Daily Commando riders speak to me please

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Hobot,

I get your point. I've been in the Ozarks before and I have to say, you couldn't have picked a likelier place to run into misfortune on the road. I've never ridden there, only driven, and have found myself in some of the spookiest and most shudder-inducing hills, corners, and lanes I've ever been on. I've gotten lost in the Bubba backwoods looking for a roadside attraction wondering if I was about to meet a Deliverance fate. I'm not sure I'd do it on a bike, although the prospect of driving off the road in a truck there doesn't sound much better to me, because there isn't anywhere to go but down, usually. When I drive there, It's 30 mph tops, unless it's the main highway, and I never trust the souls I meet coming at me. If I drive at night there, it had better be for good reason, and in a rainstorm or after popping a few, forget it. Too dangerous. I can't say I've experienced the wide variety of obstacles you've experienced? or envisioned, but all I can say is my reaction would be to slow the hell down, trust no one, and keep looking out ahead and play the possible disaster scenarios out in your mind in real time, so if anything does happen, you're at least in the frame of mind to make a split-second decision that may save your life. That's the sign of a good driver and rider. Otherwise, all I could recommend is to move where there aren't any deer. Or logging trucks. Or insane, methed-out school bus drivers. Or anything else you can't run over without killing yourself in the process. Maybe move back to Texas, where the deer are about the size of the chihuahuas.
 
I get your point. I've been in the Ozarks before and I have to say, you couldn't have picked a likelier place to run into misfortune on the road. I've never ridden there, only driven, and have found myself in some of the spookiest and most shudder-inducing hills, corners, and lanes I've ever been on. I've gotten lost in the Bubba backwoods looking for a roadside attraction wondering if I was about to meet a Deliverance fate. I'm not sure I'd do it on a bike, although the prospect of driving off the road in a truck there doesn't sound much better to me, because there isn't anywhere to go but down, usually. When I drive there, It's 30 mph tops, unless it's the main highway, and I never trust the souls I meet coming at me. If I drive at night there, it had better be for good reason, and in a rainstorm or after popping a few, forget it. Too dangerous. I can't say I've experienced the wide variety of obstacles you've experienced? or envisioned, but all I can say is my reaction would be to slow the hell down, trust no one, and keep looking out ahead and play the possible disaster scenarios out in your mind in real time, so if anything does happen, you're at least in the frame of mind to make a split-second decision that may save your life. That's the sign of a good driver and rider. Otherwise, all I could recommend is to move where there aren't any deer. Or logging trucks. Or insane, methed-out school bus drivers. Or anything else you can't run over without killing yourself in the process. Maybe move back to Texas, where the deer are about the size of the chihuahuas.
Click to expand...

Well slupdog, you got the N.W Ozark Mt ride flavor down and hope you understand how trained innately I am on every blind and hazard being my last if not in constant alert defense mode by speed with reserves. You also get how split I'm getting to give up my investment in motorcycling. I'm living one ongoing resort weekend out here, only place to move for relief might be Panama.

This last knock down killing was so out the blue with me being so cautious, hit me so hard mentally that a gal from my ole Swami group I'd not heard from in 20yr called to see if I was ok as she got hit by my vibes similar to self dissolving in spiritual tests back when. Told her I'm fine but re-thinking my love life is all.

Then it hit me I see how to use the over powered Peel engine in a reversed, leaning, quad, trike and hunt deer, maybe even bear and hogs, which if not killing you out right charge right back in a rage and eat you. So if I'm being hunted by fate GD I'm going on the offensive too. Video's of course.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i16x_LfoSUg&feature=fvst
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i16x_LfoSUg&feature=fvst[/video]
 
Wait 'til you're in your mid 60's and you'll wish you were in your mid 20's.

Dave at 66
69S

Bruce at 63; I second that. I figure the Tri Spark will give me another couple years not having to deal with that horrible kickback I got from the Boyer at startup, then I guess it's look for an e-start model. You're lucky tho Dave you had your Norton when you were in your 20's. I had to wait til my mid 50's.
 
There are two risks in cycling, one you induce by brain fog of taking risks in various conditons, two is what ever fate throws at you. These both add up or substract randomly. I have saved my self by being in hooglian mode with avoid deer and traffic but also saved day by being extra slow and away from blind risks.
So many surprise splashes of events can take you down in a flash. If you ain't had that reality beat to your bones already then just pure luck so far but always lurking.
In my case large animals have been more damaging than traffic but could switch very next time I putter out on initial break in run.

But I sought solace in hearing of long term survivors routinely using motorcycles and Commandos in particular, to have a bit of heaven each day before we die.

