The new secondhand updown loader

Finally the new second hand updown loader has arrived it was only 6 days late , now all we have to do is set it all up , and would you believe it with out the aid of a destruction manwell, me of all people !! with my record of Confucius with all things intergalactic wonder whapp computerness , so if not heard of in the next millennium send out a search party in one of them rooster booster rocket things from updown yonder Florida way , I may be floating about in a black hole some were out there by yonder , wish me luck

Well, hope it's more of a help than a hindrance! J.P. or I can probably both answer basic questions (or at least offer condolences!). But, it's a catch-22. You have to get far enough to get online to ask the questions...

Ha ha ha ye ,actualy I think I am about there , Just a bit of fine tuning left now , we could not make our minds up whether to go for a desktop or laptop , in the end we settled on another laptop but the difference is awesome , like jumping off a c90 on to a full blown R1 race bike

Funny you should be getting a new doo-dad. The rotten little kids all showed up at Christmas with an array of wee little phones that are smarter than my damn design computer! How to feel all dinasour-y! If the loto tickets ever get lucky, I might get a new smaller-than-a-laptop-bigger-than-a-notebook thingy... but I'll struggle on with my lumbering old clunker for now...

Well JP , me being the tighter than a Duck's ??? true blue Yorkshire Lad , it had got that replacing the old updown loader was a bit over due , I found that with the little not so smart smart phones are good but being small does come with some problems like the bit you type in to on some forums only show half a dozen words and wont let you scroll back to proof read what you have put , and that is ok if you are good at all this typing stuff , but for me I find it hard work , the boss has one of them Blackberry play book things that do all sorts and is not too bad , apart from on this site when you scroll down the page as soon as you take your finger off the screen it goes straight back to the top of the page again Grrrr frustrating or what ?? so I think as with most things it all come's down to compromise , and in the end we opted for the whaptop , you can hide them away , take them with you if you go away , which with the Bugilow we do , and the Whaptop can do most things the desktop does with having the DVDrw usb and card reader slots , and compared to all the smaller stuff I have used it is faster there for saving me more time to use it , just have to remember not to try the bounce test , Whaptops do not like being launched form 2' 6" ha ha

the thing I would like is the internet dingledongle for when we are away but , we manage with the not so smart Smart Phone for most things now

What on earth did we do with our selves before the intergalactic wonder web ??

We wrote letters made phone calls , we read news papers , remember them ?? those were the days , motor bikes were side valve or two stroke !! the good old days

It is so cold out, the internet is freezing up! Literally! Something on the connections at the pole. Two days without and the withdrawal symptoms eased up considerably. It does make me wonder how we survived without, doesn't it?
I found a bunch of stamps the other day and wondered what I was going to do with them.
Road was really icy last night and I didn't have a phone with me. Everybody was worried I'd spin off the road and they wouldn't have found me 'til after the coyotes had eaten me!
How DID we survive?
I can just barely use a phone for texting, so a keyboard is a must. I don't even like using a hand-me-down first generation Apple I-pad that I have upstairs. On top of the fact it crashes every time you ask it to do something internety, it is too heavy and too slow and too sensitive to inadvertent touching (I had a girl-friend like that once, but I digress...).
Anyhoo... It would have been an absolute miracle 10 years ago, and now it is trash!

First love photo...



I knew every bolt and nut, ever cable and lever, every bearing and link...

Those were simpler times...

Oh a wolf in sheep's clothing them little beauties , the ruination of many a young man, how many 16 year old's stated a life long love affair with motorcycling on one of them , but doesn't the bike you started on give a good indication of your age , I was Old and decrepit when they came out I was over the 30 year thresh hold of youth , now you have sent me off on a tangent , can I find the photo of my first road legal bike ?? mmm this may take a while or even longer

oh and PS , it is in black and white another indication of age lol

Yup! I'm just a young buck! That was a 1968 (I think) Honda CL90. We always called it 'S' by mistake. Not sure why. After all, it was obviously a full fledged moto-crosser! You can tell by the high pipe and the wide bars. Serious machinery there.



