now this last one is pretty special. not sure if anyone but ryan & me got to hear this guys stories but he was a really amazing old guy. dave was his name. he came over to me right as i was about to leave & he asked me if the triumph was mine. i told him yes & he told me he used to have a '48 speed twin 500. he said that was the bike to have back then, a triumph, the same bike brando rode in the wild one. he said it was cool back then to shift without the clutch & one time he shifted & the tranny cracked in half. he said, 'back then, we didnt have any mig welders, we just had a stick welder, but we got some aluminum sticks & i tore the transmission all apart, ground a groove in the crack & welded that thing right up. there used to be this big dirt hill from where they were cleaning out the riverbed & i figured if i can make it up that, the tranny is strong enough. sure enough i rode right to the top & it held. i rode it 3 more years and it held, then i sold it to a guy.' he also had a great one about the clutch plates. he said 'does that clutch have those plates with the little cork pieces on it?' i said - yep. he laughed & said 'we didnt have too much money for parts back then so i took my clutch apart & went to the store & bought some cork paper. i traced out each one of those little shapes & glued them onto the old plates. i got it all back together & it worked better than ever!' i couldnt get enough of the guys stories. he said he had a bunch of other bikes in his day & did some racing too but he hasnt ridden in a long time. i told him to have a seat on my bike & he turned me down first. i said, go ahead man, ill take your picture. he finally went ahead...
i said, im heading out, ill fire it up for you. mind you the new cocktail mufflers really give it a great sound now & definately reminds me of the sound of the triumph racers of the 60s now. he saw me hit the tickler & he remembered changing the needle setting in his old amals. we got a laugh out of how the tickler makes your finger always smell like gas. the bike fired in one kick & he smiled ear to ear. i hope some of you other guys got to see his face. i gave er a couple raps on the thottle & i swear the old guy got a bit misty. such a great old dude. he said 'you know, i would really like a copy of that picture you took. i want to put it on my wall.' i asked if he had a computer & he says 'no, i dont mess with those things. im up here a lot for walks around the park, next time i see you...'
right on dave. he was the perfect end to a great day.
2 comments:
Just got back from a two hour ride on the 45". I spent a half hour talking to this old guy, Stan, outside an antique store, about the 1952 Panhead he had when he was in his twenties, so I totally relate to this story.
Wish we could arrange a ride together...
That's a great story. My Dad just sold his bike; said he's getting too old to ride. I miss mine. Haven't ridden in years.
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