Help a daughter Help her dad get started

As far as a "basket", this is EASILY one of the best purchases I have EVER made.
http://www.harborfreightusa.com/usa/ite ... egoryName=
Assemble it and fill the shelf with "stuff".

(Cool chick who likes old-bikes, I have to do it)

"HOW YOU DOING?"

Unclviny

Hey Beachbum, I'm also in Orange County,Ca and have been meaning to tell you what a great thing your doing for your dad & offer help. Sorry I have been busy and didn't get around to posting it until now but you can buy the wrenches (and sockets) from Keith Moore of Moore's cycle in Anaheim at 1631 N. Orangethorpe, Way Anaheim, Ca. Phone is (714) 533-2860. He's a Triumph & BSA guy but knows and helps me with any Norton stuff he can. The basic tools are the same and he is close to Long Beach. I've known him for 30 + years and he's a totally stand up, helpfull, honest and good guy. Being so close, I for one would like to meet your father and help motovate him to get past that point of thinking about working on it and really pulling it out and starting the project. It's overwellming sometimes but it's only an old motorcycle, not a lear jet! With the help of a few books, a few special tools and the wisedom of the more experianced people of this forum any Norton can be delt with. Please keep us posted & let us know if we canhelp. Especialy those of us in your own back yard. Glenn.

Pelican- ohhhh thats a good idea I'll look into that. thanks

Unclviny- thats a great idea. I think he has one already but hey if I'm going to help him we'll need two right :mrgreen: best of all harbor freights = affordable and hahaha @ you :wink:

Glenn- Thank you. Both for your comments and your information. I will definitely be looking into that and he is close enough. I may even be able to get there today And YES I'd love for you to help motivate him. I know the fire is already lit cause I can see it in his eyes when I get him talking about his motorcycle days. The OC Vintage bike group are meeting at Beach Burger July 11th. I'm going to try to go to that one. I figure it will give me time to dedicate a weekend (uhhhggg) to cleaning my old stuff out the garage (you don't happen to know of any cheap storage places do you hahaha) to make room for the motorcycle

Glad the article was on point. I knew which one you were alluding to as soon as you mentioned it - a classic!

I use one of those strap-on leather tool bags (one does NOT run a Norton very far from home without tools and spares - having said which, carrying all that stuff ENSURES it won't be needed!) and find it attaches nicely to the passenger grab rail on my Commando (sits on the seat and attaches to the grab rail).

Best of luck on your project!

Thanks for the classic MC magazine straight from Merry ole England.
It was a true suprise :shock:
Marshal

Glenn- Thanks again for the info I picked up the wrenches yesterday

Marshal- No worries! After all you did by putting the manual together and mailing it to me it was the least I could do. My dad is getting one too :mrgreen: The timing of their Norton issue was awesome!

Glad to be of service.
Wanna see a pic of dad, daughter and Norton from June 20th 2010.
Or your grounded!
Marshal

Well what happened ????

So sorry it took me so long to get back on here. My hard drive decided to conk out when I tried to get on the computer Monday.

So Father's day was a hit!!! Thank you to everyone that helped me. I don't think I'll ever be able to top this one.

We kind of combined his birthday present and his fathers day into one day.

First was his birthday present. A flight lesson! I got to go up with him and at first I kinda wished I had a parachute with me hahaha For all the local people he got to fly out to Catalina and back.. the ride was BEAUTIFUL!

Oh and it was awesome cause on the way to the airport we saw some guy in Huntington Beach riding his Norton motorcycle!! What perfect timing!

OK so now the part that you all care about. When we got back to my parents I set up his little gift basket.

I included the following:
Roy Bacon's Norton Twins book
CD containing the Ellen Jamesians's "Norton Commando" song
On Any Sunday DVD
Classic Bike Guide- Special Norton Issue
1973 Cycle Magazine that my Dad was in
Norton shirt
Ceramic mug that I made and painted a 1973 Norton Commando on it
Whitworth 8 piece wrench set
Norton Commando Manual (with awesome photo's of Marshal's bike)-thanks Marshal!!
12 pack of Guiness
I put all of this in an galvanized oil pain or catchall thing

Here's a picture of all of it
http://s886.photobucket.com/albums/ac69/beachbummoto/

Marshal- my mom wants go give you a big ol hug and say thank you! She was impressed by your kindness

So giving this gift to my dad was awesome! First thing he did was throw on the shirt ... thank goodness it fit

So it turns out that he already has the Magazine that he was in (I should have figured.) In fact he went to the garage and brought out this box with all his clipping and magazines. My god he was in a lot of them!! Go Dad! It was cool I saw pictures of him when he was my age and younger. And saw the photo's of him actually racing.
Side note: I about croaked when I found out where all his stuff was in the garage. I looked EVERYWHERE except that one box!

Of course he was stoked on the beer and the mug that I made him. Though he has to at least pretend to on the latter.

When he was looking at the Classic Bike Guide I was grinning ear to ear cause my mom wanted to go do something but he didn't want to put it down. In fact I guess he knew the guy Peter Williams that was featured on the front cover as well as some other names that were in the magazine.

