A frame up....get it???

Today to take a wee break after cutting the grass I went into the shed for a spot of work on Vicky.

OK it was just to take a few pictures of her for future reference when putting her back together at a later date.

Until recently I had the frame balancing on top of a milk crate which isn't a great platform to say the least, while on the bench.

 Then I hit upon using the overhead beams liike I had before when the front end was out of Amelia.

But this time it was A LOT easier to deal with as there wasn't all the bits and bobs there such as a motor, etc. Just strung some tie-downs up and secured the frame to the tie-downs. Now the frame is at eye level. Brilliant!

Still have some sanding to do on the frame before priming and then painting and this is the perect height to do it. Only thing is any overspray containment but I think that I can cobble together a temporary paintbooth.

A good thing about having the frame at this height is that I can check the bottom of the frame easier and when I did, I found that there is still a little bit of gunge underneath. So more work with the wet-n-dry paper and a good going over for any pitting or dings that may need to be filled in.

If so, that'll  be next on the agenda after the sanding.

It never ends does it??

But before I forget, I got the rattle can out and put some spray primer on the oil tank.

Did notice a slight crease in the tank after spraying it, hopefully it won't be too noticeable after the top coat and clearcoat go on.

RIP Pooh

Cliff "Pooh" Gingell

Yesterday I lost a friend by the name of Pooh.

Cliff Gingell or Pooh as he was known was a bloke I knew from one of the forums I belong to. A few months back he started to complain of severe stomach problems and when he went to the doctor to get checked out, they "didn't know what was wrong".

This went on for quite a while until just recently when one doctor finally diagnosed him having pancreatic cancer.

Of course this was a terrible thing to find out, made even worse in my opinion by doctors who "couldn't find the problem" either through sheer stupidity or laziness.

Either way, he had limited time left even though these doctors gave him 8-9 months to go. Anyone with pancreatic cancer usally lasts for about 90 days and Pooh was nearly there when the diagnosis was made.

I met Pooh two years ago when I made a trip home. He lived in Daventry which is about 30 miles from the village I lived in.

Through correspondence on the forum Pooh offered me the loan of one of his BMWs for the time I was gonna be there and I took him up on it.

The BMW was a K100 model, this one in fact:

I used this bike to go to Scotland and to ride around the local Banbury area while home. A trip to London to the Ace Cafe was cancelled due to heavy rain that day. 

Pooh didn't know me from Adam at the time, but he trusted me with his bike. He and his wife Sue had me as a guest for the day prior to getting the bike. Pooh picked me up at home, we drove back to Daventry and spent the day talking. They also made a curry dinner for us all to eat.

There was one thing that Pooh did that made him stand out and that was his low tolerance for racial bigotry. Several times on the foum when some character used racial comments, Pooh would let the person know in no uncertain terms that it was not to be tolerated.

Pooh was one of the good 'uns and will be greatly missed. The world needs more bikers like him.

RIP Pooh. 

Pooh was buried today, June 7, 2010. From what I hear, there was a good turn out of members from the ClassicBikeForum who came from various parts of England to pay their respects. Rest easy mate and I'll have a dram in your memory.

                                                                             

Did some work

I finally broke down and did some work on Vicky. No, no....no need for the smelling salts, it's true.

Last weekend when I went to the New Ulm rally I picked up a skid/bash plate for Vicky for a lowly $20 as noted in the last posting.

So while I'm still on vacation 'til Monday morning I did a little of work on it. There was a small ding in the edge of one side so using a ballpeen hammer and placing the plate on the anvil portion of the bench vise, a small surgical blow was administered and the ding instantly is gone!

Before I forget, there was a small crack in the plate at the large hole in th picture. I got that welded up and then filed down the weld some.

Then with some sandpaper and a wire wheel in the electric drill to remove any rust, it was roughed up and prepped for some rattle can spray primer.

While I was in the spraying mood, a few other minor parts got the treatment as well such as the rear brake hub  anchor as well as the brake arm.

Here's the plate, before (L) and after (R):

                               

                                                      

The rear brake hub either came painted black or was painted at some time in it's life. I checked Amelia the Starfire and it was plain so I'm guessing that a previous owner got bored one afternoon and got the spray can out for some homebased artistry.

 Rear hub, before (L) and after (R):          

The after shot looks a lot cleaner than it actually is due to the flash from the camera, but it looks a lot better with all that paint off there.

I also did some cleaning up of the frame. A few months back I used some wet-n-dry paper on it to sand it down for prepping later on. This time I used a Dremel tool with a small wire brush/wheel to get to the nooks and crannies and get rid of any rust.

I've gotta tell ya that this is one useful wee tool to hve in your tool collection. It does a lot of work in hard to get to places that big fingers can't and it saves on joint pain for those who have arthritis. If you don't hae one, get on....now!

There's still more work to be done, and it will. But there's no point in rushing and doing a lousy job. I may be an amateur at this, but I plan on doing a good job of it.

The nxt couple of days I'll try and cataloge exactly what parts I need to get the work done. It'll be a long list from the looks ofit, but as it'll be broken down into sub-sections such as frame, forks, rear suspension, timing side, primary side of the motor, etc, it won't look quite the nightmare.  

26th Annual BMOA New Ulm Rallye

Well folks, the 2010 New Ulm Rallye has come and gone for another year.

