Triumphrat

weasel · 12-12-2007

I found out why the Brits drink warm beer....they have Lucas refrigerators.

CommandoRdster · 12-12-2007

Stop knocking Lucas! I know of at least one thing they made that didn't suck.Of course,it was a vacuum cleaner.

Cheers!
Bruce

bobmig · 12-13-2007

I posted this last year. Don't know where or when this year's push is scheduled, but maybe one of out Toronto members can let us know...

From CMG Online:
"Die-hard Toronto-area vintage bike fans are familiar with the Joseph Lucas Memorial Push, started in 1994 by cabin-fever-crazed members of the Old Fort York section of the Canadian Vintage Motorcycle Group to help get through the winter.
Said event consists of a pub crawl assisted - or impeded - by pushing around an old British motorcycle from tavern to tavern through Toronto's frozen mid-winter streets.
Younger riders may not know that Joseph Lucas owned Lucas Electric, the company that supplied electrical parts to the British bike industry for many years, up until the 1980s. The electrical systems of these bikes were notoriously troublesome, and poor Mr. Lucas became a popular scapegoat, earning the nickname "Prince of Darkness".
If you'd care to help push a battered old British bike around from pub to pub (apparently a Triumph 750 this year), be at the Wheatsheaf Tavern on King Street West between 7 and 8:30pm on Saturday, February 17th . After a bite to eat and a pint or two, the group moves on. And so forth, through the evening. It's good fun, and it's always cold, so be warned. Souvenir T-shirts will be available during the event."

Bob

Iceseven · 12-13-2007

That is funny about the memorial push. I was left stranded on quite a few occasions.

There was a funny myth that the Germans did not bomb the Lucas factory during WW2 because Lucas was aiding the Germans by producing bad electrics.

Old Scratcher · 12-13-2007

Pommie electrics could leave you stranded. But Italian electrics were worse, as they'd just quit without warning. My Laverda RGS1000 once lost all its lights (front, rear & inst.) while I was doing 130kph on a dark moonless night. Luckily I had a straight section of road to brake blindly on. But it really shook me, & I don't think I ever rode the bike at night again.
An Alfa Romeo of mine, had so many electrical gremlins, I was convinced it was possesed.
Thank goodness for Nippon Denso, Eh?

raproe · 12-13-2007

The Lucas headlight connector on my '66 Norton Atlas would automatically unplug when I gunned the bike down the on ramp to the 605 freeway in LA. After a few episodes of trying to plug it back in with one hand while simultaneously entering traffic, with no headlight, I permanently fixed it. I took the connectors off both ends and soldered the wires together.

Rich

1962gypsy · 12-13-2007

hmmm.....maybe they were better by the late 70's, or maybe i just got a good one but I never had any electrical grmelins on my 78 T-140. Barely leaked any oil either. What a great bike it was once you got past the chocolate brown and gold paint job. And the brown seat.

CommandoRdster · 12-14-2007

Seriously,the Lucas stuff is not all that bad.I've had a Lucas pacemaker for years,and I've never had a probl

F4sSprintST · 12-14-2007

A collection of Prince of Darkness jokes
(courtesy of Paul Mossberg, New Jersey Replicar Club)

The Lucas Electric motto: "Get home before dark."

Lucas denies having invented darkness. But they still claim "sudden, unexpected darkness."

Lucas--inventor of the first intermittent wiper.

Lucas--inventor of the self-dimming headlamp.

The three-position Lucas switch--DIM, FLICKER and OFF. The other three switch settings--SMOKE, SMOLDER and IGNITE.

The original anti-theft devices--Lucas Electric products.

"I've had a Lucas pacemaker for years and have never experienced any prob...

If Lucas made guns, wars would not start either.

Did you hear about the Lucas powered torpedo? It sank.

It's not true that Lucas, in 1947, tried to get Parliament to repeal Ohm's Law. They withdrew their efforts when they met too much resistance.

Did you hear the one about the guy that peeked into a Land Rover and asked the owner "How can you tell one switch from another at night, since they all look the same?" "He replied, it doesn't matter which one you use, nothing happens!"

Back in the '70s Lucas decided to diversify its product line and began manufacturing vacuum cleaners. It was the only product they offered which didn't suck.

Quality Assurance phoned and advised the Engineering guy that they had trouble with his design shorting out. So he made the wires longer.

Why do the English drink warm beer? Lucas makes the refrigerators.

Alexander Graham Bell invented the Telephone.
Thomas Edison invented the Light Bulb.
Joseph Lucas invented the Short Circuit.

Recommended procedure before taking on a repair of Lucas equipment: check the position of the stars, kill a chicken and walk three times sunwise around your car chanting: "Oh mighty Prince of Darkness protect your unworthy servant."

Lucas systems actually uses AC current; it just has a random frequency.