Nice Wrap

I thought doin' single pipes was never the fun it was cracked up to be, me mate Barry's wrapping for his V8 Landy................nice!

MOFO

The choice of tyre is a bit of a tale, but I'll cut it short to protect the innocent. We like bikes to go 'round corners in this neck of the woods, the authorities do have a habit of joining the little short stretches with twisty bits, just to keep your attention y'all understand. Things ain't got better over the 30 years that the bike has been waiting to taste petrol again, it needed Avon Roadrunners then, and (so we thought) still needs 'em now. Technology moves on and what arrived did look a little racier than expected, but they were fitted never the less.

Put the freshly shod rear wheel in last night and shitter number one was that the profile is lower and the rear muddie looks somewhat stranded. Then the double whammy hit in! Put the chain on and it's being deflected by the rib on the shoulder of the 130 section tyre, BOLLOCKS springs to mind at this point.
So there is now a pair of new racy stylee tyres for sale, and we're going back to the way we were and fitting a good ol' 5.00 x 16 Avon SM MkII in the back and a 3.60 x 19 Avon Skidmaster in the front. More in keeping with the overall look of the bike, that's a fair comment but it'll handle like a greased eel on acid in the wet. Form over function ya say?.................yeah right!

Show Your Support

Wes at Four Aces and Tyler and the folks from Lowbrow are assaulting the salt again this year. They have just released the support tees to help fund the cost of this years campaign. Limited production and cool designs mean they won't be 'round for long so get 'em while they're hot, available from Wes here or Lowbrow here.

Pushin' Forward

Got a few more bits on yesterday as ya can see. Johnny has been in a rattle can frenzy during the week and has pulled out some incredible results on the Oil Tank and Chain Guard.

Been havin' second thoughts about the colour of the seat for a while now, but seeing it in context has helped out no end. Just a case of tying the colour used on the tinware in and all should be good.

This ex-WD Battery Carrier has come up better than ever hoped for. A genuine period piece with a dash of flair added.

A view of things to come, it really is getting frighteningly close now. Paint and pipes are the next two major steps on the road to completion.
The more it goes together, the more the resto look is showing through, makes the period carb in the previous post a no-brainer really, it must have one of them suckahs.

Finally, a little "Up the skirt" shot for Peter, he does like 'em ya know.

Fuel/Air Homogenisation

Guess that it's time to start thinking about some method of getting a petrol - air mix in where it's needed.
Still got the 626 Concentric that was on there 30 odd years ago, complete with period gold plated screws. That would probably do just fine, just as fine as all the others that are doing just fine out there in fact.
On the other hand ............... this bad boy is available new from Burlen Fuel Services, current owners of the AMAL marque.
Set up to whatever spec is required it'd be rude not to get one............. doncha think?

A Cafe Racer's Take On The Style

Smithy's work has been posted on here before, some may remember his NorBsa, Goldie motor in a Featherbed frame. He's also got a couple of Tritons, a Bonneville or two and other exotica tucked away in his clinically clean workshop.

Last year he happened upon a few rigid Trumpet bits and decided that a Bobber would be nice to have alongside the rest of the fleet. This is where he's at, at the moment, with a very understanding wife I'd say, paint hanging up to dry in the Living Room is a rare sight nowadays.

The Cafe Racer influence can be seen in his choice of wheels and the detail work carried out on the hubs and brake plates.

This is a build that will be worth waiting for, and the wait won't be long now. A different approach that will set it apart from most of the other stuff that's out there,...............and that's what it's all about ain't it?

Light at the end of the tunnel

Well here we go then, the fun has started. As ya can see got the motor in, well more frame on really, we always find it easier to lay the motor on it's side and lower the frame over it. The frame is much lighter to lift and far easier to juggle about to get the mountings to line up.

This shows why people are missing out by ignoring the early Beezers, sweet looking motor in a tidy little frame makes for a really compact ride.

Can't wait now..................

