Still There, Long After The Competition.

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phil yates

phil yates

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After the gym, I head straight for the pub for a beer and a chat with the boys. Several modern bikes will often be parked outside. Their owners are not sure what to say or think about the ONLY all day every day Commando in the Southern Highlands. But after they have spoken lots of bullshit and departed, the Norton is still there before it takes me home in my gym gear at 5c degrees, and getting colder everyday.

In another month or so I'll put on long pants. Shorts and T shirt just starting to get a tad cool.
 

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to say or think about the ONLY all day every day Commando in the Southern Highlands
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Well no wonder you have such a brazen thick skinned attitude Phil, facing public opinion and risking weather & traffic daily for the state of mind a lone Commando instills, you've earned some respect form me. I rode Ms Peel daily in rain and hail and 20's F much to my delight of dropped jawed traffic I passed but was comfy and toasty in my own world behind wind screens on bars and grips only taking the cage if ice-snow mess on the roads. Main sneering I got was from a few of the sports biker squads, till we met up again. Of course I got taken down by various things about once a season and I average about 3 yr between major bike and bone crashing events. So I am constantly seeking examples of those getting away with it like you. Tell Jennie I'm borrowing on some of her up lifting presence too though you. Jeeze that could be taken two ways, but you know I only mean it the good way.
 
hobot said:
to say or think about the ONLY all day every day Commando in the Southern Highlands
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Well no wonder you have such a brazen thick skinned attitude Phil, facing public opinion and risking weather & traffic daily for the state of mind a lone Commando instills, you've earned some respect form me. I rode Ms Peel daily in rain and hail and 20's F much to my delight of dropped jawed traffic I passed but was comfy and toasty in my own world behind wind screens on bars and grips only taking the cage if ice-snow mess on the roads. Main sneering I got was from a few of the sports biker squads, till we met up again. Of course I got taken down by various things about once a season and I average about 3 yr between major bike and bone crashing events. So I am constantly seeking examples of those getting away with it like you. Tell Jennie I'm borrowing on some of her up lifting presence too though you. Jeeze that could be taken two ways, but you know I only mean it the good way.
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I know you only mean it it in a good way Hobot. Jenny thought the cold weather would surely have me returning straight home from the gym. But she underestimated me. I go to the pub regardless of weather. I only have two beers, slowly, and a chat. Then fire up the big bird outside (admittedly with the green button) and head home to cook tea. The lads thought the Norton must be my latest expensive toy, till they realised I was serious about riding it everyday as transport. When everyone else is staying home, the Norton is still seen at the pub. And don't think the police don't know it is there. They know where it lives too. But there is no law against owning and riding a red Norton Commando! But they can't figure how I start it. I sit on it and it seemingly fires up on it's own. They have never seen a Commando do that before! Neither have I.
 
Les
My picture from post one seems to have vanished into an attachment.
Have I done something wrong, AGAIN??

Phil
 
Bulls and the fuzz tend to see red as a threat challenge in their face to charge. They'll likely leave ya alone till one of em is short of demanded ticket quota to pay his salary and judges, then can just wait till ya come out and get on to give ya a drinking and driving ticket and impound Cdo and off to jail if refusing a breath test and also if ya do take it. I only the other hand have taken some pains so not to be found in any data bases on where my hide out is. Hope your luck holds out longer than the Spragthrope designed E-start sprag gizmo and can take the chiding having to use IQ in ya leg to get going...

Peel will have stereo, coffee-drink holder, cig lighter and ashtray and feet forward pegs for ease on 20 mile work commutes and errand running.
 
I've got the greatest admiration for he-men who can ride a bike in the cold and wet. As a kid I raced regularly for about 12 years, often in the rain. Wet leathers are horrible, however the theory was always 'if it is bad for you, it is bad for everybody else'. I stopped racing mid-70s and did not race for about 25 years. A few years ago I went with a friend to the old farts meeting at Mount Gambier, South Australia with my Seeley 850. It was raining and very cold. My friend lent me his water-proof coverall to keep me warm, dry and lovely. Because it was raining, the guys who had become reliant on sticky tyres were at a disadvantage, so I won a couple of races. (also there was nobody with real potential there). I was warm and dry - ain't technology wonderful ?

