Mopeds and Motonostalgia corner

[Zeti]

My first bike... found me!
I was looking for oldtimers (cars) and someone called me and asked if I'm not interested on a bike with side car?
I replied : "what brand? "
"It's a Triumph."
And so it began. I bought it 29 years ago.

It's a great model born under the dark sky of the '29 Crash: Triumph 500 CTT.
Love on first sight! I kept it in the garage 8 years and in 2000, in the day of the Sun eclipse I dismantled it.
Sanded, resprayed, galvanized... was waiting another 11 years spread all over in the house.
These days I finally managed to repair the magneto!
There is a big chance to celebrate this year,together on the road, 150 years (90 for him + 60 for me!)
Who knows? I'll be back with more recent pics...

 

[Robert Wiles]

Yes Dan, very reliable, never had to take a spanner to it other than normal servicing. It was very smooth running, 5 speed, 4 cylinders horizontally opposed, and 80bhp @7500rpm. They were quite heavy at 265kgs dry weight, but the weight was low down in the frame as the fuel tank was under the seat and not above the engine as in conventional design.

Lovely things, early Gold Wings. Can't remember the last time I saw one. I always thought they lost their way when they became 6 cylinder 1500cc bikes and trikes with stereo radios and lots of other gizmos that don't really belong on a motorcycle....

 

[Robert Wiles]

My first bike... found me!
I was looking for oldtimers (cars) and someone called me and asked if I'm not interested on a bike with side car?
I replied : "what brand? "
"It's a Triumph."
And so it began. I bought it 29 years ago.
View attachment 98555
It's a great model born under the dark sky of the '29 Crash: Triumph 500 CTT.
Love on first sight! I kept it in the garage 8 years and in 2000, in the day of the Sun eclipse I dismantled it.
Sanded, resprayed, galvanized... was waiting another 11 years spread all over in the house.
These days I finally managed to repair the magneto!
There is a big chance to celebrate this year,together on the road, 150 years (90 for him + 60 for me!)
Who knows? I'll be back with more recent pics...

That's a beautiful old machine. Very rare in the UK - it must be even more rare in Romania.

 

[Zeti]

Yes indeed. Luckily I found the "Father of Triumph motorcycles", Mr. Peter Cornelius, located now in New Zealand. He identified and confirm to me technical data and supported me with loads of info and advices! There are only few remaining vehicles from the few hundreds built. And yes, it's unique in RO, which makes me very proud and responsible!

 

[Geoff Crispin]

What a great bike never came across this one before about the same period as the OEC my brother had

My first bike... found me!
I was looking for oldtimers (cars) and someone called me and asked if I'm not interested on a bike with side car?
I replied : "what brand? "
"It's a Triumph."
And so it began. I bought it 29 years ago.
View attachment 98555
It's a great model born under the dark sky of the '29 Crash: Triumph 500 CTT.
Love on first sight! I kept it in the garage 8 years and in 2000, in the day of the Sun eclipse I dismantled it.
Sanded, resprayed, galvanized... was waiting another 11 years spread all over in the house.
These days I finally managed to repair the magneto!
There is a big chance to celebrate this year,together on the road, 150 years (90 for him + 60 for me!)
Who knows? I'll be back with more recent pics...

hath

 

[Jack Ratt]

My old Triumph Bonneville T140E this picture was taken in 1984 during a 2nd rebuild. The first rebuild was because the bike had been neglected and was turning into a rusty mess.

The second rebuild was after it caught fire when I was trying to get it running. I made the local press

The newspaper clipping makes reference to me being a "rope splicer" when I was employed by a wire rope manufacturer

 

[Zeti]

Now you really scared me!
I'm in the process to kick start the bike!
I should do that outdoor and under fire brigade surveillance...

 

[Robert Wiles]

Found this over the weekend. From about 1975 when I thought I could be a grasstrack racer. Funny, the older I get, the faster I was.....

 

[t-tony]

Used to love watching Chippy Moore doing that.

Tony.

 

[Robert Wiles]

Used to love watching Chippy Moore doing that.

Tony.

I remember him. He was a proper racer, not a pretend one like me...

 

[Rha]

I used to give my Exselsior Talisman Twin a good kicking. (After it wouldn’t start and I’d missed the village bus to work) Part X’ed it for a Gold flash.

No pics of my original bikes so had to find these.
We were biker mad in my village so I’ve put together some of the bikes my friends were riding in 1964-5.
See if you biker oldies can name them all. Jack you’ll have no Problems me reckons.

Pic above; My fathers bike before passing it on to my older brother.
Pic below; My uncles bike.

Last but not least the famous G.... S... racer which was written off when driven down a deep roadworks hole on A41 on his way to the Ace cafe. Broken shoulder bone and facial injuries but walked away.

