sporty

lick it, sniff it, scratch it, touch it, [isn't that a track by daft punk? perhaps not then] i needed some new rubber on the sporty, even though i'm still waiting for the fucking electrician to come round and lay hand's on my bike, i rang him the other night, 'ey up paul' 'oh, hello timmy, yes, i suppose you are ringing me about your wiring' no shit sherlock, it's only been sixteen fucking weeks that i've been waiting for some electrickery majik! we are almost half way through the year and i haven't turned a wheel in anger yet, race bike at jim's, sporty in the shed with no wires, anyhoo, today i'm feeling better, new dunlop qualifiers fitted by rob at racing lines, derby, [i buy my race rubber here and wouldn't trust anyone else to fit and balance my wheel's] bargain price too, there's just something sensual about new rubber, i went for a 120x70x17 this time, it's transformed the look of the bike, the 60 section tyre was just too low profile and the front-end looked a bit 'toy-town' i reckon, new rubber, lick it, sniff it.........

british historic racing, darley moor

norton's, i love 'em me, everytime i look at my built-in-wardrobes in the bedroom, [wardrobes that i funded by selling my fastback commando] i ask myself  'why?'............

british historic racing, darley moor

the always entertaining bsso scooter racer's were out in force on sunday, the number 73 machine of joe ravenscroft caught my eye in the paddock, a lambretta 250, prepared to a really high standard, the bike is staggeringly quick and sounded fantastic to boot, joe seemed to be making ground on the following pack with every lap, unfortunately one of the lad's took a hefty fall at the right hand paddock bend and the race was red flagged, the bsso race at all the british historic racing meetings and if you have never seen these machines in the flesh they are well worth a poke around, watercooled,  disc brakes, carbon and titanium, some serious engineering goes into them and the racing is close and hard.........

british historic racing, darley moor

keeping it real on the bmw front, good to catch up with two blokes who have been so supportive and given me loads of help in the last couple of year's, ben kingham #55 and ron maul, [yep, he's darth's brother, true, would i lie to you?], #66, [just dawned on me, perhaps if i change my race number to 33, 44, 77, 88, 99, 11, 22 etc, etc, i might have more luck? just saying], ben  had four great win's over the weekend on the k, this bike is a work of art, the attention to detail is staggering, to turn a lardy-arse heavy old-man tourer into a race winning machine speaks volumes, talk to ben and he's totally driven and inspiring, check out the link to the bsk speedworks site, [he's building replica racer's and streetbikes too] and then there's ron, promised a 'k' to race in the b.e.a.r.s series, he sold the famous 'helga' boxer twin for a pittance and then the sponsership deal went to rat-shit leaving him without a bike, he's cobbled together an almost stock bike to race in the pre-72's classs and watching him throw the big boxer around and get a couple of fourth place's against pukka race machinery was awe inspiring, ben, ron, we are not worthy........

british historic racing, darley moor

the range of machinery and the standard of preparation could bring a tear to my eye, classic racing heaven, check out the bmw boxer outfit with the engine mounted 'askew' so that the shaft run's straight to clear the wide rear tyre, what about the hard as nail's beeza, the immaculate matchy? the drop-dead velo's? and one of my favourite bikes, the 'tigcraft' 604cc rotax single?  not racing but parading, but, what a brilliant bike and let me tell you how sweet it sounded......

british historic racing, darley moor

sunday morning, dangerous is away ploughing a furrow through northern england in the little motor caravan, [probably re-tarmacing a few drives and doing a little horse-trading along the way too] it's a lovely day, the cold easterly that has been taking the edge off the temperature all week has finally dropped and it's pleasantly warm in the spring sunshine, butty and flask of java and i'm off to darley moor to check out the bhr meeting, i'm packing loads of spare clothes, kendal mint cake, emergency space blanket, heated in-soles, gore-tex boot's, thermal's and three hat's, it's may and it's darley moor after all........