To be honest I wan't even sure if it was going to be held or not due to the weather a it had been raining on Friday for most of the day and when I left for the drive there, which is about 155 miles, it was pouring down.

Anyway, I got there at around 9:30am and was greeted by this:

and upon entering the grounds saw that there were people there from the previous night. The registration table had a couple of blokes there so I asked if the show was still on or not. They told me they hoped so and would start registration when/if the rain let up so the papers wouldn't get soggy.

In the meantime they let me go fnd a place to park and set up base camp. By this time it was a light drizzle which was good as I didn't want to try and set up a tent in a gale force hurricane. Luckily I was wearing my Barbour jacket and newsboy cap to keep dry.

So while waiting for the registration to begin I went walkabout to see what was there. Tents, travel trailers, RVs, and trucks with bike loaded trailers were parked all about. I talked to a few people here and there about the rain and conditions.

Luckily around 11am the drizzle let up ad registration began. For the princely sum of $40, I got to spent the weekend in the company of other lovers of British motorcycles as well others from the Continent and even from the Land of the Rising Sun. This $40 also got me a ticket for drawings for door prizes, a token for dinner as well as a schedule of events for the weekend along with unrestricteded coming and going from the Rally site.

Between this and 1pm when the Field Events were to take place I decided it was time to have a bite to eat and a Coke. On this note I feel I have to make a statement; it seems someone has commented that they have never drank Coke and never will, like it is a hazardous chemical. Sacriledge!!!! Coke is one of the finest discoveries known to man.

After making a nice ham roll and relaxing for a bit, it was time to roam about  bit and check out the vendors. I got myelf a bashplate for Vicky the B44 for $20 from one guy and an old BSA poster off another for $20.

At another place I saw brand new AMAL 930 carbs, which I need for Vicky, for $199. Maybe later me thinks.

1pm and the Field Events begin. These consisted of a Cold Start Race, Slow Race, Ring Toss, Clothes Pin on the washline, Barrell Roll, Riding the Board and lastly the Dirt Drag race.

Entries for these events were varied from a little kid on a mini-bike to a T-160 Trident an even a tractor, sorry, a Harley. Participents, spectators and officials all had a good time.

7pm came rolling around and it was time for the dinner put on by the organizers. BBQ chicken and sausage with mash, BBQ beans, BBQ sauce , bread and ice tea was on the menu. Good thing the Rally site has a coverd pavillion attached to a clubhouse type building with a kitcen, tables and chairs. Due to the weather and lower participation, there was food left over for those who were interested.

I ate with some guys from McAllen which is on the Rio Grande border with Mexico down near the Gulf of Mexico. I tip my cap to Dave who is in his 60s rides an old BSA A65  from McAllen to the Rallye and back. From McAllen to San Antonio it's about 250 miles I think and then another 155 miles to the site.

This may not seem like much, but considering that he rides while people who live in Houston which is less than 100 miles trailer their bikes says quite a bit about Dave a well as him taking part in the field games on the bike.

After a long day it was time to turn in for the night. Except for a someone running a generator for the AC unit in the trailer they brought, some others who kept setting off fireworks and the train that came along with the horn blaring, I managed to get a little sleep.

After getting up,  around 6am and fixing myelf somthing to eat  went I got to talking with a guy out walking his Border Collie. He told me of a place nearby in  nearby town where this old boy has three storage barns filled with motorcycles and has an oval dirt track on his property.

Sounds like a destination for the future.

Went walkabout again as I saw something the night before but didn't have the camera. Went back to the area and saw these:

The Beardsmore Precision is a 250 from 1927 I think the owner said and had a VMCC history to it as he had paperwork stating that it was restored by a certain Charles "Titch" Allen of the VMCC.                    

  There is one other bike that I just happened to see by chance so got a couple of shots of it. It's this:

I decided to give the concours judging a pass and head home. Dave from McAllen had already left an hour before in fog I felt it may be a good idea to leave as well just it case.

All in all it wasn't too bad, but I think I'll just go for the day next time. Generators and trains are not my idea of things to listen to at night.

2010 New Um Rallye

This weekend the British Motorcycle Owners Association based in Houston, Texas in throwing it's 26th Annual New Ulm Rallye in, wait for it,.......NewUlm. It's mainly for British bikes but open to all.

So this weekend as I am on vacation I will go and spend the weekend  meandering around taking pictures, browsing through the trinkets/parts for sale, watching the "field games" or motorcycle Olympics and just generally having a good time and enjoying myself.

Now supposedly it might rain hard here in Cactus Land over the weekend so we'll see what transpires, so stay tuned for a update.

The latest

Actually there's not really much new here of late.

It's getting hot here, no surprise, but it does make it a bother when outside all day long doing the work thing.

Tomorrow, May 8, is the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) annual Food Drive, which is as it says on the tin, a food drive, which is done on a national level.

The idea is to inform the residents on postal delivery routes of the drive and to collect any food items that they wish to donate that is then collected, seperated and then transported to a community food bank for those in need.

With a recession going on and money being a little tight at times, some people are in desperate straits when it comes to having enough to eat.

So as Letter Carriers, of which I am one, have the most contact with people, it's easy for us to do the above.

Motorcycle wise, next weekend if all goes to plan, I'll be spending the weekend in New Ulm at the annual rally sponsered by the British Motorcyle Owners of America (BMOA) from Houston, Texas. A report and pictures will be forthcoming. This is of course if all goes to plan.

Keep your fingers crossed.