 Metric v/s Imperial Cruisers
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Joined: Dec 2010
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OP
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Our Bonneville Ameica's & Speedmasters fall into the "Cruiser" catagory but I never see them listed under the Japanese "Metric Cruiser" catagory. Would it be fair then to label our Triumphs with the term "Imperial Cruisers"? Then again that term is beginning to sound like a ship from the Japanese Imperial Navy of WWII. So what should we be calling them? 
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Re: Metric v/s Imperial Cruisers
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Joined: Feb 2007
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Fe Butt
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Fe Butt
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 23,244 Likes: 64 |
I learned all I need to know about life by killing smart people and eating their brains.
Eat right ,Exercise ,Stay fit, Die Anyway!
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Re: Metric v/s Imperial Cruisers
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Joined: Feb 2005
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Fe Butt
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Fe Butt
Joined: Feb 2005
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Quote:
Our Bonneville Ameica's & Speedmasters fall into the "Cruiser" catagory but I never see them listed under the Japanese "Metric Cruiser" catagory. Would it be fair then to label our Triumphs with the term "Imperial Cruisers"?
Then again that term is beginning to sound like a ship from the Japanese Imperial Navy of WWII. So what should we be calling them?
Interesting concept here, John. However, my opinion about this would be that the ONLY way we could legitimately call our motorcycles "Imperial Cruisers", as in the old British Imperial Unit measurement system, would be IF these babies of ours were held together with the old BSW(British Standard Whitworth) nuts and bolts.
However, because our bikes use Metric nuts and bolts, I'm afraid we're pretty much stuck with the idea that these babies of ours are "Metric Cruisers".
(...but hey, look on the BRIGHT SIDE here, Dude...AT LEAST our beautiful machines aren't held together with SAE American nuts and bolts which often tend to vibrate off from the ONLY motorcycles made in the world that still use them, RIGHT?!) 
Yep! Just like a good Single Malt Scotch, you might call me "an acquired taste" TOO.(among the many OTHER things you may care to call me, of course)
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Re: Metric v/s Imperial Cruisers
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Joined: Dec 2010
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Adjunct
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Hey I had a thought about this bolting concept Dwight. What type of bolting do Harleys have? Surely not metric threads? Wouldn't that be an incredible situation if we could label Harleys as metric cruisers as well? 
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Re: Metric v/s Imperial Cruisers
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Joined: Oct 2010
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Adjunct
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Adjunct
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Imperial Cruiser sounds like something out of Star Wars
Peace in the country when the sun goes down , the corn is gettin' high
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Re: Metric v/s Imperial Cruisers
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Joined: Jan 2005
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Should be Riding
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Should be Riding
Joined: Jan 2005
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One of the first articles written about this new model labeled the Bonneville America: Colonial Cruiser.
Blowing gravel off rural roads
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Re: Metric v/s Imperial Cruisers
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Loquacious
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Loquacious
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Well around here folks call mine "fish-n-chips" 
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Re: Metric v/s Imperial Cruisers
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Monkey Butt
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Monkey Butt
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Because of the fine maneuverability and performance of the America I prefer to think of it as a Sport Cruiser.
We all like to think of ourselves as rugged individualists. But when push comes to shove most of us are sheep who do what we are told. Worst of all, a lot of us become unpaid agents of whoever is controlling the agenda by enforcing the current dogma on the few rugged individualists who actually exist.
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Re: Metric v/s Imperial Cruisers
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Joined: Jan 2005
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Should be Riding
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Should be Riding
Joined: Jan 2005
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Quote:
Because of the fine maneuverability and performance of the America I prefer to think of it as a Sport Cruiser.
Colonial Cruiser implies continental treks. Couple that with the Sport Cruiser aspect and what we have is a fine machine.
Colonial Sport Cruiser?
Blowing gravel off rural roads
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Re: Metric v/s Imperial Cruisers
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Joined: Jun 2007
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Loquacious
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Loquacious
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Maybe a Colonial Sport Cruiser? 
"You can't believe everything you read on the internet" : William Shakespeare
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Re: Metric v/s Imperial Cruisers
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Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 1,160
Learned Hand
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Learned Hand
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 1,160 |
I would call the Euro and put them in the same class as Ducati and BMW, Guzzi. Realy there are anof of them that there should have there own class.
