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  • Vintage Philosophy

    Well I'm just sitting here wondering why it is I really love an antique motorcycle or plane or car or house for that matter. It's hard to say why I lean to the past for my inspiration. A retreat to a simpler time is certainly one reason. But knowing why may not be the best thing either; too much knowledge can take the mystery and attraction out of passion. Passion is rarely logical, but it's the spice of life.

    I can appreciate the new from an engineering point of view and for it's practicality. I have a modern truck and my bike is from the modern era, well almost, 1978 BMW. But there is not much passion there, just utility. Where's the adventure? Retreating into the past provides a peak into an era I just saw the end of before disappearing. It was stimulating, and then it was gone. I find the forms and shapes of what came before attractive, the developing engineering of the old bikes and cars in particular, fascinating. What people were able to do with these old evolving machines, keeping them running themselves, exploring the country, competing, all under a certain adversity, are elements missing in today's modern world.

    And yet none of us really want to give up what we have for a harder life. But we seem to have given up comradship and fellowship and adventure for security. At least in the "vintage" sense. And the machines we love are still around if we want to restore them and if we can afford it, so we do. But the past is getting harder and harder to retreat into as the modern era becomes more pervasive than ever. We become islands.

    The computer, which all of us here are using, and which is a very modern device, at least has the ability to allow our disparate voices to meet and form a common community of interest and engage in a dialogue. So not everything new is bad, it all depends on how one uses the modern.

    I guess in the above are some of the reasons that "antique" for me is something that happened before the 50's, no doubt due to the fact that my perspective is formed from the environment I was born into in 1944.

    Anybody else out there think they know why they lean in towards the past, why the love those old motorcycles?

    Howard Petri

  • #2
    This is a question that I think about with some regularity. At 47, it would appear that I'm a few years younger than the median age in this club. And I discovered computers at an early age, and knew that's how I wanted to make my living. My experience with "vintage" vehicles was, until 10 years ago, limited to the VW bug I once owned and maintained.

    For me, vintage bikes allow me to look back and experience an era I was never a part of. (I sold that VW to buy a new Mazda when I was 21.) I find that the solutions chosen by my engineering forefathers give insight into what was possible in various timeframes of the 20th century. The level of maintenance and simplicity of designs required demonstrate the level of infrastructure and expected mechanical ability of owners in those times.

    But riding an old bike is what really hooked me. A friend gave me a basket case 1961 BMW. While I didn't really think I was capable of putting it together, when my wife forced my hand ("either put it together or get rid of it"), I found I was indeed able to do it. When it first fired up and I took my first ride on it, it was such a different experience from my modern bike, I wanted to ride it whenever possible.

    Just as the mechanical parts required me to be involved with the bike, so does riding it. A modern bike has 2 or 3 gears that could be in use for any given speed. Sometimes my vintage bikes have NO gears that are really happy places for a given set of circumstances. I have to be aware and make adjustments to keep the bike happy. And while any modern bike is more capable than I am as a rider, my vintage bikes allow me to actually get to the edge of their performance. For me, this is the best part, and I am not collecting bikes to build a museum. I only get bikes with the intention that I will be able to ride them.

    Finally, I really enjoy spending time with a group of like minded folks, who also "get it" about old bikes. For that, I wish you all a Happy New Year!

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    • #3
      vintage philosophy

      Gentlemen,
      Another enjoyable read, thank you. I too am drawn to the old. i find comfort in the craftsmanship & simple durability of these old machines. I take every day as a challenge to simplify. The demands of work & home can be overwhelming. I used to do most of the work on my cars & motorcycles, until that day when I looked under the hood & saw the motor sideways. Up until that day, I had flathead V-8's.
      i understand my old Harley, we're friends from a common era. I grew up on a farm, there is a tractor-like quality to it. If you take good care of them & talk nice they will take you anywhere. I saw a show on TV that equated the Harley riding position with western cowboys & the modern sport bike riding position with english equitation. I had never made that correlation, but its true. I've always been a cowboy. On the subject of, "taking care of it & it will take care of you", my great uncle used to have a few drinks years ago, he would climb on his horse & say, "take me to the barn." There have been evenings when I talk to my bike.
      I hope all who read this have,
      a nice warm safe night in the barn this New Years !
      Bob

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      • #4
        I sort of do live in the woods with a simple lifestyle and just prefer "old" anyway. My favorite decades are the 1840s-1850s, the 1890s-1910s, and 1936-1950.

