Youngest and Oldest

Status
Not open for further replies.
Birth date March 1936, so I guess I go top of the list until some other ancient motorcyclist comes forward with an even earlier claim.
Last motor cycles were an AJS 650 CSR, sold a couple of years ago, and a Velocette MSS 500, 1935 model. No plans to get another despite being encouraged to do so by my better half, I have no desire to become a mobile traffic hazzard!
 
I noted this comment '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.'
You should always listen to your parents, then do the opposite. My mother's brothers all had motorcycles. When I was given the 500cc WD model Indian, she insisted I should fit a sidecar when I wanted to go and get my licence. So I bought an Indian sidecar and fitted it to the bike. Then I tried to ride it down the lane at the back of our house. Half the ball bearings were missing from the sidecar wheel. So the outfit immediately chucked me into a paling fence where I got a face-full if splinters.
 
Dog T:

You may have misinterpreted a post of mine about a near neighbor. I'm only 74 (until next b'day in Sept). He's in his mid-80's, still riding. His "reliable" bike is a current-model Triumph, maybe 3 years old. His "hobby" bike is a single-cylinder 500cc Matchless, late 50's, I think. He'd had to give up kick-starting that one after getting two artificial knees, so he designed and built an electric starter system for it. It worked out so well that he and his friend, who helped make the first one, have made over 100 like it and sold them all over the world.

It's so well integrated, you hardly notice it at first glance. Then you see a bunch of Japanese electrical pieces and a starter button on the handlebars. It must be a high-torque electric motor to turn over a 500 single. It would have been impossible back in the old Lucas days, before rare-earth magnets appeared.
 
Snotzo said:
Birth date March 1936, so I guess I go top of the list until some other ancient motorcyclist comes forward with an even earlier claim.
Last motor cycles were an AJS 650 CSR, sold a couple of years ago, and a Velocette MSS 500, 1935 model. No plans to get another despite being encouraged to do so by my better half, I have no desire to become a mobile traffic hazzard!

I am putting the OFIFP award in the mail. Watch for it in the post.

Only thing worse than second place in the Forum Old Fart Competition, is second place in a gunfight.

Slick

Hey Nathan! Does Snotzo get the award if he isn't riding any more?
 
Hi All.

I'm soon to be 64. Been retired for 2 years and working on bikes full time to keep my mind busy and to ride.

I started riding at 13 on a Suzuki 80 in the dirt.

Saved up and bought a used 1967 BSA Spitfire back in 1969. I also bought a 1975 Norton MKIII in 1976.

My ex-wife didn't like motorcycles so eventually I sold them.

After 35+ years she was gone and I got back into motorcycles.

Since I had waited so long went crazy and have owned some 30 motorcycles over the past 3 years. I presently have 12 bikes.

My Brit bikes are my 1975 MKIII which is the same as the one I owned in the 70's. I also have a Triumph Bonneville chopper.

Along with British bikes I have an affinity toward old Metric sport bikes which I restore or convert into specialty bikes. I am presently finishing a 1988 Honda CBR MotoGP replica bike. It was built from the ground up into a newer style "RR" look. Kind of weird for an old guy, but I like the engineering in these bikes. Close to 100 HP from a 600cc engine is quite impressive.

Youngest and Oldest


I know people don't like it when we talk about anything outside of our British bikes but I enjoy many different brands and types of bikes. They are all motorcycles and for me fun to work on. These high performance bikes keep me grounded with my Brit bike projects. No need to go crazy with high performance when you can jump on a bike that will scare the crap out of you anytime you feel the need.

I hope I haven't offended anyone.
 
...I can scare the crap out of myself every time I get on an old british bike.
All of them can put me in jail in second gear.
Don't need a modern to do that!

:-(
 
Snotzo said:
Birth date March 1936, so I guess I go top of the list until some other ancient motorcyclist comes forward with an even earlier claim.
Last motor cycles were an AJS 650 CSR, sold a couple of years ago, and a Velocette MSS 500, 1935 model. No plans to get another despite being encouraged to do so by my better half, I have no desire to become a mobile traffic hazzard!

There is an ad for a nice Commando on Trademe in Nz. The reason for selling. Owner is 80 years old, only 65 kg and can't kick it over compression anymore.

Dereck
 
I am 72 and bereft of bikes. I started on a Honda 305, a Triumph 250 single, and then, after I got out of the USN, moved up to a 1970 Triumph Trident. I was transferred to San Francisco from PA and the bike was flown (I worked for an airline)to my new city. While there, I raced it at Sears Point and went on the Marin County Sunday Morning Ride virtually every Sunday morning for two years. Then, I was transferred to Kansas City and the bike was shipped on a truck with aircraft engines. (My old car was flown.) I rarely used it there due to weather and schedule issues. Later I was transferred to Seattle and the bike was once again shipped to my new home. I morphed into fatherhood and the bike took up space in the garage and was eventually DONATED TO CHARITY. Oh, how I wish for a do over on that move!

I have lately become especially interested in Nortons but at my age it is not likely that I could wait for grandpaul to complete a refurb on a MKIIIa.
 
theref1234 said:
I am 72 and bereft of bikes. I started on a Honda 305, a Triumph 250 single, and then, after I got out of the USN, moved up to a 1970 Triumph Trident. I was transferred to San Francisco from PA and the bike was flown (I worked for an airline)to my new city. While there, I raced it at Sears Point and went on the Marin County Sunday Morning Ride virtually every Sunday morning for two years. Then, I was transferred to Kansas City and the bike was shipped on a truck with aircraft engines. (My old car was flown.) I rarely used it there due to weather and schedule issues. Later I was transferred to Seattle and the bike was once again shipped to my new home. I morphed into fatherhood and the bike took up space in the garage and was eventually DONATED TO CHARITY. Oh, how I wish for a do over on that move!

