A technician in the workshop asks you, and you alone, how to properly adjust a double leading front drum brake on an R75/5! He wasn't even born when front drum brakes were common.


Tell us your story.

In Budapest with my son a few years back on the metro, 2008 actually...this gorgeous young one stands up to give me her seat.....

92KK 84WW Olaf wrote:In Budapest with my son a few years back on the metro, 2008 actually...this gorgeous young one stands up to give me her seat.....

How sweet of her. A pre-warmed seat for your old bones, too!

They felt deflated at that point....

I got it again last Sunday, went down to the local Honda dealership as they were having an open day and I needed a new rear tyre which is €119 fitted based on ride in for a 140/80 BT45. Not bad. They have some classics in the showroom one being a Honda CB500-4. Someone there was looking at it wondering what are they like. Told him I had one when they were new. He was full of questions but wondered 'how people rode yokes like that'! I just told him if you saw what the old men rode when we were young fellows buying them........

Strewth!

You are talking about this when I could only afford a 2 cylinders and was dreaming about a four in line?

In 1976 I wanted this...


But could only afford this...


One was $695 and the other sold for $795, brand new!
A hundred dollars was a hundred dollars!

In 1977 I got my first new BMW. I still own it.

In 1976, I borrowed money from the bank to buy a CB 360  

For the history, does anybody knows why the Japs started to build bikes like Suzuki GT380, Honda CB360, Kawi 400?

In 1976, sales of Japanese bike exploded in France to the detriment of the last French manufacturer (Motobecane). Trying to protect its national manufacturer, the French government decided to impose luxury tax on bikes over 400cc (Motobecane produced only a 350cc).
Taxes on a bike under 400cc was set at 19.6% when taxes on a bigger bike was 33.3%.
This didn't work as the 350 Motobecane was not a reliable bike (a piece of sh****t) . However, this was the first motorcycle with an electronic ignition (Bosh) on a 3 cylinders 2 strokes engine.

...I went to get my then 5 year old daughter from Kindergarten. I was 42 at the time.

The teacher called out "Lauren, your granddad is here, let's start cleaning up.".

Never went in there again. I just parked in the car park and beeped the horn until she came out!

Ouch!

.... I went out to a services club for dinner with a friend just a few years ago. Neither of us were members so we had to sign in. The concierge asked my friend... "does your Dad need to sign in as well?" 


Needless to say there was spontaneous sparodic laughter all thru dinner.   me    him

We drank a lot and had a good time.

dontcha hate that blakey ...  (oh snowy haired one )

been in the same circumstance ol mate ....taking the twinies to preschool  one time

although lately ....young folks just cant figure my age ..often put at late 40s ...but what do they care, anyone over 25 is ancient ...giggles

hows about showing a young one a 3/16 th  witworth screw  and asking them to go buy a box for stock .....bet you they come back with some weird unf threaded something that wont fit .....the lockies out here ( borallon ) still have issues refiting the british made locks of the eightys ....(all witworth )  special orders from overseas cause they just don't know the difference  or even the .progressions between imperial - metric  for tapping just one part size bigger ....they don't even know 4mm,3/16th,5mm, 6mm, 1/4 ...beats me how they got a job in any industry.. but that's the way of the world I guess , and the reason that old folks like us are still in demand for all those jobs that are too hard for common folks .  be proud ol mate .

Are you still working at Borallon?

I must organise myself to get out there to do a safety audit. Might take the bike for a run.

Crazy Frog wrote:You are talking about this when I could only afford a 2 cylinders and was dreaming about a four in line?

Back in the early seventies when I was 16 I had a small Yamaha 80 I would travel to work with my Dad. He had bikes when I was young and I remember a Velocette Venom and a Royal Enfield. These Candy Gold Honda fours would filter past in the traffic. Generally all were the CB750. I would always end up saying I am going to get one of those bikes. Mostly to wind him up but I did want one. You had to be 18 though to get the licence. Then I moved out at the end of October just after 18 to work and live 160 miles away, commuting on a CD175. Early January I rang him and I still remember his silence when I said...you know those big gold bikes. .....I am after getting one....exactly same as this photo. I had tried the CB750 and it was a mix of too wide and too tall, couldn't manage it. It did not take very long to discover that on our country twisty roads the 500 was by far superior because of the handling. The guy in the shop took me out for a decent spin on it and my description was 'turbine smooth' which of course it was as long as you had either a set of vacuum gauges or a friend with a set.

A month later I took it for its first decent run and rode it home. He went all glassy eyed and then asked to take it for a ride. We lived on a 40mph road but the sound of that passing at full bore and his full head of white hair blowing was something. Then he offered to buy me a car, not figuring that this bike had cost a multiple of what I would have paid for a car. My dad is gone a few years now but that day he was like a teenager.

