Triumphrat

mecscc · 05-18-2007

This is an internet pic of a bike identical to my '68 Bonnie that was the first new bike I bought. I rode it all over the eastern half of the US.

Just seeing the pic takes me back to the joy of explaining to my bosses that I always smelled of gasoline because you had to "tickle" the Amals to get the bike started; trying to kick start it on many a below freezing morning during the annual March run from DC to Daytona and trying my best to explain that the little oil puddle present that it left everywhere it sat was "normal," and added character to the cement.

Those were great days: blue jeans, white t shirts with my Chesterfields rolled into the left sleeve; engineering boots, black leather jacket and Bell open face helmet. (And we, rugged individualists all, looked just the same!)

Move over James Dean, you had a lot of company!

Monte

Share some memories, boys and girls. Find a pic of your first bike love and post it here.

mecscc · 05-19-2007

Ah, RD, read carefully: your first bike "love" - not your first bike. I had many bikes before I got the Bonnie. Most were cobbled together basket cases, others were OK and a couple before the Bonnie were nice. But The BONNIE was my first true love. All the rest just paled in comparison. What was the bike that gave you that feeling that you finally understood what this motorcycle thing was all about? For that matter it could be your current bike.

Monte :-D

ohiorider · 05-19-2007

Absolutely beautiful!

Bob

Thrux-ton-up · 05-19-2007

This 58 T-bird Bobber was my first motorcycle "love" I could sit at look at her for hours. I rode it about a year and half - vibrated like a paint mixer and the brakes were worse than the coaster brakes on my old Huffy. I was in the process of putting together the parts to build a Triton and was searching the internet for parts and ran across the "new" thruxton. Off to the local dealer I went and traded the T-bird for the Thrux.

What got me hooked on Triumphs was riding my fathers 51 T-100 Tiger with Alloy barrels, I still like to ride it every now and then - beautiful bike - but it reminds me how far Triumphs have come and what great bikes the new models are. We both take our bikes to British in the Blue Ridge every year, its a great time.

mecscc · 05-19-2007

RD: Didn't mean it as a "lashing", and glad you took it the right way. I was just trying to draw you out to look for a pic. Mea culpa. Now that I read my post when I am awake "first bike love" sounds a bit unnatural to me too!. Anyway, I'm glad you did look a pic up because I haven't seen one of those CB 4s in ages. That bike is a beauty, and now something of a growing classic, BTW. I had the CB350 vertical twin and it was a good bike but it vibrated at speed something terrible. I remember I rode it with a bunch of friends from DC to Daytona one year and they all had bigger bikes. My hands buzzed for days after that trip! I imagine that the 4 cured that problem.

Thrux: your bike was spectacular, and your Dad's is another classic. I imagine if I had ever had any money over the years I would have quite a stable of bikes by now because some of them that I sold would have been worth keeping; most not, but there were a number than today are considered to be "new collectables."

G-C: Nice bike. They were sweet running little bikes and I had several friends who rode small Hondas just about everywhere: on road and off. When they first got popular some thought nobody should ride "Jap" bikes - that nickname itself was an insult to the rider of one. But they soon learned that the performance and reliability of the UJMs was far superior to anything else. It was the beginning of a major sea change in motorcycling and it has been literally years for the other manufacturers to catch up.

Thanks for posting, guys.

Monte

[ This message was edited by: mecscc on 2007-05-19 08:32 ]

twstm · 05-19-2007

Here's my first bike, '68 Yamaha Trailmaster taken around '70 or '71

Olderyoungster · 05-19-2007

OhmyGod, I've been looking for an image of a red CB100 to add to my library, THANKS 'Goin-Commando'!

My first bike love? Well, this may explain why I like the Bonneville so much; it reminds me of my first bike love..... my second bike. My second bike was that God-awful 70's lime green CL360. It was my fantasy Bonnie. Yes, I liked Bonnies back in the day, but didn't want to have to wrench on them. As soon as I climbed aboard the BonnieBlack, I was instantly taken back to my care-free youth of jeans, no shirt, cool sunglasses, and shorty full-finger gloves..... soon to be sporting a full-face helmet full time. It's odd to think back to those days, when gravity just didn't seem to be so, soooo weighty. Youthful ignorance was bliss.....

decobike · 05-19-2007

All this bike had was a chrome sissy bar and my "girfriend" and I would hit the interstate out of town to Branson for camping weekends. 2-up and loaded with a full backpack it still did 80 on the freeway. The photo is just from the internet, I cant find one of my bike. My wifes (former girlfriend) uncle bought it from me so I could buy a 750, and it was destroyed in a warehouse fire. Love the nostalgia Monte. Oh, why a Triumph now well I was stationed in Sicily in the early 70's and the Nortons and Triumphs just stood out from the Guzzi's and Ducati's. Now the Vespa, in Sicily in the 70's the Vespa was something else altogether, used by everyone it was cool and they were everywhere. Nothing oozed sex appeal like a young local girl riding her dads or brothers Vespa.

. The girlfriend/wife came after Sicily FYI.[IMG

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bobmig · 05-19-2007

While I unfortunately never had one, back in the day this was my first bike love (from afar, alas!)

Bob

CAPTDON · 05-19-2007

Those were the days my friend!! Too bad it cant be "History Repeated"!!