What Have You Being Doing With Your Non-triumph Today?

I took the interceptor (and thruxton) out of their vacsacs today and gave them a run. Let then cool down and put them away again. Next time I get them out I will tax them for the season, likely in March.

 

I've had this little GB500tt since 2000 and done lots of work on it. Never thought I'd sell it but put it on the market last year and didn't get a single call. Over the years I have had several people offer to buy it there and then at shows and meets, got offered £5,000 for it a few years ago. So, I decided to service it, fresh oil, tappets set, new brake fluid, pads and disc, new fork oil, rebuilt the fuel tap, etc., and will keep hold of it for a while longer. Might put new tyres on as these are about 12 years old now.

 

A very nice and quite rare Cafe Racer, I am glad you are going keep it.

 

Thanks, no option as nobody wants to buy it! I'm glad really, it is a lovely thing to ride.

 

You can see where they got the breakout look from that Super Glide

 

I think I've already posted this before, but who cares. Here it is with Freddie Spencer a few years ago.

 

He knows a bit about 500 Honda’s….

 

Well, there's a thing. The local monthly bike meet is in a pub, most of the members turn up in cars, dropped off by their wives, so they can have a drink.
Not being of the drinking fraternity, it's not really that much fun and there's really only standard, off the shelf, bikes to look at when they do show.
However, a 'friend' showed up yesterday in his 1938 whatsitcalled hot rod. I again turned down doing any artwork on the thing but have been invited to the local hotrod meets. At least there'll be something to look at, bacon butties to eat and petrolheads to talk to.

 

@TonyG, that's one nice machine. Of course it was best to keep it. See, sometimes, what happens was meant to happen

 

Thanks, it is a lovely bike and a real pleasure to ride, just don't seem to get around to it much nowadays.

 

I used to have an XBR500, another bike I wish I had still got in my possession

 

From Diane's community work, kindness to others...

Wally, a friend, passed on, left us this... a 1964 Case 530ck, diesel.
Jerry rigged it to start & stop in gear as the clutch appears to be stuck. Replacing a blown hydraulic hose, mostly they all look bad. Found a shop to fix them quickly, if & when they decide to leave.
So far, she seems to have an appetite for {1/4 & 3/8 drive} 1/2" sockets...The new 10mm.
Daisy

 

What a unique thing for a friend to will to you, @Georgez! It looks like it could come in handy. And it--she?--even comes with a name....Daisy. There must be or have been a story behind that.

 

Fitted some Shinko whitewalls and a front shock absorber - which (with the air ride seat I fitted before Christmas) has transformed the ride.

 

Super cool bike and great photos, @LEZ90!

 

Mr. Sandi gifted me with a ride bell, sometimes called a "gremlin bell", for my new Fat Boy. The particular bell style that he got for me is called "Motorhead". I learned about the Legend of the Bell when I first began riding motorcycles and have had a bell on each of my bikes ever since. I also really enjoy gifting other riders with a bell, too. There are so many fun and unique designs that it boggles the mind. I had one on each of my Thruxtons that said Cafe Racer on one side and had an image of a cafe racer on the other side. My Speed Triple has a bell has the Triumph triangle flag on it.

Here's a fairly common version of the ride bell legend......


So this afternoon I put my new bell on El Gordo after finally deciding on a place for it. Choices were fairly limited but I landed on a spot that I like--for now at least.





After fastening my Motorhead bell to El Gordo, I hopped on for a quick ride to Tucson H-D to check on my backordered parts. The parking lot was pretty quiet today--maybe everyone was on the road because the weather was perfect for riding--mid-70sºF, sunny, and calm (finally!) winds.


The news on my backordered parts was disappointing. Two things that had been backordered and were set to arrive in a week or so are now on backorder until June and another until March. The biggest bummer was my cruise control unit. The backorder on that was to be lifted next week but now it's on until June. I know cruise control seems like such a luxury but I have it on both my Speed Triple and my Street Glide and had it on my Low Rider S and several bikes prior to those. I really appreciate being able to shake out my right hand and move my arm and shoulder around on longer rides and am far more comfortable when I can engage cruise control now and again. But....nothing that I ordered is permanently out of stock so I'm happy about that. And I'll just hone my sense of anticipation along with my patience skills.

I spent some time chatting with the guys in service. Somehow it came up in conversation that someone had just traded a Rocket 3. The service advisor that told me that didn't really know anything about the bike--whether it was an older one or one of the new ones--but asked if I wanted to see it. I said of course! So we went back behind the mechanics area to the part of the building where bikes are stored but it was nowhere to be found. That meant the next stop was the upstairs "overflow" area and, sure enough, there was a new-model black Rocket GT. The story was that the guy said he loved the Rocket but needed a slower bike because he kept getting speeding tickets! So he traded his Rocket for a Road King.


This is the bell that I have on my Street Glide Special. It's called Sugar Skull. Quite similar to Motorhead until you look closely.





And I have one just like this on my Speed Triple.

 

I have a bell on my bike, I believe in em, why not?
Only prob for me is the Triumph logo is the old Meriden design but I guess the gremlins are not aware of that.

 

I have never heard of this before. Why didn't anyone tell me?
Now I need to persuade the girlfriend in to buying me a bell!

 

I guess this must be a US thing right? Much like the ornaments dangling from tow bars on pickup trucks? Once I saw a very heavy looking set of metal bollocks hanging from a tow bar in Florida and imagined a rabbit being run over and then being wacked in the head by a set of metal bollocks for good measure!

 

@Sandi T yep, we all have Spirit Bells. Closer to the ground the better they work as the Gremlins can't catch onto anything as they fall out.
Nice Spirit Bell for your El Fatso but zip ties are just not good enough, come along now