Youngest and Oldest

texasSlick said:

FRANKDAMP IS ONLY 74!! When he turns 75 in Dec., I will be 76. I claim the OFIFP Award (Old Fart In First Place).

Slick

PS: Nathan, I will be watching to ensure the histogram reflects a proper adjustment. I do not intend to forfeit my OFIFP Award without a fart, ... er, I mean a fight (spellcheck did that).

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Wow! Okay, the coveted OFIFP Award goes to Slick. I didn't realize we'd be claiming bragging rights for the Oldest Fart in the group. Based on how some of the posters described their ages, I was either rounding up or down, so there's bound to be some overlap. So, unless someone else speaks up, Slick; you are the oldest one in the group. HAPPY???

Nathan

P.S. Don't expect me to post the updated chart just yet just because you want to be in first place. It'll happen when I get around to it.

61, passed my test at 17 on a LE Velocette, hand start and hand gear change (£10), Bantam, Tiger 90 (£90), 1970 Fastback bought in 1975 for £350 (still got it) Norton interpol 2 rotary, Commander rotary, Street Triple.(still got that too, nought to casualty in 4 seconds)

Nathan

P.S. Don't expect me to post the updated chart just yet just because you want to be in first place. It'll happen when I get around to it.[/quote]
Nate,
Don't wait too long Slick ain't getting any younger!

(Sorry Slick it was just too tempting to pass up)

Maybe we should hand out a major award for the oldest.

MS850 said:

Maybe we should hand out a major award for the oldest.

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I think something like this ....

Two or three of you can sell your Commandos and chip in for a 750 ml bottle.



OFIB (oldest fart in the bunch)

rx7171 mentioned 'motivation'. When you retire that is a very big problem - events often conspire to destroy it. As you get older family problems seem to get greater and if you are not careful, they can take over and do your head in. The worst aspect of that situation is, if you are not motivated, you often fail to exercise enough to keep up your motorcycling activities. The whole thing can turn into a vicious cycle. If you set yourself goals, you are probably better off. I often get to the stage where I cannot even bear to enter my shed. So I ring up one of my friends and we talk technical motorcycle bullshit. This forum helps. Have you seen the John Renwick videos which are up on Youtube ? - He has got his head straight.

One thing I have noticed about the posts on this forum. Sometimes the fellas express guilt about their motorcycling. I suggest you should never feel guilty - it is important to have an active manhood. Your wife might be much less happy if you found some of the other pursuits which are available to young virile men. And in the worst case scenario, you can always sell your bikes to get out of hock.
A while back, my son the engineer tried to send me on a guilt trip about my road racing while my kids were very young. He had the heart attack when he was 43.

The 'A Christmas Story' lamp. Har, har. Jean Shepard, my favorite story teller.

I thought there was an 80 year old Iron Butt here. Besides Frank Damp hasn't had a bike since the 60's. I thought there were more of us fogies here.

texasSlick said:

Slick

I do not intend to forfeit my OFIFP Award without a fart, ... er, I mean a fight (spellcheck did that).

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Can you still fart reliably ?
I can fill the gap at 46

62 here and I can still kick start my Norton with no problem. Had this 72 Combat for 13 years now and clocked 19K miles since I bought it. Blessed with good health so far.

I am 59. I bought my 850 in 75 the year I got out of high school. Never could part with it. I owned a handfull of other bikes during the last 40 years most of them have come and gone. I don't post much on this forum because I don't have near the knowledge of mechanic/ racing / machinining /thermodynamics that most of you do. Thank all of you who do post so much knowledge. Without you I would have never been able to bring my scooter back to life. I take care of my 90 year old mother who is hearing impaired and legally blind. When I fiired up the Norton for the first time in 20 years (thanks to all the info on this site) I came back in the house and my mother, a southern women to the core asked me if that was THUNDAH that she heard.
I have never named a car or a bike but a custom license plate will be ordered for it. " THUNDAH" lives again thanks to all of you.

Wow, been so busy this week i did not see this post until now. I think i should do an age survey on the forum too.

I am 55 next month. Upgraded from a BSA C15 to a 750 commando in 79. Been riding Commandos and Bonnevilles ever since in England and California now, where i live these days.

Its an addiction

Cheers
Jerry

Hi Tex, you should adjust your name to includes the Honours, At least till someone gets older. Glad to see you drink the right stuff. Your a bit too far away for me to provide you with real music for your birthday but I get we could send you a video.
Dereck

DogT said:

The 'A Christmas Story' lamp. Har, har. Jean Shepard, my favorite story teller.

I thought there was an 80 year Old Iron Butt here. Besides Frank Damp hasn't had a bike since the 60's. I thought there were more of us fogies here.

