Musical nostalgia

The linky below, if it works, is for a tune I discovered a short while back and liked..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5BrE1peu1A

Just happened to think about it and decided to check on ye olde You Tube, and, lo and behold, it was there. Even had sub-title words to sing along to it if you wanted to....in Finnish no less though the singing words are in English luckily.

For background, Steve Gibbons I heard of waaaaaaaay back in the 70s while stationed at a RAF base in Berkshire. A mate had a live vinyl album, remember them?, called "Caught in the Act"-The Steve Gibbons Band

It was basically a 50s-ish rock 'n' roll band that played some pretty good music. Think they were from the Brum/Birmingham area.

Anyway, they were pretty good as I say and could IMO be considered good biker music. If the linky works, have a listen and see what ya think.

Think they did another bike related tune, "Triumph Bonneville" as well. But as I'm a little biased, yer getting this one here.

Cheers.........

Petroleum distillates

Or in other words......gas/petrol.

Compared to the RoW, the former Colonies here in the Western Hemisphere have much lower sales prices than say the UK or Europe. On average if Bodger is even halfway correct, here in the former possession of Mexico, gas is right now $3.45 a US gallon vs roughly the same cost in the UK for a liter or about in a quart in real measurements.

A couple of years ago Bodger made a trip home to the Midlands and rented a car to drive around in instead of relying on foot power. And for that priviledge got to pay about $70-80 for around 11 gallons of gas.

The way it's going now with the rise in fuel prices, pretty soon it's predicted that come springtime, $4/gallon may be the norm.

Different parts of the country have different prices; the East and West Coasts have higher prices as does the North. Down here in sunny Texas, it's cheaper than the rest possibly due to having oilfields and oilwells along with lower transportation costs of getting the refined fuel from the refineries to the stations for sale.

However this doesn't really make much difference IMO as with ANY rise in fuel prices comes the rise in prices of OTHER consumable commodities due to the rise in transportation costs.

A vicious little cycle which hurts all as it leaves less money in the coffers to do important things such as buy parts, attend distant shows or for international travel back to the Midlands and for the forthcoming Haggis Run in October.

The good thing is that it COULD promote more motorcycle usage by showing that fuel economy, traffic congestion is less and parking is so much better with two wheels than with four.

Guess we'll have to see what happens though eh?

Mutton bustin'

A few months back Bodger posted about a very interesting aspect of rodeo sport known as Mutton Bustin' and said that a report would be due as soon as the Rodeo was attended and this event was observed.

So here it is, unfortunately without benefit of video, or other supporting pictorial evidence.

For those who aren't familiar with this event, pay attention GBC as this could be of future use, it involves putting putting wee sprogs onto the backs of a sheep adn then letting the sheep loose so it can run about like sheep do.

The wee sprog has to hold on for as long as possible to get the best time and whoever has the best time over all gets some type of prize or money or something.

Oh, just to clarify, the sprogs don't have benefit of being perched on a saddle or anything other then the sheep's wool to hang on to but for safety and other kiddie laws, they do have safety helmets on their noggins.

Back to the story; the very first sheep and rider out of the pen was a little anti-climatic as the sheep walked out with the nipper just lying there on the sheeps back.

The others after that were way better as the sheep came out a runnin' with the sprogs hanging on for dear life, usually managing 4-5 feet before falling off onto the dirt.

There were ten contestants in all and only about 2 actually made it more than 5 feet or so before falling off.

One of them was a small a lsss who was the winner and she made it just about the entire areana before hitting the dirt.

Sorry there isn't a video or any pics at the moment, but once that can be sorted, it'll get done, though as Bodger and Teri my lass were in the nosebleed seats, the video from the phone doesn't show the hilarirtiy to it's fullest.

A cutie......

....and she was a helluva rider too from what I hear.

She being Sue "Flying" Fish from California who apparently was a Womens Champion at Motorcross in the US.

The pics were lifted from the 'net from an "official" fanpage.

Two of the pics show Sue after a good prang up; one is the aftermath in plaster cast and neck brace and the other is the hardware that was put in her to hold broken bones together.

The other pic is a magazine cover showing what a cutie she was then, back in the 70s when she was around 18 or 19.

I remember seeing her in a couple of the mags back during that time, but due to the constant moving about courtesy of Uncle Sam's Air Farce, didn't get to keep up due to lack of availability of US bike mags.

Perhaps Hairy Larry can shed some more info on her and her career.

Not much been a happenin'......

.......at Casa Bodger of late.

The past few days have been miserable due to early morning rain/mist and a few nights ago there was a nice thunder storm with some good sized hail thrown in for good measure. The golf ball sized hail went through tree branches leaving a blanket of leaes on the ground below and in some yards, flattened tall grass and weeds, very surreal looking at times.

At the moment it's dry and coolish which is nice other than it also being damp. Reminds me of being home in the Midlands during this time of year.

On the jigsaw puzzle known as Vicky parts have still been coming in as they are found. Managed to get a rear grab rail just a few days back along with a rear brake rod with adjuster.

Also got a NOS fiberglass left side panel for a good price which was a stroke of luck. I know, I know, you're thinking "Silly boy already got a metal panel not long ago" and you're right.

But even though it's for a B44, from looking at it more closely and by dry fitting it to the frame, it didn't quite look right if you know what I mean.
Just seemed out of place compared to this one.

So anyways, the hunt for parts is still on-going and in no particular order, just getting them as they come available and if the price is right.

The next thing besides parts is to get a compressor and then to knock together a basic lumber and plastic sheeting paint "room" for outside so the frame and as many other painted parts can be painted.

Then if all goes well, some assembly can get started at least instead of still having a largish pile of scrap metal.....err....parts lying about doing nothing other than gathering dust.


Until the next time.....toodle pip!