Did you ever wonder what it would be like to really ride a 100 year old motorcycle?

[46th Georgia]

Is knowing what it's like to ride two fifty year old bikes the same?

My father had a 1940 Ford pickup with a flathead V8.
The distributor was a ridiculous dual-rotor dual-cap affair.
I suppose sketchy aftermarket parts didn't help but I can see why the hot rodders chucked them for a Chevy distributor back in the day.
The starter Bendix assembly was pretty crude too.
I worked on that truck quite a bit. More than once I was wondering how we fought an entire world war with that technology..

ch better

Is knowing what it's like to ride two fifty year old bikes the same?AFTER

Is knowing what it's like to ride two fifty year old bikes the same?

My father had a 1940 Ford pickup with a flathead V8.
The distributor was a ridiculous dual-rotor dual-cap affair.
I suppose sketchy aftermarket parts didn't help but I can see why the hot rodders chucked them for a Chevy distributor back in the day.
The starter Bendix assembly was pretty crude too.
I worked on that truck quite a bit. More than once I was wondering how we fought an entire world war with that technology..

Cars became much better AFTER the war thanks to the war and the technological advances wars bring. I still prefer peace though.

 

[jetmechmarty]

I have a clear memory of driving a ‘63 Studebaker Champ on an errand in East Tennessee. It was an hour each way, up and down a mountain. King pins, no power steering or brakes, three on the tree. Man, that was a good run. Nostalgic! I’ll probably not forget that. It was an aged working truck. No show piece.

 

[Ben1]

Dad bought that ~1970. (Not that one pictured) Dad was not mechanically inclined. Myself and a friend stripped the body to bare metal with electric 1/3 sheet sanders and painted it (brushes) with "Black Truck Paint" I replaced the leaking head gasket, cleaning up the surfaces with afore mentioned electric sander and probably a crescent wrench. I was 13 or 14 at the time.. The stake body got red paint and dad built new fences with 2x4 and 2x6 lumber. When the folks were out for the night neighborhood kids of all ages would clamber up into the back stake bed as I drove around the neighbor hood. Did I say I was 13 or 14 at the time? The truck had a swiftness that a 6.11:1 axle ratio will offer to 40 hp but top speed was somewhere around 40mph. The 4 speed was non syncronized. 1st was granny, 2nd or 3rd were OK for starting out from a stop It took a pretty firm push on the brake pedal to slow it down, brakes were rod and linkage accuated. When I got my license my Highschool auto shop teacher mentioned I might "slow down" in the parking lot at school, what with mechanical brakes and all". 20 years later @Ben1 had the same shop teacher.

MR. Batterman!

 

[Raymond]

Just found this thread - luvved the film. Massive respect for taking such an ancient contrivance out on the Freeway. As others have said, the old girl acquitted herself very well. Daily rider? Perhaps not.

 

[RC4MAN]

A guy I used to work with married an Irish gal and her father got him into the Irish national Vintage Motorcycle Rally a few years back. All pre-war iron ridden around the island. He said it was a real blast.

 

[gggGary]

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/18tzn2KgMi/

 

[Mailman]

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/18tzn2KgMi/

Lovely old bike, did you see how easy that started?
I love Sammy Miller, he’s got a bunch of videos on YouTube. He’s always flying around his shop on some old machine.
I posted a video of him, some time ago, from four years ago, he was 86 years old at the time and riding his old trials bike.
We should all age so well!

 

[Its been a long time]

Lovely old bike, did you see how easy that started?
I love Sammy Miller, he’s got a bunch of videos on YouTube. He’s always flying around his shop on some old machine.
I posted a video of him, some time ago, from four years ago, he was 86 years old at the time and riding his old trials bike.
We should all age so well!
View attachment 344375View attachment 344376View attachment 344377

Sammy's museum is an amazing place to visit. It's expanded a great deal since I was last there, it was fantastic back then. Sammy truly is a national treasure and an example to us all. Very talented and incredibly humble.

 

[Pat D]

The last car Dad put together before he got sick is a '23 Nash touring car. And he built it for that- to "tour". They call it the "Nickel Tour" as the vehicles are limited to the nickel plated era (post brass, pre-chrome). Everybody meets up at a central hotel for base of operations, and each day they head out to a destination (museums, historical sites, breweries, etc.) After the tour everyone hangs out in the parking lot and drinks/tell stories. He loved letting folks drive it around the parking lot, got a lot of the wives their first taste behind the wheel. So while the car is bone stock original, he didn't put the level of detail into the restoration that he did on his trailer queen '30 Nash. The '23 is not all that tough to drive if you've ever driven a non-synchro stick, but it ain't a highway car- it's way to "busy" once you hit 35mph, and it only has external band brakes on the rear, so stopping takes planning. But it has manual spark advance and an electric starter. Apply the choke, full "retard" on the spark, hit the floor mounted starter pedal, and once it's running go to full "advance" on the spark. Steering is a workout. Unfortunately, after his stroke, he can't work the clutch effectively anymore, and we haven't figured out a discrete way to provide any assist. But I try to get it out and exercise it on nice days from time to time.