End of the year posting

Well Bloggers, another year has come to an end with all the resulting ups and downs and bits in between.

Soooooo Bodger has decided to recap the year if for nothing else so he can remember for himself.

The good:

-the on-going treasure hunt for parts for Vicky and Amelia. Got a lot of the parts that is on the never-ending wish list such as gear cluster, horn, clutch bearings and rod, push rods, a tatty seat which will be redone, a tank for Vicky that is quite serviceable, a Spitfire tank for Amelia to save and preserve the original fiberglass one, a steel side panel for Vicky plus a slew of miscellaneous other bits
-obtaining more toys to play with such as a Darth Vader bobble head
-the continued learning of new and various things no matter whether good or trivial which in the words of Bodgers dear ol' Pappy can be termed "DUI"....Damned Useless Information.
-attending local classic bike events such as the New Ulm Rally and the Harvest Classic
-getting out and about and doing/seeing different things with the my lass Teri
-knowing who your mates are and that they're there like good mates will be
-idiotic dags who love you no matter what
-through the use of cyber space, finding old friends and being able to keep in touch with them
-two weeks of 20F weather that included some snow and ice which was most welcome by yours truly
-a change in personal circumstances that's for the better
-and lastly, to go along with the last item, meeting and being with Teri who is a great lass.

And now on to the not so good:

-still having to actually for a company that is determined in self-destructing no matter the cost
-a few medical issues coming up such as having high blood pressure and taking meds for that
as well as insomnia for the past two years
-the unexpected loss of a friend, George, who suffered a massive heart attack while out doing something he enjoyed, deer hunting
-discovering that taking Prozac is NOT recommended and to be avoided at all costs!
-the loss of a motorcycling great, Gary Nixon
-finding out that having problems of the four wheeled type are costly to get fixed
-several weeks of over 100F temps which lasted even up to 8-9PM when it should've been down in the 80s

All in all, it's been an interesting year and Bodger can only hope that the coming one will be just as interesting and even better.

So on that note......Bodger wishes one and all a Happy New Year and Hogmany! Drink a dram or two of your favorite to bring in the New Year coz Bodger and Teri will be cracking open a bottle of bubbly to celebrate

  

A little late in the day.

A little late in the day I know, but Bodger wishes all out there in Bloggerland a Merry Chrimbo and a Gnarly New Year.

Also, if you're gonna be operating one of these or any other contraption that moves

to lay off the spiked eggnog, the drams, the brews or whatever you imbibe in or this could happen

Clicky to see what it does

or even worse, you could be have a visit from the rozzers and become a guest of theirs for a few hours and lose your favorite form of transportation.

In other words, be safe, don't drink and drive and have a good time over the next week or so and we'll all meet up again in 2012 with more things to blether aboot.

Cheers....Bodger

A Bah Humbug Rant!!!!

In a few more days it'll be time for Christmas.

With the exception of the commercialism of the non-stop Christmassy music, the endless commercials droning on about what to buy the sprogs and the entire plastic look of it all in general, Bodger actually likes Christmas.

The idea of putting up a real pine tree and decorating it nicely opposed to some garish scene from a Tim Burton movie, snow which is a rare commodity in these parts, gift giving and being with the ones that mean the most is pretty cool.

However, the commercialism side apart, there is something else that has set Bodger off and it's this:

The main boss at work is getting audited due to inefficiency most likely as well as job performance and is being looked at quite closely.

So, in order to look good in front of his bosses who are  breathing down his neck, he decreed that ALL personal belongings are to be removed from our cases where we get the mail sorted for actual delivery.

By ALL, this apparently included pictures of family/loved ones which is contrary to established norms in that we are allowed to have these types of pictures there so we can at least remember that we are still human beings.

But NO.....the gaffer decided that ALL personal items are to be removed including the pictures. And he personally took one down of my new lass which got Bodger quite irritated. When confronted about this the gaffer admitted it and then when it was told to the bosses that we were ALLOWED to have up to five pics up, they acted like that was unheard of.

However, the gaffer has all types of pics/plaques/etc hanging from the walls in his office.

I guess it's OK for his office to look human while our gray colored cases are to look like mini prisons.

Then Bodger was told that it would be discussed later and to NOT get upset. NOT GET UPSET!?!?!
 How the buggery bollocks do you NOT get upset when people mess around with personal items just so they look good?