All these bikes were bought second hand, most from the older village boys who purchased cars. Those were the days, as us old ones would say. Right Jack??

RHA, Roy.

 

[t-tony]

Ariel Leader, BSA Gold Star, Ariel Square Four, Royal Enfield Bullet, Norton xx, Norton Commando, The Cafe racer looks like Goldie too.
These all best guesses as I was never into bikes. No Triumph or Matchless or AJS?

Tony.

 

[Rha]

Ariel Leader, BSA Gold Star, Ariel Square Four, Royal Enfield Bullet, Norton xx, Norton Commando, The Cafe racer looks like Goldie too.
These all best guesses as I was never into bikes. No Triumph or Matchless or AJS?

Tony.

Real good memory Tony, thought @Jack Ratt would/will know them all. All the bikers in my village were hiked up to the eye balls with credit to get their bikes cos none of the mums wanted th3m to have bikes so apart from my mum who just gave up with my brother getting dads goldie left the door open for me. Didn’t last as the girls just wouldn’t get on the back, most lads lasted a couple of years, two or three accidents then got cars, I just joined the army sold my gold flash for £26. My uncle helped us all keep em running, loaned his garage and tools, village life was very close knit in them days. Bit like you, he was so popular my dad was envious.

 

[Jack Ratt]

Great stories Roy

 

[Rha]

Jack it was maybe (apart from my service days) one of the best couple of years of my life, that’s what got me into performance cars, but still have love for bikes. My son should have had my old Z3 but decided at 45 he wanted to go back to bikes and bought himself a Triumph Street Triple, his mum went off the deep end but I was quietly envious, he came round with a helmet for me when he got it but I declined, rocked me to my roots to have to say no but life is more precious now than any other time in my life and although I drive cars quickly I’m in control, “oh” you should have seen the look on the bosses face when he turned up with that helmet, he’s still getting stick from her after a year. Did you know all the bikes, there was a Vincent Black Shadow in the village at 5he time but he wouldn’t even talk to us as he said we were all mad. He wasn’t far wrong was he.

 

[t-tony]

What was the 1st Norton Roy? I know I'll remember before I read the whole word though. Was it the Dominator?

Tony.

 

[Robert Wiles]

Lovely pictures of great machines and nice stories about them. Here's my go go identifying them all;
Pic 1, Excelsior Talisman
Pic 2, BSA A10
Pic 3, Ariel Golden Arrow
Pic 4, BSA Gold Star
Pic 5, Ariel Square 4
Pic 6, Royal Enfield Crusader
Pic 7, Norton Atlas???
Pic 8, Velocette engine in a Norton featherbed frame.
Pic 9, Royal Enfield Constellation.
Pic 10, Royal Enfield Bullet
Pic 11, BSA Gold Star

Gold Stars had a sound all their own - much nicer than any other 500 single. I'd think twice about trying to kick start one now.... I also had a soft spot for Ariel Arrows - quick little things in their day.
Despite loving bikes, I never had one on the road. When I wanted to go grasstrack racing as a boy, my mum did a deal with me. Provided that I promised never to have a motorbike on the road, she would let me go racing. That was over 45 years ago and I still haven't ridden a bike on the road. Bless her....

 

[Rha]

Yep Tony, Dominator, second was the 350, the little Arial was the Golden Arrow, Roysl Enfield Crusader spot 250, then the two Norton’s, the Royal Enfield Constellation 750, then Royal Enfield Bullet 350, (Still made today I believe) , then the famous Gold Star 500.
For someone that wasn’t into bikes you done real well, I had a job with the Consterlation as I couldn’t make out the other exhaust but some came out with two into one which that one is. The Gold Stars are hard to recognise these days as there was so many copies. Hope I’ve got them all right myself. No doubt someone on here is a bit wiser and can put me right.

 

[Rha]

There you go,@Robert Wiles has it in One, pic eight is something I’d never seen but heard of, fooled me. Thanks Robert you certainly know your bikes.

RHA, Roy.

 

[t-tony]

Yep Tony, Dominator, second was the 350, the little Arial was the Golden Arrow, Roysl Enfield Crusader spot 250, then the two Norton’s, the Royal Enfield Constellation 750, then Royal Enfield Bullet 350, (Still made today I believe) , then the famous Gold Star 500.
For someone that wasn’t into bikes you done real well, I had a job with the Consterlation as I couldn’t make out the other exhaust but some came out with two into one which that one is. The Gold Stars are hard to recognise these days as there was so many copies. Hope I’ve got them all right myself. No doubt someone on here is a bit wiser and can put me right.

When I started work there was a little guy called Ray Jones he had a Gold Star, he had the knack of kicking it off, good job too as it wouldve launched him over tbe bars. We had an Enfield 500 field bike, two brothers down the village had Ariels later on one of them had a Commando.

Tony.