classic bike show, stafford.

 more bikes from stafford, the best rocket 3 in the world, ever, peter collins restored classic speedway bike powered by one of john alfred prestwich's finest, ryan farquhar's manx classic gp winning 500cc paton and a lovely vintage flat-tank ariel.....

classic bike show, stafford.

late april in merrye olde england, spring is sprung, the bird's are singing happily, the new born lambs frolicking in the warm spring sunshine, the sap is rising, hey d.j, can a get a ree, ree, ree, wwww, wer, werrrr, ine, ind, rewind, spring? certainly doesn't feel like that today, i'm up early door's, the dog posse sniff, stretch and show their disgust at being dragged out of their bed's to face the decidedly unseasonable element's, ten minutes into the five-miler and their ear's are back, i'm wet, old fashioned wet, wetter than a very wet thing with added comedy value hose-pipe wettness and the temperature, cold, we ford the stream, it's four feet above the normal level, all this and we are officially in a draught warning, hosepipe ban in force, as we continue the walk water is flowing through the dry-stone walls that retain the bank's, the cloud is low and the sky is dark, three miles in and i'm on my knee's, a combination of gus-the-bastard pulling against his harness and the mud, my curses are caught on the squally north-easterly, ted is looking back over his shoulder at me with accusing look's, we get home after a mammoth effort, mr's b get's us a bowl of warm, soapy water and a couple of towels and i wash the boy's down, they are shaking with the cold, i soak under the hot shower, breakfast and a couple of cup's of hot tea, phone ring's, it's dangerous, 'ey up youth, shall we go to the show or what?' an hour later and we are at stafford for the biggest classic bike show in the world, twice a year we make the pilgramage, spring and autumn, we can't even park the dangerous mobile on the site and end up parking on a nearby country lane and tabbing in, the majority of traders are making a swift exit and still we have to pay full price admittance, fucking outrageous, i argue my point but get the robot, standardised version, 'sorry sir, we can't offer a discount, if you read the term's and conditions regarding inclement weather, blah, blah, blah' just fuck off, pay the money, and let's get on with it, first point of call is to see 'stainless steve' to stock up on fastener's, he's standing in a field, swamped with mud, his awning has blown away and his wares, in plastic trays. are an inch deep in water, he's wearing a jester's hat and a toothless grin, 'ey up bastard's, where you bin?' welcome to the classic bike show at stafford................

classic bike show, stafford.

 hard as a junkyard dog indian racer, cheekier than a very cheeky thing, 500cc jawa stuffed into a featherbed frame and two-stroke loveliness in the shape of a couple of scott's...................

classic bike show, stafford.

the loveless vinyl vault [aka skeletons in the cupboard]

the next four post's are classic northern soul 'stomper's', the term used for up-tempo, fast, soulful dance tunes, kicking us off is this gem by the velvet satin's, a beautiful slice of soul clocking in at one minute and fifty five seconds and arranged and produced by the legendary trade martin, he had a hand in loads of class records but is more famous as producing the world's worst record ever, the hateful 'we've got to stop the mosque at ground zero' what the fuck? forget all that and just listen to this big slab of soul.....

the loveless vinyl vault [aka skeletons in the cupboard]

this tune for me is forever 'bailey's' nightclub on a tuesday night, probably the most un-popular night of the week, the organisation that owned the 'bailey's' chain saw an oppurtunity to pack their premises with a load of kid's who didn't drink, didn't fight the bouncer's and didn't take drug's, [ahem], all they were interested in was the music, hector was the resident disc jockey, spinning the records and catering to the masses, we just wanted the weekend to come as soon as possible and going to 'bailey's' on a tuesday was one way to numb the pain of day to day working life............

the loveless vinyl vault [aka skeletons in the cupboard]

 used to pack the floor when i dropped this one at the old polish club on charnwood street, at the time mid-tempo, crossover tunes were very popular as championed at the mecca room's in blackpool, this is a balls to the wall, out and out classic northern stomper, apparently lady bo, [the famous bo diddley backing band guitarist had a hand in this one], total wig out time kid's, enjoy........

the loveless vinyl vaut [aka skeletons in the cupboard]l

rubin parker, i first heard this at an all-dayer at matlock pavillion on a bank holiday monday, short and sweet, and a great soulful vocal by rubin,  de-valued recently as the backing music to a fucking cat food commercial, just leave our music alone you tosser's.............

m. zed.

