Getting old sucks

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Yesterday I took one of my grand-daughters out in my car and we bought some take-away at McDonald's. She is 6 years old - said 'I like spending time with you Grand-dad'
I am collecting parts to make a motorcycle for her older sister, who loves to watch road racing on TV, and has met Peggy Hyde who was a good B-grade rider back then.. When she watches the races ,the 7 year-old says ' I can do that'. And I never say a word. The youngest one is 4 years old. She likes to watch road racing and hill-climb crashes - usually laughs and says 'owie'.
Life is not all bad.
 
I have a feeling that Norton Commandos...as well as many other "classic" pieces of kit will be gone after we are. :mad:

Heck, every moto-event I have attended for many years has consisted mostly of 'seniors'. :rolleyes: We go to the IOM every year for the Manx GP (canceled this year) and pretty much the only younger people you see at the various events are entertainers in the bands or grandchildren being dragged through the event, bribed by frequent stops for ice cream!

As my daughter, around 10 years old at the time, said once, as we were on the way to my wife's parents, "I hate going to see grand-dad. He just talks about the old days and his aches and pains!"

He was MUCH younger then than I am now... ;) My daughter was OK with grandma, who pretty much ignored him. :)
 
MexicoMike said:
As my daughter, around 10 years old at the time, said once, as we were on the way to my wife's parents, "I hate going to see grand-dad. He just talks about the old days and his aches and pains!"
Click to expand...

At least aches and pains are current events! ;-)
 
Hi There,
When you are 70 years old to day and you loose one year or more with the Corona, that year is one of the 5 you have maybe left and this make me sad.,
When you are 50 or even 60 years old to day you can still imagine that you have a lot of years in front of you.
But I am still very happy to be from the baby boom generation, I grow up with the music from Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Jerry Lewis, without speed limit, without radars
I will never change my generation for another one, never!
I am still happy to ride my Seeley, not so fast anymore, not so long anymore, but with some adaptation like a Estart, hydrolic clutch and so one, you can still be on the road even with a broken hip.
Very curious: I gat more power in my hands at 70 then when I was 18: At 18 years I was not able to bend my dick with my two hands, to day I bend it with two fingers...
Keep you posted
Yves
 
[QUOTE="yves norton seeley,
Very curious: I gat more power in my hands at 70 then when I was 18: At 18 years I was not able to bend my dick with my two hands, to day I bend it with two fingers...
Keep you posted
Yves
[/QUOTE]
TMI ! o_O
 
I raced a lot when I was a kid and could not afford it, so I copped my bumps. I had the stressful job, the stressful marriage, the stressful study course. I walked away from road racing in the 70s when historic racing began and did not race again until after I retired and remarried. These days, with the Seeley 850, I sometimes do a bit of historic racing or ride at the seniors racing events. What really amazes me, is how easy the actual racing has become. However getting everything to the races is another story. In the old days, I used to loads the bike onto the trailer and put the tools and fuel into the car , at 4 am in the morning and drive by myself a few hundred miles and race all day. For me, these days - the only difficulty is getting there !
 
I have never liked historic racing - either you race or you do not. I never look for an easy ride and I don't cheat on capacity. When I raced regularly, my bike was about 15 years older than most of the others. It was something which never worried me. It taught me to become faster. If you choose your circuit when you race an old bike, you can still have a lot of fun. With the Seeley, I stay away from big fast-flowing circuits.
 
Bernhard said:
[QUOTE="yves norton seeley,
Very curious: I gat more power in my hands at 70 then when I was 18: At 18 years I was not able to bend my dick with my two hands, to day I bend it with two fingers...
Keep you posted
Yves
Click to expand...
TMI ! o_O
[/QUOTE]
Sorry for my pore english but what means TMI
Yves
 
Just a quick update on the progress on the hunt for elusive “1 finger clutch” so I can get back on the road. With direction and advice from DynoDave in making measurements to quantify repeatable results...here is what we found so far...
still to be tested—clutch cable, clutch pack

my initial clutch pull started at 16.54lbs with Commando clutch arm
With the Atlas clutch arm the pull comes in at 13.36lbs
A 23.8% improvement!

I would be interested in seeing if anyone has or will measure their clutch pull to get an idea of what is “normal”
I will be testing several different cables to see if there are improvements to be had there...also will be testing different cable locatIons...
I am fairly certain my clutch pack is at optimum but plan on making measurements so I can make sure that it is with DynoDave guidance.

Rod
 
Not sure of the clutch pull in terms of lbs., but I also love the CNW hydraulic clutch. It feels incredibly light. The combination of hydraulic clutch and Quaife 5 speed gear cluster has made my Commando a pure joy on twisty roads.
 
As they say, getting old sucks, but it beats the alternative. Still riding my Nortons at 78, but a bit more slowly every year, and for shorter distances. And definitely looking at lighter weight bikes. The heavier ones are still fine as long as I'm moving, but pushing them around is getting more problematic, particularly on slopes and/or dirt/gravel. Maybe when I get to 80 I can convert one of the Nortons to a trike, like the Harleys and Gold Wings. That would be different. More likely to do a Norton sidecar outfit. I have a Honda powered one now, but rarely ride it. Not nearly as much fun as a two-wheeler, but better than not riding.

Ken
 
I'm just thankful to be here to pull on that lever. As long as I've got that then I don't believe I've much to complain of.
 
Sparking off 1st or 2nd kick is right up there along with running smoothly also. Waking up with a woody..... Lots of stuff better.
 
lcrken said:
Maybe when I get to 80 I can convert one of the Nortons to a trike, like the Harleys and Gold Wings. That would be different. More likely to do a Norton sidecar outfit. I have a Honda powered one now, but rarely ride it. Not nearly as much fun as a two-wheeler, but better than not riding.

Ken
Click to expand...

How about dropping an 850 motor into one of these.

rascal.jpg
 

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