i'm out of here for a couple of week's, off to america for a holiday, worked my arse off for the last year and need a break with the family, not all the family though, my boy's are in the kennel's, i watched 'shawshank redemption' with them last night and they still didn't get the telegraph, early morning, [very early morning shift],get home and we go out for a big walk, i'm telling them i'm sorry for leaving them, they know something's different, they are picking up on the vibe, it feel's like a kiss from judas as i drive them to the kennel's, they think their going for a walk around casington reservoir, i feel like a total bastard.......

so many amazing bikes at stafford, the 'work's' norton's, lovely, remember, they are only 28 and a half grand each, bargain, the engines punt out around eight bee-h-pee more than the summerfield motor's, the racefit bikes stop me in my track's, the 'freddie' bike with the suzuki gsxr motor, well cheeky, the kawasaki?, boom booom, shake, shake the room......

after my early morning walk, leisurely breakfast and a quick shower, dangerous turned up to pick me up for the classic mechanic's bike show at stafford, traditionally the season ending excursion, i've got a shopping list in my pocket, dangerous is bikeless and stu is still pissed from saturday night so we are in the dangerous vw, 45 minutes later and we are in the showground, doesn't feel like six month's ago that we were here for the classic bike show, probably the best show of it's kind in the world, doesn't seem too busy today and asking a couple of the regular vendor's confirm's that it was very, very busy on saturday, bump into nick and get the skinny on his guzzi project, gary from sideburn fill's us in with the detail's about the 'rollerburn' event, november 19th, check out the website for details, www.sideburnmagazine.com, i purchase a slimline manx norton seat unit for the beemer project, i've taken the measurment's off the beemer's subframe and i'm worried that i won't find a seat unit that will fit, my fear's are unfounded as i remember that bmw based their frame design on the famous featherbed frame, i check my measurements and the seat is perfect, result, i give my list of 'want's' for the missing copies of 'classic racer' to the bloke on the 'pigfarmer' magazine stand, i don't do too well this time and turn up three copies that i haven't got, we check out the race paddock, alway's the best part of the show for me, the new , 'work's' norton race bikes are lovely, at twenty eight and a half ground ready to race i really don't think that they are bad value, i will never have that sort of money to spend on a bike, but, i know a couple of mate's who have spent that much bolting stuff to their harley's for the same amount of money, so....., i clock the triumph, bllllllooooooody hell!, the sage green frame, the lovely aluminium tank, shaped around the frame rail's and then, the the aluminium fairing, work of art, folded, stretched and formed, no hammer mark's, perfection................

sunday morning, it's a beautiful autumn day and i'm out with the dog's before it get's light, my body-clock doesn't switch off at the weekend's and i'm awake at 0500hrs, quick brew and off we go, there's not a breath of wind and it's cold, we walk for miles as the sun rises i stop to watch some pigeons flap their way out of the broken tiles on a barn and preen themselves, there's not another person around, i love it.....

bought radioheads tkol rmx  album today, i love radiohead, their pushing the boundary's of music, [must say though, after revisiting the mighty mark e smith and fall albums   , so are they], by chance i discovered a dj set by thom yorke on 'boiler room', free pod-cast, download and enjoy, i bought my radiohead album from hmv which makes me a bit angry and sad, at one time, derby, had loads of record shops, especially independent's, then the internet kicked in, amazon, and i-fucking tunes and there you go, it's just too easy to buy music at the click of a button, whatever happened to the 'music experience' , used to love going home on the bus, looking at the album artwork, devouring every detail, the producer, where it was mixed, the studio, the band line-up etc, but, on the up side, you can get amazing stuff like this for free off the internet, support your local pirate station matey, fuck the mainstream and hmv, punk rock is alive and well........

ozuma kaname, artist, love his work, makes me wish i could start again.........

the forkleg's are covered in what i thought was black paint, but on closer inspection, looks like underseal, i nitomor's the 'leg's, scrape them and hit 'em with a wirebrush, that's better, i can see the machinining marks now so have something to work at, couple of hour;s with a riffla file and wet and dry, [used dry] and the shape is starting to come, back on the miller and take out the date castings, loads of work still to do to finish but their looking better than the standard items already.