        But I know what you mean. My "new" bike is a 1976 BMW that is really well-engineered, reliable, and with the desireable (to me) driveshaft but it has a BLAH personality.

        Lately I've been working on my 1940s Servi-Car and I just love those parts more. Years ago I would lean across the seat of my Big Twins and just admire the engine, the pushrod tubes, groovy cam cover, etc. with real affection. Hard to explain, but it didn't have much to with chrome I'll tell you that.

        The term "real" motorcycle comes to mind.

        Old guns are cool too.

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        • #5
          1840's - 1850's ... what? Please explain. Steam power ???

          Louie

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          • #6
            HC,
            What you call livin in the woods??? No DSL???

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            • #7
              I have been interested in History all my life so much so that I received my Master's degree at the age of 45. I think of the 19th century as a time of craftsmanship, when things were made by hand with a reverence for the material, Blacksmiths using iron or steel and cabinetmakers using a variety of woods to produce locally made products. With the industrial revolution of the 1870's ( give or take a few years) production became mundane, the workplace hollow of the earlier entrepreneurs that made this land.
              I admire all the early American Motorcycle manufacturers for what they sought--the American Dream----A dream that made the 19 teens the Golden years of motorcycling and the 1920's an extension. It is too bad that in the middle of this growth in both popularity and exceptance, WWI crippled the industry and simply sunk many of the marquis that had contributed to the growing acceptance of the motorcycle. I applaud all of you out there that keep our history, motorcycle or otherwise alive----

              Comment


              • #8
                I thought the Model T was the demise of many of the the early motorcycle manufacturers?

                Comment


                • #9
                  Great reading your responses!

                  Hello fellow Enthusiasts,
                  I have really enjoyed learning why you love old motorcycles so much. I started working on Indians and British bikes in 1977. I was 16 and hanging out at a Chopper shop, instead of going to school. I was terrible at working on bikes, but the shop owner taught me to work on British bikes, and eventually Indians and Harleys. While washing dishes at my Dad’s restaurant, I managed to purchase my first Indian. The fellow selling it let me pay $50 a week, it cost $200.
                  Two years ago, we started restoring our 1953 Indian Chief. It was a basket case and it will end up costing more to restore it than buying one that is already built. But that is ok, because I am experiencing the entire process of breathing life into a creation of my own. To me, hand fitting every nut and bolt, spraying the paint, building the wheels, and getting all the parts to work in harmony is the art of restoration. It may sound corny, but while looking at pictures of Indians on the factory floor in 1953, I wonder if my bike is somewhere amongst them! I also think that interesting motorcycles come with interesting owners, and I value the friendships that have I have made in pursuit of old motorcycles (that goes for on-line friendships too!).
                  Cheers, and best wishes!
                  Attached Files

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                  • #10
                    To Jim M.---Yes the Model T did contribute to the demise of many of the early motorcycle manufacturers. But Harley, Indian, and Excelesor all had contracts with the US government to produce military bikes. In addition, rising wages for factory workers and a lack of raw materials that went to the war effort ( the US supplied war material long before they entered the war) put the small builders out of business. Indian dedicated its entire production to military bikes while H-D continued to supply civilian bikes. After WWI Harley was the King, with Indian and Excelsor far behind and the rest we know. Schwinn droped out but still made bicycles and Indian managed to continue until 1953.

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                    • #11
                      Thanks for the response. I learn something new every time I log on. That era has always been interesting to me.

                      Jim

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