all mz rider's know this feeling, you have just been overtaken by a 'born-again' riding the latest model japper, he has four times the bee-hatche-pee, but, well frankly, can't ride for toss, he's threepenny bitting around the corners, you fix him in your sight's, gaining valuable yard's on every bend, he can hear you behind him, rinnga, dinnga, dingg as you search for the powerband, eventually he's your's, you stick it up him, mid bend, stand dragging, wallowing and weaving, sparks flying like a sparkler on bonfire night, up to the light's, there on red, shit, he's going to stuff you in a straight line dragrace, you feign disinterest as you adjust your snap bag on your shoulder, your ready, rev's rising, feathering the clutch waiting for the light's to change so you can do it all again, he bottles it and turn's left, victory is your's..............

# 13 baby

you trip me up

hasta luega mr fab

 more beck's brilliance, possibly the best bmw's in the world, [well, along with the ritmo bikes, i really don't know what it is about these bikes, well, that's not strictly true, they are solid, well engineered machines, easy to work on and there's loads of stuff you can do to them to make them better for not a big outlay of folding green stuff, me and barse have been chopping the shit out of them since 1993, don't tell anyone though, they might just get fashionable and everyone will trade in their harley's, throw their 'original' levi cut-off's in the bin, shave off their face-fuzz, take their dvd copy of 'choppertown' to oxfam, [other charity shop's are available] and discover the delight's of riding a real 'stealth' bike..........

the loveless vinyl vault [aka skeletons in the cupboard]

 where does the time go? i can't believe this record is from 1984, after the break up of the jam mr weller broadened his horizons and discovered soul music, ok the video is a little cheesy now, but, what we have here pop-picker's, is 'the natural sound'..................

will there be enough water?

i hate amazon, i 'browse' stuff on there and all of a sudden, i end up pressing the 'add to cart' button, downloaded a couple of pearler's tonight, thee oh sees 'help', garage punk rock at it's finest and the dead weather, a jack white side project, teaming up with alison mosshart of the kills and a couple of the raconteurs and queens of the stoneage, highly recommended by this old duffer, it's either that or wait to watch the latest episode of 'the voice'..................

boxer racer project

got the boxer engine up onto the trusty 'workmate' tonight for a spot of therapy, over thirty years worth of road grime, salt stains, oxidisation and general neglect revealed under the harsh flourescent lighting in the shed, no easy way to do this, i'd gunked it down before sending it off for the rebuild but that was it, nitromors, wet and dry and scotchbrite are my weapons of choice for the next few day's.........

racer

 boxer race bike from www.edelweiss-motorsport.de the famous german tuning firm, the frame looks like the standard front cradle but raicaly modified up to the shock mountings, interestingly they have kept it twin-shock rather than the more obvious mono shock conversion, the motor sit's higher in the frame through raised engine mountings, i reckon the rake has been altered too, [modified frame or perhap's adjustable yokes?] the exhaust is great, swooping down under the deep-sump conversion and terminating in a couple of cheeky little straight-through megga's, it's high, wide and handsome that's for sure, a right beast of a bike.........

boxer racer project

'unwashed and somewhat slightly dazed' to quote mr. bowie, got my engine back tonight........

boxer racer project

it's like an itch that you can't scratch, i thought it was done yesterday, but, back in the shed today and the rear hub was crying out for another one hundred and twenty cut's on the miller, this is one of my favourite parts on the boxer project, no money involved, [well ok, but a minimal amount if you are mrs b and reading the post, it was a bargain baby, i promise.....] i'm really, really chuffed with this, dangerous reckons it looks like a factory part off an mv racer, fuck me, it's just a bit of old tat off an old beemer, cleaned up a tad........

lovless vinyl vault [aka skeletons in the cupboard]

just listen. no word's required.

lone wolf and cub

where do i start with this? as you may have noticed if you are a long time reader of the loveless blog, i'm fascinated with everything about the japanese culture, a lot of eminent scholar's have written thousand of word's on the subject, me? i'm a simple derbyshire lad, but, for many, many years i have studied and admired the philosophy, i trained in karate, achieving two shodan in two different style's, i studied bushido, absorbing as many books as i could get hold of, training with other clubs in different styles much to the chagrin of my sensei, i just craved knowledge, i put myself into competition with other karateka, i learnt a lot about myself, often with bloody consequences, one of the stories i found compelling was the story of lone wolf and cub, a ronin samurai assasin and his toddler son and their adventures in the edo-period of japan, me? 'ashigaru' i can only look on and admire true 'bushi'