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

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

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

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.
 
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.
 
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.:cheers:
MR. Batterman!
 
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