the 'zed at mfn custom and classic show, sunday.

barse recently dug out some old photo's and this one is from a motorcycle action group protest run held in nottingham, i reckon from the late 80's or very early 90's looking at the bikes, the black honda cb750's was a bike i built back then, i got a pair of fat-bob tanks and spaced them really wide on the top tube, the tank in-fill was made by me and louvered by johnny bagazzi, the seat unit is a cut-down z650 item, i even used closed cell neoprene as a seat cover to give it that 'racer' look, a theme i have carried through a number of bikes and scooters, the front mudguard is an rg500 item, another thing that i've used before and still have one on my sporty, happy days, there were so many bikes on the demo run that we blocked nottingham town centre off and we actually had time to stop and buy a kettle because we had forgotten to pack one for the rally at park barn farm at donington where we camped before the demo.

autumn sunset over the ecclesbourne valley, as the days get shorter i like to try and get out and make the most of the remaining fine weather, i plodded along on the sportster, taking in the sights and smells of the early evening, after yesterday's deluge it came as a bonus to be able to get out on the bike, the tree's through the blackwell plantation are stunning, the leaves turning from green to the rich autumn hues and i can smell the freshly turned earth as a farmer turns the old crop back into the ground, past carsington reservoir and the temperature dips dramatically, through ashbourne town centre, really quite tonight, it's usually packed with tourists eating ice-creams and browsing the overpriced antique shops, the sun is sinking fast and i turn off at turnditch to take in the the sunset at windley, i take off my helmet and lean on the bike, in the distance i can hear a big jap four enjoying the deserted road, i listen as he winds it on through the gears and he fades away into the distance, now the only sound is the gentle hum of a farmers tractor working in a nearby field and the ticking of the sportster motor as it cools.

we blew the doors didn't we?

pissed in their champagne

and we did a real thing didn't we?

gave ourseves a name

and peeled away the shame

i wanted to explode

to pull my ribs apart

and let the sun inside,

red stain blossoms

and all you have is kisses

and when the sunshines,

throwin'me a lifeline

find's it way into my room, all i need is you....

sunday, weather is absolute pants, i wake up at normal 'workday' time, 5am, get up, have a slash, the rain is relentless, back to bed, the dogs appear as if by magic, snuggling under the covers,warm fur against warm flesh, i drift off into sleep, trish and i do that married couple thing of pretending to be asleep so we don't have to get up and mash, i crack, up at 0700 hours, i pass her a mug of tea and we lie in bed listening to the rain, i unlock the shed and listen to radio four while i drink my tea, breakfast, shower and shave and mucker turns up in the works van, me, jack and steve get the 'zed off the bench and strap it down in the van for it's short journey to mfn, we unload the bike and ammo show's us where to park up, there's some lovely bikes here, the bmw racer, gixer endurance racer, some nice cafe racers, mint 350 manx, goldie, [single cylinder bsa, not the ex-drum and bass dj or dog off blue peter], ace jawa speedway bike, barse's shovel, kev's buell engined 'green meanie' sporty based special, it's a real shame that more people didn't turn up to support it, your loss i suppose, as we got the bike out into the carpark to load it into the van the sun made an appearance and the rain stopped.



every time i ride past this cottage at bolehill i laugh at the name plaque, 'spitewinter', brilliant, the photo underneath shows why, this is the view over wirksworth, the elevation to the front is very similar, i got talking to the owner who was tidying his garden and told me that he's sixth generation in the same cottage and that his great, great, great, grandad bought the land cheap because of it's 'exposed' position and that no-one could ever build a house there, so, he decided to prove them wrong and 'spitewinter', respect due.







'stars at darley' meeting this weekend, i called in, did the usual blag of turning left instead of right at the entrance to avoid paying, parked up in the paddock and had a stroll, some nice bikes their but attendance seems a little down on previous years, the contrast between the massive hm plant set up and the novices, with a trailer and tent is massive, josh brookes is sitting in the awning in his chair whilst the mechanics are working on his bike, he even has someone to clean the visor on his helmet, one of the most interesting machines in the paddock was this outfit, i must admit i've not really followed sidecar racing since the days of jock taylor and benga johhannsen but this machine was the 'tater's, the engineering work was incredible, shame that it's usually hidden beneath the bodywork, i don't think i have ever seen a pair of clip-on's so low to the ground, mental.

mod's and rocker's, i've got a foot in both camps, but i love this photo, the greaser is hopelessly outnumbered by the mod's but like one of my favourite sayings , 'always outnumbered, never out-gunned', what's really cool is the pensioners in shades sitting in the shelter watching, ' what's for tea esther?', 'fuck that our mabel, the greebo's going to get his head kicked in!'