- Joined
- Jun 22, 2014
- Messages
- 39
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Greetings, allow me to introduce myself for my first post. I am now the proud owner of a ‘75 MKIIA (it’s a ‘74 titled as a ‘75).
A little history.. I’m not new to Brit bikes or riding, and I have wanted (lusted after) a Commando ever since my younger brother bought his in '84. I had a '64 Triumph Tiger for many years until a devastating car-motorcycle accident totaled it in the early 90’s. I also worked at a British motorcycle dealer to put myself thru college in the early 80’s, so I know enough about them to be dangerous.
A good friend bought it, non-running, semi-chopperized, in ‘94 with the intentions of restoring it.
And it has sat in his garage in a corner for 20 years waiting patiently. It also sat for 10 years or so before he bought it up, so it’s not been running/driven in maybe 30 years. He’s tried to give it to me for the last 3 years, knowing it was rotting away and he would never get around to it, and for various reasons, I have said no, I didn’t want a project, didn’t want to spend the money, etc….well, he came to visit us last spring, and my wife made some sort of deal with him, and promptly announced it was now mine. Yes, she’s a saint. She’s also a Brit, so that may have something to do with it…
Anyway, I drove 2200 miles home last December to bring it to my garage.
I had a trusted friend/ professional mechanic /legendary brit bike racer, fix some of the things I didn’t want to tackle, such as the Isolastics and rebuilding the transmission before I got it, and give it a good going over, and leave some of the fun stuff for me to finish. At this point in my life, I don’t want to hate a project and leave it in the ‘punishment corner’ while I’m mad at it.
And…it’s now running. Pretty well actually. So now I have a lot of little things to do to get it to a driving state, and get rid of the rest of the chopper bits one of the PO’s added. It’s almost all there, for the most part, a lot of it was in a box, at least the original bits, as well as a new seat and other items my buddy collected over the years to restore it.
I have a thousand questions already…. I’m looking forward to joining in the forum as a participant, no longer as a lurker, and learning (and re-learning) things.
I don’t want to do a concours type restoration, I just want to have a driver I can enjoy. I’m looking forward to dusting off my old Whitworth tools as well.
Steve
A little history.. I’m not new to Brit bikes or riding, and I have wanted (lusted after) a Commando ever since my younger brother bought his in '84. I had a '64 Triumph Tiger for many years until a devastating car-motorcycle accident totaled it in the early 90’s. I also worked at a British motorcycle dealer to put myself thru college in the early 80’s, so I know enough about them to be dangerous.
A good friend bought it, non-running, semi-chopperized, in ‘94 with the intentions of restoring it.
![Someone gave me a Norton… Someone gave me a Norton…](https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-o9g51N1BpWM/VRsZyAuzGcI/AAAAAAAAOUU/34hcZ23sUrk/w585-h480-no/IMG_20140903_150129_cropped%2B%28Small%29.jpg")
And it has sat in his garage in a corner for 20 years waiting patiently. It also sat for 10 years or so before he bought it up, so it’s not been running/driven in maybe 30 years. He’s tried to give it to me for the last 3 years, knowing it was rotting away and he would never get around to it, and for various reasons, I have said no, I didn’t want a project, didn’t want to spend the money, etc….well, he came to visit us last spring, and my wife made some sort of deal with him, and promptly announced it was now mine. Yes, she’s a saint. She’s also a Brit, so that may have something to do with it…
Anyway, I drove 2200 miles home last December to bring it to my garage.
![Someone gave me a Norton… Someone gave me a Norton…](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-z5D9UdpmcMM/VRsZxpXkMfI/AAAAAAAAOUM/cZAKxHh-G8I/w854-h437-no/Norton_in_Ridgeline_cropped%2B%28Small%29.jpg")
I had a trusted friend/ professional mechanic /legendary brit bike racer, fix some of the things I didn’t want to tackle, such as the Isolastics and rebuilding the transmission before I got it, and give it a good going over, and leave some of the fun stuff for me to finish. At this point in my life, I don’t want to hate a project and leave it in the ‘punishment corner’ while I’m mad at it.
And…it’s now running. Pretty well actually. So now I have a lot of little things to do to get it to a driving state, and get rid of the rest of the chopper bits one of the PO’s added. It’s almost all there, for the most part, a lot of it was in a box, at least the original bits, as well as a new seat and other items my buddy collected over the years to restore it.
I have a thousand questions already…. I’m looking forward to joining in the forum as a participant, no longer as a lurker, and learning (and re-learning) things.
I don’t want to do a concours type restoration, I just want to have a driver I can enjoy. I’m looking forward to dusting off my old Whitworth tools as well.
Steve