Life need a little Triumph!
2008 Triumph Speedmaster, Single baffle drag pipes, lots of black powder coatin,K&N pods, AI removed, TBS needles and a procom cdi.
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Re: Metric v/s Imperial Cruisers
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Joined: Jan 2008
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Learned Hand
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Learned Hand
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Quote:
Quote:
Our Bonneville Ameica's & Speedmasters fall into the "Cruiser" catagory but I never see them listed under the Japanese "Metric Cruiser" catagory. Would it be fair then to label our Triumphs with the term "Imperial Cruisers"?
Then again that term is beginning to sound like a ship from the Japanese Imperial Navy of WWII. So what should we be calling them?
Interesting concept here, John. However, my opinion about this would be that the ONLY way we could legitimately call our motorcycles "Imperial Cruisers", as in the old British Imperial Unit measurement system, would be IF these babies of ours were held together with the old BSW(British Standard Whitworth) nuts and bolts.
However, because our bikes use Metric nuts and bolts, I'm afraid we're pretty much stuck with the idea that these babies of ours are "Metric Cruisers".
(...but hey, look on the BRIGHT SIDE here, Dude...AT LEAST our beautiful machines aren't held together with SAE American nuts and bolts which often tend to vibrate off from the ONLY motorcycles made in the world that still use them, RIGHT?!)
those triumph nuts and bolts are DIN spec metric, as opposed to JIS or ISO. so its german, jappanese or US/Canada?
05 speedmaster - 1100cc, 11:1 racing pistons, Carillo rods, thunderbike cams, ported and polished head, 2mm over intake and exhaust valves, Barnett kevlar clutch, scepter pipes, oversize manifolds, 45mm HSR's, TTP stage 4 firestarter
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Re: Metric v/s Imperial Cruisers
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Joined: Sep 2010
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Second Wind
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Second Wind
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Well, heres the ironic news, Much of the Harley Davidson bikes are now bolted together with metric and SAE fasteners.
If the case is, that being held together by metric fasteners make a bike a "metric", and SAE fasteners make it an "American". Then yes our bikes are metric, but Harleys are hybrids.
Now being that the word standard means
stand·ard;[stan-derd]
noun
1.
something considered by an authority or by general consent as a basis of comparison; an approved model.
2.
an object that is regarded as the usual or most common size or form of its kind.
3.
a rule or principle that is used as a basis for judgment
4.
an average or normal requirement, quality, quantity, level, grade, etc.: His work this week hasn't been up to his usual standard.
5.
standards, those morals, ethics, habits, etc., established by authority, custom, or an individual as acceptable.
Concidering the definition here metric is standard.
I have no faith in human perfectability. I think that human exertion will have no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active - not more happy - nor more wise, than he was 6000 years ago.
Edgar Allan Poe
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Re: Metric v/s Imperial Cruisers
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Joined: Feb 2005
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Fe Butt
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Fe Butt
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Quote:
Well, heres the ironic news, Much of the Harley Davidson bikes are now bolted together with metric and SAE fasteners.
Yep Chad. This is kind of like how by the late '60s Triumphs started rolling out of the old Meriden factory with both Whitworth and Metric fasteners, as they too were in the process of switching to the international Metric standard.
Btw, one of my first motorcycles back in that era and my first Britbike that I purchased when I was 17 years old, was a 2 year old 1966 BSA 650 Lightning which used Whitworth fasteners. I remember taking a set of my father's older set of SAE open-end wrenches that he had given to me, and grinding and filing a few of their openings in order to fit the size of the bolt heads and nuts on that ol' Beezer.
(...I guess I was just too cheap to go out and purchase a set of Whitworth wrenches...but then again, supermarket boxboys didn't pull in a whole lot o' money back then, ya know)
Yep! Just like a good Single Malt Scotch, you might call me "an acquired taste" TOO.(among the many OTHER things you may care to call me, of course)
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Re: Metric v/s Imperial Cruisers
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Joined: Jul 2007
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Worn Saddle
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Worn Saddle
Joined: Jul 2007
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Quote:
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Well, heres the ironic news, Much of the Harley Davidson bikes are now bolted together with metric and SAE fasteners.
