Getting the Norton ready for a ride

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Sep 24, 2012
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Here in the Phoenix area we have a very unofficial "official" New Years Day ride out to Tortilla Flats. No sponsors, so no liability. A lot of riders meet at various locations so that they can enjoy the ride with like minded friends. This will be the first year that I ride the Commando for this "event" so in preparation I pulled it out of its parking space and into my detailing station. This is actually my wife's parking spot in the garage but "detailing station" sounds so much more refined. While squatting down to start the aluminum polishing process I felt quite a bit of discomfort around my mid section. My wife was scooting through the garage just as I was wondering what in the heck happened to my pants to cause such an issue. "Well I see that your holiday gluttony has caught up with you once again" she smirked. How could that be? I made sure that every helping of turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and dressing (stuffing to some of you) was totally encased in a double dollop of gravy. My reasoning is that gravy acts like Teflon on calories allowing them to pass completely through the digestive tract without sticking. My wife said that such justification is delusional. Whatever! I dug out my buffet pants with the extra piece of expandable elastic in the waste and all was once again well in my world. Oh yeah, the purpose of this long winded post is to let those that might be in The Valley to head on out and have a look see.
Hope to see you there. I'll be the one on the red Commando nattily dressed in my tan buffet pants.
 
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Many years ago my wife’s best friend ran away to Italy and married a local .... they both love food , at lunch they have fruit and maybe some chocolate .... we have been on this routine since retirement and have both lost some bulk , like to think my loss is just muscle I no longer need .... the fruit lunches are nice , when out on bike I almost always have coconut cream pie and coffee at mid day ... that fruit , right ?
 
I believe avoiding the gym counts as resistance training, right?
 
All sports I played were outside except hockey ... never been to a gym except when in school ... always worked outside as well ... today in mid 60’s still only 5lbs more than my playing weight for high school football .... not sure if it diet or hereditary , still wearing same size jeans ... not nearly as strong as I once was so maybe I should weigh less .... sure do love my deserts ....
 
Out riding with club member this fall on identical Duc’s ... pulled over to split up and buddy say your bike faster than mine ... is there something wrong .... he is 6’4” 295lbs ... wasn’t sure what to say other than , your bike hauling more than a hundred pounds more than mine ... read somewhere each pound equals 7hp not sure if that true ....
 
Splendid eskasteve, Craig and Tornado :)

I'm worried about getting my leather jacket closed this summer.
 
When I worked for BMW motorcycles they came out with a zip together waterproof suedeish leather suit that was also breathable. It featured a new type of coating that reflected infrared heat on those hot summer days. The claim was that you'd be 10 degrees cooler in your new leathers than without. They seemed to work as advertised. The down side is that retail was about $1,000 for the jacket and $800 for the pants. They didn't sell worth a darn. As an employee, I was given special pricing so as to get them out in the public eye. I bought a set and wore them for about a year or so then hung them up in the closet of lost and forgotten riding gear. Fast forward to today (about 9 years) and I dug them out for the Tortilla Flats ride. Never have I seen high quality leather gear shrink as bad as this set has. I grabbed my old Frank Thomas leather jacket and dang if that hadn't shrunk, too. Must be some sort of out gassing in my riding gear closet. What other explanation is there. Thank goodness my gloves and boots miraculously seem to be immune to this poison as they still fit.
 
All sports I played were outside except hockey ... never been to a gym except when in school ... always worked outside as well ... today in mid 60’s still only 5lbs more than my playing weight for high school football .... not sure if it diet or hereditary , still wearing same size jeans ... not nearly as strong as I once was so maybe I should weigh less .... sure do love my deserts ....
Most likely a tape worm. No other possible explanation.
 
Out riding with club member this fall on identical Duc’s ... pulled over to split up and buddy say your bike faster than mine ... is there something wrong .... he is 6’4” 295lbs ... wasn’t sure what to say other than , your bike hauling more than a hundred pounds more than mine ... read somewhere each pound equals 7hp not sure if that true ....