So much for keeping the blood pressure down.........Snapperheads!!!

OK, rant over, so please forgive Bodger for this rant, especially just before Christmas, but I'm sure you can understand to a degree how I feel about this.

Anyway......to all out there, have a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Hogmany and be safe while out there riding!

And on New Year's Eve at the stroke of midnight, no matter where you are, join Bodger and Bodger's Lass in lifting a glass of your favorite liquid adn ring in theNew Year.

The job

In order to survive in today's world and to have the readies to buy toys, it's necessary for Bodger to earn an actual living as a.......the horror of it all.......a mailman.

Now earning a crust may seem to be the norm to indulge in for some and for others it is a real irritation, those who prefer to wait for the Giro/unemployment check to be delivered by the likes of the Bodger. And some such as the scribbler of this Bloggy see it as a necessary evil to be tolerated.

But every once in a while,  it does have it's moments such as the tomfoolery that abounds within the confines of the Postal system. But that can be addressed at a later date.

Today Bodger is going indulge in a little Postal nostalgia. Seems ions ago, the Postal Service utilized motorcycles in order for the letter carriers or mailmen to get around and deliver the mail. Now, we get about in mini-vans or in aluminum boxes on wheels which are for all intent and purposes mobile ovens during the summer months.

The following are a few pictures gleaned from the 'net, eBay to be precise, showing a mailmen in the performance of their duties.

That must've been a nice job to have, especially if you were a motorcycle enthusaist. The US stopped using motorcycles a long time back and the Royal Mail was still using mechanical chickens made by BSA in the form of Bantams up until the late 60s I think, possibly even into the early 70s in some places.

Back in the early 21st century, the evil overlords at the US Postal Service came up with the idea of mailmen on walking routes such as the Bodgers to start motoring around on these monstrosities:

Yep that's right, the Segway, invented by some type of tree hugging green nutter I'll guess.

The USPS had the idea that this might be a good way to do things; hang some satchels on the handlebars or wherever plus put mail in a little trailer that was towed behind.
 
However, due to reasons that probably had to do with security and possibly even sanity, the whole, thankfully, was canned.

But what, there's more to this saga........not to escape silliness, the local supermarket chain decided that their security, read that as rent-a-cops, should be mobile to patrol supermarket parking lots on these, ahem, beauties:

Much like the "new" VW Bugs, Fiats or Mini's, this looks reminiscent of.......wait for it...........drum roll...........the Ariel 3 three wheeler. You know, this beast:

Well, that's enough strolling down memory lane for today.

The Fat Man's a-coming

It's nearly that time of year again for the Fat Man to make an appearance, which is a good thing as it's finally starting to feel like Bah Humbug weather at last.

This past week it's been, what's the word Bodgers looking for......bracing. It's been in the 30s in the morning and getting up into the 50-60s in the afternoon.

Today it's only 51F but with the wind a blowing it's feeling a mite bit cooler than that....like....well...winter time!

So with that, the Fat Man will be making his rounds dropping off prezzies to all the little sprogs as well as us bigger ones.

Bodgers been goodish this year and has gotten a few of his prezzies already such as a sprocket puller, clutch hub compressor, a fork seal tool, steel tank for the wee Starfire and awaiting a few other material thingies such as front brake shoes, motor mounting bolts, a gear cluster and a cable oiler .

But the best one of all so far bar none is a new lass. Yes that's right, Bodger has a new lass and is a courtin'.

Yep, Bodger has met himself a lovely lass who in some ways is like the ol' Bodger except for one tiny, wee little thing which is the lass dinnae like motorcycles as she feels they're dangerous. Other than that she's a bonnie gal.

More later about the Fat man and what he brought Bodger.

Newish steel tank

Just arrived yesterday at ye olde Salt Mine and picked up this AM when reporting in.

What's that you're blethering aboot you may ask??? Why, it's another one of those rare unobtainable things, a steel gas/petrol tank for Amelia the wee Starfire.

In Bodgers last post which was about the Devils Brew, it was mentioned that this vile swill will attack and turn to sludge rubber bits and fiberglass gas tanks. Not a pretty sight I'm sure to see that kind of thing happen.

So anyways, the tank has come in and needs a slight bit of work done to it to make it presentable such as a repaint, getting the roll pin for the gas cap hinge positioned right, a tiny bit of the screw that's used to hold the tank badges on removed, coat the inside of the tank due to some slight rusting and whatever else that needs doing.