I remember taking a set of my father's older set of SAE open-end wrenches that he had given to me, and grinding and filing a few of their openings in order to fit the size of the bolt heads and nuts on that ol' Beezer.
(...I guess I was just too cheap to go out and purchase a set of Whitworth wrenches...but then again, supermarket boxboys didn't pull in a whole lot o' money back then, ya know)
HUH. Your family must have had MONEY! We was pouh folk. Visegrips and crescent wrenchs!
Fidelis et Fortis
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Re: Metric v/s Imperial Cruisers
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Joined: Aug 2009
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Loquacious
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Loquacious
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Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Well, heres the ironic news, Much of the Harley Davidson bikes are now bolted together with metric and SAE fasteners.
I remember taking a set of my father's older set of SAE open-end wrenches that he had given to me, and grinding and filing a few of their openings in order to fit the size of the bolt heads and nuts on that ol' Beezer.
(...I guess I was just too cheap to go out and purchase a set of Whitworth wrenches...but then again, supermarket boxboys didn't pull in a whole lot o' money back then, ya know)
HUH. Your family must have had MONEY! We was pouh folk. Visegrips and crescent wrenchs!
Luxury!
Too old to die young, too ugly to leave a good looking corpse
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Re: Metric v/s Imperial Cruisers
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Joined: Apr 2008
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Loquacious
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Loquacious
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Quote:
...but then again, supermarket boxboys didn't pull in a whole lot o' money back then, ya know)
So how'd ya score the BA.!!?? 
And you may see me tonight
With an illegal smile
J. Prine
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Re: Metric v/s Imperial Cruisers
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Joined: Feb 2005
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Fe Butt
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Fe Butt
Joined: Feb 2005
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Quote:
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...but then again, supermarket boxboys didn't pull in a whole lot o' money back then, ya know)
So how'd ya score the BA.!!??
Well erle, THAT'S a LOOOOONG story. And so, if ya have about three and a half hours to spare here I'll start the story in the year 1971 and when THIS young man at the time made the mistake of thinkin' that a career in the Airline Biz was good idea!
Okay, are ya READY???
Yep! Just like a good Single Malt Scotch, you might call me "an acquired taste" TOO.(among the many OTHER things you may care to call me, of course)
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Re: Metric v/s Imperial Cruisers
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Joined: Mar 2007
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Adjunct
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Adjunct
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For the serious Sci-Fi geeks out there...
I would actually view the ubiquitous Harley Road King/Bagger as fitting the image of "Imperial Cruiser"...while preferring to think of my beautiful BA as more like a "lightly modified Corellian light stock freighter"
LMAO
/nerd moment off
SFC, US Army (Ret)
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Re: Metric v/s Imperial Cruisers
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Oil Expert
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Re: Metric v/s Imperial Cruisers
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Loquacious
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Loquacious
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Quote:
Quote:
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Well, heres the ironic news, Much of the Harley Davidson bikes are now bolted together with metric and SAE fasteners.
I remember taking a set of my father's older set of SAE open-end wrenches that he had given to me, and grinding and filing a few of their openings in order to fit the size of the bolt heads and nuts on that ol' Beezer.
(...I guess I was just too cheap to go out and purchase a set of Whitworth wrenches...but then again, supermarket boxboys didn't pull in a whole lot o' money back then, ya know)
HUH. Your family must have had MONEY! We was pouh folk. Visegrips and crescent wrenchs!
Visegrips and cresent wrenches?Luxury! We used to dream of Visegrips and cresent wrenches!We used to use spanners carved from wood!
Dinosaur.
"Oh Man I only ride 'em.I don't know what makes 'em work". Donald "Oddball" Sutherland
"Don't let the bastards get you down". Kris Kristofferson
"I am only paranoid because everyone is against me". Larry [Frank Burns] Linville
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 Re: Metric v/s Imperial Cruisers
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Joined: Jun 2006
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Loquacious
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Loquacious
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Steelheart- '03 Speedmaster Black/Yellow
The Hayabusa Killa
16" Shorties/140 mains/Airbox drilled
Procom CDI
"There is no cure for Celibacy. But we can treat the symptoms."
