not a ducati tt replica

slow progress this week, i have mostly been decorating the house, running to the tip and dancing to ska at the rescue rooms deep in enemy territory in nottingham, [the beat, still a great band] in-between all that i still found time to watch the not-so-mighty rams getting dicked at home to lowly mk don's and fit the lovely newton-equipe racing quick-filler to the 'peaky-blinder' [aka the not a ducati tt replica] project. what looked a relatively easy job turned into a mares nest as is usually the case, trying to juggle the component parts, a bunyl rubber gasket, aluminium support ring, cork gasket, [covered in blue hylomar for comedy purposes] and filler cap mounting along with aligning all said components and starting the stainless countersunk screws was, rather 'challenging' to say the least. yes, the verlicchi stickers on the swinging arm and the ducati tt f2 world champion '81, '82, '83 and old ducati script decals are there to fool the unwary, yes it's cheeky, no i don't give a fuck if it offends anyone. make eyes pretty, wear clean dress.........

not a ducati tt replica.

so, a trip to hull today with my trusty compadres dangerous and chalky on probably the wettest, most miserable day of the year so far. torrential rain, vision close to zero and cold, just one of those days in winter when it never really gets light. maccee d's coffee, laughs, piss-taking and feasting on tuna cobs in a steamed up car. strapping down the 'peaky blinder' not a ducati tt replica onto the trailer after master craftsman chad has worked his majick on the handmade aluminium tank. to say i'm impressed is an understatement. formed from flat sheet, plenished, formed and welded and then polished, just a real work of art. chad's workshop is brilliant. james cowton's tt supertwin bike is here awaiting a handmade titanium exhaust. the one off aluminium sub-frame is already done. the triumph 'tracker is just lush, speedway bikes hang off the walls, supermoto's lined up, chad's own very special v-four, four hundred honda trackbike is truly amaze-balls, titanium, carbon one-off's. we are not worthy. the ducati is ditched, 100 miles on an open trailer in the worst weather and you wouldn't expect anything different. two hours of cleaning, drinking tea and listening to the rams scrape a draw away to fulham on the wireless and we are looking something like. loads to do. need to source an external fuel pump, mount the ecu and battery, fairing, seat, fuse box and a thousand and one other 'little' jobs that i haven't even considered. i fucking love it me.......

blind in safety and leafy in love

so, sporty sold and an itch i needed to scratch see's me and dangerous buying an mz 250 etz two-stroke commuter bike to go racing with. a winter of head-scratching, no-sleep and lot's and lot's of work, even more money, [fourteen hundred big ones for a race tuned engine, fuck me!] we turned out a work of art. the scrutineers took pictures and complimented us on our bike. one off yokes, tz 50 moped wheel's turned down to lose weight, brembo brakes, one-off fork brace, handmade carbon covers, turned down stainless fittings, check out the pictures, heart and soul, blind in safety and leafy in love, we made 'motor's' tv, me overtaking three bikes on the grass at snetterton. totally out of control on wet grass at the hairpin. i was shit. fifty-one years old when i started racing. my best position was second from last, but, you know what? i did it. [and my bike looked pretty cool too................................]

for speed [four speed]

my old four-speed sportster project. ironhead frame and back wheel, drum brake, stock 883 evo engine but s+s race bellmouth on one off manifold, buell header pipes, wrapped because they were rough as a badgers arse. sixteen inch rear wheel rammed up the sharp end, [long, long before harleys 48 before you ask] front caliper is a billet-6 item. i cut out a piece of checker plate and araldited it over the billet-6 logo. honda cbx clip-ons with one-off machined bars, battery carrier, yokes, bates headlight mounting, footpeg mounts, oil tank, coil mounts, aircraft filler chopped into aftermarket chinese copy tank, fireblade controls, reg plate milled and mounted off the primary, seat height? around eighteen inches off the ground [remember, the rear wheel is sixteen inch diameter, add on the tyre and look at the picture four from the bottom for an idea of scale] no paint or powdercoating [bar the wheel rims] shotblasted frame, scotchbrited tank and rear trailer mudguard, [race flag checkers and off-set stripes rattle canned, tube marking pen white highlights and stencilled] low, fast and loud.........

beaky blinder [aka the ktm supermoto project]

 axle sliders are a prerequisite for bikes being prepared for the novice supermoto series, they serve a couple of purposes, they stop the bike damaging the track and they should hopefully prevent the bike digging in and barrel rolling in the event of a 'low-side'. i scanned the 'tinterweb for some for the 'beaky blinder' project and was suprised how expensive they were! so, last weekend at newark i bought a length of machinable nylon stock and a couple of lengths of 8mm stainless bar and made some instead. total expenditure? just over a tenner. sorted.
   over the holidays i realised just how disorganised we had let the shed become so me and dangerous had a serious clean up. i sorted out all the old harley/triumph/ducati/bmw spares and stuck them on ebay. we got pretty ruthless and junked loads of crap and i even purchased some new storage for all the stainless/titanium fasteners and sorted them out into size order. even the pictures on the wall were culled as i started to feel a little claustrophobic with all the different images. the shed looks a little clinical now but it certainly feels better plus we needed to make some room for the 'not a ducati tt replica project'.............