1912Staver

There has been a fair number of homeless in this area for several years. So far I haven't had any trouble at all with them, but I haven't attended for the last 3 years now. I year I couldn't make it because of schedule conflicts , then the last 2 were covid washouts.

I am certainly hoping to make it. The U.S. / Canadian border is still a bit of an issue { getting back into Canada } but at least in theory can be done. I have found a number of quite decent deals on collectible bicycles there over the years, along with scads of vintage car stuff.

Can't be too hard to find a 64 Impala convert. I live in a medium sized city and there are 2 different ones on my local CL. I expect they are frequently available right across North America.

Hi Grimy, it is a 22 inch rim.

Mine is still reasonably close to stock. I don't ride it enough these days to justify those sort of improvements. And I definitely don't push it hard anymore . Today's traffic and very distracted car drivers have really had an impact on my interest in riding. I expect I will keep a couple of my bikes until the end , but plans for most of them include finding new owners. Apart from the roadster tank and seat , the only other changes I have made to my 750 are clip on's and rear sets, and as I am getting older I will probably switch back to flat bars in the near future.

Here in Canada there are no titles that I am aware of. Just registration documents. In British Columbia the DMV have records back to 1932 , other Provinces keep old records on file for a much shorter period of time. Even if no record of your vehicle is on file it is often possible to resolve registration document problems. But it is usually a condition that the vehicle is intact and available for inspection. So often it is necessary to spend time and money on a vehicle you don't have official ownership for. Always a bit of a gamble , but only rarely do I hear of someone coming to a complete , absolute dead end. Unless of course you have the misfortune to end up with a vehicle that is recorded as stolen.

I understand your situation, and yes you are facing one of the most unfair situations of anyone on this forum. Your message has the wisdom that can only come from living through a true tragedy. I do consider myself very lucky in many regards. And I am very glad you have found the inner strength to deal with your situation as well as you have. Yes, 99.9 % of us don't ever stop and reflect on just how good things really are in the full context of our lives.

The people with those bigger houses pay from them out of their own pocket , not a portion of my tax bill. But yes, I am aware enough to know that in general tax policy favors higher income earners over average persons. For example dividend income on investments is taxed at a much lower rate than direct employment income. If there was a $20,000.00 EV on the market that was a competitor to the typical entry level $16,000 -$20,000.00 small car that many of us are limited to it would be a level playing field. But the cheapest Canadian EV is $40,000.00. Way out of reach to many / most. But we are the ones who foot the bulk of the bill for the rebates. Yes, I am very thankful I live in Western Canada, but the fact that my standard of living is increasingly slipping downward is hardly a thing to celebrate.

Well said Keith. Yes , it is the cost of EV's that make them an option only for comparatively affluent households. Up front costs are very high compared to a similar class of IC vehicle. Cheaper for energy to run , but the break even point is probably up to a decade or more after purchase in many cases. And my personal pet peeve, those of us in the middle class end up footing the bill for all the EV incentive rebates. Rebates that will in most cases be paid to people that are already doing a lot better than most of us. The middle class { below the middle class most are paying very little if any tax already } subsidizing the upper middle class and wealthier.

Long ago I had a XR 500 engine in a Yamaha TD chassis. Our local track had an open 500 cc , single cylinder class. That bike pulled like a freight train, complete opposite of the original 250, race ported, 2 stroke. If you think a XR 500 on dirt is a wheelie machine , try one on pavement with a sticky tire. You didn't even think of hitting the throttle hard until you had shifted your weight well forward. And a vastly easier engine to keep running than the very high strung 250.

Drive sprocket yes, but with CAM ? are you planning on needing 250 of them ? Take a good look at the driven sprocket . That would be a pricy piece of metal to produce by any method.

I know the comparison to the golf hobby is often cited , but a person can golf on a very limited budget. My father , once he retired , regularly played golf with a tiny outlay. Seniors rates , 9:00 Am tee times , pre booked, package rates, public course. The gas to get him there almost cost as much. Yes, you can spend a ton on golf . But there are also ways for the very frugal to participate. The old car hobby on the other hand , even at its cheapest , is a big step up up in expense.

Even in the size used by most vintage bicycles { B-502 ?} , block chain is relatively expensive. It fell out of general use on bicycles around the time of WW2 , but it continued to be used on track racing bicycles right up to about 1960. Even at $100.00 a foot for the size your Orient uses it would be cheaper than new driven sprockets.

Your 750 looks a lot like mine. But I have only owned mine since 1977. Mine has a yellow roadster tank and roadster seat but is actually an Interstate. It still has the Interstate low pipes and larger side covers. I have the correct tank but the fiberglass Interstate seat base broke up years ago.

The outside

One of these ? Looks like a fine track mount !

Gaskets for almost anything are easy thanks to Olson's. Don't you wish other categories of old vehicle parts were as well supplied.

Can't say I am too much of a fan of 3T's. Several weak points and pretty underwhelming overall. My TR5 shares many parts, but all round a far more capable machine. TR5 specific parts are rare and on the pricy side, but all in restoration cost is probably only 50% more. And a TR5 is easily worth triple what a 3T will sell for. Just my personal way of looking at things, I don't intend to hurt your Triumph's feelings. Actually I am way more of a Norton / BSA person. My first bike was a TR6 Trophy , but it was soon replaced by a Norton. Until the TR5 project came along I didn't have anything further to do with Triumph for 20 years.

Here in British Columbia where I live we have a " Collector Plate " program that gives the owner a very deeply discounted , yearly insurance cost. But only real vintage machines , 25 years and older. After several years the vintage bike really pays off compared to insuring a newer machine.

Nice group! One of my back burner projects is piecing together a 1949 TR5. Bit by bit things have turned up, but I am probably going to pass it along to someone else. So much pre unit Triumph stuff has left this area over the last 25 years that It has become very difficult indeed to piece one together from local parts . Buying parts in the U.S. with Canadian $ and then paying shipping is a lost cause. At one time the Vancouver B.C. area was loaded with Triumph stuff. Tons and tons of it . But many large exports to Australia , New Zealand , back home to the U.K. and to a lesser extent to the U.S. has left my local cupboard quite bare.

I don't think you are dreaming Al. But at the same time I doubt you are talking about this century. Or at least the first 3/4 of it.

A good friend is a Rudge nut. One running Ulster and a second one coming together.

I expect a pre war Gold Star is a bike worth getting really correct. But being a competition bike they would have had pretty rough use for their first 10 years in almost every case. I expect there are good reference photo's out there , but it is not a bike I have personally dug into. My Gold Star is a 1954 Swing arm machine. Also a 49 ZB motor in a 49 B34 chassis. BSA's parts books are where I always start. They detail out every part , except bought in things, Mags, lights, horn etc, are normally only described as a basic, assembled unit.

I always look at bikes as things to be ridden. The show side of motorcycles is fine. I take lots of reference photo's of machines similar to ones I own. But I have no real interest in showing my bikes.

What model ? 1939 BSA's are pretty simple devices . Even the Gold Star's are firmly based on the reasonably plentiful Empire Stars. Of course anything Gold Star specific is hens teeth. By correct are you meaning properly functional ? Or correct from a exact match to what was used in 1939 point of view ?