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Hi All
Very interesting post this one.
Me 66 years and still the brain still acts like 18!
First learnt to ride at 15 on a mates 500 Matchless single, in 1965.
First Bike 1951 AJS given to me by my uncle, possibly because he got sick of me asking, 1965.
Had 3 or 4 AJS and Matchless singles and a twin over the next couple of years, (used to be able to buy a Matchless for under $100 AU), the police were chuffed when I went for my permit and then my license, didn't even give me a road test, just wanted to know what clothes I should wear.
Next bike was 1958 99 Dominator, dead set original, stripped it down and turned it into a café racer, OH the shame of it all.
Dominator ran out of puff so but in a 1961 Bonnie, it burnt a hole in the piston so retired it and parted the bike, still have the original manual, petrol tank and gearbox.
1971 brought a 1955 Manx Norton and turned it into a café racer complete with the 99 alternator, the Manx is a 350 that was bored to 92mm and stroked to 82mm still have it.
1972 replaced the Manx engine with a Unit Triumph engine then retired from bikes in 1975 and went racing TQs/Formula 500s, couldn't afford both.
1986 I started restoring the Manx.
Raced (toured around) on the Manx for about 3 years after the restoration, then parked it up to run my engineering business.
2005 brought a 1991 Kawasaki ZX10 with a blown engine, fitted a ZZR1100 engine still have that one, next ride was a ZZR1100, rode it to the shop everyday, yes everyday for next 2 years plus trips to Phillip Island, clocked up 35,000 klms/year.
Current rides are the ZZR1100, 2 x 1974 GT750 Suzuki's, 1972 Combat and a TR250 Suzuki road racer.
Ready to restore are 1951 TR5 Triumph, 1969 Daytona, and my pride and joy 1963 650 SS, now have around 95% of the parts I require for all 3, just need to find time.
Burgs

43 here. Been a British car/bike owner for almost thirty years.

I turned 58 today.

At 19 years old I bought my commando off of a friend because he couldn't figure out why the battery kept draining. (It turned out to be the rotor rubbing the stator) When I brought my new purchase home in 1977, my dad said to me, "What are you going to do with that?" I explained that It was broken and I got it for $500. I was going to fix it because it's an older classic design with a 3 case system, (crankcase, primary, gearbox)and all the newer jap bikes are completely different... so it should be collectable someday, besides being cool as hell.

He looked at me like I was an idiot, and said, "GET RID OF THAT THING, YOU'LL NEVER FIX IT...." This was the pattern of my life. Everything I wanted to do was so different than my parent's expectations that usually the phrase, "God damn it" was always used in front of my given name when my father addressed me, so the running joke in my family was that my real first name is "god damn it". My parents never understood that I had an obsession with all things mechanical, even though they saved anything mechanical that broke for me to disassemble,... just so I wouldn't disassemble the working television while they were out of the house.... (kinda funny, but true)

Anyway, it's been a very long road with my commando, primarily because I had to figure it out myself until there were internet forums where knowlegable people helped me take the full measure of my bike's limitations and subtleties. Oddly enough when I first rebuilt my bike down to the crank, I recall consulting the early internet to find a "norton website forum", and the only person's name I remember who was helpful to me was, "Rohan", so I was not surprised to see his name here.

So, having cured the leaks, added a rose joint head steady, a reed valve breather, sleeved carburators, and kegler clamps has really improved my bike's ridability to a point where I ride a classic design, which runs and handles well enough to handle normal traffic flow conditions just like any modern bike does.

I'm not the "collector type" person. I wouldn't own a norton if I couldn't ride it normally. Mostly I don't ride it all that much, I really like that I've rebuilt it completely, like my other 2 vehicles which I've also partially or completely rebuilt myself. When I quit college, my dad asked me what I wanted to do. I said, " I want to take my truck apart, pass it through a hulahoop, and reassemble it on the other side." To which, my dad sighed and murmered, "My kid is an idiot!" , which I have remained...

Here I am with the love of my life in 1964.



I still got her! Here she is as a grand lady of 54 years. The NOC provided me with a birth certificate .... May 21, 1962. I bought her new in Apr '63. Dunno why she took so long to cross the pond and appear on the dealer's floor.

43 here.

69 here. Originally from London. I started riding in '64 with a Vincent Comet. I had several old Brits including a 1953 Gold Star that won a gold vase for Britain. Sold that one for a fiver!!!! I moved to Canada in 1969 and after a couple of years got back into bikes racing motocross for a few years mostly on Jap bikes before going back to street riding on a '70 Bonnie moving on to my first Norton, a '73 Commando 850 in 1978. I still own that one. Had a few bikes over the years and now have a Mercury and an Atlas along with a G80CS and a 2005 Rocket III.