A little time out

Popped over to Baldock yesterday, make a change to ride out in the sunshine. A few new bikes that I'd not seen before, this sweet Trophy was one, so fresh you could near smell the paint. An odd thing is the engine number, TR6SR DU????? never heard of an SR designation, some kinda pukka off-road Trophy from the States maybe? Dunno but it's a sweet ride all the same for that.

As for this Redskin, what needs to be said, in fact if it was made over here it would be nigh on perfect.

Spankin' The Plank

Clarence Spady may be a new name to some of you, but this boy can really make it sing, check out this tune you will not be sorry!

All Stickered Up

These arrived over the last couple of days, the ones on the the left have been sent by Arcadian the sentiment on the note is pretty clear and to the point. On the right are some natty little numbers sent over from The Netherlands by Jaco ace pinstriper and artist. Thanks guys, that'll be the beers on me next time then.

,,,,,,,, meanwhile, in the background.

Got this delivered today, sent down by Shaun in Barnsley it's the foundations of the oil tank for the B32/33. I reckon I've got a cunning plan to make an oil tank that's more user friendly and maybe a step above the normal custom stuff that is on offer. It may, of course, go all tits up and not work at all, but ya gotta try these things ain't ya.

The Bling Is Dead, Long Live The Bling

Got the first batch of plating back today, here's a quick look at a few of the bits. As I keep crowing on about the restorers thing, the parts have been electroless (dull) nickel plated. This does not have the eye candy appeal of regular chrome, although, in my opinion, it has a more solid engineering look to it and more in keeping with the period. Rare stuff in post-war Britain, that chromium stuff ya know.

This is more like it!

Saw this bike posted on Her Majestys Thunder this morning, it captures everything that I've been going on about during the A7 build.

The successful blending of the custom style and the restorers eye for detail and finish.

I guess that this sums up what they call the So-Cal Resto style, dunno about that, but I do know it's one fine motorcycle

The problem it does bring up though, is that I guess I'll be in the market for a stock 1950 Beezer front end to get ready over the next Winter.

Even more of these classy pictures by Jose Gallina here

Big City, Bright Lights

Given Joe Lucas' reputation as The Prince of Darkness, the electrical system needs all the help it can get. This little set up gives a 10% increase in dynamo speed, allowing the charge rate to balance the lighting load at lower revs. That can only be a good thing as hurtling about, flat out in second at night is neither big nor clever.

The other thing is that once installed adjustment is minimal and the belt is bound to run quieter than a chain, so one of these set ups is going on the shopping list.

Back In Black

Well there she is! The picture really does not do it justice, it's blacker than a severely black thing down a coal mine at midnight. Uber stoked with the way it's come out, now it's time for the best bit................ bolting the rest of it back together!

Progress in a back steppin' stylee

Got four new bolts for the inner corners of the rocker boxes, this allowed the boxes to go on and be torqued down, finished. These seperate rocker boxes tend to catch people out, they are used to seeing a one piece cover on the top of Beezers, and sometimes claim that it must be a Triumph top end grafted on.

The dynamo is not fixed as it can't be locked down until the motor's in the frame, as it passes through the front engine plates. This is where a problem was spotted after getting to this stage.
When working on these motors there are two things that must be remembered, firstly the two studs at the rear of the cases, seen in the picture below, must be inserted before the case halves come together. Check. Secondly the dynamo retaining strap and through bolt must be fitted before the timing side goes on. Oops!

Not too much of a disaster as now everything has been fitted and proven on the timing side it should not take much more than an hour to whip it off and fit the strap. Other than that and the need to score some slotted cheesehead cover screws, the motor itself is pretty much complete.

Now it's time to get the clutch and primary sorted out and the gearbox bolted onto the back of the cases.

New SPARTO Tail Light

Scored this today, well the other day really but it arrived today. Marked SPARTO Made In England on the lens, don't know if it's the real deal or not. The manufacturing quality is spot on and the body is cast alloy and brass so it may just be, looks pretty damn cool just the same.

Open up the picture below and you can just about make out the name at around the one o'clock position. The bonus feature is that it's already fitted with a stop/tail bulb holder so it's good to go.