First let me say hello. I have been lurking around for a while, reading and drooling at all the nice bikes. I just decided to jump in the mix, introduce myself, tell my story, and quite possibly and get some help.
I started out life loving any thing mechanical, got my first erector set when I was 5, after witch I would disassemble anything I could, just to see how it worked. By the time I was 10, I had accumulated more tools than my father, I had a half dozen junk bicycles that I scrounged and rebuilt. The bikes were eventually sold to buy my first motorcycle a wrecked Honda XR75, my father only let me have it because he didn't think I could get it running. I spent more time tinkering than ridding but it was a lot of fun and my first project of many.
At the age of 14 I rebuilt my first engine, a 5HP B&S from a minibike, my father hated it and the mess I made. I loved motorcycles and prided myself on my ability to identify all the bikes in the neighborhood by their sound. Dad was in the military and it was time to move, so my collection of bikes had to go. I soon found that girls were softer and a motorcycle would not be as practical as a car, so my attention shifted to girls and Hot Rods, but my love for bikes never faded.
I took auto shop all through High School with a friend who rode a Kawasaki Mach 3 500, we worked on that bike a lot, and turned it into a cafe bike. The die was cast, cafe bikes were in my blood. At the time I was working at a local garage that had a few drag cars as a gas jockey / mechanic. We would run them just about every sunday at the local strip, Terry would occasionally bring the Mach 3 and we would make a few passes. That 2 stroke was the fastest thing I had ever ridden and oh the sound it made.
My senior year I won 3rd in state at the Plymouth Troubleshooting Contest, and was offered a partial scholarship to MOTECH in automotive engineering. My father never understood my passion and didn't think I was smart enough to go to collage and wouldn't support the Idea, so I had to explain to the president of the the southeast region of Chrysler why I was turning down the scholarship. He offered me a job at any one of his dealerships, so the day after gradation I went to work for the local Chrysler dealership in town as a mechanic. I showed up with tool box in hand and introduced myself to the service manager. I was expecting the oil change bay but he pointed out another bay, but there was someones else's tool boxes already there, a big, red, tall stack of new Craftsman's. I told the service manager that there must be some kind of mistake, he said the tools were mine and handed me a letter from corporate. They really were not so happy about having me forced down their throats by corporate, so my first job was to rebuild a Plymouth Arrow that the engine had been seized in and the mechanic that had torn it apart just quit. I had never seen a twin over head cam let alone rebuilt one but in a few days I drove out of the shop much to the dismay of most of the other mechanics.
1979 was not a good year for Chrysler and after 6 months I was let go, I bounced around at several dealerships and ended up living with my mother and working at a Dodge dealership. My stepfather had and a 65 Bonneville in the shed in the back yard that I adopted for a while, it wasn't a cafe bike and I was already fond of the Nortons so I didn't do much with it.
Life as a mechanic was hard and I new I could do much more. While having lunch in the break room with the guys, the son of one of the other mechanics walks in, he had just finished Army flight school and was a helicopter pilot. I knew him from high school he was a year a head of me, how could this be? he couldn't have finished collage and flight school in the 2 years since he graduated. We got to talking and he explained how he did it, for me it was do not stop, do not pass go, but go directly to the recruiters office, and in 12 months I was finishing basic training and headed to flight school.
After graduation from flight school, life was good, I was learning to be a good tactical pilot from some of the best Vietnam vets. I was enrolled in the aircraft maintenance officer correspondence course, and was the assistant maintenance officer, which meant I did all the grunt work, ground runs and was his copilot on test flights. Yes “I was his bitch” but I learned a lot about fixing helicopters.
I waited for orders to go to test pilot school for 4 years, while taking collage courses at night and restoring a few MGs and doing some trail riding on weekends, I had forgotten about Cafe bikes and was getting my need for speed filled dragging a Huey through the treetops at 120 kts or doing gun runs and diving fire in a Cobra.
