The things you see while out and about

After signing some papers at my attorneys office I happened to see these on the street corner.

After nearly getting whiplash from the double take and a fast turnaround, I managed to get some shots.

No info on them and no money in the account or the BSA would've been in the garage with the others.

Of the two, the BSA like I say would've been in my garage if the funds were available. Not fond of choppers though I do sort of like the look of a well designed and thought out bobber and except for a few things on it, the BSA looked good. Then again I could be just a little biased for some reason.

Banbury's finest

Todays waffling will be about Banbury's finest and it's not the local constabulary.

Banbury in Oxfordshire is known for a few things, these being Banbury Cakes which is similar to an Eccles cake and is pretty tasty, Banbury Cross which is a monument that's smack dab in the middle of the road and forms a roundabout or traffic circle/rotary, and it's cattle market which at one time was the largest in Europe and then there's two motorcycle racers.

The Cross, cakes, etc can be Googled for more info if you like, the racers are Dan Shorey and Eddie Dow.

They both had dealerships in Banbury which unfortunately closed down back before Bodger became a part of the Banbury motorcycle scene back in the mid 70s.

Dan Shorey had his dealership up in North Bar which was a street in Banbury and there was a huge metal sign attached to the building wall that was still there as far as 1980 if I recall.

Shorey raced at the IoM and at Thruxton near Andover, Hants, partnering with one Mike Hailwood to win a race there, a 24 hour I think it was.

The other well known gent was Eddie Dow. he also raced at the IoM as well as in ISDT events and did well in all.

He's more notably known for his association with BSA Gold Stars and his improvements on another BSA model that was highly desirable.

There was one more in the Banbury area, living in the village and running, with her brother, the Three Tuns pub that Bodger at one time used to frequent from time to time.

This lady was the late Olga Kevelos who was quite well known and experienced on the trials circuit as well as other forms of two wheel sport plus a dabble in four wheel.

Besides being a publican and well versed in/on two wheels, Olga also had a very colorful life being a twice contestant on "Mastermind", a TV knowledge show as well as canal boat operator during WWII, hauling vital war supplies between cities.

I believe she was in a previous posting in this bloggy thing.

If you want to know more about them, Google them or check in Wikipedia for more info....you'll always be surprised at what you find, like Bodger is.

Back in the saddle again...sort of

OK I've been a little, OK alot, inactive with the rebuilding of Vicky of late, so figured it was time to pull my finger out and do something.

Still putting the engine work off until ALL the various bits and bobs are in, but that doesn't stop other work such as painting, etc.

After taking a long needed vacation with my better half Teri, I had been wanting to get back into doing some actual work. It was after paying a visit to a sc**ter shop in Fredricksburg and seeing some beautifully restored bikes that got fires stoked so to speak. That and some unexpected prodding from Teri.

I say unexpected as Teri isn't overly fond of motorcycles, but she thought it'd be good for work to get started again.

So.....some work done on the seat.

Sanding of the rusty places was in order but the whole thing really needed it. Started off by removing the white vinyl piping from along the bottom edge as well as the two chrome flashing strips on the sides.

This was a little tricky as the wee nuts were well and truly rusted in place. But with some prior thought on the matter, liberal spraying of penetrating fluid helped that out.

With but a little bit of trouble, the nuts came off and it was discovered that the little studs the nuts screwed onto were in fact tiny little screws and they were held in a smallish channel within the flashings.

After wiping things down with an old sock and then a tack clothe, it was time for major surgery of sorts.

Using a fiberglass repair kit, and a few other things, repair work was started.

First off, using some wax paper, the kind used in cooking, the rusted through holes were masked off.

Then cutting pieces of fiberglass clothe that was supplied and with resins mixed, the holes were covered over with resin soaked strips.

For an amateur it wasn't a pretty sight with excess resin dripping everywhere along with stray bits of fiberglass floating about. But the job got done.

A word of advice, try and get this all done in one go as the resin starts to set hard pretty quick and it gets HOT as well.

Next step after letting it all dry is to trim any excess clothe and resin and then to sand or file it down.

Painting, which is the next installment

Summe hols, the next bit

Well sir, the second leg of the summer vacation is done with now, just getting back yesterday in the PM to HOT, HOT, HOT temps of around 105F.

Without all the boring details, we headed out to Lubbock out in west Texas by way of San Angelo and Abilene.

The first night we spent in San Angelo which to knowledge isn't reknown for anything important though at this particular time was hosting a boat drag race competition of some sort. Even though we got in lateish and didn't see much of the place, we weren't to impressed with the place. Sorry people of San Angelo, we just weren't.

However this place, a winery in the local area was really nice and these were nearby:

(Christoval Winery, Christoval, TX)

(1914 Case tractor parked in someones front yard)

(Actual road sign)

Next day saw us stopping the night in Abilene which fans of Westerns will know for cattle drives, lawmen and outlaws and other such western stuff.

Next morning we were on the road headed towards Lubbock. The drive itself took about four hours and the views can be described as flat and level with some hills thrown in, giant windmills used for alternate power dotted the landscape for miles, pumps for oil wells, small towns that had seen better days and the occasional head of cattle.

Lubbock itself was a surprise. There were wide streets, it was spread out, traffic wasn't heavy and maniacal and it was CLEAN. No trash littering the streets, no graffiti or any eyesores whatsoever.

The main reasons for this trip were to indulge in some visits to wineries and for Teri to revisit Lubbock after 30 years to see what it was like.

She had gone to Texas Tech University for a couple of years and graduated to become a teacher. From what Teri said, she hardly recognized the place other than the college itself and a few other places.

We did the tourist thing by going to three of the five wineries that we wanted to go to and then feeling a little "wined" out, went to see a couple of places such as "Prarie Dog Town" and the Buddy Holly statue.

Here's a few inhabitants of Prarie Dog Town:

Prarie Dog Town was created back in the 1930s in one of the local parks as a habitat for prarie dogs, to protect them. Seemed a little strange hearing of this, but Bodger found it pretty cool seeing the little rodents scurrying around.

Buddy Holly needs no introduction does he? He was from Lubbock and is pretty much remembered for hits such as "Peggy Sue" and "That'll be the Day" as well as dying in a plane crash with Richie Valens, and The Big Bopper.

After a couple of days there in Lubbock, it was time to head back to Bodger Country. We took two and a bit days to drive up to Lubbock via San Angelo and Abilene as mentioned as well as some other stops to look at.

Coming back took three days as we made a couple stops along the way, the last one being Fredricksburg.

Here Bodger finally got a chance to drop by the local motorcycle shop. Actually it's a sc**ter shop but they do work on motorcycles and have a few classic rides in there.

On this particular day there were the following; a Honda CA72, a Triumph 350 21, a beautiful Meridan Daytona and I believe a Bonneville. There was also a beautiful example of a B44VS that was going for $3500. In the workshop was a Benelli 350 being restored or at least worked on.

Bodger got to talk to Billy, the owner of the shop and he was very helpful and friendly, offering help as required with the rebuild of "Vicky".

With the exception these bikes, there weren't many seen on the trip and the ones that were out there were mainly of Milwaukee origin or crotch rockets.

Bodger did spy a San Angelo motor cop getting fuel who was riding a SAPD Honda that could've been a Pan America but as Bodger knows next to nothing on these newer contraptions, it's just a guess.

Leaving Fredricksburg on the last leg of the trip home, we hit a few more wineries with some gorgeous views, bought some fresh peaches and then were home.

We both had a good time together being with each other and seeing the sights. But at the end we were both knackered and glad to be home. Even Bandit the beastie was glad to be home from Teri's house.