Norton News 201A - Flipbook - Page 39
B y Richard Schlinkert
I NOA #11827
L
ike a lot of teens, I had
“Commando taste on
a Triumph budget”, so
my 昀椀rst “big twin” was a
non-running ‘71 Bonney
that I hauled from my
landlord’s garage in
1974. Being a broke
college kid, it was cheap
transportation during the
Oil Embargo, so I rode
that bike everywhere,
including back and forth
from New Orleans to
Birmingham many times. Back
then,
it
was 375 LONG miles of crappy two
lanes each way. And yes, there was a girl involved!
As life progressed, I had a home, a business and a different
girlfriend, so the Bonny took a decade-long nap until the mid90’s when I decided to awaken my trusty companion. I
started riding with a local vintage club which included a
handful of Nortons. By then, money wasn’t such a problem,
so I did what a lot of riders did-buy the bike you couldn’t
afford in days gone by. In 2002, I bought my 昀椀rst Norton
Commando, a “Co-Cola Red” ’72 Combat, which my better
half quickly named “Trixie” (a la “The Honeymooners”). As I
came to trust Trixie for longer jaunts, we went further and
further together with virtually no incidents and only great
memories of road trips with my buddies. On one of those trips
to WV, I realized that I had gone from being just a rider to
being a “motorcycle enthusiast”.
At our club Christmas party in 2003, I was invited to ride to
Daytona Bike Week for the AHRMA Races, so I signed up,
not knowing what an AHRMA race was or much about
Number 201
36
Norton News
