Comparisons

After getting away from the daily salt mine, I went off to the local book store to take part in a couple of my weaknesses....a yuppie latte with a chocolate chip cookie/biscuit and to see if the new issue of The Classic Motorcycle had come in to see if there was anything good in it. As it hasn't come in yet, I'll have to wait until it does.

In the meantime, I went walkabout in the store looking at books to see if there was anything of interest and ran across one that I had seen before on cafe racers.

This one, written by one Mike Seate, is from an American perspective from what I gather. I skimmed through it a bit and read a little bit here and there.

Two things caught my eye; one was a picture, courtesy of Bauer Media, they who publish Classic Bike, of a bloke on a BSA Gold Star. The rider who was un-named was riding at a fair clip from the looks of it and he happened to be Rick Parkington of Edinburgh. The other was a few lines describing how the author and his mate were riding on choppers a few years back when they were joined by a pair on cafe racers who promptly left them standing.

Now stay with me here as I get to the point of this rambling; a couple of years ago I made a trip back home to England and thence on a borrowed BMW K100 up to Edinburgh in Scotchland. While there I did the touristy thing and went to the Castle. I also visited with the above Rick Parkington.

During the supping of ale we'd discuss motorcycles and during the converstions Rick asked me two things; basically how the autojumbles were here and what the motorcycle scene is like.

As far as autojumbles (or swap meets as they're locally known) I told him that in this region they're not really that impressive and that's mainly due to the British classic bike scene isn't as big in Texas as it might be in California or on the East Coast of the US.

Classic bike shows here aren't that many or big and therefore vendors aren't as many. Yes there are people selling parts and even whole motorcycles, but the stands or stalls are low in number compared to something such asStafford or Netley Marsh which have much, much more.

And due to this, I think individuals have to resort to either mail order in order to get parts and some services or to do, and I hate this word, "networking", with others to see if they have or know a bloke that may have a particular part. That's how I managed to get a spare fiberglass gs tank for my Starfire.

The other thing that Rick asked about was the motorcycle scene or to be more precise, what it is like to ride in the States.

I told him that to me it was hard to describe really. Actually I found it hard to put in the right perspective. A lot of people seem to associate riding here with either Jap crotch rockets or with Harleys and the "lifestyle" that may involve.

Depending on the location and the weather, it could actually be like riding in Europe with twisty, narrow roads or it can be as some tend to think, long straight roads bathed in sunshine.

Down here in southern Texas the latter is the norm. For myself, the commute to work involves a one way trip of 27 miles on fairly straight interstate  and same town riding. During the summer this is done sans the leather jacket due to the temps being in the 90s and HIGH humidity. On safety grounds it may sound like a bad idea but this prevents overheating.

Away from this area to the north and west is an area that's known s the "Hill Country" for obvious reasons. This to me is the closest to riding in the UK as is possible. There are hills and some very nice twisty roads.

In the vicinity of the Lone Star Motorcycle Museum that I may have mentioned in an earlier posting, there are three roads that involve some very steep hills or mountains and very twisty roads and are name the "Three Twisted Sisters".

I've ridden my Harley on one of the and this involved riding over two mountains. By the time I was done and over I felt a little exhausted and mentioned this to Allan, the owner. He commented that "Harleys ain't made for scratching." 

That is so true. But a BSA, Norton or Triumph is perfect for this type of riding.

Anyway, back to the point of all this...unless you've experienced the riding in the US or the UK or anywhere else, it's hard to compare the two in words. You have to find out first hand.

So get out there and do it!!!!!

Lately in the shed....

I've been doing some cleaning up and rearranging.

Also did a spot of fiddling with the "new" bike. Took off a few parts such as the rear light assembly. Took it off as it didn't seem to "go" with the bike and it didn't appear to be the correct one anyway.

Before you get to thinking that this an anorak attack it's not my dear. It's just that I've decided to do a thorough restoration on the bike and as the light assembly seems to be the same type as Amelia the Starfire it may as well be the right type.

So there I am removing this blight on the pile of scrap metal and what do I discover when I finally get it off (the light assembly, do get your mind out of the gutter!)...instead of being a Lucas or even a Wipac item it's manufactured by a company called "Burke" and is made in of all places Japan!!!!!

To quote that famous philosopher Victor Meldrew, "I don't believe it!" Not only is it a cheap reproduction, it's made of cheapo monkey metal. And to top it off, it wasn't even placed in the proper place, it was positioned a little lower down on the mudguard/fender. So now that's got extra holes as well as a buckle in it from falling over due to some prats carelessness. I wonder who that could've been?!

