Hitting the TON meaning

Ryan66

Been Around the Block
I may get flamed for this but im fairly new to all these bikes and what not. BUt what does hitting the ton mean or even the site name do the ton? flame away!
 
Means, going over 100 MPH. More symbolic now-a-days. all modern bikes can hit the ton with little effort. Back in the day, mid 50's through late 60's, hitting the ton meant something. You never new if you're bike was going to explode
 
Go buy or borrow a motorcycle (Pre-71) and ride it faster than 100 MPH.. you will know exactly what the felling and the meaning is...

Better yet.. get an older bike ( pre-65) and wrench on it till it can go over 100 MPH.. repeat above process and then you will truely know what it means..

Hope this helps..

Cheers from a TOSSER!
 
Punch 2000 lbs if you cant find anything that heavy a cb750 is close enuff
 
Ryan66 said:
I may get flamed for this but im fairly new to all these bikes and what not. BUt what does hitting the ton mean or even the site name do the ton? flame away!

"Ton" was an English slang word for 100 - NOT just for us Cafe Racers.

hence your userid is now accompanied by "Hit the Ton" [ 104 postings ]

A Ton, was a word often used by post WW2 secondhand car salesmen, especially the East End of London - "I'll give you a ton [ £100 ] for it guv'nor". As was a "Pony" [ £25 ] or a "Monkey" [ £50 ].

And yes, in the 60's that had real meaning.
 
beachcomber said:
"Ton" was an English slang word for 100 - NOT just for us Cafe Racers.

Yea, my first experience with the "Ton" slang was throwing darts back in my early 20's. My bro and I adopted it into our riding vocabulary because we could talk speed and no one else knew what the hell we were saying.
 
Rockers CT said:
Ill give ya monkey for it... ahahah Brilliant...

The terms were originated [ Monkey / Pony, not Ton though?] by East End secondhand car salesmen just after the war as part of the Cockney slang [ "up the apples 'n pears", etc. ] initially to keep the values / offers between themselves and unknown to the punters. Later came into general use, but still mainly around the London area.

Interestingly [?] 2 shillings and sixpence [ half a crown ] in old money took the slang of "half a dollar" as a result of the 1000's of GI's that were here after the war when a dollar was worth 5 shillings.
 
The above is true, they're not 'avin a giraffe.

Point of interest, very loosely related to this. To be a true cockney you had to be born within the sound of the Bow Bells at the church of St Mary Lee Bow in London. However, due to the regeneration of the area there's no housing immediately close by and noise pollution now means the bells can't be heard from further away, so unless you're born in the street or a passing car it is no longer possible to be born a true Cockney.

The cafe racer culture first emerged in London in the late fifties. Bikers would meet at these establishments to admire each other's bikes and generally shoot shit. And what bikes they were! Invariably British, usually lightened with the removal of extraneous equipment, bodywork etc (many big bikes of the time had partially enclosed 'bathtub' rear wheels), low clip on bars to emulate the race bikes of the day.

A common game was to set a course on public roads and race a record on the jukebox, the idea being that if you could do so before the record ends then you had balls of steel and earned great kudos. In recent years certain historians - who doubtless wouldn't ride a moped - have suggested that this was urban myth. However, my friends Dad regales us of tales of the cafe racers, of whom he was one, and tells how he lost a friend who crashed while racing "Three Steps To Heaven" by Gene Vincent on the jukebox, and hung up his leathers after that. He still cries when he tells the story, so I'm inclined believe him.

The 'ton' was local vernacular for 'one hundred', which was derived from cockney rhyming slang. Today any self respecting Italian 125 would piss all over the ton, but back then bikes that could do the magic one hundred mile per hour were rare, even the big bikes. Few could afford biggest Triumph twins or a Vincent, so if you could coax your old English iron past the magic ton you were held in great esteem as one of that rarefied breed, the Ton Up Boys.

I don't think the community here is about recklessly risking your life racing a jukebox. I mean, come on, racing Billy Joel hardly has the same effect. Nevertheless we rejoice in our love of speed - and that can be relative - , bikes, and the style that the era inspired, and the name of the site is a salute to a fleeting period when the cafe racers ruled. Amen.
 
Ryan66 said:
I may get flamed for this but im fairly new to all these bikes and what not. BUt what does hitting the ton mean or even the site name do the ton? flame away!

Check this out ....... http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=69489.0 - answers here. Or even "Beachcomber's Tales"

Now then Limey ............... did you post this to deliberately get up my nose ????????

Firstly you attribute one of the iconic songs of the 60's by EDDIE COCHRAN to .............................. Gene Vincent !!!!!!!

THEN you perpetuate the myth about Juke Box / Record racing.

With all due respect to the memory of your Father's friend - "Two steps to Heaven" [ Eddie Cochran ] was a tad under 150 seconds long [ retail version ] - and those of us that were there also know that Juke box records were normally a shorter version [ usually 2 minutes or less ] - ie less music = more records = more money.

Again, I say try this. Record on [ by the rider ] - dash out of the Caff - start your bike [ first time ? maybe ] - accelerate up to the max before you have to slow for the roundabout / whatever - negotiate that and return to the Juke box before the 150 seconds is up. Oh yes, and the distance between said Juke box and point of turning round for the return leg - normally around half a mile and we'll also assume no other traffic to get in the way - and remember those feeble drum brakes.

A lot of the Juke box records in the day were around 2 minutes, and MOST bikes wouldn't even do the Ton.

The Ton ???? Not rhyming slang - what does it rhyme with ? But I'm putting my money on an East End connection with the docklands of the area.

A "Ton" was an old maritime measurement for internal ship capacity of 100 cubic feet and goes back to the 19th C.

We'll agree to differ me old China ........................
 
Of course! Eddie Cochran! Duh! Was trying to cook breakfast, type and not burn the house down at the same time!

Not all Cockney rhyming slang actually started out by actually rhyming with anything, and while doubtless the slang use of the 'ton' had other origins, it's use in popular language in Southern England is attributable to the Cockerneys. Here's an authoritative source...

http://www.cockneyrhymingslang.co.uk/slang/ton

In my defence I went to prep school, and meeting a Cockney was a rare event for me until I joined the Army!
 
Reading that little exchange was great fun, felt like I was watching an early Guy Ritchie film. ;D
 
I tried to understand some old geordie lads while overhauling oil rigs in norway once. Not a fucking chance.
 
Reminds of one year at the TT The hotel was packed and I was sat at a table with two guys from somewhere in the north of England that didn't speak English. Ate with them for a week and managed to catch one word. I think it was eedddddddbouuuuuuuuuults. Or something like that.
 
Good clip. I spotted this on FB a while back. I find it ironic that the cafe racers of back then rode whatever they could lay their underpaid hands on compared to the paint coordinated chromed and polished alloy of today.

https://www.facebook.com/motoparadiso/videos/1634154753516510/
 
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