A friend in the US brought me back an American Honda two piece suit in a matching metallised plastic gold that must have been the inspiration for star wars. But it was waterproof, stood out like anything and with a top box and screen it was the perfect transport. They were ultra smooth, uber reliable, handled very well and lots of power. Just like a K is now. 1975 and 1976 were two consecutive heatwave summers and they were enjoyed to the full. 

Locally there were 3 of us had the 500-4 and we would meet in town after work for a coffee leaving the 3 identical bikes parked together. Inevitably there would be a crowd around them when we came to go home. A mix of young guys with bulging eyes and older guys used to British bikes. Park a bunch of Ks like that now and you get the same thing....

Of the 3 of us one emigrated stateside so never see him.  The other two of us still share tea regularly, he is now an ex BMW mechanic and does what I cant do to the K. He lives in a time warp, has a lovely black R69S, a boxer that goes everywhere in Europe and a Serow for popping down to the shop. Must be something in those bikes because quite a few of us K riders had those CB500-4s. Comberjohn and Dai for two here anyway. The guy who emigrated to US also had Ks and a K1.

You know you're getting old when...You look forward to the week to recover from the weekend...

In '75 I bought a brand new RD350 instead of a Norton...

Great bike, but kinda wish I'd gotten the Norton...

You are a Grandfather
Luca James
8lb 10oz
30/01/2015

Awesome, and congratulations!

My 25 month old G-daughter is spending her first weekend with us starting tomorrow. I guess I'm finally going to have to hear the music from Frozen.

rosskko wrote:You are a Grandfather
Luca James
8lb 10oz
30/01/2015

Congratulations Rosskko - now for a sidecar

Put my name on the list of the CB500 owners. Loved that bike. 4 into 1 "extractors". Nice note!

And to rosskko...lucky man! I secretly wish to have grandchildren...but I'm in no hurry!

Basic2 wrote:

rosskko wrote:You are a Grandfather...

Can't top that! (Don't want to yet   )

Heartiest Congratulations!

Congratulations Rosskko

[quote="Two Wheels Better"]Awesome, and congratulations!

My 25 month old G-daughter is spending her first weekend with us starting tomorrow. I guess I'm finally going to have to hear the music from Frozen.
[/quote
Snap.
Playing on the box as I type.
Aparrently I ask too many questions. Who is she? Doesn't she have red hair?

Congrats Rosskko !

well worth the wait old man , enjoy.... .

A young bloke at work asked me if I wanted to buy an old Honda two stroke he had at home. When I got there it was a 1991 H100.

Brad-Man wrote:You know you're getting old when...You look forward to the week to recover from the weekend...

In '75 I bought a brand new RD350 instead of a Norton...

Great bike, but kinda wish I'd gotten the Norton...

I bought the Norton instead of a KH750. The Norton's were fun but very high maintainance. I had 3 Commando's then I got sense and bought a K

Ringfad wrote:

Brad-Man wrote:You know you're getting old when...You look forward to the week to recover from the weekend...

In '75 I bought a brand new RD350 instead of a Norton...

Great bike, but kinda wish I'd gotten the Norton...

I bought the Norton instead of a KH750. The Norton's were fun but very high maintainance. I had 3 Commando's then I got sense and bought a K

I went through this debate at the time, loved the Norton and debated swapping the 500-4 for one too, loved the 850 but.....I knew too many with them having serious troubles. And in truth the RD350 was quicker and more reliable in every sense. My uncle was a Norton man and only last year his Atlas finally came out of hiding.

We had these Hondas that went on forever, guys with 1970 750-4s that were as new after 5 years and 60,000 miles with only oil changes etc etc and you couldn't ignore that. One guy stripped his 750 after 6 years with nearly 100k on it figuring it couldn't possibly be still good. It was like new inside.

The nostalgia is brilliant but the reality was seriously different. One of the guys bought a Triumph Trident and it too was lovely machine and like the Nortons you got to see plenty of them in the workshops. The trouble was that we get Ks that can go a bit wrong at times, but they are petty cash money so it's not a surprise. These Nortons and Tridents etc were big money and most of us couldn't do the work ourselves at that time. At the time most guys I knew with them were fit to put them in the scrap heap. I think now that with older machines we learn the issues and sort them, which is what the manufacturers should have done at the time.

How about the best of both (or possibly worst)

I took this picture a few years ago in Birmingham

...the girl that you carried on the back of your bike before she was born has just given birth to a daughter of her own. My best friend's eldest daughter. His youngest daughter now has three children and I also had her on the back of the same bike before she was born (my V1000G5).

I did feel old that day.

And another time; just last week when I realised that the youngest member of our Dragon Rally group - who is 31 - was still crapping in his nappies when my best friend (above) and I did our first Dragon.

Ouch.

Two Wheels Better wrote:In 1976 I wanted this...


But could only afford this...


One was $695 and the other sold for $795, brand new!
A hundred dollars was a hundred dollars!

In 1977 I got my first new BMW. I still own it.