Any road, back to the saga; soaked a bunch of nuts and bolts with pentrating fluid and will have to wait for the stuff to do it's magic, removed the top fork yoke, the 'bars and did a little light sanding to remove some rust.

Other than that not much else was done other than put a small mini fridge in the shed for the all important keeping cold of the ales, pint of milk for the cuppa and soft drinks as well as any bearings that need to be kept cold.

There was somethng else but what was it?????

Oh yeah.!!!!!! Name the "new" bike competition. There were three entries: Jemima, Jessica and Vicky were the choices, but only one can be picked so without further ado, the name is....cue drumroll....Vicky as "it's pretty obvious"  so I'm told.

As for the runners up, you've been lovely contestants and for being good sports, you'll each receive a chance to read more of this drivel. J/K. Good effort by all.

A quick look see

Was in the shed for a bit today rearranging the bikes. Took the Starfire off the bench and got the B44 up there in it's place. Prior to that I had all three of the bikes outside in the air to take some pictures of them.

After getting the B44 up on the bench, I had a look and wrote down everything that I could see that needed to be replaced or was missing. Turned into quite a long one I'm afraid, but that's how these things turn out.

While I was at it, I took the tank and seat off the Starfire and put them on the B44 just to get an idea how it would look. Looked good except for the fact the motor is out of the frame.

Here's the before and after shots

The seat and tank will go back on the Starfire of course and a spare Starfire tank I have will be used until I can source a good and reasonable Victor Special tank and as thoe are as common as chicken lips, it could be a while.

But then as there's quite a bit of work to do on the chassis as well as the motor, that can wait.

Before toddling off, here's a wee competition for you for you lot; as the Starfire has a name already, Amelia, what's a good name to give the B44 and it will have to be a girls name alright? Gladys, Ermintrude, Herminie, Angelina and Gertrude are right out. So get yer thinking caps on.

Soon to be new project bike

Last month I bought the motor from a 1970 BSA B44VS (Victor Special) for a whopping $85. A few parts missing...OK...several parts are missing but as I have a copy of the illustrated parts listing, things won't be too bad.

Well, today I got the rolling chassis for $200. It's a right state with plenty of rust, missing parts, no registration papers of any description and will take a long time to get back on the road. But that's OK as this one I want to get and be perfect.

In the next day or two I'll post some pictures on here while I do an inventory of sorts of what's needed, what's in horrible shape and what may be salvageable.

Until then lads and lasses.........

Another year and another year older

The first of the year saw the start of a new year as well as new decade. Yesterday saw the start of another year for the old Bodger.

Yep, a little older and slightly a little more grayer up top. Didn't do much to celebrate it as after a few times it gets a little old, like me.

So like all new years where resolutions and promises are made, I've decided to try and abide by a few that I keep saying I'll make:

1) Lose the few spare pounds around the belt line
2) Cut down on the Cokes and munchie snacks
3) Pull me finger out and get the two projects in gear so to speak and
4) Try and get any other resolutions done as well.

Hopefully they'll be seen through!

Noah's needed about now...

As a further installment to the last posting about the Triumph part masquerading as a BSA part, I sent the cover back to matey and got an e-mail yesterday from him saying that he "must've sent the wrong part" and "that has never happened before" and that he'll try and get the part back from the other person and send it to me or refund the money. I asked for the refund.

At least chummy did the right thing and owned up to his mistake. Now just have to wait and see if the refund is done.

Now as I'm sure you're wondering what this has to done with Noah I'll explain.

Ever since Wednsday it's been rainy and slightly cold. Today it has been raining, windy and cold all day. The weather people on the telly news have issued flash flood warnings for all of today.

Luckily for me I've been off work today and will be until Tuesday morning due to my scheduled three days off  along with the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on Monday. So it's four days off for me.

And as I'm at home, I don't have to deliver mail in this cold dampness trying to stay warm and dry as well as keeping the mail dry.

And for those of you who do a little bit of moaning about your postie sometimes for whatever reason, trade places with him/her for a day or two when the weathers bad. You'll see that while everyone else is comfortable, they're out there in miserable conditions getting you your parts, etc.

Let's here it for the Postie.  Oh, and if anyone's got a spare canoe or rowboat, could you lend it me for a few days? Ta.

And if that isn't rambling, I don't know what is!

It makes ya wonder

Just after Bah Humbug I bought a timing side cover for the B44 motor off eBay. After about a week I get an e-mail from the old boy saying that he had sorta misplaced it, had now found it and had mailed it out.