Of course later that day we all sat down to watch On Any Sunday. I love the narration on it :lol: Turns out two of the guys in the movie even asked out my mom! But, she was already dating my dad. Oh I think I'll just throw this out as an awesome fact. Apparently my mom was asked to be one of the Norton ad girls! But she was too shy and turned them down. Lemme tell you I bet she's regretting it now hahaha I mean I'm even kicking her for it

All in all he loved the gift. I knew what the final response would be. "I'll start working on them when I have room in the garage". AHHHHHH those fated words! It's like when I was little and my mom would say "Once you clean your room we'll head off to Disneyland." Oh I wanted to go in the worst way but DAMN my room was messy and I did NOT want to clean it.

Oh and he asked me to return the wrenches because he already thought I spent to much money on him that day. He also said he still had the wrenches that the Norton's came with.

I actually got the biggest joy from the gift the next day. I got a call from my dad asking me if I returned the wrenches yet (of course I didn't as I am a procrastinator) It turns out that he wants me to bring them back. I got the impression that he did some research on this site and realized he needed them So the joy didn't end there. When I went to his house to drop them off I went to the garage and I noticed a chunk of the garage already cleaned up!!! Now that's when I knew my gift was a TRUE success

Oh I'm hoping to get to the Beach Burger in HB with my dad to see the vintage motorcycles.

Again thank you to everyone that helped me out You guys/girls ROCK!

Well done, lass.

Of course, now you need to learn to start and ride a proper right-foot shift Norton.

YAY!,

Another Norton rising from the ashes, and being brought back to life by a "proper" Norton-head!

Make sure that he registers here so he can ask (and answer) questions,
And pictures of the Dad, bike and Daughter are required!

Unclviny

Yes please. :lol:

That is great news look forward to seeing your dad signed up now we have to guess what tag he is going to use maybe yours with dad at the end

Wow,
so glad fathers day was a hit young lady.
I was in FLA for fathers day observing everyone else riding.
The extra precipitaion last week was me crying w/o my bike to ride.
I think the magic is about to begin good job.
And I'll definitely take a hug from an almost Norton pinup model.
Your dad is a blessed man.
He must be so special if she turned down Pete Williams for a date
Glad to be of assistance you are a special lady.
James Norton must be beeming from heaven.
You need to ride a Norton as it sounds like you're a Norton family.
Hope to coorespond w/ your dad in the future on this forum.
I'm honored to be amongst such good company.
Marshal

Wow, looks like both mom and dad are celebrities.
Good job....

hahaha No it wasn't Pete Williams she turned down. It was two motorcross racers competeing for the #1 plate in like 73 (or when the movie was made)

Oh, I'll have to thank my friend for posing on his Norton Fathers day as you and dad passed by.
Just Kidding, I couldn't resist the devil made me do it.
Stay in touch and stay connected to the forum.
Marshal

To all that were so kind in helping my daughter "Beachbum" assemble a great gift for Fathers Day.. THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart..! I have a VERY cool daughter to go through so much trouble and I love her dearly.. The piloting of a small plane out over Catalina has been a 40+ year wish, glad she pushed it up my to-do list.!!

Along with the package was an email with this forum's link so that I could keep up with all that is Norton.. I spent the night following links and reading all the great stuff that brought back found memories of wilder times.

The Norton stuff was outstanding and an unexpected thrill to sort through her gift pack.. The "Special Norton issue of Classic Bike Guide" will be a real treasure, as will be the shirt and shop manual ( special thanks for getting that to her).. Now the real task will be to get everything set to actually use the manual.. Like she indicated, my garage is a storage area for every new and old thing that cannot fit or is needed in the house or the kids places. I guess I payed her back a little my showing her my semi secret storage places for my old motorcycle treasures. Oh yes.. a Guinness or NewCastle at 62 degrees is nectar.. down to my last 4.

To actually get the Norton rolling will take a bit of time, as with most kids they do not know the whole story about their parents or where stuff came from.. The only bike I kept was my motocross AJS and a bunch of other stuff that I kept at my folks house until they sold it. My brother was kind enough to re-store it at his place. As for the Nortons (and some BSA stuff), I have to thank my brother again for storing these treasures we recovered from a condemned garage in LA, that was about to be bulldozed down in the early 80's. We have an awesome picture of the shed some place.. I believe the Norton's are 1972 era and the BSAs late 60's.. One Norton looked complete and all the rest were in pieces and baskets. Knowing the 72 Norton, it will be a complete rebuild bolt by bolt.
I have not seen them sense that day we unloaded the truck...

Knowing that I might retire this year, I had planned to put the Norton restoration at the top of my to-do list (after my wife's list of course)... So I contacted an old friend in England.. Norm White..he set me up with some great new stuff (drive belt clutch and head steady.. tuck in pipes and a cam if I need it)..

I (or my daughter) will update the forum with our progress.. Thanks again for being so kind to her in the quest for the ultimate Father's Day event..!!

Welcome to the forum!

Your Daughter is seriously cool, giving presents like that sure means a lot!

One of the things that appeals to me about the Commando is that there are no "uncharted waters" as far as repairing/restoring them, you just have to get a space and get started.

Welcome

Unclviny