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Re: Metric v/s Imperial Cruisers
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Old Hand
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Old Hand
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Well, there's Canada and Australia, Falkland Ascension and a couple other south Atlantic islands, Indian ocean territory, Gibraltar, some islands in the Pacific. Yup, still enough to call an empire, so that makes Triumph an Imperial bike. 
Let's hope there's intelligent life somewhere in space 'cause it's buggar all down here. -- Monte Python
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Re: Metric v/s Imperial Cruisers
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 754
3/4 Throttle
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3/4 Throttle
Joined: May 2011
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Quote:
One of the first articles written about this new model labeled the Bonneville America: Colonial Cruiser.
I think the term "Liberated" Colonial Cruiser would be more appropriate for those ridden here in the US....Somehow (outside of the whole Star Wars associations) the moniker "Colonial" just doesn't fit ol Black Beauty...
Regardless of the nuts & bolts it took to put em together...Afterall it is a Bonneville "America"
Karl
Odessa, MO
'07 America, Cinnamon Girl (aka: Black Beauty or Ol' Penny) - Sit Down, Shut Up & Hang On
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Re: Metric v/s Imperial Cruisers
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Joined: Sep 2010
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Second Wind
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Second Wind
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They are Triumphs guys....."GO your own way" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ul-cZyuYq4
I have no faith in human perfectability. I think that human exertion will have no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active - not more happy - nor more wise, than he was 6000 years ago.
Edgar Allan Poe
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Re: Metric v/s Imperial Cruisers
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Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 2,580
Loquacious
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Loquacious
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 2,580 |
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Well, heres the ironic news, Much of the Harley Davidson bikes are now bolted together with metric and SAE fasteners.
I remember taking a set of my father's older set of SAE open-end wrenches that he had given to me, and grinding and filing a few of their openings in order to fit the size of the bolt heads and nuts on that ol' Beezer.
(...I guess I was just too cheap to go out and purchase a set of Whitworth wrenches...but then again, supermarket boxboys didn't pull in a whole lot o' money back then, ya know)
HUH. Your family must have had MONEY! We was pouh folk. Visegrips and crescent wrenchs!
Visegrips and cresent wrenches?Luxury! We used to dream of Visegrips and cresent wrenches!We used to use spanners carved from wood!
Wood? WOOD? We used to dream of wooden spanners!
When we had the money, we used to make paper mache spanners.
And we considered ourselves lucky to be able to do so!
Too old to die young, too ugly to leave a good looking corpse
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Re: Metric v/s Imperial Cruisers
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Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 3,995 Likes: 10
Loquacious
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Loquacious
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 3,995 Likes: 10 |
Quote:
Quote:
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Well, heres the ironic news, Much of the Harley Davidson bikes are now bolted together with metric and SAE fasteners.
I remember taking a set of my father's older set of SAE open-end wrenches that he had given to me, and grinding and filing a few of their openings in order to fit the size of the bolt heads and nuts on that ol' Beezer.
(...I guess I was just too cheap to go out and purchase a set of Whitworth wrenches...but then again, supermarket boxboys didn't pull in a whole lot o' money back then, ya know)
HUH. Your family must have had MONEY! We was pouh folk. Visegrips and crescent wrenchs!
Visegrips and cresent wrenches?Luxury! We used to dream of Visegrips and cresent wrenches!We used to use spanners carved from wood!
Wood? WOOD? We used to dream of wooden spanners!
When we had the money, we used to make paper mache spanners.
And we considered ourselves lucky to be able to do so!
Money?Paper mache?Luxury! We used to dream of having money, and paper mache.We used to work 25 hours a day down pit for nothing and make spanners out of coal dust!
Dinosaur.
"Oh Man I only ride 'em.I don't know what makes 'em work". Donald "Oddball" Sutherland
"Don't let the bastards get you down". Kris Kristofferson
"I am only paranoid because everyone is against me". Larry [Frank Burns] Linville
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Re: Metric v/s Imperial Cruisers
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Joined: Feb 2011
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Oil Expert
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Oil Expert
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Coal dust! We used to dream of coal dust. We saved our pennies to buy dirt to make mud we could fastener wrenches out of.
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Re: Metric v/s Imperial Cruisers
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 6,821
Bar Shake
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Bar Shake
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 6,821 |
Dirt? We used to dream of dirt!