  So now a rare find has been got....the two fiberglass tanks can be safely stored away, no future worries about the Devils Brew destroying tanks/seals/pipes/etc and this:

to the Devils Brew.

The Devils Brew

I've been reading the monthly VMCC journal of late concerning the situation with ethanol laced stuff that passes for fuel nowadays.

Seems that the powers to be, politicians to be precise, have decided that in order to save the earth and it's dwindling resources, we need to start looking at other types of fuel.

So some Einsteins decided that using corn or other crop derivatives and mixing it with the available petroleum products we use now is a good way to go.

However.........this fine concoction has some slight side-affects such as the ability to absorb water and the  ability to dissolve into sludge some types of fuel lines, rubber gaskets and seals and fiberglass gas tanks such as the type used on my wee Starfire Amelia.

Seems that if left in a fiberglass tank such as mine, this devils brew will start to work on the resins and what have you turning it into a sludge that will start to flow through fuel lines ending up in the motor by way of the carb. This tends to make a dogs dinner of the motor from what I understand which results in the motor having to be stripped down, cleaned out and then rebuilt.

One way to avoid this situation is to coat the inside of the fiberglass tank with a sealant of which a few are touted to do the job. However, is this a permanent fix or does this vile corn-gas affect the sealant as well in a few years? If so, back to square one so to speak.

Or you could seal the tank, fill with fuel for useage and then drain the tank, carb and lines each day in order to alleviate a situation.

Or.......if you can find a metal tank to use that would be the best scenario.

As it happens, Bodger has just purchased a steel Starfire tank off eBay to use on Amelia and to save and protect the two fiberglass tanks on hand.

The tank needs to be repainted to match, but Bodger would rather do that than have to tear down a motor in order to clean out goop, sludge and gunge due to a melting fiberglass tank.

So to all the politicians, bio-freaks, green people, tree huggers and save the earthers who dreamt up this foul fluid and fosited it upon us decent folk I say......Up Yours!!!!!!!

Attention: The preceeding editoral like comments were made by Bodger and he doesn't care if the "people" in the above paragraph feel hurt by his comments, so there!!!!

New magazine for Triumph Cub/Terrier owners and fans

OK Blog readers, here's a big announcement......can I have some trumpet fanfare please!?!!! In the words of some singer...Thank you, thank you very much. 10 points for a correct guess by the way.

To do my bit to promote the classic motorcycle movement, Bodger is using this space to let you know that my good friend Gorgeous Biker Chick or GBC in sunny (?) Scotland has decided to go into the magazine business sort of.

Soooooooo......... coming to you, after you pay for a subscription of course, will be a new, quarterly (I think) magazine that will be devoted to the wee Triumph Tiger Cubs and smaller brother, the Triumph Terrier.

The first issue is due out in April of 2012, no word just yet on costs, but it shouldn't break the bank or require the taking out of a loan or second mortgage.

Even Bodger will be subscribing even though these smaller Triumphs aren't members of the shed with Amelia the wee Starfire and Vicky the Victor Special.

So whadda ya waiting for, start digging for coins in the couch, raid the sprogs' piggy banks or dip into the Fort Knox known as the other halfs purse and get your very own subscription to the magazine.

Also, you can look on line at www.thecubmag.com.

Go on....ya know ya want to!!!!  

More book learning

I recently got this book as it might give me some ideas of my "ideal shed/garage".                                 

There were a couple of chapters that looked good and others that were more in the line of a rich blokes toy room. 

The one at the very end of the book was one that really caught my eye, an old service station converted into a workshop and whatever else. A bit untidy maybe, but it looks good instead of like being a surgical theater like some in the book.

The main reason for some of this ramblings on is there is a chapter about an old boy here in Texas that has quite a nice collection of vintage rides. Apparently this bloke, Barry Solomon, had started in a modest way and after a visit to the Lone Star Motorcycle Museum (LSMCM) that I've mentioned a few times, decided to do it up in a big way.

Seems that he had QUITE the collection going with some older vintage machines in it that were beautifully restored.

And this was a collection that I would have loved to have seen. I say loved to as I have recently discovered through Allan Johncock, the owner of the LSMCM that Barry Solomon had the whole lot auctioned off a short while ago.

Drat and botheration!!!

