Yes Virginia, there is Christmas in August

Not only did Bodger have a three day weekend which was really nice though it was still Africa hot, a few things arrived for him in the post....a couple of books to further get edjumicated on British hacks, er, bikes and one of the rarest things out there....no....not an honest politician....a side cover for Vicky.

But not just any side cover, an actual metal one. Thought that it may be fiberglass, but nope, it's metal a little grotty looking but another bit to practice the spraying skills on.

Also, got something in the mail from Hairy Larry for services rendered.......parts sales not what you're thinking you! Cheers, now Bodger can eat lunch or have a beer...:)

A grand day out

After the nonsense Bodger has had to put up with at the salt mines this past fortnight, a three, yes three, day weekend was made use of.

Yesterday (Friday) was spent having a wee drive out into the Texas Hill Country to one of Bodgers favorite places, The Lone Star Motorcycle Museum in Vanderpool.

It's been mentioned in a previous post or two. It's smallish with only about 60-80 bikes in there and mainly British. Granted it's not up to the same level as the NMM in Brum, but whereas the bikes in NMM are cordoned off, here you can actually walk amongst them.

Anywho.....it had been a while since being there last so thought it a good idea to pay a visit and to unwind. Got there and saw Allan the owner and caught up on doings with him.

He's in the process of restoring a 57 (I think he said) Triumph Thunderbird. Had the chrome plating done in San Antonio, the painting he's done himself in a very nice metallic blue and so far from what I've seen, it's looking really nice and will look brilliant when finally done.

Had a nose around and took a couple of pics mainly of the Rocket 3 that is something I drool over everytime I see one. Also a couple of a Commando with a Combat motor.

I was fixing to leave when outside in the parking area something caught my eye....this

Kawa  knows more about these than I do, but from the looks of it it's of Russian build vs Chinese. I am sure that it's not from Mona's Isle though judging by the three-legged Triskilion (sorry about the butchered spelling). Another clue was that the rear license plate showed it being from New Mexico.

And while I was looking this beast over, another bike shows up, one I had passed on the road a bit earlier. It parks up and I chat with the oowner who towers over me and I'm 5'10".

He rolls up on a bike that he's going to use in the upcoming British Singles Run that Allan has every year in October. Once either Amelia or Vicky are roadworthy, I'll take part in that as well.

Anyway, the bike that came rolling in was a BSA 500 Gold Star and for some reason the pics did not appear on the memory card of the camera.....botheration!!!!!!!!

I had a look at the engine number and am pretty certain it was a DBD34, but with the glare from the sun it was hard to see.

Take Bodgers word for it, it was beautiful

Facebook

Not really to do much with motorcycles I know......but yesterday, I found an old friend on Faceache, haven't seen in 27 years.

At first there were a couple of postings, one of which is if I still had my Commando.....answer, sadly, was no, it's long gone.

Then after swapping info he gives a call and we have a blether for about an hour.

Used to think that Faceache was pretty much a waste of time, but then found that you can get connected with like minded blokes and bloke=esses and thru the poower of the 'net, become "friends" with some of the big names in the motorcycling world....won't be a name dropper here.

So, I guess this "social networking" stuff isn't too bad then.

Forks revisited...with pics finally

Due to the memory card for the camera being "locked" and not being able to take pics for some idiotic reason, it occurred to me that I had another memory card for the camera................but where!!!!!!!!

Found it!!!!!!!!!!!!! In one the file cabinets that's used for storage of files (naturally), the most important tea supplies, equipment like the battery charger and other things

So, here's a few pics of the forks at this point in time:

                                                    Gaiters and two "persuaders"

                                                                        Springs

Stanchions

The fork shrouds

And this is a shot of the engine stand along with the seal retainer tool bought on the "Shop 'til Ya Drop Spending Spree", this ones for Kawa as he was interested in the stand

Have been spraying penetrating fluid down inside the sliders to help later on with removing the seal retainers. Judging by some of the rust that was there on the springs and stanchions, thought it might be a good idea...

Will also have to get some lumber materials and cobble up a platform thing to mount the stand on.....could bolt it to the bench, but seeing how it's not mine (the bench), may not be a good idea.

Any ideas for the vise? Had thought of an old cable spool, but need one at a good height to make things manageable.

Answers in the usual manner....on a scrap of paper, left behind the old cistern at 9PM on a cloudless night.

Still about the forks

Went into the garage to work on the newly acquired forks for "Vicky", armed with freshly charged (I hope) batteries for the camera.