What a pair of old dickheads ? :

Still There, Long After The Competition.
 
Not old.
And not dickheads.

A Norton keeps you alive and kicking. As I see it, at our age a lot of the shit is behind us and from here on life should be enjoyed as much as possible. There is one guy in the pub known as f..ker, he's my age only and might as well be dead. Actually quite a nice guy but so utterly negative he may well as not be here.
 
phil yates said:
A Norton keeps you alive and kicking. As I see it, at our age a lot of the shit is behind us and from here on life should be enjoyed as much as possible. There is one guy in the pub known as f..ker, he's my age only and might as well be dead. Actually quite a nice guy but so utterly negative he may well as not be here.

Money doesn't mean a lot to me. So long as you have enough to do the things you want to. I've made a lot and lost a lot (the ex took an obscene amount, our whole farm in fact, then some) but I still ride a Norton. She saw me the other weekend, by pure chance I was riding past the farm with beautiful Jenny on the back on our way to a winery for lunch. If looks could kill. There was hatred and bitterness piecing through her jet black glasses. Thirteen years younger than me, she looked twenty years older. And she didn't seem to have a boyfriend with a Norton. I think they call it Karma.
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My experience is very similar to yours...I suppose a lot of us have a similar story, but this was way too close for comfort. One of the things I think that happens when you go through a divorce after many years of marriage, especially a difficult one is you find your way back to your roots. I was away from motorcycles for almost 40 years because my ex and I crashed when she was 5 months pregnant with our first child. She made me sell the bike and would never go near one again...or allow me to either. When I bought my first bike during the separation it was my therapy...to make it through the divorce. I couldn't have done it without her. Eventually I had to have a Norton...everything else seemed like just another motorcycle because I knew what a Norton was about...the feel, the ride, the sound. They have soul. Mine is sitting in the garage half together and it still talks to me.
 
Send your ex wife flowers every week, thanking her profusely. Women love flowers :)

One guy in the States had a photo of himself and his new young bride at their wedding printed onto every cheque (check) and he paid his child maintenance (alimony) to his ex wife every month with one of these cheques. She had to look at it every month and present it to the bank.
 
gortnipper said:
+2. We call her THEO - The Evil One.
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My new MkIII cost me over one million dollars.
$1,02200.00 to be exact.

$1000,000 to the ex wife.
The rest to Baxters.

And a new girlfriend thrown in for free.

Expensive but well with it :D
 
phil yates said:
My ex wife only ever rode on the back of my then Norton once. It was before we were married. She said she loved it but after we got married, she never got on it again. She never did anything again but consume my entire salary then eventually seize all my assets.
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Mine consumed about the same amount...in alcohol. She only got half of my assets...we have no fault here. Still she got a lot for not doing much :D

If I sent her roses she would think I want her back...better off not going there.
 
dennisgb said:
phil yates said:
My ex wife only ever rode on the back of my then Norton once. It was before we were married. She said she loved it but after we got married, she never got on it again. She never did anything again but consume my entire salary then eventually seize all my assets.
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Mine consumed about the same amount...in alcohol. She only got half of my assets...we have no fault here. Still she got a lot for not doing much :D

If I sent her roses she would think I want her back...better off not going there.
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No, after "profusely" you add the words "for giving me my life back"
Mine only got half of mine too.
She thought she got it all but I didn't tell her where the rest was, or that it even existed.
Those overseas bank accounts are very handy to have.
 
Having owned my Norton for 38 years now and it was a everyday ride from new, (except when rebuilding it) it was only semi retired last year when I brought a new Triumpt Thruxton, but I still take the Norton out for a big ride every week, when I was working the last 31 years at the same place I started work at 6 am and rode with shorts, work shirt and steel cap boots 5 days a week all year round even in winter, with added flannel shirt under my leather jacket, I get to work and every one throught I was mad as they be all rugged up for the cold, once off the bike it didn't take long to warm up my legs, your body gets use to the cold and very rarely I got any colds or flu.

My mates don't like riding in the cold but I loved it the colder the better as the Norton ran its best the colder it got, the best way to stay warm on a bike in cold winter riding is to keep your kidney warm, keep it warm and your whole body stays warm I have a wooly scarf that wraps around my kidney area 3 times, great under the leather jacket, but only wear the wooly scarf when on a long cold ride and wooly fingerless gloves.