We just finger tightened the fasteners and spit on them so they would rust in place.
Contra todo mal, mezcal; contra todo bien, también
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Re: Metric v/s Imperial Cruisers
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Joined: Jun 2009
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Loquacious
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Loquacious
Joined: Jun 2009
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Dinosaur.
"Oh Man I only ride 'em.I don't know what makes 'em work". Donald "Oddball" Sutherland
"Don't let the bastards get you down". Kris Kristofferson
"I am only paranoid because everyone is against me". Larry [Frank Burns] Linville
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Re: Metric v/s Imperial Cruisers
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Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 2,580
Loquacious
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Loquacious
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Quote:
Dirt? We used to dream of dirt!
We just finger tightened the fasteners and spit on them so they would rust in place.
Ah, the Hardly Davidson school of mechanics
We couldn't afford the book
Too old to die young, too ugly to leave a good looking corpse
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Re: Metric v/s Imperial Cruisers
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 8,639 Likes: 3
Old Hand
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Old Hand
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 8,639 Likes: 3 |
Quote:
Dirt? We used to dream of dirt!
We just finger tightened the fasteners and spit on them so they would rust in place.
Where I lived, it was too cold for rust. We used to go steal a rock from the rich guys garden and bash the end of the bolt until it couldn't come loose.
Let's hope there's intelligent life somewhere in space 'cause it's buggar all down here. -- Monte Python
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Re: Metric v/s Imperial Cruisers
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Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 3,937
Loquacious
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Loquacious
Joined: Apr 2008
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Quote:
Quote:
Dirt? We used to dream of dirt!
We just finger tightened the fasteners and spit on them so they would rust in place.
Where I lived, it was too cold for rust. We used to go steal a rock from the rich guys garden and bash the end of the bolt until it couldn't come loose.
Bolts!?? 
We couldn't afford bolts  , OR the tools to tighten them!
We had to steal various reeds, vines, and hemp to tie things together! 
And you may see me tonight
With an illegal smile
J. Prine
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Re: Metric v/s Imperial Cruisers
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 6,821
Bar Shake
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Bar Shake
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 6,821 |
Contra todo mal, mezcal; contra todo bien, también
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Re: Metric v/s Imperial Cruisers
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Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 2,419
Oil Expert
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Oil Expert
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Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Dirt? We used to dream of dirt!
We just finger tightened the fasteners and spit on them so they would rust in place.
Where I lived, it was too cold for rust. We used to go steal a rock from the rich guys garden and bash the end of the bolt until it couldn't come loose.
Bolts!??
We couldn't afford bolts , OR the tools to tighten them!
We had to steal various reeds, vines, and hemp to tie things together!
You were LUCKY!
We used to dream of tying things together. We held things together with wishful thinking. And when that didn't work we would put all the parts in a box and kick it around until we got something. And then my Pa called it a Harley.
Cheers, Richard
~~~~~~~~~~~~
09 America, Staintune Pipes, K&N, Breathe, Hagon Nitros, AI & O2 removed, tune 20184 (modified), MTX-L a/f gauge
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Re: Metric v/s Imperial Cruisers
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Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 3,937
Loquacious
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Loquacious
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 3,937 |
Quote:
...We held things together with wishful thinking. And when that didn't work we would put all the parts in a box and kick it around until we got something. And then my Pa called it a Harley.
I guess that pretty well puts an end to this thread.
And you may see me tonight
With an illegal smile
J. Prine
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Re: Metric v/s Imperial Cruisers
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Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 2,580
Loquacious
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Loquacious
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 2,580 |
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Dirt? We used to dream of dirt!
We just finger tightened the fasteners and spit on them so they would rust in place.
Where I lived, it was too cold for rust. We used to go steal a rock from the rich guys garden and bash the end of the bolt until it couldn't come loose.
Bolts!??
We couldn't afford bolts , OR the tools to tighten them!
We had to steal various reeds, vines, and hemp to tie things together!
You were LUCKY!
We used to dream of tying things together. We held things together with wishful thinking. And when that didn't work we would put all the parts in a box and kick it around until we got something. And then my Pa called it a Harley.
But just you try telling the youth of today that, and they wont believe you! 
Too old to die young, too ugly to leave a good looking corpse
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