In 1986 Top Gun came out I was in test pilot school and I just had to get a bike, so it was off to the honda dealer for the new Hurricane CBR 600F. I loved the bike and looked the part with aviator sunglasses and leather flight jacket.
I moved My Hurricane around the country with me until 1992 when I was about to be stationed in germany and would have to store or sell it. A lot has happened since then, kids, schools, several advanced helicopter and airplane transitions, a lot of deployments to some really bad places with poor living conditions, a divorce, sone more deployments to really bad places with even worse living conditions and now finally retirement. I never got the Ducati I was looking at while stationed in germany and I still haven't finished the 65 Mustang fastback restoration I started 15 years a go but, right now I cant think of anything but getting a vintage cafe racer, a Norton.
I have scoured the local papers, auto trader, craigslist, ebay but haven't found the right bike that isn’t a concourse show restoration or a pile of junk that they want way to much money for that will take 5 grand to restore. If I cant find the right bike Ill build one and its going to be low fast and cool.
I found an add on craigslist “68 norton atlas with original racing frame”. Right away I shot him an email and called the old guy, no answer Argggg. I call for 2 days and finally reach him, he stated it had been in a trailer in the back yard for 40 years. He didn’t have any papers for it or even know what it was other than it was a race bike that the engine was made in 67 but it was a 68 and that when he got it and couldn’t get it to run he put it away and never got around to fixing it. He assured me that it was a race bike he had all the race parts to include the original parts that came with it in baskets in the trailer. The old guy couldn't tell if it had a backbone or a wishbone, so I couldn’t tell if it is a Featherbed or Commando frame the years work out to be either so I’m thinking it could be a Fastback (good) an Atlas (better) a Production racer (best) or just a pile of junk that I can pick up for parts.
I call my buddy who is a 40’s HD/Indian nut and an avid junker, that I may have found a treasure and to get ready for a road trip. The next morning we drive 2 hours discussing what the bike was, weather the old guy was feeble or just had no idea what he had. We were excited and feeding off each others energy talking about weather they raced cafe bikes at Sebring (which is not to far) and what the odds of actually finding an un touched vintage racer were, one of those unbelievable Barn finds. Coming to our senses we both agreed that it was a 50/50 chance of being a norton or the old guy was on crack, but at least he might have some cool junk to rummage through.
After driving through scenic central Florida and talking about all the old barns and wondering what treasures they hide we arrive and are greeted buy the old guy in the driveway. I put out my hand and introduce myself and Paul, for a short time Im thinking that he isn’t so old as to be feeble but Im distracted by the back yard with its canopy of 100 year old moss covered live oaks with old cars and motorcycles peeking out from under blue tarps. Im getting excited! We walk toward the trailer I start looking at an old Yamaha while he unlocks the door, the door pops open and he says there it is. I start to panic, I Im looking around for something that says Norton, hell I don’t even see enough parts to build a motorcycle. There is a rear wheel leaned up against a chopper frame in the corner, between the rim and hub I see a classic curves of the engine lower end, it doesn't say Norton but it looks like one. Quickly I pickup the rear wheel and look for somewhere to put the POS. I drop to my knees and look at the engine I cant find any markings any where, but Im thinking its a matchless but I cant find any numbers. I do find a giant hole / crack in the frame. My buddy paul starts looking it over with a flashlight while I ask to see the rest of the bike. The old guy is pointing to all the Chopper parts that look like they came from JC Whitney. he has an oil tank that looks like it hung from a St Bernard. I do find a pare of shocks and a Amal carb and that is all I can Identify that are from a Norton, the wheels, forks, gas tank handlebars all are wrong.
I tell the guy that all he had there was a matchless engine and trany, that I could give him $500 max for the lot. He said he needed $1800 for it all and had had some one offer $800 but he turned them down. We bid each other good day and Paul and I headed home with our heads hanging low.
Im still hunting and looking for leads, Triumphs are plentiful if I could find a Featherbed I could do a Triton, but one thing is for sure I don’t want to do a Bonneville.
If I have kept your attention through out my rant, I’d like to know what are your thoughts are.
