[Shop-talk] changing times...

Thu Apr 21 09:03:45 MDT 2022

In the same vein..for what I have in my old British car, I could buy
something much more modern, more powerful, and safer too.  But I'm no
longer in a hurry to "get there" and I'd rather listen to the music a
2500cc Triumph I-6 makes anyway...

On Thu, Apr 21, 2022, 09:05 old dirtbeard <dirtbeard at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Mark,
>
> Thank you, a poignant and well written piece for those of us who are
> getting older...
>
> Times pass, but with our shops, our tools, and our knowledge, we can keep
> these old British bikes, or old Harleys running as well if not better than
> they did 50 or 60 years ago. I have my 50 year old BSA Thumper that I
> posted the photos and video of, but I also have a 2013 Aprillia 1000cc V4
> with all of the modern electronic components. I still ride both of them.
> They both are very good at what they do, but I have been imprinted on the
> BSA.
>
> In the spirit of shop talk, over the last 50 years that I have owned the
> BSA, I have used my tools, knowledge and workshops to increase the
> displacement to 600cc, ported the head, installed larger diameter exhaust,
> larger valves, a larger 1000 series Amal carburetor, a Weber racing cam,
> electronic ignition, modified the dry sump oil-in-frame supply to dual feed
> to better circulate and cool the oil, fabricated and a routed pressure-fed
> oil line to the rockers to better oil and cool the valve gear, installed a
> full-flow oil filter on the oil return circuit, higher voltage ignition
> coil, solid state electrical rectification and regulation, improved clutch
> plates and stronger clutch springs to withstand the increased power, modern
> brake linings arced to the drums to be able to stop the bike at high speed
> (not quite as good as dual front disc brakes, but I can lock the front
> wheel if I try), modern Avon tires that grip the road and handle extremely
> well (deep lean angles), rewired the entire electrical harness with
> vibration-proof connectors and larger gauge wire with abrasion-resistant
> vinyl insulation, running Motul 10w60 double ester synthetic oil in the
> engine, synthetic gear lube in the transmission, etc.  It is not just a hot
> rod, it has much improved lubrication, electrical, and braking systems now.
>
> Although this bike is 50 years old, it runs stronger and is more reliable
> now than it was from the factory. It can run with the modern sport bikes on
> the twisty roads you saw in the video.
>
> Old British motorcycles potentially are the ideal "vehicle" for us to
> exercise our tools and our skills in the shop. They are the perfect
> "canvas" to paint a masterpiece, and one that you can ride and enjoy for
> the rest of our lives.
>
> I recently was riding the twisty hill roads shown in the video when I
> passed a young man on a Suzuki sport bike. I later stopped at the overlook
> in the one photo and he also pulled up to chat. He "complained" that he
> could not hear his engine in order to shift it properly when I was in front
> of him because my BSA was so loud. He also said my tires were too skinny to
> ride that fast, etc.
>
> Not wishing to deter from his riding enjoyment, I let him leave first so
> he could lead and my loud thumping engine and skinny tires would not deter
> from his riding. After a couple of curves I passed him again.
>
> I am 68, my bike is 50 years-old, and the young man was on a new GSX.
> These old bikes are lighter and have deeper torque,
>
> These old bikes, and these old men, can still ride, and no amount of
> electronic wizardry can change that...  :-)
>
> best,
>
> Doug
>
>
>
> On Wed, Apr 20, 2022 at 8:31 PM Mark Bradakis <mark at bradakis.com> wrote:
>
>>
>> I wish I knew where this came from.  Have no idea who the author might
>> be, sad to say.
>>
>> mjb.
>>
>> ============
>>
>> As I watch the Japanese crotch-rockets blasting the circuits,
>> I am suffused with a distilled sense of wonder, and I marvel;
>> these men and women are so skilled, perfect machines riding on
>> perfect machines.  Their bikes are precision instruments built by
>> precision instruments, sold in their multitude to the techno-dazed.
>>
>> About ten years ago, I was out earholing on a norton-racer-road in
>> coastal Marin county (north of San Francisco) on my '75 Commando.
>> Rolled up to a stop sign.  A guy on an old 500cc BSA thumper came
>> around the corner facing me, leaned through the corner, dialed up
>> the wick, and thumped on up the hill.  I shut nort down to listen
>> to the sound of that long-stroke single haul that hill.  I was
>> thrilled; I could feel the sound through the soles of my boots.
>> All these years later, when I remember that sound, that fine sound,
>> I choke, and tears fill my eyes.  As that quiet thump, thump,
>> thump, faded up the hill, me and nort sat and thought of dinosaurs.
>> It was a good day to think about dinosaurs, one of those crisp,
>> perfect Marin autumn days.  Back then, me and my dinosaur could
>> still swat the Japanese flies buzzing around the hills, those
>> primordial crotch-rockets, awesome machines that have come to be
>> so strong, strong enough to eat me and nort for breakfast.
>>
>> These ten years gone, I'm now flogging that British oil-bath around
>> the Rockies.  But the king is dead (long live the king!), and
>> I'm the dinosaur now, breathing the last breath of extinction;
>> fading quietly, thump, thump, thump up that hill.  But I wonder,
>> where went the soul, where went the art, where went the heart?
>>
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