The one HD I would like to own

[LowRyter]

Can750...

Phil is one of a kind.  I was concerned when he started kicking that thing.  He recently had a severe heart attack.  He "said they brought him back" and put 7 stents in him.  Last time I saw him he had trouble getting around and pushing his Griso.

In the end it was the Greenie that needed bump starting.

Phil also built this Norton, I think the frame, suspension, engine and brakes come from 3 different decades of Nortons with a Guzzi piston.

[LowRyter]

bump

[265coupe]

I had a '73 SS350 with the black AMF Sportster paint job. Horizontal blue/white stripes through the tank.

It came with a SX exhaust (which I still have). and original tyres.

It was OK, very stylish and cool to ride. The wierdest thing was the rubber mounted handlebars.

I guess the rubber was worn/collapsed and the bars shook alarmingly and added to the vague handling - old tyres and very spindly forks, although cerianis from memory

Mine had the full cradle frame, a dubious upgrade from the earlier spine type i'd imagine

[canuck750]

Can750...

Phil is one of a kind.  I was concerned when he started kicking that thing.  He recently had a severe heart attack.  He "said they brought him back" and put 7 stents in him.  Last time I saw him he had trouble getting around and pushing his Griso.

In the end it was the Greenie that needed bump starting.

Phil also built this Norton, I think the frame, suspension, engine and brakes come from 3 different decades of Nortons with a Guzzi piston.

Phil is a very talented guy! 

Absolutely one beautiful Norton!

[Toecutter]

The one Harley I'd like is a WLA.

[Sasquatch Jim]

Ah yes, the old Harley squint.  With the fearsome rubber mounted handlebars.  I was about to buy one until I rode it for 100 yards.

[Lannis]

not sure about the hard starting ,
the rest sounds sounds like a good description of a small early seventies bike , not just these , but virtually all early seventies bikes....

As a regular rider of old bikes (63, 58, 50, and 43 years old respectively), I must admit to being a bit surprised when, at OUR age and experience, we talk about how some old bike is unreliable, shaky, slow, etc, and then provide as evidence our ownership years ago of a clapped-out, beat-up example at a time when we knew (or could afford) no better.

There are VERY few old bikes that are truly crap and not worth buying to fix up.   Sure, some of them are limited like old KH and CH Harleys with their un-eliminatable 45-deg vibration or a 75cc BSA Beagle that will wear out the valve train in a few hundred miles, or an original 500 Kaw triple with its whippy frame and forks and permanently fouled plugs ...

... but the only way it seems we've experience many old bikes is as worn-out beaters.

I'd undertake to take any of these old bikes, spend time going through it from the swingarm bushings out, upgrade the materials where practicable, rebuild the engine the way it should be rebuilt, refurbish the wiring the way Chuck in Indiana has described doing on these very pages ... and ride it across the country.   Including an Aermacchi single.   As the racers have proven time and time again, there's nothing wrong with the design.   Like an ill-behaved or vicious dog, it's NEVER the dog - it's the owner!

Lannis

[tazio]

These bikes are nothing if not polarizing
I've had mine since I was a teenager, literally a "bike in a box". It's family now.
 When she first fired off I went crazy with excitement and will never forget that feeling.

[LowRyter]

 

Phil is a very talented guy! 

Absolutely one beautiful Norton!

the Norton has a '48 engine, '60 frame, and '70 fork and brakes (or close to that by memory).  Not sure what the piston is out of.

Phil rides all his bikes.

[pressureangle]

I have a '74. I love it. Here's what I'm going for, eventually.

[Kiwi Dave]

Plus the kickstand on the right. That might be a deal-killer for me; that's just weird, like getting on a horse on the right side.

I've never understood why those who ride on the right hand side of the road (i.e. most of us) would want to walk out into oncoming traffic to mount their ride of choice.  Surely the left hand kickstand was made for all of us that choose to ride on the left side of the road.

[LowRyter]

Sprints have kickstands on the right side and rear of the frame.  And of course, they shift on the right side.   

[JJ]

Love ALL those vintage Italian Harley's...both two and four strokes...











Having owned and ridden four (4) Big Twin Harley's (2 Electra Glide Sports and 2 Road Kings) to the tune of >125,000 miles...if I ever bought another modern V-Twin from Milwaukee...it would be this model...2018 Softail Slim!!