Here I am using it rather roughly. Note the serious off-road clothing and protection.



It was a wheelie monster!



It was a 'partnership' owner deal. My buddy and I split the $250 or so needed for a one year old 'demo' model. Sold it the next year when the bug had truly bitten and shot up to a CB450. Bit of a change...

I would love one of them now ,I have a couple of the Old c90 cubs in the garage one is past but has some usable bits and does run , the other needs a bit of restoration , but I think could be done , but one of them CL90s would be ace , all the c90 based motors over here are getting classic status and are being used by intrepid travellers doing big mileage runs on them and doing things like theses guys https://youtu.be/_gbHkSU0VqY
they are something else , just love them , and the guy that does the commentary makes the show and he is a lovely man , I was at a funeral of a mutual friend of his and mine and he got up to say a few words and had us all in stitches for best part of 15 mins what a man ,

And in the Beginning



try again soft Lad

My first street bike story isn't nearly as colorful. I was a late-bloomer in that area for a number of reasons. By the time I was in the market (just out of my teens), I had a good job, etc.

So I went with what I wanted and thought it new. A small (and exotic at the time) Honda 500 Interceptor. It was a great bike, and probably spoiled me for things like good brakes and handling.

Did the 500 have the chocolate cams ? I don't remember much about the 500 , but I remember the 750's over here got a bad name until they sorted them out with the VFR and they became a legend , and many still on the road over here with astronomical mileags on their backs ,

Eddie! That's PERFECT! The bike and the clothes and of course, the ATTITUDE!

Just bad all round!

What is the bike? I smell Norton?

And for the young'un (Smilo)... I wanted an Interceptor, but already had this...



I was so proud of its' 'European' heritage.... CX'E' were only sold in Europe and Canada.. I would never have traded it.
Then I did...
For a Honda Big Red ATC! Little kids running around, no time for biking, and a new 40 acre farm to wrestle with. Still have it too! Over 30 years old now I think... Still running great. I credit the meticulous maintenance schedule. I think I've changed to oil at least twice since I've had it. Bought a new battery about 5 years ago. All the tires have been replaced. Gas...
That's about it. Hondas, eh? Indestructible!


Figure it'll go in the will to the grandkid...

No it was Royal Enfield 250 Clipper , we were only allowed a 250 on Learner plates , it had solid ridged foot pegs that used to dig and try and dig a trench in the tarmac sending the rider sliding down the road more times than I care to remember, happy days , the days of Rock and Roll , sex ,and beer , , well I grew out of the beer , but hanging on to the other two lol

The CX was the bike that got me back in to biking after a long layoff bringing up the family and having no money , a friend came round one day wanted me to pick up some parts for him for this CX he was rebuilding , and when he finished it and got it back on the road he came round with it and threw the keys at me and said there you go have a ride on the box of bits you picked up , I only went round the block but as soon as I set off I thought where have I been ?? I have to get back in to this , with the result I ended up back in the land of the LIVING , God bless that man he is still a firm friend some 25 + years latter he does not have a bike any longer sadly due to ill health

The 500 had some sort of engine recall in the day as I recall, but mine wasn't one of recalled serials (must have been a better day at the factory that day or something).

Yeah, big into cars and bikes as a kid, but got a hand-me-down car when I was old enough to drive, so bikes kind of took a back seat.

I kind of wish I had a bike then, but then again, I may not have survived!

The 500 cx over here was sorted very fast and became a dispatch riders bike of choice for some years and was regarded as a no nonsense work bike , and for me that ride round the block left a soft spot in my heart , but when the 650 came along I lusted after one for ages , but alas it never happened , another one that got away on the long list of ones that got away ,

Steady Eddy wrote:No it was Royal Enfield 250 Clipper , it had solid ridged foot pegs that used to dig and try and dig a trench in the tarmac  l

Hence the term "Flying Sparks" !!