I'm bit of an expert of reversing expected aging conditions and don't fear mangled joints or broken back as I'm cheap fast fix but darn bikes take so much time and money. Its mild today riders are out and I so wish be with em, if I regain my nerve and get Trixie assembled.
 
Hobot

I have owned my Norton since new and when its on the road I ride it every day, I have just finished complete rebuild 3 months ago and have been riding it evey day, we have had some major rain fall here in the last 2 months but it hasn't put me off I just ride safer, have clocked over 2,000 miles so far, when it was off the road for 12 years (crack crank case) I had a Truimph for a little while then a 1980 BMW R100RS for the last 6 years, so have never been off the bikes, since the Norton has been back on the road the BMW has sat quitely in the shed, I perfer bike riding than to drive a square box...

Ashley
 
I ride my MK1 850 on a daily basis and I've done over 5,000 miles since my bottom end rebuild some 4 months ago. I rarely rev the nuts off it and enjoy riding around at sane speeds. Unlike most modern bikes, you can actually enjoy yourself at these speeds. I've got to the point where reliability is not an issue and just last weekend I did a 750 mile round trip to Perth (Western Australia, not Scotland). I do regular maintenance, both scheduled and preventative, to maintain the reliability. My bike lives between idle and 3500 revs, with the odd rev to 5000 rpm or so. The Norton deals with the traffic with impunity and I just ride within my own and the bike's limitations. That's not to say that I'm not going to die on the road, but I do all within reason to stay alive. I guess that as I get older I just don't put myself in some of the positions that I did when I was younger.

I love it and can't get enough.
 
Like Fullauto I ride almost every day, lucky to be living in New Mexico where weather even in now winter misses not too many days.


Hobot, I would quit riding if I had to deal with the horrible roads and animals your deal with in Arkansas. Does not seem worth it.

Or if riding means that much to you, surely your services as a professional veterinarian would be employable in a location much more suited to a lifestyle that includes motorcycling.

Good luck
 
Ashley's words are what I wanted to hear, just normal wear and tear riding here and there w/o scaring anyone.

I gave up riding for 30+ years because too danergous in Houston when speeds on freeways were 80's with oblique gaps wide as a tire to trip you and mothers trying to run another Evil Easy Rider off the road. I keep thinking a waste to time to put video on for the close encounters, then get two events right after rationalizing reason to ride in motorcycle meca. It truly a life/death life style decision. I am doing something about every day on my two Commando, in past point of no return on finishing them. Night time is so tempting a time to ride for me. Every time got a Cdo recovered it was well after mid night, so there I sat with running ready to go Commando, and my sub conscious would let out the clutch to launch out shed into the darkness while rational part was putting hands over its eyes in disbelief.

Heck its like playing golf in lightening storm, fun and hardly ever a newspaper story out of it.
 
I got my first 1972 Combat Roadster in '72. Totaled it in '75. Did some soul searching after almost biting it, and got another '72 Combat that I still have. I'm restoring my old buddy now, a project that will take me full circle. The bottom end on my Commando went on me some time ago. Since then I've had other bikes; BSA, Triumph, BMW, and H-Ds, and still have some now. The Norton was where it all started for me though. Ridden every day through weather and whacked out traffic. Yes, Hobot, I was in Houston too, late seventies/mid eighties. We did laps around loop 610 for time. It was crazy there but I figured I'd embrace it. The purple Norton held up well, and yeah, back then I did live on it. And thrived on it. But things change. Time, $$, responsibility, etc. And things stay the same. ie, I am the same mc guy that I was in 1972. I've just learned to be careful.


We all have to go with our best instincts whenever we ride. I throw my leg over and consider what I'm about to do at every ride. Consider the state I'm in, my bike is in, both of our limits, and what unknowns might be lurking. I'm not overly somber about this but it keeps me focused and aware of some of the possibilities. I usually keep well within my abilities but we all have to air it out sometime, right ? A safe and Happy New Year to all !!!
 
Thanks Dan. Comforting words I'll try to hang on to rationalizing fate. i took my P!! from Fla to Houston in mid 70's. Loop 610 over pass over I 45 was steep enough to catch some air. Gas was cheap and traffic not so bumper to bumper.
Its a crazy state for me to feel at ease testing traction in tights but feel so pensive going slow enough deer can hit from the sides. My buddy Wes sees deer too but none ever got real close so far. Time dulls pain so by time I've a runner I'll just try it again - maybe with video to find.
 
Dan

I too bought a new Combat in '72--at Elis's emporium in Geneva IL. As a twelve-year-old I bought my first Norton, a '62 650SS in '64 which had been wrecked by an English tin mining engineer in Jos, Nigeria--for thirty quid.

