Went to the Bridgewater Hillclimb in the rain on my '47 Indian. My ol man took the Buick - he didn't want to get that wet. The Indian crapped out and we towed it back home - about fifty miles in the pouring rain. I had a rope wrapped a couple times around the handlebar in case I had to let go quick. Boy, did I get soaked following that car.

After that I had a '50 Chevy pickup we called the 'Retriever', that was used mostly to bring broken bikes home. I don't miss those days much and I really like my Classic!

 

good stuff right here!!

 

Losing my license plates 2 times because of the vibration. Oh the vibrations!!!

 

Storing my bike in the living room 'cause I didn't have a garage. Blowing out the pilot light on the wall furnace so I didn't blow the place up when I pulled the gas tank etc.

 

Been there done that. And then finally putting 4 1/4-20 bolts thru it with ny-locks and having the damn plate crack and rust from the vibes. I gotta tell ya.....i don't miss that chit LOL!

 

I too lost a plate off my BSA 650!!

Old bikes: I remember trying to kick start a 650 Kawasaki "W" with a bad regulator. It backfired and launched me over the seat. When I stepped down I thought I had a broken heel, it prickly all over. Turns out the backfire had knocked the heel off my boot, and the nails were sticking my foot!!

I also remember tickling the carbs on both Triumph and BSA's as the fuel ran out on the ground, before you kicked 'em over!

Setting points and timing!

I started riding in 1964 and I also remember that there was far less concern with what the other guy rode!! Just that he RODE!!
And 250 Big BearS, X6 Hustlers, were considered BIG BIKES.

Sportsters and Triumph 650 were the HOT bikes of the day!

When I started riding the some of 2 stroke bikes had to mix gas and oil,
the newer 2 strokes had a seperate oil tank for the oil!!

One friend had an OSSA, and another had a Zundap.

Taking your front fender off your Honda 160 made it a "CHOPPER."

I think the Kawasaki H1 (500) was the first bike I had owned that didn't need points and condenser. If my memory is correct it had HEI ignition module.

We put expansion chambers on for exhaust improvements with 2 strokes!!

Bikes HAD RESERVE position on the fuel petcock!!

All bike came with a "tool kit!" ( a pair of pliers, a spark plug wrench, and a screw driver.)

Bikes needed a "rebuild" at 10k miles!

Dirt bikes were road bikes with HIGH PIPES!

You put "snuffers" in the exhaust of your Honda 305 straight pipes to ride in town!

All bikes had spoked wheels!!!

 

Buying my first H-D when I was twenty years old back in 1972 and sleeping on a cot in the garage with it so nobody would steal it. No helmet laws back then - no turn signals - and one year away from disk brakes. If you wanted chrome parts you took the stock stuff off and took the parts to a chrome shop. Damn - the last thirty-eight years just flew by.

 

ummmm..... What's a "John Wayne"?

 

Greetings,
Hanging a gallon jug filled with gasoline by nylon rope below the trees on my chopper on trips.
The Peanut tank held less than 2 gallons and a lot of towns in Texas were 2.5 gallons apart!

Sleeping on benches, tables, concrete, rocks, etc. - hell, it didn't matter what and as a bonus, those damned fire ants weren't here yet so you could sleep safely on the ground!

Going into Goodyear and buying a 5.00-16 truck tire and tube to keep going.

Using my helmet as a bike stand while changing tires on the side of the road.

Watching a friend ever-so-carefully cover everything up so he wouldn't burn anything while welding the sissy bar back on, then git a monster dingle berry in his shoe, dancing around and then knocking the bike over in the process!

Ride all day, party all night and NEVER, NEVER be the first one to pass out!

Taking bets oh who would lose what before we made it to wherever.

Watching a friend lose it in gravel on a slow corner at less than 5 MPH, putting a huge raspberry on his wifes right butt cheek, then doing the exact same thing a block later on a left turn and putting an equally epic raspberry on the lift butt cheek. We were going to visit her Grandmother and were only a couple of blocks from her house. From that point on, when we went to that town, it was known as the Raspberry Run! Last I heard, they were still tearing up the highway in LA.

Drive chains without o-rings. Had to be kept lubbed or they died quickly - usually halfway between any two towns. Man, these belts are the shiznit!

Brakes that work!!!! Well, better that they did back in the day....they worked back in the day but you better plan your stops - ahead of time!

Some friends thought it was funny to put broken popsickle sticks in the mousetrap so the clutch wouldn't quite catch and laughing their asses off as it kicked through.

Asspillows for the ladies who rode on those skinny assed seats with virtually NO padding!

Ammocan saddlebags.

Drooling all over the positively HUGE AEE choppers catalog - one of the first full color custom places that catered to choppers and almost a half an inch thick.

Anybody remember the Boneshaker I and II - powered by a Corvair flat 6?

Damn, I gotta go rub linament on my fingers now as they hurt from typing!

 

Rolling your jockey shift bike back into the cager's bumper behind you on a hill because you got no front brake . . .