Put the batteries in, turned the camera on and it says "Card Locked"......Huuuuuuuuuuhhhhh???? Pushed the take the picture button and nothing happened.....at all.

So it's decided to go ahead and see what I can do. I checked the gaiters which have some small holes and splits/tears in them. they'll be history soon.

Pulling the gaiters down revealed that both, not one but both external springs are in place, though one of those and the stanchion it's around are a so I think little on the shabby side with the rust.

What's missing is one of the fork damping rods. So that has to be ordered.

I sprayed some penetrating fluid down the fork stanchions to where the fork seal locking washers ring thingies are so that any corrosion in the threads can be loosened up and the ring things can be removed. Will probably take a few days, but I'll give it a try later just to see.

Had a look at what I could and things seem to "be" OK. Once I can get things apart, will know better.
The corrosion I've seen so far has been fairly light so steel or copper wool might be in order for some very light sanding to take care of it.

The yokes/trees are great except........there's two extra holes drilled into each. For what purpose is any ones guess.

I'll try again with the camera and get some pics.

Extra: Just got confirmation the the left hand side panel is now another eBay addition to the parts stash. These are as rare as chicken lips so you'll know why I'm happy about this

More extra stuff..................Had a quick session in the shed/garage and got the stanchions free of the yokes/trees. Unfortunately, due to not having a vise that's bolted down, I wasn't able to use the fork seal tool to remove the seal retainers.

But the springs look to be in good shape, remove some surface rust and oiled up, good as sorta new...same with the stanchions I'm thinking. Once those are free from the sliders and cleaned up to get a better idea of the surfaces, things will be looking better.

Still think I'll use the new springs and gaiters on the set during rebuild, more to know that it was done.

Nad still can't take pics due to the memory card being "Locked". How bizarre, never done that before!

So far so good.

Got some forks....but no knives or spoons

The latest acquisition towards the rebuild of "Vicky", a set of 99% complete forks, have arrived.

Upon quick inspection, the rubber gaiters seem to be in very good nick, the sliders likewise....however these are the type that have end caps to secure the front wheel spindle in place whereas the knackered original pair have the straight thru spindle set up.

May have to do a little rearranging if the straight thru set up is incompatible with this one. Not a problem....

The yokes or trees do have to be replaced as there are extra holes drilled in them, top and lower yokes, for some odd reason. But as "Vicky's" are in great shape....again, not a problem.

There are headlight shrouds, but the strange thing is that there are no "ears" for attaching the headlight. And I did think that maybe they had been snapped off or sawn off with a hacksaw, but negative on both accounts. The ares where they would be attached through welding I would think, are clean with no jagged edges, etc.

For scrambles use I wonder???

I'm thinking of doing some exploratory surgery here on Sunday just to have a butchers at what's what. Luckily I have a pair of external springs and new seals on hand and if all seems good, half the front end job will be a lot easier

Pics will be forthcoming in the next fork posting when things come (I hope) apart for inspection.

Stay tuned 

What's the world coming to?

It's bad enough having to put up with higher than normal, for us anyway, temperatures that can drive anyone completely nuts, but what is going on with the rest of the world????

Can't think of the name of the race off the top off my head, but it's at Dundrod in Northern Ireland I think and held on public roadways I believe just like at the IoM.

I don't have any details of this story, but apparently a farmer got pissed off over something and spilled a good amount of diesel fuel onto the roads that comprise the circuit. If this hadn't been spotted, can you imagine the casualties that could've happened with racers hitting that at excessive speeds?

Hope this pissed off farmer gets taken before the bench and given a right good bollocking before thrown in prison.

And again due to not watching the news too much, details are sketchy, but apparently cops in north London shot and killed someone for an apparent crime. So this sparks off rioting not just in London, but in other cities as well.

And the end result as always, cars and businesses that belong to real  human people, not the pond scum causing all this are being destroyed and I'll bet, are looted as well.

All these little cretins need to be rounded up, taken on military air transports (not exactly known for comfort) to Iraq or Afghanistan, dropped into the worst areas known for combat or violence and see how hard these little thugs really are.

I just hope they leave things such as the motorcycle businesses alone....it's hard enough getting good parts nowadays without what there is being destroyed by mindless butt-scratchers who want to get things handed to them for nothing.

OK......rant over!!!!....for now....

Restoration work

I saw a thread on one of the classic bike forums that I follow occasionally concerning restoration work.