airhead cafe racer project

i ask my ma, mavis about the carb's, 'what do you reckon to running the cv carb's mum, it will keep the price of the project down to a half reasonable level?' she fixes me with that look that mum's have, 'timmy, do you really want to disgrace the family? talk about spoiling the ship for a ha-penny of tar, your old dad would be turning in his grave, he didn't fight the jerries and the jap's so you could stick to the run-of-the-mill bing constant velocity, one size fit's all bloody boring bing's, you will look like all the other tool's on the 'tinterweb building cafe racer's if you do, take my advice son, chuck the fucker's in the bin and invest in some big dellorto pumper's with some sexy 'fly-eye' bell mouths like the italian's use on the big guzzi's you big cheap-skate' i look at my mum, i love her, she's right bless her, mavis, she know's her carb's alright......

airhead cafe racer project

and then, there's the rear diff's, do i go with the [top photo] early stroke item with the lovely 'wasted' swing arm or, the [second photo] later model 'ribbed for pleasure' item? i'm timmy loveless, it's saturday night, i'm loaded on 'staropramen' czech lager and chardonnay, i'm wearing a white vest, i'm tattoeed and i've got a sharp knife on my person as i run up and down the road swearing at the neighbour's, must be a full-moon or something, either that or i haven't got a bike up and running.........

airhead cafe racer project

so, as i'm filing away, my mind turn's to wheels, i know that i want eighteen inch rims, front and rear, i pay a visit to my-ma's shed where the over-spill of bike bit's that i've accumulated over the years are stored, [uum, the mz 250 flat-tracker project i bought a few years ago in a drunken, saturday night e-bay frenzy, must get around to that one day, i fancy another dirty, smelly, loud stroker, did i mention my mate jase's spondon yamaha project by the way? wait 'til you see this bad-boy!] sorry, anyhoo, back to the wheel's, top, the chunky, late eighties, upside down peace sign thing's? second photo, the ubiquitous bmw, seventies 'snowflake' design? or last but by no means least, my favourite's the decade spanning ally rim and spoke combo, this has got to be the way to go for me, powdercoated satin black rim's, stainless spokes and the hub's, front and rear, hit with the milling machine like on the racer and powdercoated satin black, i'm waiting, your thought's greatfully received, might not take any notice but if you have an opinion chip in........

airhead cafe racer project

my third saturday shift in a row done, i walked the dog's and retired to the shed for some serious downtime, tea in hand, giles peterson show on radio 6, sorted, gus on 'his' chair, lord teddy taking an interest on the 'frame, surplus- bracket- removal- programme' one thing that cutting and filing gives you is the time to think, i enter that almost zen-like state where i am working metal, almost unconciously, all the time thinking about and planning the project in my head......

football

football, absolutely the best game in the world, brian clough, the father of our current manager nigel, steered derby to league  champions, yep, same as man united, the top boy's in the english league, then he went down the road to our hated fucking neighbour's forest and won two european championships, [yep, same as man united], but, before all that, following a big bust up with the board at derby he famously took charge of another hated rival, 'dirty' fucking leed's united, [check out the brilliant book and film, 'the damned united' for the story of his 44 day tenure of the club], here, old big 'ead goes toe-to-toe with his rival don revie, [the bloke he took the job from], raw, live and reactionary, two heavyweight's slugging it out, this stuff fascinates me, proper, [oh yeah, had an e-mither saying that my video posting's aren't available on i-pad, yeah? so? have a look on your desktop or do your own searching you lazy fucker's!] it's really worth it, a snapshot of the seventies, a time before money, [you could buy a club for three million, nevermind a reserve goal-keeper] passion, hatred and more sub-plot's than 'son's of anarchy' football, a man's sport, not like those egg-chasing rugby poofter's, [everytime they pick the ball up i want to shout 'handball'] blood, gut's, pride in the shirt, real men, beer, fighting on the terraces, invading rival's town's, [oh yeah, and the 'football special's', stinking of piss, boarded up window's, no heating, games of koo-kan and gin-rummy, under the light, [if you were lucky] of a forty-watt bulb, ripped seats, faraway town's, 'got the time mate?' bang, you stuck out like a pimple on a pig's arse in an away town, cancelled train's, [anyone remember trying to get home from bristol in the mid seventy's? snow, battered by the local's we lost four-nil, two-hundred derby lad's causing havoc all the way home from the west country on local trains and buses, eventually getting home sunday night!] do i have any regret's? do i fuck, 'if your tired and weary, your heart will skip a beat............'