At 71, I’ve gotten too old to ride mine too. Just sold the Sportster, going to trade the 1960 BSA for a 1940 Oldsmobile hot rod…
I think I would have cried real tears if she had fallen on that bike and skinned any portion of her anatomy.
1954(3?) BSA A7. It had been in a barn since 1977 when my dad bought it on eBay from a fellow in Florida about 3 years ago. He pulled it out of a shed down there. What's special about this bike is that it has the first engine off the line of 1954, but it has the older frame. From what I've been told, they were just using up the last of their old frames before the new style came out. It used to be Mint green from the factory with paint around the tank, but sometime (likely in the 70's) it was painted red (some spots with a brush) and the rest of the tank was painted silver to match. It says "Pete" on the fender in yellow lettering, which I think is really cool. My dad wanted to remove it but I convinced him to keep it. I love little things like that from previous owners. There used to be a "8 b.h.p." sticker on the fender from a Sears lawnmower but dad ripped it off, I thought that was pretty funny also. We had to replace the petcock seals with rubber of course because the ethanol ate the cork away. There's a 1977 Iowa inspection sticker on the rear fender, as well as a small sticker that says "FIRE!" above the license plate. (For a while it was Vermont registered because they don't care if it runs or not they just want money, they'd register a tin can if they could). Runs pretty well after we got the electrical short issues out. Funny story is my dad couldn't get to the bottom of why it wouldn't run, so I suggested that the fuse might be blown, and he kept brushing me off until eventually he gave up and checked, and of course it was blown. It used to blow fuses like crazy (we later found out there was some metallic crud that would short the motorcycle out, so we fixed it). I got him a proper horn to hook it up to. You need to be a bodybuilder to engage the clutch, it's so tight i have to use both hands. Can never find neutral either. But it starts up first kick every single time due to the electronic ignition that replaced the dynamo. There's a bungee cord holding the Kickstarter in place, as the spring broke. Quite the character, that thing. Better suited for 1 rider, unless you want to scrape the exhaust around corners. Has the same headlight as my car does (I guess due to the 7" headlight law)
Not forgetting my great grandfather and whatever motorcycle he rode as a cop in the 20's-40's (If anyone does somehow manage to recognize the bikes in these blurry photos, I'd love to know.)
Hello, Sometimes old photos are just too far out of focus as per the camera or the photographer, or even just age. So, age, larger the photo, the more grains and other imperfections show up if it is just enlarged only. Even today's photos with their high content pixels still have limits when it comes to enlarging the actual photo. It is not always better to enlarge the standard photo copied from albums or the old websites. The grains overpower what clarity was originally there. We all have our limits as to larger is better. If most of the photos were resized for clarity first, then the photos, old or new, would look better than one that is just enlarged without any adjustments. Unless you have a super digital processor and one that does some greater magic, we are all limited in our "improvement" of old photos. Jnaki As much as I like old photos and with what limitations we all have, keeping it smaller for some clarity is better in most cases. The old photographer back in those days was not aware his little camera negative turned into an old photo, would be used a zillion years later. 2x3 inch negatives and 4x5 negatives are super clear as taken by said large format cameras. But, even they have their limits as to super clarity, when enlarging them... YRMV ... Except for Ansel Adams... yowza! Perhaps, side shift, finned head, Harley motors?
Saw this on the near west side of Chicago. As clean and well kept as it seems to be, that design (to me) comes nowhere near the beauty of a Hornet or Spitfire.
Hello, This Harley motorcycle was the style we saw at Ascot Raceway Park in Gardena, back in those early days. They did not look as nice due to the lay down style of sliding around the oval track. But, the Ceriani Forks, the look of the Rickman frame made it worth while to save up for those special parts. At the time, our Harley Sportster would have looked like that without the fenders. A pure bred racing look with little effort other than taking off some factory parts. The drag bike style... The look with a headlight and brake light, pure, fast, street legal cruising custom motorcycle. The style was outstanding, the custom Harley was pleasing to the eye and to the magazine editors. But, when I tried to emulate the fenderless look after our dual pipe installation, rode around for a half day or so, the results were questionable. It only took one time through a couple of puddles to give me the future of all other times of mud spots on the front of my shirt + jacket. A splash on the face/glasses from the front tire and a streak up the back of the same jacket from the rear tire. Despite the additional custom seat fender, it would not have stopped the rooster tail spray coming up the back side. Despite what I really wanted was a fast stylish street bike that my wife and I could cruise down the coast to various beachfront locations for breakfast and some lunches. Take those longer road trips to places we love to hang out and enjoy So Cal at its best,, along the ocean front locations. It had to fit both of us, be comfortable, and stylish, as that was a part of what motorcycling was about for the times. A friend has just created his own version of a custom front brake. He used an Airheart front disc brake system for his full custom Harley Sportster with a Springer front forks. The aluminum spoked wheel and custom disc brake mounts were going to look rather cool on my blue, low slung Sportster with the stock front forks. That was the proposed look that was next on the project list. I had some influence from some guys that owned a custom motorcycle shop. For some quality photos, they extended my front forks and gave me a slight custom motorcycle look that fit into the “custom” realm. The next thing was going to be a one of a kind, front disc brake set up. I made the perfect “wife-fit” custom back rest bar that matched a new seat. Now, the customer/owners of the photo-shoot Custom bikes, smiled as I showed up when I rode to a photo shoot in the custom Harley Sportster. I had my camera gear in a backpack tied to the back support bar I made. When I was not going to a photo shoot, my wife enjoyed the back support bar that gave her some security and comfort on our long coastal rides. With all fenders in place, I arrived with clean clothes and no over spray… yes!