Greg
I started out life loving any thing mechanical, got my first erector set when I was 5, after witch I would disassemble anything I could, just to see how it worked. By the time I was 10, I had accumulated more tools than my father, I had a half dozen junk bicycles that I scrounged and rebuilt. The bikes were eventually sold to buy my first motorcycle a wrecked Honda XR75, my father only let me have it because he didn't think I could get it running. I spent more time tinkering than ridding but it was a lot of fun and my first project of many.
At the age of 14 I rebuilt my first engine, a 5HP B&S from a minibike, my father hated it and the mess I made. I loved motorcycles and prided myself on my ability to identify all the bikes in the neighborhood by their sound. Dad was in the military and it was time to move, so my collection of bikes had to go. I soon found that girls were softer and a motorcycle would not be as practical as a car, so my attention shifted to girls and Hot Rods, but my love for bikes never faded.
I took auto shop all through High School with a friend who rode a Kawasaki Mach 3 500, we worked on that bike a lot, and turned it into a cafe bike. The die was cast, cafe bikes were in my blood. At the time I was working at a local garage that had a few drag cars as a gas jockey / mechanic. We would run them just about every sunday at the local strip, Terry would occasionally bring the Mach 3 and we would make a few passes. That 2 stroke was the fastest thing I had ever ridden and oh the sound it made.
My senior year I won 3rd in state at the Plymouth Troubleshooting Contest, and was offered a partial scholarship to MOTECH in automotive engineering. My father never understood my passion and didn't think I was smart enough to go to collage and wouldn't support the Idea, so I had to explain to the president of the the southeast region of Chrysler why I was turning down the scholarship. He offered me a job at any one of his dealerships, so the day after gradation I went to work for the local Chrysler dealership in town as a mechanic. I showed up with tool box in hand and introduced myself to the service manager. I was expecting the oil change bay but he pointed out another bay, but there was someones else's tool boxes already there, a big, red, tall stack of new Craftsman's. I told the service manager that there must be some kind of mistake, he said the tools were mine and handed me a letter from corporate. They really were not so happy about having me forced down their throats by corporate, so my first job was to rebuild a Plymouth Arrow that the engine had been seized in and the mechanic that had torn it apart just quit. I had never seen a twin over head cam let alone rebuilt one but in a few days I drove out of the shop much to the dismay of most of the other mechanics.
1979 was not a good year for Chrysler and after 6 months I was let go, I bounced around at several dealerships and ended up living with my mother and working at a Dodge dealership. My stepfather had and a 65 Bonneville in the shed in the back yard that I adopted for a while, it wasn't a cafe bike and I was already fond of the Nortons so I didn't do much with it.
Life as a mechanic was hard and I new I could do much more. While having lunch in the break room with the guys, the son of one of the other mechanics walks in, he had just finished Army flight school and was a helicopter pilot. I knew him from high school he was a year a head of me, how could this be? he couldn't have finished collage and flight school in the 2 years since he graduated. We got to talking and he explained how he did it, for me it was do not stop, do not pass go, but go directly to the recruiters office, and in 12 months I was finishing basic training and headed to flight school.
After graduation from flight school, life was good, I was learning to be a good tactical pilot from some of the best Vietnam vets. I was enrolled in the aircraft maintenance officer correspondence course, and was the assistant maintenance officer, which meant I did all the grunt work, ground runs and was his copilot on test flights. Yes “I was his bitch” but I learned a lot about fixing helicopters.
I waited for orders to go to test pilot school for 4 years, while taking collage courses at night and restoring a few MGs and doing some trail riding on weekends, I had forgotten about Cafe bikes and was getting my need for speed filled dragging a Huey through the treetops at 120 kts or doing gun runs and diving fire in a Cobra.
In 1986 Top Gun came out I was in test pilot school and I just had to get a bike, so it was off to the honda dealer for the new Hurricane CBR 600F. I loved the bike and looked the part with aviator sunglasses and leather flight jacket.