The CX650s were pretty bulletproof except for the alternator bits. If they went, the engine had to come out and get split to get fixed. Bigger problem with the Turbo. Mine never hiccuped the whole time I had it. Commuted 100 miles a day for a few years, with several high speed road trips squeezed into the odd weekend. It was so smooooothhh after the rock hard suspension and flippy feeling of the CB400F cafe racer thing. Never really got used to the rolling motion when you revved it at rest.
You could leave a fair amount of sparks with it too! Nowhere near the clearance of the new bikes. Still like to have it back tho'!

I often wonder how big a shed I would need if I had been allowed to keep all the old bikes and cars that I wish I could have kept and all the ones I would have liked but never got round to

Funny you should mention a garage. I was just telling SWMBO that if I ever win a big loto, the first thing I would do is build a retro garage to house the collection of toys that would be soon to follow... She wasn't impressed in the least. They just don't understand...



There is a very similar station to this in the next town down the coast. I've always loved this design. I even know where one of those signs exists.
Better be a million dollar win at the least, I guess...

This is how I would travel around looking for all the old bikes I 'lost'... and the Ferraris and Porches I'd need on rainy days!

Yes, back when I had my British bike magazine subscriptions (before they got too expensive), I got to read all about "maggots" (CX-500s).

Yeah, The gas station idea is pretty cool.  Unfortunately, most of our good ones didn't survive, what with being on prime corner-lot real estate.  There are a few of the old (20's), tiny ones locally that have been re-purposed, not much deco/streamline/googie stations left though.

If you want to see some amazing projects like the one you mentioned try the The Garage Journal.  Unlike most sites, all the action here is in the forum.  You'll be amazed!

I've seen a few of the Lowey Grayhounds converted to RVs.  Most are pretty ratty, but did see one nice one at a big swap meet.  The owners were sellers at the meet.  I'm actually a little surprised an RV maker hasn't done something in this style, but that industry is rarely very imaginative or original anyhow, so maybe not muc of a surprise.

I've only ever seen one of those Airstream type Greyhounds. It really struck a chord! They even sounded cool! I've got a picture somewhere of a million dollar conversion of a slightly different model that gives birth to a mini Cooper out a door somewhere.
I won't have time tonight to check out the garage site, but I know that when the topic came up on the 'SportsTouring' site, the garages that were posted were from ratty old sheds to ceramic tiled wonder spaces. Some of them were WAY cleaner than our kitchen. Just too good to be practical as far as I'm concerned...

What you have only ever seen one of them Greyhound bus's JP ?? you are shattering my illusions of life on yonder side on't pond I thought there was thousands of them running between all the major towns through out the US and Canada , oh well if there ain't going to be no Greyhounds for me to use my bus pass on I ain't coming

No romance in buses anymore. This is what is running around now...



Well... picture of an American one. They really are comfortable and quiet and sexy smooth... but no romance.

This is what I grew up with...



Fairly noisy and a little smelly from time to time. I went to school about 50 miles from home and had to take the bus home when I missed connections with a car pool. As soon as the Honda 450 came on the scene, I never rode a bus again!

I can see this spawning a train discussion pretty soon. Anybody know what a 'Dayliner" is?

no , I was like you never went on buses for years then went to the IoM as a foot passenger and got one of them Rover tickets bus train and trams as much as you like for the week , jumped on a double Decker and sat up top front seat , got the shock of my life that driver was a mad man trying to race the bikes , got our moneys worth out of them tickets that's for sure , working out the time tables was fun ,
And now we are retired we get a bus pass and use it locally when going up town as it is easier than parking the Bugilow and as the bus stop is outside the house can be quicker than getting the bike out , its funny when I do go on the bike how the bike does 5 times more miles than the bus , still trying to work that one out , lol