Rosario is experiencing technical difficulties. He'll be back soon when his ignition is sorted...
July 15, 2010
June 22, 2010
Swap Meets and junk...
A particular shop's swap day, got me all "i'll pop by to that"...
SR salt racer looked slick. Owner's name was Ross. Tops...
Scott's awesome speed twin. Everything is basically handmade and different. When you're an engineer by trade, and have an eye for detail, this is what you end up with. The front honda drum wasn't even linked up to a lever, why? It was pissing him off. No brakes? No worries?
Race cams, hand made pipes, well... hand made everything. Mind-gasm...
Guard Koala...
As New Harley flathead. Even the stickers were new...
June 21, 2010
The Bad Ass Register...
The Canadian three time grand prix winner, 65' 250cc runner up, near death recoverer...
The road racer formally known as Mike Duff...
Michelle Duff...
June 20, 2010
Old/New leathers woot...
Shitty camera, great skins!
Just received my first ever full race leathers made by none other than Lewis Leathers. Woot burgers. Now off to the tailor so they can make me fit into them...
June 16, 2010
The Bad Ass Register...
4950 air kills, 4131 ground kills, and it shot down 230 v-1 rockets...
The Axis smashing, high climbing, deadly diving, sky bastard from America...
The P51 Mustang.
June 15, 2010
The Great Guzzi!
If you sit up all night till the early hours looking at bikes much better than yours then you're bound to know about Wrench Monkees...
Here's a little something they prepared earlier...
Surely that's the cleanest 850 Guzzi ever built...
It may be the yellow door...
...throwing out contrast and junk, but I believe this shovel has looks. Found this across the interwebs. I'm not your typical Harley-single- crank-pin sort of guy but I think this is hawt...
Love the AMF tank harking back to the days when the company was owned by a bowling magnate that ruined them... More.
Or is it just cause it looks good?
Bobber-tastic!
The story is in the leather...
I've been looking for new dead cow to drape around my shoulders and the choices out there are immense. My perusing has left me looking at the older guys, who still wear the jackets from their yesteryears.
One of such brands is Belstaff.
Funnily enough, their motorcycling jacket of fame was never constructed of leather, but of waxed cotton. The founders Eli Belovitch and his son in law Harry Grosberg were the first to make such a garment and it's water repelling qualities earned a good name for the company in the cycle circles.
It also looked good.
Cue McQueen...
The company now makes all sorts of clothes, but they still have stayed true to their roots and the wax cotton jacket is the same today as it was in the 20's...
June 14, 2010
June 9, 2010
The adventures of Sandy, the delectable cb500/550!
I have finally dismantled my 550 four honda motor, and the lesson has given me a new insight in the benefits of blue printing. Honda have always made a quality product (lets forget about the cb400N hawk for a second) with great metallurgy and blindingly simple designs that put them far ahead of their english counterparts in terms of reliability.
The curious thing about Honda's older machines was that they were steadily detuned over the course of their production. The venerable 750 four started out rated at 67hp, with a wicked throttle response, a fast advance unit and a painful set of four individual carbs with four individual throttle cables. Hop on the early K series machines and they're a blast, if not immensely top heavy. After trying a friends late model 750, it felt like it was missing half the power. Stock air box, stock pipes, stock jetting and the ignition was in check and everything.
Allegedly this was all in the name of increasing user friendliness and fuel economy. There's a guy in Colorado who goes by the name Honda Man who has built over 100 750/4's. He reckons by the fifth year of production the big honda was down to 38 horsepower. Even the 'Black Bomber' cb450 twin has more punch on paper than the later version, the cb500 twin.
All of this Honda tomfoolery is obvious in my 500/4. It was designed to be easy to maintain, easy to produce and not be overly loud. The inlet tubes that the carbs hang onto are mismatched to the inlet bores, interrupting flow. There's casting marks inside and down to the inlet valve as well as out exhaust tract, doing the same, which will require a soft dremel and a polish. The standard exhaust is restrictive and the standard cam (besides being worn to an inch of its life) is made to be user friendly and smooth as possible.
As far as a mass produced motorcycle goes, this isn't so bad but i can't wait to build this thing with perfect tolerances, a lovely port and polish and a hotter cam in it. If it all goes to plan my little road going racer will have the motor Honda should have built stuffed below it's tank.
June 6, 2010
Love, Speed and Loss...
If you haven't the time, you should make some, as I have the documentary for you.
