74 Commando, T120 Diamond, or Quit?

I keep vacillating from restoring a 74 Commando or getting a new T120.

Lately a new option has been entering my thoughts ..... pass my Atlas along to my son, and quit bikes.

I entertain the 74 Commando because it agrees with my right side, one up, three down habit, and because I can fit a CNW electric start. Upside ... it is a Norton. Downside, it may be years before I can make it rideable.

I like the idea of a new modern with classic style .... Upside: just get on, hit the button, and ride. Downside: ??


OTH, I am the OFF on this Forum (Oldest Forum Fart) .... maybe it is time to quit bikes.

What sayeth y'all?

Slick

Sounds like you might be done with spannering rather than bikes. You could get a fuss free ride and help your son develop his engineering skill by acting as his “wing man” - are you able to take a back seat and not be a back seat driver?
John

Eljahara said:

Sounds like you might be done with spannering rather than bikes. You could get a fuss free ride and help your son develop his engineering skill by acting as his “wing man” - are you able to take a back seat and not be a back seat driver?
John

Click to expand...

Two unfortunates here .... (1), my son lives 1500 miles away, and (2), his momma took him from me when he was 11, before I could teach him wenching, er, I mean wrenching. When I pass him the Atlas, I will have to shut my eyes and accept that the Atlas will eventually become someone else's barn find, as he does not have the skills.

I think you have hit a nail on its head, ..... I may be through with wrenching. As to wenching, I have two fantasies ... (1) that a young hottie will fawn all over me, and (2), that I will find a storage locker with two Nortons in it. Either one is a long shot.

Thanks for the input.

Slick

Dunno how old you are Slick, but you only live once. If you can ride, and you want to, you should!

Why not take a new Triumph for a test ride? You’ll know within a few miles if it floats your boat or not.

The only downside to the T120 is that they’re not so light. My Dad loved his T100 Bonnie, but it got too heavy for him, he didn’t enjoy it anymore. So you might wanna look at the smaller Triumph twins if that’s an issue.

And, if you find the new Triumphs to dull (ie too good,) a ‘74 Commando is easily made into a reliable bike... and there’s plenty of ‘em.

On the other part of your topic, IMHO, it seems a shame to let your son take the Atlas if he’s unlikely to appreciate / care for it. Why not turn it into cash?

Thanks for the input F.E.

I did not consider weight .... after checking specs, I find Street Twin, T100, and T120 are resp. 436, 469, and 493 lbs. The Street Twin is nearest my Atlas in weight and power, and I think I would be comfortable with that.

You have lit a fire ..... I need to arrange for a test ride.

I cannot sell my Atlas .... it would be like selling my soul. I bought it new, and it seems to be a factory special build (it came with 6 start oil pump and con rod squirt holes in 1962!!). NOC records show the bike was dispatched from the factory 21 May, 1962 (nothing on record of special build). Berliner had it until it appeared at my dealer in Apr. 1963 when I bought it. Why did Berliner have it so long??

Slick

Slick the new water cooled Triumphs are so well balanced and feel light to ride, my 2016 Thruxton 1200 S feels as nimble as my Featherbed, my 2013 air cooled Thruxton on the other hand feels heavy compared to the WC Thruxton, so why not semi retire the Alas and upgrade to a new WC Triumph, that's what I have done, but I still enjoy tinkering on my bikes but not much to do on the new Triumphs except normal maintenance.
I have 40k miles on my 2013 trouble free and can hope on it and travel anywhere without any worries, the same as my new WC Thruxton, just hope on it push the button and away you go, its only has 12k on it so far, I have no intentions of giving up riding my bike and not going to let old age slow me down, but I got a ways to go yet as I am only 60 years young.
Both my Thruxtons weight about the same but what ever Triumph has done with the new WC models the weight is a lot more down below and the bikes feel light under foot compared to the AC models.
No don't give up on your sole mate keep the Atlas even if it just sits in the corner, I owned my Norton since new, yes its gone through a lot of changes but its mine till the day I leave this world, my youngest daughter will get it when I am gone as with all my bikes what she does with them who knows, it will be out of my hands, but I not thinking that far a head just yet.

Ashley

Thanks Ash ....

Slick

A buddy on our local Ducati forum here has this in his signature :

“You don’t stop riding because you get old , you get old when you stop riding”

I Kinda like it ....

texasSlick said:

Thanks for the input F.E.

I did not consider weight .... after checking specs, I find Street Twin, T100, and T120 are resp. 436, 469, and 493 lbs. The Street Twin is nearest my Atlas in weight and power, and I think I would be comfortable with that.

You have lit a fire ..... I need to arrange for a test ride.

I cannot sell my Atlas .... it would be like selling my soul. I bought it new, and it seems to be a factory special build (it came with 6 start oil pump and con rod squirt holes in 1962!!). NOC records show the bike was dispatched from the factory 21 May, 1962 (nothing on record of special build). Berliner had it until it appeared at my dealer in Apr. 1963 when I bought it. Why did Berliner have it so long??

Slick

Click to expand...

I realise that modern bikes have more stuff, but I still find it amazing that modern methods and materials don’t make these bikes lighter!

Do let us know how the test ride goes. FWIW my money is on the Street Twin.

Forgive me if you’ve done so before, but any chance of some pics of your Atlas?

Fast Eddie said:

I realise that modern bikes have more stuff, but I still find it amazing that modern methods and materials don’t make these bikes lighter!

Do let us know how the test ride goes. FWIW my money is on the Street Twin.

Forgive me if you’ve done so before, but any chance of some pics of your Atlas?

Click to expand...

I agree regarding the weight issue.

I will let y'all know 'bout the test ride ... may be a few weeks, have a 3 week business tour coming up.

Re: pics ... ask and ye shall receive ...








Then, there's this one when she wuz young ....



Slick (that's me on the left, the year was 1964)

That’s very nice indeed sir.

Beautiful bike Slick, I am with FE - you can’t pass this on to be stored in a barn. If you are done with it, sell it to a fellow enthusiast and use the realised capital to help your son (or perhaps use it to finance your fuss free ride)
John

That is a beautiful Norton !

No don't sell it or give it away as you will regret it, you have life memories with that bike and that a beautyful pic back in 64 hot bike, hot chick and your not bad looking yourself, no amount of money or giving it to someone else to look after no no it wouldn't be right, near 56 years together I wouldn't even think about it.

Thanks for all the support, guys!

Slick

No I changed my mind about you giving it up, I take it off your hands and even pay to ship it to Aussie land, I look after it for you and you can come over anytime to ride it

Ashley

Slick,
IMHO
Don’t quit riding unless you have too
Don’t sell or give your bike away. Unless you have to. That will happen when your no longer around.
Find a new bike you like (if so inclined), such that when you are stopped you can plant both feet firmly on the ground and weight may not be an issue. Push the button and enjoy.

Pete

I don't think the new Speed Twin has been mentioned.
It's essentially a two up Thruxton 1200. More guts and less weight than the T120.
It's pretty light at 432 dry.


Glen

It also carries the weight low and is easier to move around the garage/parking area than the 961

Weight is low down much like an Atlas and it's about 40 lbs lighter than the in 961 real numbers!

We tend to look at weight numbers a lot but COG might be more important, especially for an older rider
My 76 year old friend got hurt badly by his Yamaha 850, broken ribs and broken collar bone, 0 mph filling station tip overs. The tip overs happened to him three times in 2 years before he finally sold the bike and bought a near new 2014, older gen type Triumph T100 865 AC. Those AC Triumphs are quite heavy, around 500 lbs fueled up, but he had no issues as they are a low bike with a low COG.


Glen