while we're into the Pomes (prisoner of mother England - the NZ term for Brits). Ever heard of an AJS? I had one in New Zealand, a 500 cc single cyl. It was so old and worn I could get a feeler gauge down between the piston and the bore - that's one of the older feeler gauges with tongues or leaves that measured gaps. That thing was side valve and one day I was riding it and heard a knocking. the problem? the carburetor had come loose from the engine and was flopping/banging being held in place by just one very loose nut. Yet it still ran. It was such a low revving engine I could put it on the main stand and at idle it would rock backwards with each firing stroke of the piston. It would eventually move all the way out my garage door - backwards. I think it was made in the 50's. I bought it for $NZ60. My friend at the time had a Matchless 500 single cyl. I think that matchless bought out AJS but kept the name. We thought it strange that the parts were interchangeable. They were the same bike. He painted his bike blue , or so he thought, He was color blind and ended up with a blue and red bike, blue on one side red on the other. When asked what color is Steve's bike, we would say, it depends whether he's coming or going. Pliers and wire is what we carried wherever we went.
On Jun 5, 2009, at 5:07 PM, Kyle K.K. wrote: > Low maintenance was in their lexicon, it was just defined differently. > > "Oh, we're having a spot of trouble with the car. It did make it 35 > miles since the last issue though." > > -Kyle KK > > On Fri, Jun 5, 2009 at 4:04 PM, surfswab <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hee, hee...you left out electrics by Lucas, the Prince of Darkness. > Had a 4-banger myself, back in the day. Left hand drive, right-handed > 3-speed shift pattern with a toggle on the dash for 4th. My roomate > had an MG and we had a snatch-rope for towing one or the other to our > neighborhood mechanic. He was a jolly little Asian guy who would just > grin and shake his head during our weekly visits, and say "Why don't > you guys just buy a Chevy?" > > The Brits had an unique mindset toward mechanical design. If you were > a "motorist" or a "cyclist," it was expected you were also a hobbyist, > equipped with spanners and spares and prepared to do your own roadside > tinkering. "Low maintenance" was just not in their lexicon. > > > > > > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
