcycle, got to going too fast, wanted to slow down, twisted the throttle the wrong way, jumped a curb which launched him and the motorcycle over a hedge, hit the ground on the other side and slid under a very tight chain link fence. The barb on the fence was turned down, and hooked him in the nose as he went under it; just peeled his nose up onto his forehead. Not a life threatening injury, but I know that had to hurt like the dickens.

And I've ridden a 500cc BSA single cylinder; sure did like it although I understand the Triumps were actually considerably better quality.

5030 · Nov 29, 2003

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 · Nov 29, 2003

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