I ride every day the streets are dry. Unlike many on this list I've racked up enormous mileages because the Combat has been my only bike for many years--and because I commuted on it when I was working and because I took hundred-mile pleasure cruises every suitable afternoon after the NYSE closed at 3 PM Central--more or less continuously since 1989. The rear TT100 tire showed visible wear every afternoon until i put on a fat 18-inch tire and quadrupled tire life.

There has been no mechanical device that's given me greater pleasure over the last 38 years--and I've got rich friends with new toys.


Tim Kraakevik
kraakevik@voyager.net
Three Commandos
 
I've had my 850 for close to 3 years now - its been on the road for a little over two, as it was a collection of parts when I got it. I don't ride it every day, but I do ride pretty often, and have put 10,000 miles on it since its resurrection.
After the first six months of sorting the Commando out, it has been relatively trouble-free. No electrical gremlins, no oil issues, no carb issues. The last big thing was snapping the primary chain about 6000 miles ago. Generally, I alternate between the Norton and the Speed Triple, and don't really pick one over the other for a particular ride. To me, each is a competent bike, with similar comfort on rides of various length. The Triumph has twice the power and much better brakes and suspension, but these usually don't come into play for most of my riding. I haven't done any modifications to the Commando, but generally ride with my feet on the passenger pegs when on the Interstate.

Between work and having a couple of strokes this past year, I haven't been riding nearly as much as I want to, but hope this will change in '11. I've mainly been working on the Ranger the past six months, and am FINALLY ready to start putting it together this week. I've got 26 days before the local AMCA show and want to bring both the Commando and Ranger there, even if the Ranger is not quite done.

Once the Ranger is up and running, it WILL be ridden on a regular basis, and fit into the rotation.
 
Holy Cow Bill, you have had strokes and still riding. I had CHF and surprisingly recovered and still find it hard to muscle the Commando around with my lack of strength and endurance.

Go for it. Norton Rules. Got to feel the pull.

Dave
69S
 
Thanks for the life sharing, I wonder if I'm ever so infirm I can't get up if I'll flash back on my rides and the tall tales of others. Since loss of ride buddies and family I tend to mental mark new vista's and sort though old ones just in case. Life is pretty surreal to me, want to spend it with least pain and most time just rolling along bouncing with easy bumps thank you. The cold air that bites till it hurts reminds me of riding times as impressed to the bone I guess.
 
great thread here Steve...

Not nearly the hell bent rider I was 30 years ago, this bike I've had since '98 gives me something I can't get any other way.

With the 19 tooth sprocket, it still surprises me how fast it will hit 60, yet by 85 or so, I can tell its time to ease off the throttle. Just the same, when I do take it out and to its (make that my) limits, I'll spend the next 5 to 6 hours, just sitting in a chair, in some kinda transcendental trance... no herbs or any other substances required.

At 53, my own rules to remain in one piece for those who depend on me to do so are:
1. know where I'm going, the faster I'm going I should know that road really, really well.
2. do it sober; there's a time and place for everything.
3. I don't ride hard at night; had a few bad experiences with that in my youth, the only reason I've lived to be old and somewhat wise (that's debatable) is an ability to remember my mistakes, the important ones anyway.

All that said, the commando is by far my most prized possession, and the several hours a week I spend riding are well worth any risks. Being defensive and cautious will prolong that fun for as long as me and the bike can maintain it all.

whatever ya do, take care of yourself, ride safely. no need to push our inevitable, forthcoming demise any sooner than what we're already looking at.

Cheers,

Don
 
I see I am not the only one to subscribe to the view that "The older I get the faster I was"

60 year old exept whilst on a bike.
 
No by gosh the older I get the bolder I get having tried it both way slow and steady with self take to take care everywhere and devil may dare having a thrill aggressively. D/t side impacts with big animals, the only one I won happened at 75 and the best deer encounters staying up right to ride off again were deer strike over the legal speed limits. I can't ride below 80 mph at night any more or I can't hardly see straight tensing up on deer or hogs leaping out from the sides. Same in city traffic if I act a bit aggressive I have no close encounters but I don't past where I can't see whole situation no blind spots or splat. Most my big animal events were going real slow and careful w/o enough energy to blast right over or thru them, crazy making that normal logic just don't apply too often even if its the best chance we have. A log thrown into you and bike would hit as hard as deer.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaSEOaJ5phY&feature=related[/video]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZAjJ-g0UDw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZAjJ-g0UDw
 
That guy didn't say the F word did he? Boy, I think if a Commando hit a deer like that it would be all over the road sideways. I almost hit a German Shepard running across Route 1 going into DC one time and it scared the bejesus out of me. All I could do is lift my feet as high as possible, luckily he ducked and we missed. I wasn't doing any 80, maybe 45, but I was convinced I was going down when it happened.

Dave
69S
 
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