Quimtastic

Issue 3 dropped on the mat earlier today, usual content of hot babes and cool bikes with an increase in editorial content which makes it readable rather than just a letch fest that the first couple have been. Get on it HERE.

Flog what ya brung

Took a run up to Towcester with Johnny yesterday, bit of a HD cum custom jumble up there. Not much that stirred the loins in the buying stakes but this was up there,

Very nice, did hear later that it's up for grabs at a price that made me choke a little but can't divulge it cos it ain't been confirmed.

Brough Superior

Defining Moment

Got a day off from The Salt Mine, being as it's my birthday an' all. Thought I'd share these pics with y'all and the memory from the day which has stayed with me ever since.

Taken in either 1971 or 2 at a sprint meeting at Duxford, when it was still just a disused WWII airfield and not the Imperial War Museum that it is today

I can clearly remember blokes unloading all sorts of exotica from their vans and trailers, all the results of hours of labour and love deep in garden sheds and garages. Sounding for all the world like the gates of Hell had been opened and the apocalypse was here and now!

Then this guy turned up, first 750 H1 I'd ever seen, rode it down from Birmingham to compete. As I recall it left the line with no real sound, certainly when compared to the roar of the Brit stuff, sounded like men's motorbikes they did. But then all that remained was a lingering cloud of pungent two stroke smoke and a dot that was very rapidly becoming part of the horizon. He absolutely decimated the up to 1000 cc fastest time of the day on it, he waited about, picked up a trophy or something and then rode it back to Birmingham.

Don't know about the writing on the wall, for me this event tore the wall down and replaced it with a rice paper screen. 

Still bought Brit after that? You bet ya, gotta support the underdog dontcha think.

The Devil Is Still In Them Details

Kept looking at the petrol pipe set-up, pleased with the way that it tucks out of the way instead of hanging down the outside of the carb, but them bloody clips, they look like.... well, clips I guess. Something had to be done to tidy that little problem up. 

Scored some brass ferrules and a crimping tool from Carrot Cycles the other day to try and tidy the act up a little and give that authentic period look. The job is made easier by the fact that both the taps and the carb have threaded unions, allowing the pipework to be lifted out as one unit.

Looks far more like it now, so much so that come the day it probably won't even be noticed, but it's a sure fire bet that the clips would have been spotted from ten yards .... result.

Rare Rigid Triumph Parts

Johnny has just about got to the bottom of stripping out the '49 Speed Twin. There's always been a strong suspicion that this bike had a sidecar attached when it left Meriden in December 1949. This has been confirmed now the forks are out.

Back in the seventies these yokes were few and far between and highly desirable as they were made specifically for sidecar work and had (if my memory serves me well) 10 degrees of additional rake built in to reduce the trail of the front end, chopper heaven back then.

It does raise a couple of points though, firstly what a bastard if you scored the top yoke for this set up thinking it was standard and then couldn't figure out why the forks wouldn't go together using a solo bottom yoke. Secondly, we feel that the sheet metal components of the lower nacelle must be different as well to maintain the headlight on the horizontal, and compensate for the extra angle. If that is the case, then there can't be many kicking about nowadays and it's very doubtful they're being repopped.

A chance to buy.......

.......... one of the sweetest unit 500's in the kingdom.

1962 Triumph T100A, 500cc 5TA Engine. Complete sludge trap up engine rebuild, MOT ready to ride.

Offers…

More info and photos: eddie@reddice.co.uk

Interesting and somewhat humbling

It's a state of mind....................

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Lowside 6 on the streets

Not as well known as GK or DiCe, well not on this side of the pond anyway, Lowside 6 arrived today.

As always the guys are keepin' it real, and there's the usual sage observations from editor Tim West and a good take on the H.O.G. scene from The Fong Bros. 

If you haven't seen a copy or need this issue check it out here.

1950 Tiger 100 Head

A guy I know's Brother-in-Law has just started to do a carb cleaning and vapour blasting service. Being a collector of old 50's and 60's racing iron he knows what is expected by people and strives to please.

I sent over this early 50's alloy Tiger 100 head over to check out his work, bloody top notch springs to mind, and turned 'round in a couple of days, all for a price that is a lot cheaper than a night down the pub.

 If you're in the south of England or the East Anglian region and need something cleaned, you could do a lot, lot worse than get in contact with Bob.

Rollin' Gold

1st October 2011

Well, there were a couple of wheels about and you've got to have a look ain't ya?

It's difficult to appreciate just how small it has turned out from the picture, but it isn't big by any definition!

Brit - US Autojumble

Just spotted this from Leedog and Stevie over at lowlevelhell, October 23rd, there's an all Brit and US autojumble/swap meet at Jack's Hill Cafe just north of Towcester on the A5. 

NN12 6ET, Post Code only relevant if you've got sat nav on the bike of course, cos you wouldn't be going up in a motor now would you????