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Why do I ride! Really?

by Barb
(Skagit County, Washington, USA)

I love Nortons!

I love Nortons!

Hi Ladies,

Well, hmmm. Let's see, when I was about 5 years old, my Poppa sat me on the gas tank of a pre-war Harley and took me for a ride. I was frightened to death and totally enthralled! He managed the suicide clutch, hand shift, spark advance and throttle, all while keeping one hand around me to keep me from slipping. I've been hooked ever since. I pestered the boys in the neighborhood for rides on their minibikes. At 15, I got a 1959 Lambretta scooter and was in heaven--until my father caught me riding before I had a license. Oops....

So I got a license, and a BSA Bantam 125cc two-stroke (but it looked like a real motorcycle), and them my father got me a post-war 80" Harley ULH flathead. Wow! It was huge, and when it fell over, I couldn't lift it up, so I sold it. Next came a BSA A-10 650 twin, and the first of a few Nortons, a 1962 650SS.

I've been married twice, have a son and two granddaughters (8 year old twins), and through it all, I lean on bikes. I ride to remember or to forget. I ride to laugh or to sing off-key or to cry my eyes out in privacy. I ride to save gasoline--naw, I'm lying there. I don't care about the gasoline; I ride for ME. When something goes wrong with the bikes, I call my Father and blame him, and he laughs....

I ride because I can't NOT ride. Pretty simple, you would think, right? It gets complicated when you factor in a family, a job, all sorts of things---riding to the store for food; how do you carry it? A sidecar, of course.....and how do you explain to a non-rider boyfriend that it's really worth $1000.00 to have that sidecar? ("It's my money and I want it!"---that's how...)

So I guess I ride for myriad reasons, all of them personal, some even rational. 8^)

That's why I'm here!

Barb

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Sep 18, 2009
Nice Norton!
by: Quicklimegirl

Barb, you'd LOVE my local vintage club's annual show in Corvallis...MANY members have really nice Nortons. I've read your postings and they all have been very good, especially the encouragement for women to know, and get to know how to work on their bikes. I (and now my BF) do 95% of our work on our vintage bikes (2 stroke Yamaha twins) but they their a lot easier to work on than 4 strokes...no valves, no cams, etc.

But it took me awhile to get over my intimidation to start working on them. I'm planning on starting restoration of the same model of street legal dirt bike I bought after four years of saving when I was 15. I have to wait until I'm fully healed, though...unfortunately I have been unable to ride since the end of May; I had reconstructively surgery on my R thumb for basal arthritis, and recovery @ age 51 is pretty slow.

I'm hoping I can start riding and wrenching again in another month or so. I'd love to meet and go riding with you sometime, as I'm in Washington too. The MC roads here in SW Washington are FABULOUS, especially in the Gifford Pinchot Natl Forest. If you like, email me @ quicklimegirl@hotmail.com

Happy riding!

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