Kim Newcombe did what very few did, that being building his own bike, taking it to the manufactures and kicking some ass. Damn it, Kim's going on the bad ass register.
The story is not just involving a particularly smart fellow, but his wife and son that journeyed with him across Europe in the golden age of grand prix racing. If you don't get emotional I wouldn't want to know you.
New Zealand, your record with two wheeled hero's seems to grow.
Burt Monroe, Kim Newcombe, John Britten...
May 26, 2010
MV stroker...
Tiny MV Agusta stroker, hanging out the front of Moto Ciclo.
Thought it was a Pullman, but on second look the frame is different.
I'll figure it out...
May 25, 2010
May 24, 2010
How it should be done...
There's a guy over in mother England named Tony who is quite the two stroke fettler. And he's good. Like built his daily RD from shit to better than new in 27 days good. So when he goes and gets himself a DS7 and turns it into something cafe oriented, you know it'll come up trumps.
Not some, "slapped on some clubmans, ill fitted bum stop seat and shitty retro wannabe cafe check stripe".
An actual cafe racer, built in a shed.
Before...
Ta daaa....
RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINGGGG ding ding ding ding ding....
May 9, 2010
Chris 'Knievel'....
Late one night Chris and I were racing to the late night coffee shop. He's on his big old cruiser flying past and fails to slow for the giant cobble stone round about ahead. I only laugh now, but at the time I lost my shit. He hits this thing, gets his million pounds of metal airborne, sideways, and manages to the land the thing without even so much as a chipped ankle. I pull up after the spark show of steal on gravel, run over to the guy and he's lying on the ground like he wanted to be there. Dusted himself off, he saw the incident as merely a test for his kevlar jeans, and got a coffee.
The event apparently gave a passing stoner a conniption.
Usually when a guy comes off he rarely gets back on. Old mate Chris has been down the road the wrong way a few times but this guy puts more miles on than a truckie on ritalin...
It's not all about bills, taxes, rent and the news. It's still ok to play and get dirty, just don't tell your parents...
May 5, 2010
It's a piece of shit...
...and I love her. My neighbors don't.
They hate me.
...RRRRRIIIINNNGGGG ding ding ding pop ding...
Honda done good...
Suddenly this retro thing doesn't make me red with anger. 10 points to Honda for taking a step backwards and dishing out the cb1100. I already know of one custom builder who's put down the dosh for one and asked that it should arrive in pieces.
Huzzah...
May 4, 2010
The message is in the fine print...
There's this Spanish guy named Gianmarco Magnani, and he's knocked up some prints for his portfolio titled, "Silence Television".
Even if the guy hasn't thrown a leg over a bike, he sure as hell has looked at one for a long time.
You can check the whole thing out here...
There's something about the aesthetic of 70's road racers that gets me all mushy inside...
May 3, 2010
May 2, 2010
April 26, 2010
Wolf like her...
Now I don't care if he's jumping on the band wagon, welcome Mr Jason Lee Parry. A big 'Ta' for bringing Hailey Clauson with you...
The rest of his shoot on trendhunter...
Narrow case or wide case, at this point I do not care...
April 12, 2010
The track is back for more...
More Barry Sheene festival of speed goodness...
RD all dressed up for the races...
CB350!
Had me all, "damn, that's what I wanna do..."
It's fitted with a set of 350gp pistons, a hotter cam, pair of bigger mikuni's, a suzuki drum on the front and a one piece tank and seat! A teat? A Sank?
Sorry, get all giddy with little cb's.
Molnar Manx making me feel shit about my bike building skills...
Loud as a rifle, fast as a bastard, a carb that can inhale a child and a finish that make my knees wobble...
Bloody Manx.
Kwaka triple waiting to tear someone's head off in a fit of two-stroke madness...
April 7, 2010
Racer's rides...
What some guys rocked up on to the races on Sunday...
A 'Tri'-ton. Trident engine shoved in a featherbed. 59' cover is like putting Bellucci in a tee shirt with 'hot' written across it though...
450 Desmo single.
Don't see too many baby duke's flying the red, white and green these days...
Old mate's Norvin. 'Fugg it he says, i'll race the red one as well'...
April 6, 2010
Jumping two strokes batman!
Eastern Creek filled the nostrils of all tinny two stroke lovers...
I couldn't help but give the mighty 'taco the thumbs up...
TR500 titan. Suzuki's weapon of proddy bike choice...
An immaculate RD350. Beautiful and fast. I only know one guy who could make a bike this clean, and he was impressed...
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