I also found out the name of the town where another collection is housed. I had heard about it while at the New Ulm Rallye on a couple of occasions and while talking to Allan he told me that it was in a small town called Sealy. The collection isn't signposted and you have to have directions to it, of which I have vague directions and an idea, but I will venture forth and look for it one day.

It seems that this collection is made up of off road bikes such as motocross, scrambles, trials, greenlaners and other types. My guess is that it may not exactly be set up like the LSMCM or the National Motorcycle Museum in Brum, but that I don't care about, as long as I can see the bikes, get pictures and just have a poke about.

So stay tuned sometime in the future, this decade at least, for a possible report.



How bizarre

A friend of mine sent this to me via Faceache as she thought I'd get a kick out of it. Don't know anything about it other than it had me scratching the old noggin.

Can't make out any good details other than two wheels, a horn, headlight and front end "suspension" springs.

I guess there's two things that really have to be worried about....fire and termites!!!!!!!!

A good read

The other day I got this and have already finished.....and yes....I can read believe it or not.

Actually this is a really good book and Mick wrote this pretty much how people would talk, not any of this flowery nonsense but down to earth everyday talk with humor. This is not all dry or boring.

If you get a chance to read it, do it, I think you'll enjoy it, I know I did.

A Salute

I know this has bugger all to do with motorcycles but when I saw this posted on Faceache, I just had to "borrow" it and put it on here for all to see and appreciate the single digit salute to the powers that be.....good job there lads and some mighty fine formation flying too!!!!!

Now read the instructions carefully and do what they say and all will become clear to you:

Look at this carefully...it is a brilliant example of British Humour!
The British government has scrapped the Harrier fleet and on their farewell formation flypast over the Houses of Parliament they gave the government a message.
Lean back a bit from your computer monitor and squint. Seriously...push your chair back a couple of feet..
My hat is off to the man that was leading this Squadron.

Now if this don't get ya to ROFL, what the buggery bollocks will????????



Rabbit racing

Over on Thistle Down blog, Mr. Combo posted about Frog Racing, so to keep this humorous and silly, here's a video of something that I saw in the local newspaper the other day.

The story I saw was from Wollerau in Switzerland and apparently this is becoming a big thing there in Europe, so have a gander at this:

http://www.reuters.com/video/2009/04/10/easter-racing-rabbits?videoId=101846


When I first read it in the paper, I thought that had to be the most ridiculous thing going on other than politicians trying to keep a straight face while lying. But then I remembered seeing the movie "Stalag 17" which showed the PoWs having a mouse race....soooooo, rabbit races might not be so silly after all.

Just something to lighten up the day.....from me to you....

More from Luckenbach

Here's a few more for Luckenbach that you may like:

An ISO I think, not really sure other than it's Italian

The trials course




 

An Italian hairdryer, really nice looking though

Nice Triumph with high level pipes

Gorgeous little Honda 350/4 being raffled

Tried to get the guy with the Hawaiian tourist shirt on here, but it was taking so long to load, thinking the program couldn't handle all that color at one time. I know my eyes couldn't.

Let's go to Luckenbach, Texas.....

......to go to the Annual Harvest Classic show.

This is a show that's been held annually for the past few years and this was the first time Bodger has visited.

It's held in the quaint little town(?) of Luckenbach which has a population on a normal day of about....3. At night or on the weekends it gets larger and more crowded due to the live bands that play there in the dance hall.

Unlike most places that will throw bricks at you or give you dirty looks just because, Luckenbach is motorcycle friendly. They even have reserved parking just for motorcycles under a shade tree:

Anyway, back to the plot, if there ever was one......

As this is a 1 1/2 day event, people can start camping overnight on Friday and the bulk of the show is on Saturday, it's best to get up there early on Saturday morning coz that's when the trials competition showing begins. As Bodger has mentioned in a posting way back when, trials on these old hacks is something of interest and to actually see it done would be a good thing. But the only old hacks were a Bultaco, a Montessa and an Ossa, the rest are those newfangled trials machines that are so lightweight they can be bounced around, but you can't sit in the blooming things. Oh, and the riders seem to favor multi-colored parrot suits just like the crotch rocket brigade. One old boy was awash with color until I saw he was wearing a Hawaiian tourist shirt, and for some reason it seemed to fit in with the other parrot suits....go figure...