I moved My Hurricane around the country with me until 1992 when I was about to be stationed in germany and would have to store or sell it. A lot has happened since then, kids, schools, several advanced helicopter and airplane transitions, a lot of deployments to some really bad places with poor living conditions, a divorce, sone more deployments to really bad places with even worse living conditions and now finally retirement. I never got the Ducati I was looking at while stationed in germany and I still haven't finished the 65 Mustang fastback restoration I started 15 years a go but, right now I cant think of anything but getting a vintage cafe racer, a Norton.
I have scoured the local papers, auto trader, craigslist, ebay but haven't found the right bike that isn’t a concourse show restoration or a pile of junk that they want way to much money for that will take 5 grand to restore. If I cant find the right bike Ill build one and its going to be low fast and cool.
I found an add on craigslist “68 norton atlas with original racing frame”. Right away I shot him an email and called the old guy, no answer Argggg. I call for 2 days and finally reach him, he stated it had been in a trailer in the back yard for 40 years. He didn’t have any papers for it or even know what it was other than it was a race bike that the engine was made in 67 but it was a 68 and that when he got it and couldn’t get it to run he put it away and never got around to fixing it. He assured me that it was a race bike he had all the race parts to include the original parts that came with it in baskets in the trailer. The old guy couldn't tell if it had a backbone or a wishbone, so I couldn’t tell if it is a Featherbed or Commando frame the years work out to be either so I’m thinking it could be a Fastback (good) an Atlas (better) a Production racer (best) or just a pile of junk that I can pick up for parts.
I call my buddy who is a 40’s HD/Indian nut and an avid junker, that I may have found a treasure and to get ready for a road trip. The next morning we drive 2 hours discussing what the bike was, weather the old guy was feeble or just had no idea what he had. We were excited and feeding off each others energy talking about weather they raced cafe bikes at Sebring (which is not to far) and what the odds of actually finding an un touched vintage racer were, one of those unbelievable Barn finds. Coming to our senses we both agreed that it was a 50/50 chance of being a norton or the old guy was on crack, but at least he might have some cool junk to rummage through.
After driving through scenic central Florida and talking about all the old barns and wondering what treasures they hide we arrive and are greeted buy the old guy in the driveway. I put out my hand and introduce myself and Paul, for a short time Im thinking that he isn’t so old as to be feeble but Im distracted by the back yard with its canopy of 100 year old moss covered live oaks with old cars and motorcycles peeking out from under blue tarps. Im getting excited! We walk toward the trailer I start looking at an old Yamaha while he unlocks the door, the door pops open and he says there it is. I start to panic, I Im looking around for something that says Norton, hell I don’t even see enough parts to build a motorcycle. There is a rear wheel leaned up against a chopper frame in the corner, between the rim and hub I see a classic curves of the engine lower end, it doesn't say Norton but it looks like one. Quickly I pickup the rear wheel and look for somewhere to put the POS. I drop to my knees and look at the engine I cant find any markings any where, but Im thinking its a matchless but I cant find any numbers. I do find a giant hole / crack in the frame. My buddy paul starts looking it over with a flashlight while I ask to see the rest of the bike. The old guy is pointing to all the Chopper parts that look like they came from JC Whitney. he has an oil tank that looks like it hung from a St Bernard. I do find a pare of shocks and a Amal carb and that is all I can Identify that are from a Norton, the wheels, forks, gas tank handlebars all are wrong.
I tell the guy that all he had there was a matchless engine and trany, that I could give him $500 max for the lot. He said he needed $1800 for it all and had had some one offer $800 but he turned them down. We bid each other good day and Paul and I headed home with our heads hanging low.
Im still hunting and looking for leads, Triumphs are plentiful if I could find a Featherbed I could do a Triton, but one thing is for sure I don’t want to do a Bonneville.
If I have kept your attention through out my rant, I’d like to know what are your thoughts are.
Greg
I hadn't heard of the Jaxed but will give it a try. LOL ..... those Korean bar hostess sure can separate you from your money and your wife if you are not careful.
