Old triumph old rider

baz

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I was talking to the owner of this 1946 3t
He has had the bike since 1954
It's the only motorcycle he has ever owned, he borrowed a bike to pass his test then bought this
I asked him why he'd never moved on to a bigger or modern bike?
He said" this bike does everything I need,so I don't see the point"
I can't argue with that!
He is now 88 years old,the bike started on half a kick and off he went
 

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Part of me admirers blokes like that, but part of my thinks “wow, so many bikes and so little time, why only have one?!”

But the main thing is, he’s happy !
 
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Nigel , my wife says , but you can ride only one at a time …. I say you have piano, vibraphone , drum kit plus a bunch of other musical stuff and you only play one at a time too … has been said , variety is the spice of life …..
 
He was pretty on the ball for his age too,I'd call him a survivor as well!!!!
He'll need to be, from the picture, I can already see front brake is not as efficient as it should be, I'll expect the rear to be the same.
Easy to put right, if you know what you are doing.
 
He'll need to be, from the picture, I can already see front brake is not as efficient as it should be, I'll expect the rear to be the same.
Easy to put right, if you know what you are doing.
So in your opinion Bernhard this bloke that has owned , maintained and loved this bike hasn't got the front brake as efficient as it should be ? And from that you assume the back brake is inefficient too?
"Easy to put right if you know what you are doing" so in your opinion he clearly doesn't know what he's doing right?
Jesus Christ do you have anything good to say?
I put this up because I was happy to talk with this old man about his bike and thought I'd share it with like minded people!
That's clearly not you
 
He'll need to be, from the picture, I can already see front brake is not as efficient as it should be, I'll expect the rear to be the same.
Easy to put right, if you know what you are doing.
I can already see front brake is not as efficient as it should be, I'll expect the rear to be the same.

The cable angle looks to be still slightly acute, at least before the brake is applied. I’ll expect the gearbox is full of tar and his false teeth don’t fit.



Old triumph old rider
 
So in your opinion Bernhard this bloke that has owned , maintained and loved this bike hasn't got the front brake as efficient as it should be ? And from that you assume the back brake is inefficient too?
"Easy to put right if you know what you are doing" so in your opinion he clearly doesn't know what he's doing right?
Jesus Christ do you have anything good to say?
I put this up because I was happy to talk with this old man about his bike and thought I'd share it with like minded people!
That's clearly not you
Don't take my comments out of context.
Look at the photo again and with your eyes you will see exactly what I see, the front brake adjuster wound out nearly to the end of it's travel, the brake arm in a place where it's at the maximum place where it should be, because that is where it is supposed to be for maximum travel when the brake is on!!
If there is one thing I've learned on drum brakes, it is to have the shoes .020 - .030 from the drum, and not ..05 inch that it becomes half as efficient as it should be.
If my concern for another riders safely offends you, well !
 
Don't take my comments out of context.
Look at the photo again and with your eyes you will see exactly what I see, the front brake adjuster wound out nearly to the end of it's travel, the brake arm in a place where it's at the maximum place where it should be, because that is where it is supposed to be for maximum travel when the brake is on!!
If there is one thing I've learned on drum brakes, it is to have the shoes .020 - .030 from the drum, and not ..05 inch that it becomes half as efficient as it should be.
If my concern for another riders safely offends you, well !
Nope it's not about your concern about a fellow riders safety Bernhard
It's about your sarcastic nasty put down of an old man and what most would find an interesting story
 
Obviously the old boy is happy with his 3T and even more obviously he knows how to keep it running to his standards / requirements… he’s being doing it for 67 years for goodness sake !

Even in their day though, those 3Ts were slow, and they ain’t got any faster! So I think it’s fair to assume he isn’t scraping his knee sliders and making the valves bounce!

Hence, even if others don’t think things look perfect / optimal, the 67 years constant use is as much proof as you can get that the bike is perfectly suited to the owners requirements.

I wish him many more years happy riding !

And by the way, the dude is an environmental hero, if his ‘1 bike in 67 years’ is an indicator to the rest of his life and consumer habits, the guy must have the carbon footprint of a baby gnat !!
 
Well, all I can say is "more power to him" and that I hope I can, keep on truckin' when I'm his age...assuming I make it that far (I'm 59 this year , but my kids are..."killin' me!).

P.S. As Far as the brakes being only half as efficient as they could be......shoot it looks to me like there's only half a brake there to begin with ..lol. It looks like he has added an L.E.D. bicycle headlight too , resourceful blighter . must help his reaction time. :) all joking aside, I take my hat off to him, to still be out there and ridin' at 88. Cj
 
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Well, all I can say is "more power to him" and that I hope I can, keep on truckin' when I'm his age...assuming I make it that far (I'm 59 this year , but my kids are..."killin' me!).

P.S. As Far as the brakes being only half as efficient as they could be......shoot it looks to me like there's only half a brake there to begin with ..lol. It looks like he has added an L.E.D. bicycle headlight too , resourceful blighter . must help his reaction time. :) all joking aside, I take my hat off to him, to still be out there and ridin' at 88. Cj
Yep he had additional bicycle L.E.Ds front and back
We talked at length about riding, driving , electric cars/busses etc
He was a lot more clued up than a lot of people especially about the size and shape of buildings and their affect on pollution in built up areas
 
Yep he had additional bicycle L.E.Ds front and back
We talked at length about riding, driving , electric cars/busses etc
He was a lot more clued up than a lot of people especially about the size and shape of buildings and their affect on pollution in built up areas
Your comment "he was a lot more clued up than a lot of people"
Even Triton Trasher made the same observations as I did -
Not on his drum brakes , he's not...... I rest my case.......
 
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I've never owned a really modern bike. Newest was a 400-4 Honda for a while. Since now I own 4, 69-74 they are all more or less
in the same performance era. Because of this I know their limits and drive within them. In airplanes you are type certified and usually have a lot of time in one type. The old boy is well at home with his old shoe and likely better off because of it.
I know I am!
 
Your comment "he was a lot more clued up than a lot of people"......
Not on his drum brakes , he's not...... I rest my case.......
You can rest your case mate
Rest it with your sarcasm and your I'm cleverer than you are miserable attitude
I hope you are happy
I'm just happy this site has an ignore button so I don't need to read any more of this drivel!!!
 
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