                                                      

                                                        

                                                     

As this whole event is a charity type of do to raise money for the less fortunate or some other good cause, an organized swap meet/jumble isn't in the cards, so there wasn't much chance of finding any pieces for the on-going jigsaw puzzle called Vicky. But there was a show to have bikes judged as well as raffles for odds and sods to help raise money.

The weather favored the show by being a nice fall day. Just the sort to make these so enjoyable even with allergies.

After kicking about for a while, a trip into Fredricksburg was in order. The town is the birthplace of one Chester Nimitz who was an Admiral during WWII in the Pacific War.

There's a museum there which is pretty interesting but as it's in two separate locations and one location has tours at specific times, it was decided to by-pass that and just do some of the touristy things expected of...well...tourists.

The touristy things involved looking in stores and just looking at things in general. I think that there is one thing that might be missed by this time, providing it's held here, Oktoberfest. Well, it is a German town after all and October wouldn't be October in one without Oktoberfest.

Hope you enjoyed these, next show to attend will be at New Ulm in May.



A little off beat

Taking a slight break from the painting and sanding of the bits and bobs and running some errands when I came across this in one of the chain bookstores......and yes....I can read goodly!

Feast your eyes on this unbelievable find, thought I think it may be a bit redundant now:

Actually, I just happened to stumble across this and had to take the picture as GBC had shared a similar one by Haynes for the Space Shuttle. I know, I didn't believe that one either and thought it was a big joke until I saw this 'un today.

Depending how motivated Bodger feels will depend on what else is done to the bits and bobs before Saturday rolls around.

That's when Bodger moseys (?) up the road to the tiny burg of Luckenbach, made famous in a song of the same name by Willie Nelson, to attend the annual Harvest Classic show.

Apparently it's been going on for several years but not heard of by muggins here until just recently. There's supposed to be a trials demonstration, raffles of some sort, displays but no selling of parts (on a grand scale, on the sly is OK) along with a live band and Texas style BBQ.....meaning brisket and other vittles.

This will be followed by a trip into Fredricksburg to do touristy things. Fredricksburg is the home of Admiral Chester Nimitz of WWII Naval warfare fame and there's a museum there, along with the usual overpriced touristy stuff. Still, it'll be a good day out before heading back to the salt mines on Monday.

All goes well with the digital camera and the batteries are all charged, the should be a report and pics by deadline Sunday, Monday, Tuesday....oh hell, some day!

Quick edit here: Just in case ya thought I was funning ya, here's a picture of the Haynes Space Shuttle workshop manual, for those who restoring a mere motorcycle isn't enough anymore:

Technical question time

OK boys and girls, it's time for some mental gymnastics............does anyone know if the muffler/silencer for a late 60s BSA B44 Victor Special has a cut-out on the backside for the right hand shock absorber?
Like shown in the pics below.....

The reason I ask is that of the pics I've seen of these, I've never seen a cutout, plus on top of that, all the pics have been of the front side where the heat shield is screwed on.

There's one for sale and could be mine if this isn't some aborted bodge that will blow up on Bodger like a trick cigar.

Answers as always on a bit of paper behind the loo at the station..... 

Let the painting begin

Well actually it was some sanding first a few days ago and then today after faffing about, got around to hitting all the parts such as frame, tank, swing arm and pivot (the left footrest bracket on it actually) and a few other odds and sods with some etching primer and then with some grey aerosol primer.

Actually this is supposed to be a super, duper primer and filler all rolled into one neat little package. Supposedly will fill in wee cracks, gouges, what have you while it primes so you don't have to mess about too much with prep work.

Now before we get to far ahead of ourseleves here, for the time being, Bodger is just priming, sanding and getting parts ready for the application of the all important top coat of black enamel.

This is so that there's plenty of time to get the coats of primer sanded and smoothed down as best as can be done with these old arthritic grabbers as well as making sure that more parts of the jigsaw puzzle that is Vicky can be gathered.

Plus there's also the all important aspect of getting the layout for the tank worked out too. Can't be just taping and masking willy-nilly, no sir, need to get the dimensions sussed out right as well as finding the right color yellow to use as well as the shiny portion which is a brushed aluminum.

Also, slightly off topic, but as a tribute to a guy who's brief career was cut short by a fatal accident at Imola I think it was, Bodger managed to score this

to show off on the workbench as well as one on the laptop cover. The chappy was #51, Pat Evans who raced in one of the TransAtlantic Match Races back in the 70s, possibly a couple more.