OK good I thinks, he's keeping me informed an all that.

So today it shows up and like a little kid at Bah Humbug anxious to get to the prezzies, I open the box up. I pull the cover out and look a little perplexed for a second thinking that it didn't quite look right.

Then see the patent plate on the cover and read it.....it says....drumroll please......."Triumph" and then the penny dropped. The reason it didn't look quite right was that it wasn't for a B44/B25, it was for a Meriden TRIUMPH.

So I shoot a message off to the geezer and now have to await his response on this calamity. He appparently doesn't take returns which is fine by me and I don't really care, but I either want the right timing cover or a refund of my hard earned dosh.

Let's see if he does the right thing shall we or do I go off on a rant? Stayed tuned for the results at a later, not too much later I hope, time.

BTW: I have just discovered the "Comment Modertion" bit the other day. Sometime old fossils like me take a little longer with this new modern technology stuff.

Carry on

The world (in)famous Ariel 3

Today I received a message from Hazel, the editor of the North Staffs BSAOC newsletter asking about the Blog being added to her newsletter blog as a link.

Hazel is also a mate from two of the Forums that I belong to and amongst her stable of bikes she has a nice little TriBSA with a Triumph 350 3TA motor in a BSA B25 frame as well as a........drumroll and smelling salts at the ready.......an Ariel 3!!!

Yes, yes, an Ariel 3. A quirky little machine that BSA, as the parent company of Ariel back in the days of yore, thought was a good idea. It was a nightmare from the sounds of it and the late Bert Hopwood, one of the senior designers at BSA, Triumph, Ariel and Norton during their heydays, made mention of it in his book Whatever Happened To The British Motorcycle Industry?

If you want to know more about the Ariel 3 as well as the British motorcycle industry, get the book. Also there's a link to the worlds only Ariel 3 museum in Bristol. Got the North Staffs blog and then click on the Ariel 3 Museum link. And don't take the Mickey out of Hazels little Ariel as she happens to like it.

It's colder than a witches.........

The weather people forecasted that a cold front would be making an appearance today and did it. The last couple of days it's been coolish in the 40s, but today it got into the 40s and it was windy.

The next two days aren't going to be any better, with the highs somewhere in the 30s and the lows in the teens. Tis gonna be cold here the next couple of days folks so keep bundles up and if you have brass monkeys, don't let them outside :) I unfortunately have to work outside in this for the two days delivering the mail.

But there is good news.....yesterday while at the shops getting dog food for the kids, er, I mean dogs I had a brainstorm and got a small kitchen timer to use in the shed for doing the tank on the Starfire. You know the kind.....small, a timer and used in the kitchen.

Now when I get the stuff from Caswells to do the inside of the tank, I can set the timer for X number minutes per side and rotate the tank so it gets evenly coated on each side. Genius!!! Well OK I got the idea from someone on the BSA Groups forum.

Next posting after the freeze is over.... or sooner if there's something comeup.

A noggin scratcher

I've come across a dilema here.....do I use the money I have stashed away to go on the 2010 British Singles Run (BSR) that I mentioned in an earlier posting oooooooor do I use it to get the rolling chassis for the B44 motor I just acquired AND finish off the last few bits left on the Starfire????

Decisions, decisions!!

If I go the BSR route, the Starfire will still get finished PLUS there will be a further segment to this drivel at a later date.

But if I go the other way, the frame dear, not what you were thinking, I get the frame so no one else does and get that project started as well as finishing off the wee Starfire so it can get on the road for next years BSR.

So any thoughts, suggestions or ideas on a postcard and send to:

Figger it out yerself ya Ol' Wazzick
Third Tree Stump Along
Kings Sutton
Banbury, OXON

Of course donations go along way too....as far as the pub anyway.

Edit: For those who have been reading this blog to date, you may have noticed that I mentioned the blog of The GBC and have recommended it's reading.

Well the Gorgeous One is having a photo competition so go read the blog for details, enter and have fun.

In the meantime, I'll be scratching my noggin on aboves dilema as well as the competition thrown in now! 

Has come and gone...

...the start of the New Year that is. With any luck things will be just as good this year as they were the last one.

With the New Year here that means that resolutions were made (and possibly broken already) as well as plans.

Hopefully those involved getting a classic bike on the road. If so, well done. If not, go on and do it, you know that you want to.

So before the end of the day arrives here, a Happy New Year and for those in the land of my ancestors, Happy Hogmanny  to you all!