These bikes belonged to my pal Bluto, they were sold at auction after he passed away. HRP Rudge motorcycle was British made.
Hello, A long time ago, I met this young couple at a car/motorcycle show. They were setting up their display. At the time, the big name custom motorcycle shops had their displays going up and it was going to be a challenge between all of the vast arrays of custom motorcycles +/- displays. The question was, were the displays a part of the build? Should they be judged as part of the whole presentation, or should it just be the custom motorcycle in its own class? Flatheads, Knuckleheads, Pan heads were in their own classes as it should and not the addition of the displays. This was judging from a motorcycle build, fit and finish, not a fancy light and mirrors. The look of cruising around was shown for the magazine editors. No one had perfected the motion clarity of custom motorcycles in action. The standard action sequence was discussed and tried by a lot of editors and their staff photographers. Have the bike rolling down the street and move the film camera the same direction as the motorcycle. Then, just as the bike comes into view and whips by, move the camera in a movement limited left to right fashion and shoot the photo. Continue movement with the camera to make a blur in the background if it worked. For the look of what a couple would look like and not get a ton of blurry photos, we always took still shots. Today, a good plain background could easily be inserted into a white sand/blue ocean only background via photo editing processes. But, back then, trying to make real custom photo with various techniques using film camera processes was daunting. I took extra photos, so I could possibly make double exposure shots with such a process. Worse comes to worse, the editors always liked nice looking girl photos with cars and custom motorcycles. We liked well chosen location shots as it shows the hot rod or custom motorcycles in their normal attire and usage. But, the editors required a blank wall of sorts to keep the unwanted items out of the photographs. Early ideas weren't always the best choice... Front ¾ Angle Jnaki All angles of photos were submitted, as I knew it was going to be a hard sell to “picky” editors for publications. The Pearl White bike was immaculate with all of the custom accessories highlighted in chrome. The addition of the owners with their darker clothing was helpful, but as the editors claimed… not enough color… after all, it was their magazine and their choice for a cool looking custom motorcycle to grace their pages… The standard for background was not my choice. Their idea was that nothing in the location was going to wreck a good photo for publication. (No random telephone poles, trees or wandering people.) But, the editorial staff was going for the industrial look and the tall building walls gave a plain background for clarity of the subject... a custom motorcycle. Colorful? Magazine quality? YBTJ
Hello, There was a time when custom motorcycles were the rage. Most were daily drivers and modified somewhat. Not the long front fork, low solid rear end and barely enough space for a rider, let alone two. So, it was making something from the old three wheelers we used to see giving parking tickets to those on the city streets. They were marking white chalk marks on tires, so it told the next person giving the actual tickets that this person parked was over due. The best place to see those custom three wheeler trikes was at car shows that had spaces available for motorcycles. Chrome this, chrome that and a nice custom paint was usually the standard. But, some went a step beyond, like the custom finned covers on this Panhead Harley trike. The colors were dark red tank and frame with contrasting design overlayed on top. But, chrome this, chrome that plus the nice red color was different for the display in a totally revamped old trike. The odd overall color was an experiment in camera lens filters and the bright show lights, most displays had showcasing the motorcycles or hot rods at the shows. Some worked, others just took on the hue that the colored lights gave the displays. Jnaki The lowered driver’s seat gave the larger custom rear seat a better sight angle to see more ahead, but also to get more flying object headed toward the blockage. YRMV
Curious as to how they started this bike, as the kicker arm is absent. Probably push start. And an Indian girder front fork, no front brake. Betcha it was scary fast! The dude sitting on it looks familiar.
The Jalopy Journal