Looks good I think with the Gus Kuhn, Scottish Saltire, NMM and Radio Caroline stickers......

An observation

When is it that people are going to be held accountable for what they do instead of someone else?

By this I mean, the average person who gets behind the steering wheel of any four wheeled vehicle has basically been given the perfect excuse more or less by the government or any law providers to not be held liable for any death or injury that occurs if the were to hit and/or kill a motorcyclist.

The reason, to me, is that those who make the laws are so intent on any carnage from happening on the roads that they come out with laws to "protect" a motorcyclist and passenger for their own good.

They range from the mandatory use of a helmet to daytime headlights to now in some places the use of Day-Glo vests or jackets.

Even though I don't particularly care to wear a helmet, I do just to be safe due to the number of idiotic and dangerous drivers here, even though it's not required here.

The others I just don't get at all.......if a driver of a car or truck runs into someone who isn't wearing a Day-Glo jacket, he has a built in excuse...."I didn't see him cause he wasn't bright enough!"

What happened to using your EYES??????? Looking and observing is part of driving. It's amazing how somebody can say that but will be driving along and will see a small sign for a sale of some sort, but can somehow NOT SEE a motorcycle approx. 5 feet long with a rider on it that maybe 5 feet high.

Pretty soon, we, as in motorcyclists, will be back to the old ways when cars first came along......a person will have to walk a ways in front and signal with flags and make some sort of noise to let people know they are in the vicinity, along with posting a time table to let them know to the second when.

Make and hold the four wheel driver accountable for not using their peepers like intended....either that or ban them from driving!

Just an observation.............tomorrow, getting messy and dirty with wet-n-dry paper, some water and Vicky's frame and other tinware.

All I can say is...

.....the weather has FINALLY gotten cooler and it feels like fall has gotten here after somewhere around two-three months of over 100F DAILY!!!!! It wasn't just hot here, it was Africa hot.

This is beautiful weather to be riding in, but unfortunately, Bodgers bits of scrap metal...err....trusty rides....are still in the shed awaiting parts, care and attention.

The hunt for more pieces of the puzzle is an on-going thing, latest acquisition are the headlight mounting brackets needed for Vicky. Trawling through eBay for other parts is a daily thing.

Bodger did manage to get one of the Holy Grails he was looking for, "BSA Singles Restoration" by Roy Bacon. This is one of those books thaat you need to aid in restoring bikes as it has all kinds of "DUI" or Damned Usefull Information stuffed into it such as color schemes, ID numbers, etc.

Anyway, a copy was finally obtained and didn't cost a fortune or kidney like expected as some stupid prices were being paid for the same thing by others in the past.

Seeing how the weather is nice now and Bodger now has his two mobile alarms (Bandit and Smudge the Wonder Dog) back in place, today seemed like a good a day as any to open the doors, fire up the grille and cook some dead meat in the form of  pork ribs with BBQ sauce with some type of fixin' like a baked/roasted spud and baked beans. Maybe even some belly wash in the way of a nice ale would be nice.

After all, what's the point of running the Piston Broke Bar and Grille if ya can't indulge in eating cooked food and drinking ale.

Also, as the weather is getting cooler, thoughts of a big pot of beef stew, navy bean soup or even Scotch Broth may be a good idea.....

Gordon Ramsey....the greasy spoon is up to the challenge......

Doings in Dundee

In today's edition of The Scottish Sun fishwrap:

http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/3817150/Cops-fear-biker-gang-bloodbath.html

For those of you who were planning on a trip to sunny Dundee, this could be a once in a lifetime chance to see mindless acts of violence committed while eating your fish and chips ooooooooooooor another storm in a chipped tea cup....either way, could be interesting to hear the outcome.

As I got the tip from our Scottish correspondent, Kawa, hopefully he can keep us all updated.

I'll have my bag of buttered popcorn at the ready, maybe it'll even hit the news over here with predictable misinformed reporting.

In a previous life....

....Bodger got to play with explosives, which may go a long way to explaining A LOT!

However, those days are long gone.

As yesterday marked the 10th anniversary of 9/11, thought it might be a good idea to throw this out just as an idea.

With all the problems being had in Iraq and Afghanistan with insurrgent hotspots and areas of unrest, Bodger thought it might be an idea that instead of using "smart bombs" go back to the basics and drop some "dumb" bombs on these places.

By that I don't mean saturation bombing like in WWII or Vietnam, but by dropping a few "Daisy Cutters" here and there.

