The Official 2011 Barber AHMRA Event Thread

[swooshdave]

Alrighty boys and girl, this is the official "Who's going to Barber topic?"

Unlike the INOA trip this one is a green light for me. Tickets purchased so it's a go.

I will be flying into Greensboro, NC and riding to Birmingham with my dad and brother, Mike (mjfriesen is his username here). Mike and I will be riding the Nortons, there is a restored Roadster (73-74, I can't recall which) and my old 73 Interstate. The Roadster just had it's crank fixed by Kenny C. so this will be it's first big ride after that surgery. The Interstate is still original, although the Dunstall mufflers are pretty tasty sounding. If they haven't completely rusted out, because it that happened they will be sounding nasty good. Our dad will be taking the trials bikes in the truck and trailer.


Old picture of the Interstate.

Rough plan is to take two days to go down. Arrive in the Birmingham area on Friday night, participate in the trials Saturday morning, watch some road racing and visit the museum the rest of the weekend. Then come back through the mountains, perhaps hit Deals Gap just so we can say we did it on a couple old Norts.

If Paul remembers I think he said he had a couple tickets for me to Barber.

Who else is going? Well…?

[Holmeslice]

Alrighty boys and girl, this is the official "Who's going to Barber topic?"


Who else is going? Well…?

Schwantz

[grandpaul]

If Paul remembers I think he said he had a couple tickets for me to Barber.

You need to FIRST check in at the AHRMA racer's window (turn left at the "T" and follow around to the gate, park and you'll see the window straight across)

They are two weekend passes to the race and paddock NOT the museum (the museum is never included in race passes)

[swooshdave]

If Paul remembers I think he said he had a couple tickets for me to Barber.

You need to FIRST check in at the AHRMA racer's window (turn left at the "T" and follow around to the gate, park and you'll see the window straight across)

They are two weekend passes to the race and paddock NOT the museum (the museum is never included in race passes)

You're the best!

[swooshdave]

Alrighty boys and girl, this is the official "Who's going to Barber topic?"


Who else is going? Well…?

Schwantz

Yes, I think he use to race or something…

What about yourself?

[Holmeslice]

Yes, I think he use to race or something…

What about yourself?

Well, while you might have the OFFICIAL thread on Barber, here's my very unofficial post, explaining my involvement :

barber-daytona-2011-t10152.html?hilit=barber

[britbikemike]

I am trying to get Simpson to go down there with me. Maybe if someone else from NC wants to car pool we would be open to it.

[swooshdave]

I am trying to get Simpson to go down there with me. Maybe if someone else from NC wants to car pool we would be open to it.

Car? What's wrong with your bike?

[swooshdave]

Sounds like we should crash the Turn 6 party with a mini-AccessNorton.com gathering. Who's down for that?

[britbikemike]

Have you SEEN the pictures of my bike?? lol

[swooshdave]

Have you SEEN the pictures of my bike?? lol

You have three! One has to work.

[swooshdave]

Alrighty, on a plane tonite. I'll be across the country by morning.

Looking forward to seeing some of you down there.

[swooshdave]

Got into NC around 9:30am, that's after leaving Portland at 10pm the previous nite.

We went over to my brother's to see how the bikes were coming along.



The clutch on the Interstate was a bit stiff so we decided to dive into the clutch basket to see if we could get it a little better.



By replacing the driven plates with all fiberplates and lubing the cable the clutch was finally usable. Not as light as my Combat but then again it slips.

Then a few rides to check things out and get familiar with the bikes.





The Roadster is a blast. The Corbin and rearsets make it a hoot to ride. The engine is fresh (Mr. Cummings saved the crank) and you better be serious when getting on the kickstart. Any wimpy attempts will be made a mockery of. The bike moves. I think it would give a Combat a good run for the money.





The Interstate is mostly stock and original save the massive Dunstall mufflers which sound absolutely nasty. They certainly don't sound like most Nortons. Very deep bellow. As the engine has not been touched it's getting quite soft. In fact riding the bike reminds me of what it must be like to ride an Eldorado. You sit way up on it, feet forward and just roll. Amazing how such similar Nortons can feel completely differently. Where the Roadster has serious go, the Interstate takes it time.

We finish loading in the morning and head towards Birmingham. We'll see how far we get. Maybe we go all the way, maybe we don't. Either way it will be fun. But we'll for sure be there on Saturday.

[swooshdave]

We left this morning from Greensboro around 9am. From there we headed west to Asheville.




At our first stop near Hickory we ran into a guy who said he has a Norton in his barn. He hasn't done anything with it in a long while. But he wasn't going to let it go either.


I was following my brother and saw something come off the bike. It was the centerstand spring. We stopped and just removed the centerstand. Solved that problem for now.


Lunch was at Little Pigs in Asheville for some serious bbq.


Rest area somewhere in the North Carolina mountains.



We finally stopped south of Chattanooga in Trenton, GA. Put on about 450 miles today. About 125 to go to Barber in the morning.

[nortriubuell]

Very kewl swooshdave Those pics and yer great updates are next best thing to being there for the rest of us. Hope ya keep posting and have a good time there !!!