I don't remember the whole thing except for this bit.....someone brought up a point about the actual work done. More to the point, I think it came down to this, at least I think that was the intention:

If someone is restoring a classic bike, older than say 20y/o,  give the bike and a bucket full of money to a "professional" restorer or do all the work themselves? The second option implies ALL the work that needs to be done.

Personally. I myself will go  with option three which is do as much s you actually can and farm out the stuff  that is beyond your expertise, with of course the attendant costs.

Even though I'm no expert and I know only what I've picked up over the years, the satisfaction of doing as much of the work as I can is to me rewarding.

Even though I have never spray painted a bike, I'm willing to give it a go, to the best of my abilities. Same as the engine work, reassembly or what have you.

There are things that I will farm out....electrickery, wheel building and recovering the seat. The last is more due to there are some auto reupholsters in town that might be able do an ace job of it and it won't cost me an arm, leg and kidney.

The other two arm black arts.......I suppose with the right equipment, time and patience I could probably do the wheel building, it just takes practice, patience and experience.

Electrickery........once a wire breaks and the smoke is freed, it won't work again.....it's true, especially if it was made Lucas and Sons. To get a better understanding read the following linkys:

http://www.britcycle.com/Manuals/prince_of_darkness.htm

http://www.britcycle.com/Manuals/LucasSmoke001.htm
Now if all the wires, connectors, etc along with a GOOD schematic and understanding of what was what were in place, then it might make some sense..........to someone.

And I think that if I were to do my own rewiring, I would make some modern updates such as using block connectors where possible, good insulation around the wire bundles, great grounding points, and quality switches if possible. Modern bulbs would be a must too I think.

So having thrown all this out there for you to read and ponder.......what approach would you take?

-Have someone else do it all?
-Do it all yourself?
-Do as much a possible and farm out what you need to?

A legend passes....Gary Nixon (Jan 25, 1941-Aug 5, 2011)

I never knew or met the man, don't remember if I saw him race in the TransAtlantic Races I went to back in the 70s at Mallory Park, but today, Gary Nixon passed away due to complications from a heart attack suffered on July 29.

Clicky on the linky thing to see his web page and learn about him.

http://www.garynixon.com/homepage.htm

I think there was an interview with him in Classic Bike just recently though I could be mistaken.

Keepin' the trend a goin'

SFB, Kawa and Hairy Larry got this whole mess started up with.....mopeds.......

Not trying to keep up with the Jones', Smiffs or even Rodger the Dodger, Bodger (and no that ryhming thing wasn't intended) has decided to show what was considered a small blight upon the Banbury area back in the days of the dinosaur.....the 70s.

Imagine a small English country market town that at one time had Europe's largest cattle market. It was also known for Banbury Cakes, the world famous Banbury Run, Eddie Dow of Gold Star fame and also the Banbury Cross which was a roundabout of sorts that formed a crossroads just near the town center.

At a small parking area adjacent to the Cross was where the local areas motorcycle riders would meet of a Saturday to indulge in rounds of ale at the pubs or cans from the local off license (liqour store) and just hang about being a nuisance  to the local towns people by making a terrible amount of noise with their motorcycles, drunkenness and general tomfoolery.

But what added to this terrible scene and was associated by proxy with those motorcycle riding individuals was something that would be liken to a C film biker movie.......a swarming pack of moped riders who would buzz up and down the High Street of Banbury on their 50cc Yamaha FS-1E mopeds such as this

led by, shocking as this may sound, the leader of the pack on this:

a 125cc Fantic Choppper. Yes, that's right, a Fantic Chopper. Throw in a Garelli and a Honda AP50 or two and you've got yerself a motorcycle gang.......sort of.

The locals with Honda 750/4s, Norton Commandos, Triumphs, BSAs , Yamahas, Suzukis, and Kawasakis of different shapes and sizes , Nolan Kahn who traded his Vincent twin in for a Honda Gold Wing that he airbrushed some space scenes on and was susequently featured in "Bike" magazine, didn't stand a chance aguinst these guys.

As do all things, things changed in Banbury....the local motorcycle yoofs all but disappeared, Banbury went and changed things so much there's hardly any place to park anymore and the moped gang disappeared off the face of the earth by getting cars, married or what have you.

But luckily the Banbury Run is still held there but at nearby Gaydon or Drayton School, Banbury Cross is still there and you can still get Banbury Cakes.