For the the unfamiliar, a "Daisy Cutter" was a HUGE 15,0000lb, yes that's right, 15,000lb bomb that was pushed out of the back end of C-130 cargo planes and descended by parachute.

On loading pallet

Delivery method

At a predetermined height, it would explode and the resulting above ground blast would level anything within a good distance....primarily used to make helicopter landing pads in the jungles of Vietnam.

The following kinda give a perspective of the size, along with the first pic above....and these haven't been Photoshopped or altered, these are real

Vietnam era

 

Loading with a forklift

 

 

                                                                        
                                                                        Detonation


These lil beauties can do a world of damage to areas that are causing the most problems by armed thugs by destroying the surroundings depriving them of shelter as well as messing them up real good physically....ringing in the ears, bleeding from the ears, concussion and whatever else.

Drop several of these and it might make the armed thugs think twice about playing with guns and terrorism in general.

Nowt to do with motorcycles I know, just something that I thought of during the 9/11 remembrances.

 

A conundrum

While trawling through eBay looking for parts I ran across a couple that caught my eye. Upon closer inspection Bodger noticed something a bit off with one.

Namely on the swing arm....seems that there should be two mounting points for the chainguard, one at the swing arm pivot and the other about 3/4 ways back.

This is seen on the one for sale, but NOT on Vicky....there's a small lug on the bottom for the rear brake hub plate thingy, but not to secure the chainguard. Have a look at the pics:

As can be seen, the chainguard is secured to the top lug on the swing arm, this one from my wee Starfire....the pic for Vicky's swing arm didn't come out but the top lug is missing. It isn't broken or cut off, it just isn't there which is the reason for the query.

Has anyone with a B44VS seen this before, a swing arm sans rear chainguard mounting lug or is there a wee problem here?

Inquiring minds want to know, especially mine!!!!!!!

Thoughts on this please....

Extra, Extra....read the latest news......

Apparently after doing some Sherlock Holmes sleuthing type of stuff (OK, I asked for info on the BSA Forum, not the BSAOC, but on Yahoo)....anyway, a couple of responses have opined that in 69, the swing arm and chainguard was changed a wee bit....making interchangeability between some years difficult.

So this explains why things didn't look quite kosher with the swing arms bewteen Amelia and Vicky.

So it pays to investigate before going off half cocked and buying something on a whim....chceck yer stuff first before departing with yer hard earned!

Grand Opening of the Piston Broke Bar and Grille

After serious thought and consideration, it was decided that Thrash 'em Motorcycles needed to expand slightly to also incorporate a fine dining eatery with adult beverages as well.

So, the Piston Broke Bar and Grille is now open for business. Hours are whenever there's grub and suds available, but usually open for holiday enjoyment, special and not so special occasions and just whenever it's convenient.

Amongst items that may be on the menu are pieces of dead coos, BBQ porker ribs, BBQ baked beans, a baked spud and corn on the cob. Home cooking in the way of a Shepards Pie, spaghetti, bacon butties or, if can figure out the batter right, Toad-in-the-Hole. And as this is an area rich in Mexican influences, chicken fajitas could also be available.

Prices will be reasonableish......

To wash down these delicacies; Coca-Cola, bottled water for the health conscience, Coors light for those wanting alcohol but watching the calories (;o) or Newcastle Brown Ale will be available.

To save the expense of getting a char in, it's asked that patrons toss the empty cans in the containers provided to help with Bodgers retirement fund, any and all bones can be given to Smudge the Wonder Dog and her associate Bandit, the two roving alarm systems.

With your patronage, The Piston Broke Bar and Grille will become a great place to nosh at and knock back a few ales as well as blether aboot bikes.

In fact, the Ace Cafe in both London and Vanderpool are both the inspirations for this new venture. This could eventually even rival Hazel's Place if meat pies and chips were added to the menu.

Look for this sign to let you know you're at the right establishment;

And I shall have a few choice words with the sign writer manny about the bit at the bottom.....it's 'posed to say Bar and Grille NOT Club. That's what happens when you hire riff raff!!!!

Yesterday on the menu we had country style pork ribs with BBQ sauce, BBQ baked beans and a baked spud and it was delish, washed down with a bottle or two of Scottish and Newcastles finest

Today was a nice boneless steak with sud and beans.....

....nice weather, good grub and something cold to drink.....it's all good!