T’other way around more like Craig... each 7lb equals 1hp...
 
So how does that equation work Nigel ? .... and is there any truth to it ,have heard it more than once ... plus for sure that day on the Duc’s the big man was falling well behind on the climbs ...
Steve .... my Dad was 135lbs on his wedding day .... I am a bigger guy and weighed in at 180lbs on mine , I did borrow his shoes for the big day though a little tight but only had to wear them for a couple of hours ha!ha!
 
Craig. I was 145lbs at HS graduation. 3 years later I'd grown almost 3 inches and added 25lbs. At 30 year old I was a muscular 180. 36 years later I'm battling to stay under 200lbs. I may have to ingest a tapeworm or two. With the age associated memory loss I always seem to forget the diet thing.
As for weight =hp just buy a more modern superbike and it all becomes moot. A few years back I sold my Buell race bike and got a BMW S1000RR. We had a horsepower shoot out at our dealership and my bike running race gas recorded 191 rear wheel horsepower stock. That thing was wicked both on the street and on the track.
 
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Think I stopped getting taller at 18 yrs , that would be 1 yr out from HS , my working weight for 30 yrs was always around 200-205lbs .... since I stopped working the weight/muscle just kinda slipped off back down to my new normal ‘bout 180 ( secret is no more booze as of ‘05), still like to eat .... a family size bag of chips just barely gets me through a NFL game on TV .... burritos tonight , yeah !!!! My Gr. Cherokee has just 210hp , that beemer has enough for 2 or 3 bikes ....
 
All sports I played were outside except hockey ... never been to a gym except when in school ... always worked outside as well ... today in mid 60’s still only 5lbs more than my playing weight for high school football .... not sure if it diet or hereditary , still wearing same size jeans ... not nearly as strong as I once was so maybe I should weigh less .... sure do love my deserts ....

I hate you. (lol)

Never have I seen high quality leather gear shrink as bad as this set has. I grabbed my old Frank Thomas leather jacket and dang if that hadn't shrunk, too. Must be some sort of out gassing in my riding gear closet. What other explanation is there. Thank goodness my gloves and boots miraculously seem to be immune to this poison as they still fit.

I have also witnessed this phenomenon.
 
Let’s all calm down .... no magic here ... first off no more beer for me due to chronic neurological thing , Doc had my drivers permit for a while , second my little girl actually almost mid age is a chef and has very different view on how/what we should eat , third my little girl has powerful influence on my Wife as she likes to be slim like my daughter .... end result I back down to high school weight and hungry all the time .... which leaves me with ride gear that is stretching , sold most of it in last couple years , kept my fave stuff being optimistic our diet may change again ...
Craig
 
I still wear my NAVY uniform from 1975, just can't button the pants at the top. I weighed 125 for almost 30 years after high school but recently hit an all-time high of 150.

I have carefully analyzed this fact, and determined my weight gain is tied DIRECTLY to my first Norton Commando resto/mod in 2005. That was when I started to gain, almost 2# per year...
 
I guess the “take away” of this thread is older we get more our weight fluctuates .... still would like to hear definitive explanation on the 7lbs = 1 hp or other way around .. think I saw it on here may ”Worntorn” ????

GP .... could your additional poundage be related to beer used to calm nerves while building your Norton ?
 
Sounds like those seefood diets take a toll through the years. It has on me & my bike has to haul an additional 50# now because of it. Helmet & boots fit fine. Belt buckle is somewhat of a nuisance though. The 850 doesn't appear to mind at all, though my old ass feels every little divot in the road that stiff suspension follows. Not complaining because my only alternative is to bring out my old Goldwing,.....and those my friends have a most severe lack of character when a second childhood love is in full swing.
 
.... still would like to hear definitive explanation on the 7lbs = 1 hp or other way around ... could your additional poundage be related to beer...?
HP/weight ratio is a valid thing, yes. The exact weight I believe also depends on other factors.

I don't drink beer, so no. Mostly just lots of good food. I can eat as much as someone weighing 100# more than me.
 
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