Motorcycles
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@motojobobo thank you very much! I am happy that you like the photos of our tour. Time went by too fast, like always. But next year i will start again!!
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The story of Larry’s bike.
Larry Code on his Bonneville TT Special September 2004 in front of the clubhouse door.
Larry was a crusty old bastard. He was an old school working class, San Francisco biker. He first bought the TT used in 1977 and it was his only bike. It’s a ‘64 competition frame with a ‘67 Bonneville TT Special motor. This was a common combination for flat track racers from ‘66 on as Triumph modified their frames in ‘66 - relaxing the geometry to appeal to road riders. The racers preferred the tighter geometry of the earlier frames. TT Specials were made for racing only and had hotter motors. But starting in ‘66 they showed up with the same relaxed frame angles. Hence the swap would occur. I don’t think Larry ever raced. But obviously a previous owner had.
Anyways, the way Larry had it set up, the bike fit his persona perfectly and I always admired it. It was like a low rent, bad boy custom with a hot motor circa 1967.
Larry never said much and when he did it was more of a growl. He drank Christian Brothers brandy by the shot. At the time, it only cost a buck at the Club and whenever I was working the stick I always bought it for him.About the photo:
The walls of our clubhouse are covered with B&W photos going back to the very early 1900s. I sometimes bring my Leica and do B&W portraits of members in front of the Clubhouse door. I’m proud to say this one hangs on our memorial wall.
Larry passed in 2013. Another club member ended up buying the TT from Larry’s family and kept it in storage. He brought it out for a bike show and when I saw it, I told him that if he ever sold it, please sell it to me. I wanted to make sure it stayed in the club. In January 2015 I finally acquired it. This pic was taken the day I picked it up . (BTW, I’m wearing a purple, buffalo check, UHF.). The single shoe front brake, worn out shocks, hard ass cobra seat, hi-rise handlebars and goofy chromed carbs made it neigh on unridable. But it was finally mine.
Sept 2016 - after some fairly major revisions to increase the TT’s dependability & ride-ability (without changing it’s general appearance, mind you) I entered and completed the NorCal TT - a 500 mile, 2 day, all vintage rally thru the Sierras - riding the TT. The new seat, Amal premier carbs, ‘69 dual caliper front brake, flat track bars and competition shocks made all the difference. She ran great.
June 2022 - this photo was taken at the beginning of the western leg of CA 36 - a legendary stretch of road between Red Bluff in the valley and Ferndale on the pacific coast. Two lanes over two mountain ranges. Thousands of curves with no stop signs, no stop lights, no gas stations, almost no cars and no cops. It was the second day of the Moto Melee - a 3 day, 900 mile vintage bike rally.
Note the patch on the tank. An old dent ( visible in the first pic from 2004 ) had finally given up the ghost the day before and cracked on the road in 100 f heat. I had to drain the gas below the crack line to keep from sloshing gas all over my lap and be careful not to fill past the crack at gas stops. Luckily, the emergency JB Weld repair in the motel parking lot that night held and I was able to finish the ride.Also check out the bandage on my left hand. I’d broken it the night before the ride started in SF. But my brother had flown out from the East coast to join the Melee riding my ‘69 TR6. I knew if I cancelled, he wouldn’t go either. So I taped it up, loaded up on ibuprofen and rode anyway. What an idiot.
That was the last time I rode the Bonne - until yesterday.
Two days after finishing the Melee I was in the hospital getting hand surgery. A year after that I had rotator cuff surgery - which failed and then came the complete, reverse shoulder replacement. It was a tough three years.
The Bonne is the last of my bikes to get back on the road post-surgery. I got the tank repaired and had it painted in Club colors by Pete the Painter in SF. I’m pretty sure Larry wouldn’t mind. But then again, he was kinda fond of that rattle can blue.
Special thanks to Don Clancy for making her purr like a kitten, growl like an alley cat and run like a cheetah.Keep the rubber side down Brothers.
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@SFMCfranky …and the shiny side up! Great story and I’m sure he’s smiling. Thank you for sharing
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@SFMCfranky Such a cool story.
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@SFMCfranky The good bikes never truly leaving the circle is the best part!
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@SFMCfranky This is why I love this thread! Thanks for sharing and enjoy the ride
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Detailed and ceramic coating looking cleannn -
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@94atromero hell yeah! You go +6?
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@WhiskeySandwich Not quite. I used the tracker die extended damper rods with gained me about 3.5" and cut the rebound spring an inch. So i think im around +4.5"ish.
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@94atromero interesting, I havent heard of that solution to extend forks. So those are factory tubes just pushed to the end (internally)? You had to cut the springs to reinstall the caps? Sorry for picking your brain, i'm just curious. No spacers on top then i imagine?
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@WhiskeySandwich No worries, I love talking about this stuff. So yes, they are the factory tubes pushed up. This is the extended damper rod vs the stock one. Also a benefit is the added fork travel provided.
Then i cut the top out spring underneath the damper rod head which gained me an additional inch. I hadnt seen anyone do this either, but i know the racetech kits come with a 1" top out spring so i wasnt too worried.
Due to cutting the lower top out spring i actually had to add an additional 1" spacer on top of the main spring.
Up next I will probably do the racetech valve emulators though to get better performance out of the setup all around.
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@94atromero That seems like a good solution. I see a couple tradeoffs between that and extended tubes. Those are probably cheaper than tubes, but still require the same fork rebuild. I like that it gets you more travel, but seems like it'd reduce the 'overlap' of the tubes within the sliders, putting a little lateral leverage on the openings of the slider? but maybe a fork brace would help with that? The problem with extended tubes is it just mounts the trees further up and its basically a spacer. I guess both options are better than the extended fork caps...
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From last Thursday at the Club:
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@Choko Thats awesome
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@Choko Doesn't get much better.
