Weather around here has been odd, to say the least. We went from the dryest summer we had in decades with a full blown drought, to a dry, winter that was one of the warmest on record, to a cool, rainy spring and moved now into a muggy, rainy summer. The rivers around here that were literally bone dry last summer are full to overflowing and the ground is so saturated that even a light shower results in flash flood warnings being issued.
Crops out in the farm fields around here look, well, they’re horrible. There’s no other way to put it. Except for a few fields which are on high ground and well drained just about everything is stunted and looking pretty sad because of the almost non-stop rain we’ve been getting.
Still, here at grouchyfarmer.com’s palatial headquarters, the gardens are doing pretty much fantastic. The raspberries are in full swing right now. We don’t have a lot of them but the ones we do have are doing the best I’ve ever seen them. Big, lush, juicy fruits with intense flavor.
The cucumbers are looking great as well. They’re in full flower right now. All the varieties of peppers we put in are already starting to produce fruit and some are even getting big enough to pick here pretty soon. When I was out in the heat mowing lawn this afternoon I saw some banana peppers almost 5 inches long, just about the perfect size for eating fresh.
The flowering plants have been doing great as well. We tried something a bit silly with the stump from the old ash tree out back. We built a sort of retaining wall with round blocks of wood cut from the tree itself, filled it with dirt, and planted it with zinnias and wild flowers just to see what would happen. And this is the result.
I don’t know about you, but I’m enormously pleased with the results. Once the rest of the zinnias start to flower that’s going to be amazing.
Okay, the Norton. What’s a Norton, you ask? It’s a classic British motorcycle manufacturer. Back in the day I owned a 1968 750 Norton that I had a love/hate relationship with. It was temperamental, had one of the worst electrical systems ever devised by man, vibrated so badly every nut and bolt and screw on it had to be wired down so they didn’t fall off, was almost impossible to start when it got moody, and the exhaust system fell off on a regular basis. People would see me sitting at the side of the road having a smoke with the bike and stop and ask if I needed help. Nope, I’d say. Just waiting for the damned exhaust to cool down, and I’d point to the exhaust pipes laying in the ditch.
In other words it was pretty much a classic British motorcycle.
Great fun, that bike. I eventually sold it for $400. I heard later that two days after I sold it the new owner had neglected to follow any of the warnings I’d given him about preventative maintenance and the care and feeding of Brit bikes and had almost immediately run the engine tight. Sigh…
So that brings me to this.
Yeah. It’s a Norton. A 1973 850 Commando. Despite the way it looks, it is all there. The seat, gas tanks and everything else are all there. Somewhere. And apparently it’s mine. I guess. Maybe. It’s a bit up in the air at the moment. It belonged to my late best friend and brother in law John who died two years ago. I don’t know where he got it or what he was doing with it because he was strictly a Harley guy. His wife, also one of my best friends and my wife’s sister, wants to get rid of it. It was sitting in the garage covered with a sheet and since all of John’s friends are Harley guys, nobody seems to want to buy it or even deal with an old British bike. So it might be mine. Maybe? We’ll see.
Damn, I’m tempted…
grouchyfarmer 
Great looking veggies….down here it has been so extreme heat the tomatoes are getting smaller and ripen too soon…..the jalapenos are doing well as is the sweet peppers……we are under a burn notice and to water sparingly…..so the garden thing is going the way of the dodo…..if this keeps up I may forgo the veg garden next season…..I once own a very old Harley 250, yep a two stroke piece of crap so your story reminded me of that bike…..good luck with the decision….have a great weekend. chuq
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Too bad about your garden. But with the weather the way it is by you there isn’t much you can do about it.
The Norton is going to be interesting. The 1973 is a much, much better quality bike than the 1968 I owned ages ago, but even so, these bikes have their little quirks Almost all British bikes from that era were known to have failure prone electrical systems. I read about one fellow in Britain who makes a tidy living with a mobile workshop in his van doing nothing but driving around the country re-wiring old Nortons, Triumphs, etc.
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Many British cars have the same bundle of quirks as well….good luck with the bike. chuq
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I think that’s part of the charm of owning a British made vehicle from that era, all the little quirks. If you want reliable transportation buy a Toyota. If you want to have fun buy a Triumph or MG or classic British bike (grin). As a friend of mine who had a 1970s era MG told me once, they teach you patience, perseverance, and you make a lot of new friends while broken down on the side of the road.
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I had an Austin-Healey Sprite and your friend was so very accurate…..chuq
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Oddly enough, after having that conversation about spending the $$, my wife recently told me it was fine with her if I got another motorcycle. So… I’m on the hunt for one.