I have lately become especially interested in Nortons but at my age it is not likely that I could wait for grandpaul to complete a refurb on a MKIIIa.

Just buy a good Mk3 - like our forum host Jerry Doe's - and you will be off and smiling. :mrgreen:
 
chrismay said:
When I fired 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.
That gets me a bit misty-eyed, as I lost my mother before the Norton came home. She never got to hear it after its resurrection. Only made it to her mid-Sixties...

That sounds like a great idea for your license plate!

Nathan
 
texasSlick said:
Snotzo said:
Birth date March 1936...
I am putting the OFIFP award in the mail. Watch for it in the post.
Only thing worse than second place in the Forum Old Fart Competition, is second place in a gunfight.

Slick

Hey Nathan! Does Snotzo get the award if he isn't riding any more?

Yes he does! This didn't start as a list of people that are actively riding; rather as age of Norton/motorcycle people. Granted, it is interesting to see just how late we continue to ride, but, so far, that has to go to my wife's grandfather. He was 87 when he sold the bike back to my wife, but, lately, at 95 years old, he's been pestering her about buying it back. He's already bored with his late-model Mustang... Seriously, I believe he could still get around on it without difficulty.

That being said, it can be argued that anyone can have an interest in motorcycles and qualify on that distinction alone, but, I think we all understand that most of the people posting here would be riding if their situations allowed. I will have a motorcycle up to the point where I can no longer drag myself across the floor, wrench angrily clutched in my grubby mitt!

Nathan
 
Nater_Potater said:
texasSlick said:
Snotzo said:
Birth date March 1936...
I am putting the OFIFP award in the mail. Watch for it in the post.
Only thing worse than second place in the Forum Old Fart Competition, is second place in a gunfight.

Slick

Hey Nathan! Does Snotzo get the award if he isn't riding any more?

Yes he does! This didn't start as a list of people that are actively riding; rather as age of Norton/motorcycle people. Granted, it is interesting to see just how late we continue to ride, but, so far, that has to go to my wife's grandfather. He was 87 when he sold the bike back to my wife, but, lately, at 95 years old, he's been pestering her about buying it back. He's already bored with his late-model Mustang... Seriously, I believe he could still get around on it without difficulty.

That being said, it can be argued that anyone can have an interest in motorcycles and qualify on that distinction alone, but, I think we all understand that most of the people posting here would be riding if their situations allowed. I will have a motorcycle up to the point where I can no longer drag myself across the floor, wrench angrily clutched in my grubby mitt!

Nathan

Nathan, as we say in Texas, "I was just pulling your chain, boy!"

Of course he does! That is why I was first to send the award off to him! :D

Slick
 
It is amazing how we change as we get older. I live in a residential area in a small country town. When I start the Seeley 850, it is only ever at a race circuit. I don't dare start it at home. With the cam advance I use with the two into one pipe, it is extremely LOUD - yet on a race circuit, the motor delivers loads of torque. I have a portable electric starter so getting it going is no problem, however I think the local Council By-laws Officer would probably arrive on my doorstep very quickly.
 
Hi I'm 43 :)
and I'm in love with british classic bikes since I was 14...
Norton rider from 2010 when I was 37...
greetings from Italy
Mario
 
Shifting it back to the left...30 years old here. I have my dad's '72 Combat which is currently in pieces and being restored. I started on a 1969 CB350 right after college and still bring it to shows. I daily ride a newer Bonneville.

My dad bought the Commando as a left over in '73 in NJ. This was after he rode a '71 from NJ across Canada and into California.

I'm really looking forward to gleaning knowledge from all of the "experienced" guys on here as I work through the rebuild!
 
Combat_Kid said:
I'm really looking forward to gleaning knowledge from all of the "experienced" guys on here as I work through the rebuild!
Welcome!

Make sure to start a build thread in the "Member Projects" section, and back-fill it with info and early pix...

(we love pix)
 
57 years. 17 bikes over those years. The last 2 have been rough , breaking both legs whilst kicking over both my NORTONS . 72 and 76. Electric start from here on in. :roll:
 
About 1973. I wish I could turn the clock back and get my Seeley 850 into this situation :

Youngest and Oldest
 
For you guys who like pics - My 500cc short stroke Triton in about 1967 - was based on a 650 Triumph motor with a 63mm billet crank and a 4 speed CR gearbox and a copy featherbed frame. It was my first road racer and gave me many bad crashes.
Youngest and Oldest
 
The latest and greatest. 'Looks like we got a bit of bimodal action going on here (no, hobot; that's not what that means...)
Youngest and Oldest

Note that second bump of 72-75. That would put the ages somewhere around 30-35 for the 68-74 model years. I suppose that's not too early for a middle-age crisis...
See that little tick mark at the far right? That signifies Slick's lost claim of the OFIFP award. It is now proudly handed to Frankdamp (cue trumpets).

I'm digging on these stories! Fantastic response by all, and I'm hoping anyone watching from the sidelines will contribute.

Nathan
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top