Ashley
 
ashman said:
Having owned my Norton for 38 years now and it was a everyday ride from new, (except when rebuilding it) it was only semi retired last year when I brought a new Triumpt Thruxton, but I still take the Norton out for a big ride every week, when I was working the last 31 years at the same place I started work at 6 am and rode with shorts, work shirt and steel cap boots 5 days a week all year round even in winter, with added flannel shirt under my leather jacket, I get to work and every one throught I was mad as they be all rugged up for the cold, once off the bike it didn't take long to warm up my legs, your body gets use to the cold and very rarely I got any colds or flu.

My mates don't like riding in the cold but I loved it the colder the better as the Norton ran its best the colder it got, the best way to stay warm on a bike in cold winter riding is to keep your kidney warm, keep it warm and your whole body stays warm I have a wooly scarf that wraps around my kidney area 3 times, great under the leather jacket, but only wear the wooly scarf when on a long cold ride and wooly fingerless gloves.

Ashley
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Keep your kidney warm? But I have two (I think).
I smoke a bit but there is nothing wrong with my lung!

I refuse to look like a modern day "man on his way to the moon" dressed in all that protective crap.
If I can't walk out the back door, sling my leg over the Norton and fang it straight out the gate,
I'd rather go in the car, it would be quicker. I bow to putting on a helmet because they made us.

The Southern Highlands can get cold and bitter in winter (by Australian standards), but as you say Ashley,
it makes the Norton go even better.Nothing like that crisp exhaust crackle as you head out on a frosty morning.
 
I get off on those living lots of life on a Commando [and other lessor brands too] Will keep in mind your kidney warming advice. I get scared before about each ride out but couldn't resist even with night time frost on seat in 20's so chokes and tickle barely enough till half dozen coughs warm chamber and plug enough to stay lit. Actaully the best way to stay warm w/o heaters is blocking the wind. Peels big shield gave such prefect still air pocket I could lit a cig at 100 mph then speed
back up to work. A bit dangerous as w/o wind blast and iso smoothness was easy to enter turn too fast, not to handle but leaning so far over put head too near double yellow through blinds. I definitely had to watch speedo more. If I stopped to glance over a bridge the slight breeze [one sweat shirt under leathers] I'd get a chill so start moving again to warm up.
 
hobot said:
I get off on those living lots of life on a Commando [and other lessor brands too] Will keep in mind your kidney warming advice. I get scared before about each ride out but couldn't resist even with night time frost on seat in 20's so chokes and tickle barely enough till half dozen coughs warm chamber and plug enough to stay lit. Actaully the best way to stay warm w/o heaters is blocking the wind. Peels big shield gave such prefect still air pocket I could lit a cig at 100 mph then speed
back up to work. A bit dangerous as w/o wind blast and iso smoothness was easy to enter turn too fast, not to handle but leaning so far over put head too near double yellow through blinds. I definitely had to watch speedo more. If I stopped to glance over a bridge the slight breeze [one sweat shirt under leathers] I'd get a chill so start moving again to warm up.
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At 100mph, I find cigars easier to manage. Less ash blowing all over the place. At 200mph, I ditch the cigar, put both hands on
the bars and snick er inta fourth. At 300mph, I get serious and stop standing on the seat.

You know what hobot?
I'm beginning to like you.
 
Seriously so dead still air pocket I indeed lit most cigs over 70 hands off before zooming back over the ton to work. Some the most pleasing times of my life I want more of before gone. Air blast was a bit over top of helmet so could look over screen [sunglasses as big bugs don't deflect] and leave lid up to smoke w/o buffeting of blowing ashes in my own eyes like it does w/o a screen. I did not have to be a tough young buck enduring the chill. Exhaust sounds disappear by the ton so might as well buggey wooggy on hard acid rock and roll - which is another thing I could do on Ms Peel but not other cycles, kick rear with throttle and butt steering to dance with the base beats - very similar to chase freaked out zig zaging deer in my passtures - which do remember my wife Alicia says, about 1/2 mile away they now stand stiff legged alert then 100 yr or so the SNOT and race up Mt side.
 
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