I always thought a Norton was a cool bike, but never had one, or had the pleasure of talking to a Norton owner. Now I know where to put Norton on my “maybe” list. And it’s low. I want reliable, smooth, yet powerful when you want it to be. Ever since I married my wife, I’ve been telling her I’d make a motorcycle mama out of her 😉
I’m no brand snob, I’ve had 2 Harleys’, big whoop. What I’m looking for is a Honda Shadow 1100. My uncle had one and I got to ride it a fair bit, I liked it. Not looking to spend a small fortune on a bike, should be able to snag one in the 3-4k range. Two I’ve made contact with sold before I could get to see them… So it goes. I’m old enough to know that no matter what you are looking for, another one will always be around, if you wait a bit. I can wait.
Had a couple Triumphs catch my eye, but I want the cruiser style, a bit more relaxed and setup for a second rider, with a decent elevated rear seat and small sissy bar. The wife deserves more than a P pad, and/or holding on to my waist for dear life on the old fashioned straight seat.
Good to see you are having some luck with your veggies. Despite the rain. It does suck for the farmers though. But they can usually get some gov’t help on that stuff. Not what they wanted sure, but something at least.
I think the stump came out awesome.
Sorry about the passing of your friend.
You know you want it. 😉 But I can tell you right now, I can see from here, hours of using the ole Never Dull. Looks like he had the good sense to cover the exhaust, to keep the critters out… Is that a tranny cooler on the front of the frame? The big question is, why is the tank and seat removed? Makes me wonder if he was chasing some sort of wiring ghost… Shop rag in the intake. Holy crap! It’s a right side shifter. I had a hell of a time riding an old Bultaco dirt bike once with that style shifter. I rode it exactly once and never asked to ride it again lol.
I see a few zip ties, maybe a new wire was run? The head bolts look like they have been wrenched on, you can see the signs. Ahh, looks like some new switches to install too. It’s definately a project calling for someone. I thinks it’s whispering “Grouchyyyyyy.”
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Yep, it’s a right side shifter. That’s going to be interesting. I haven’t driven one of those in something like 30 years or more. And also yep, that’s an oil cooler on the front. As for why it’s been torn down, we don’t know. All we know is that it wasn’t running. The engine turns over and has good compression. Otherwise I don’t know anything about it. The tank and saddle are there. I don’t know where the carb is, but I haven’t gone digging for it yet. I’m sure it’s there somewhere. I hope? LOL I suspect it’s a wiring or carburetor issue. If it were mechanical John would have pulled out the engine and been working on that, but the engine and transmission are entirely intact. No one’s been messing around.Supposedly there are parts available for it. I just picked up the shop manual and owners manual for it yesterday and haven’t had a chance to skim through those yet. I’m hoping the inside of the gas tank isn’t rusted. But as long as it’s in reasonably good condition inside it can be cleaned out and coated.
If you want reliable, stick with Honda. I’ve never had major issues with any of my Hondas, even the old, high milage ones. Occasional issues with things like brakes, replace a clutch once. But otherwise they’re pretty much bullet proof.
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Compression is the big one of the big three, and we know that’s there. With the carb removed, I think I’d suspect that’s the issue. Fire can be checked pretty quick/easy. If you got fire, and compression, there’s only one avenue left.
Maybe you can find a kit because,
Ouch, damn that’s a long ass link:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/401397182020?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-213727-13078-0&mkcid=2&itemid=401397182020&targetid=4580496739597304&device=c&mktype=&googleloc=&poi=&campaignid=604202214&mkgroupid=1230354565488677&rlsatarget=pla-4580496739597304&abcId=9427678&merchantid=51291&msclkid=f4d3a87dcc8816ae5e1aceeefcb61842
Yeah, brakes, tires, a clutch, I can deal with… Other headaches begone!
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Thanks for the link. That’s actually a lot less than I’d have thought they’d be asking for that carb. Hopefully I won’t need one but it’s nice to know that they’re out there.
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…might be a good idea to coat that tank anyway, unless it’s pristine on the inside.
I saw the carb kits too. $26 bucks per. But as old as the carbs are, the potential wear on the slides, I’d be tempted to just put new (admittedly not OE,) carbs on it just because.
I don’t know if new slides come with the carbs now that I think about it…
I know you probably know this stuff as well or better than me, I’m just thinking out loud. 😉
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Your comments are very welcome. If you think of anything else I’d appreciate hearing from you.
I agree completely about the gas tank Those things can be a real problem sometimes. I have a bore scope around here somewhere and if it shows any sign of corrosion it’ll get shipped off to a restoration service. I wouldn’t feel comfortable doing that myself
I’m thinking of new carbs, too. But the bike has really low mileage on it, less than 10K if I remember right. Just have to wait and see once I get it over here and can dig out all the parts and examine them.
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