I still have that bike, the top one, Honda CB360T.  I got it in HS and rode it up to college, and put it away when my son was born. It sat so long in the shed one of the valves froze open.  So, when the kid was done with school, I figured it was time for me to get back into riding, and got me a R-bike /5, which is what I really wanted back in the day.  It was very educational "restoring" the barn find BMW.  The kid wanted to ride with me, so we got the old honda out of the shed and spiffed it up. He rides it quite a bit now.  I can honestly say all the bikes I have ever owned (four) are now in service and in my shed, waiting for spring.

I was teaching a class (ballroom dancing - don't ask). And two of the pupils were getting married - so were learning to dance.  I knew they were German, so I asked them from where?
"Berlin" was the answer.
"East or West" I asked 

They looked  at me funny - "The wall was down before we were born" was the reply I got.

I felt old (and I'm much younger than Olaf). 

Corkboy is jealous because
I can remember when the Berlin wall was built.....not just when it came down.
I can remember being taken to see J F Kennedy when he came to Ireland.
I can remember the Great Train Robbery
I can remember the first 747 coming to Ireland doing a low flypast over us......
I can remember seeing the entire Irish Air Force doing a fly past.....3 Vampire jets....
I can remember Russia invading Czechoslovakia......
I can remember the Honda CB750 hitting the streets....no other bike ever came near the impact.
I can remember watching the moon landings.......
I can remember Torrey Canyon and Universe Ireland....

Time to go......

This is my better half. I make references to television shows often that were long off the air before she was born. I talk about the Reagan era as if I'm an historian - when it's just that I lived through them!

Yeah, she's a bit younger than myself (don't ask, just admire...).

Reagan? Was he a Beverley Hillbilly?

Of the worst kind, unfortunately

You know you're getting old when just as I did before I sat down and clicked on Firefox you walk up the steps to the house and all the creaking is your joints.
I had some mug tell me if I used fish oil it would help my joints but I couldn't light them without a flame thrower.

Here is a little something to make you laugh I first read it at about 30 and it was hilarious, then, but now well!!!!!!!!!!!


 
 
 

"My bifocals I can manage, my dentures fit, I find
I can turn up my hearing aid - but GEE I miss my mind!"


I am sure riding a bike stems the tide of lost neurons - you have to think to stay alive!

Kyle10 wrote:This is my better half. I make references to television shows often that were long off the air before she was born. I talk about the Reagan era as if I'm an historian - when it's just that I lived through them!

Yeah, she's a bit younger than myself (don't ask, just admire...).

Ah, now you're just boasting

rosskko wrote:You are a Grandfather
Luca James
8lb 10oz
30/01/2015

I must be even older than Rossko!
In the cot is my new granddaughter Everly, (34/2/15) with my daughter, her husband and the older two.

Nothing like being a grandfather, and the welcome from my older granddaughter when I arrived in France was wonderful.

Still, Rossko, after 2 more there is nothing quite like the first grandchild. Congratulations and enjoy.

Bill

Glacial wrote:"My bifocals I can manage, my dentures fit, I find
I can turn up my hearing aid - but GEE I miss my mind!"


I am sure riding a bike stems the tide of lost neurons - you have to think to stay alive!

Interesting you say that because my wife plays computer games of the role playing and adventure type (why should she miss the fun because she was born 3 decades too early) and she says she feels she plays better with the combat and action sequences after a days riding.
So maybe it is good for ageing brain cells. :geek:

Congratulations!

But I feel old now. In my day there was only 28 days in February....

In the cot is my new granddaughter Everly, (34/2/15) with my daughter, her husband and the older two.

You know you're old when:  you don't notice the typos. 

indian036 wrote:You know you're old when:  you don't notice the typos. 

 Whatever could you meen buy thta?

You know you are old when you remember you had a bike that could do 130mph on the road and the police cars could only do 75mph at a push. Old Hillman Avengers. And they were always a sky blue. And your boss had a recent Mercedes 300SEL 3.5.

Am I a grandad yet? No, but may not be a lot longer as my eldest daughter got engaged Valentines weekend. Talk of grandkids is good though because she would make a great mother. Might need a sidecar for taking grandkids out!!

92KK 84WW Olaf wrote:... Might need a sidecar for taking grandkids out!!

Need a side car? well here's on odd bunch of stuff I spied on eBay -no prices but several K100's and a couple of side car rigs (in need of TLC). Some tatty stock, but might be a few diamonds in the rough amongst it all

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HONDA-SPORTS-MOTORCYCLE-ELECTRIC-SCOOTER-SWAP-PX-SIDECAR-RELIANT-TRIKE-WHY-/261758490045?pt=UK_Motorcycles&hash=item3cf20595bd

My first glance at the ad had me thinking that ain't no honda peeking out behind the green chair.

I just remembered something!

You know you're old when I recall wearing bicycle clips on my flairs when riding...otherwise the wind caused the flairs to flick my leg.

...well it hurt ...and it was annoying.

Elephant flairs? On a Raleigh Chopper?

You know your old when your wife gives up sex for Lent and you don't notice till after easter!