New Kid, Kinda

Hi all, just joined, WOW! there are some whiz kids on here, I am from Cov England live in Canada, since 74, used to work at THe Triumph, in Meridin, I have just got a 71 snorton Norton Commando, kinda ruff shape, engine is intact, I am a retired Tool and Diemaker so I am kinda ok with my hands, so here goes, you guys have kinda blown me away with your know how, I am a dinasour, but some great reading, I will be picking brains, O was a good friend of Percy Tait, it was a joke going for a ride with him, half a mile and he was a little dot in front of me Thanks in advance

Welcome to the forum excovkid. It's always good to have ex-factory staff aboard (-even if it is from the wrong factory) :wink: ....but I think most of us here like Triumphs (and BSAs) too, and although I consider myself to be more of a Norton enthusiast I have to admit I've got two Triumphs and only one Norton!

And if you do have any amusing anecdotes you can share with us (in the appropriate non-Norton Commando section - of course) about working at the Triumph factory with the likes of Percy Tait etc., then I'm sure we'd all like to read them?

I also welcome you ExCov . I too own three Triumphs and two Norton's. One of the Triumphs is a 1960 TR6 it has a replacement frame (braced) Duplex. Don't know how far back you go at Triumph but I would like to hear the workers version of the saga Duplex frame. Or maybe some TT tails?
A 71 Norton needs some kick and center stand mods. I would also take the time to dye the casting around the output side of the main bearing for crack detection before a deep commitment $$$. The rest is all good though. Machining skills will come in handy a lot of pieces need squaring up,ISO tubes, some jugs, frame parts. So lets have some yarns man.

It's nice to see another ex-works guy on here. As you can see from my sig, I was actually a Norton-Villiers guy for a brief period. I bailed out as they water was just getting to the portholes.

I've lived in the Pacific Northwest for most of the last 40 years, currently in Anacortes, WA (where God goes on vacation. my sister reckons!)

Insider stories are always of interest.

frankdamp said:

Insider stories are always of interest.

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Welcome Excov.

And yes, I love reading those old insider stories.
(Thanks Frank)

I love readin stuff like that, tell me were rumours of drinkin, and puttin together motorcycles true? Or was it just bad management ( like GM).

Just great,hearing from you all, yes there was drinking, BUT not at work,lots of hangovers!, watched a guy once drilling the licence plates on bikes made for the US, noticed the backend going down, he was drilling into the back tyre, they put a patch on the tube.......and stuck a piece of wood in the tyre,then shipped them,the place was heavy union, people could get away with any thing, drove me nuts, yes the older Trumps were better, people cared and had pride, he he Duplex rules, thanks for the info on frame will crack test

Story from Triumph

Just remembered, lots of guys used to swipe mufflers out of the plant, tied them around neck with string, the hole used for dipping, always when it was raining,raincoat! some times the string would brake and they bounced all over the ground EVERBODY looked ahead and kept walking :roll: