sammy miller

 easy job today, mount the seat on the sporty, it's a race weight item i bought off barse, cut it to shape, can't mount it on the frame rails, too low, need to get it up in the air, not too high though, don't want the 'streetfighter look, make up a couple of bushes to get the height, make up a subframe out of a piece of stock, loads of time hand shaping to fit the seat, make up a bracket to fit at the front of the seat, ball-milled to the front edge, need some rubber to use as a shock absorber between the seat pan and the 'glass guard, cut up my toolbox liner, just the right size, evo-stick it to the seat pan, make up a couple of ally bushes for the front edge of the seat, evo-stick a rubber washer to each side of it to mount the seat, [toolstation sell boxes of rubber washers for about three quid a pop, pick up the fibre gasket and 'o'ring sets at the same time], chuffed with the result, looks like the seat is floating in mid air rather than sitting straight on the frame rails. where did six hours go? easy job my arse....

nine ladies stone circle, stanton moor, derbyshire.

peter williams, specky-four-eyes, cool-as....

cees van dongen,125 mz, assen, 1964.

serotonin, 5-hydroxytryptamine, [5-ht], a naturally occuring 'feel-good' hormone, when you own an mz you just know that feeling so well............

had 'mail from sonny regarding my sporty chop, here it is mate, four-speed evo motor in an old iron head frame, sixteens front and rear, trailer rear guard, buell header pipes, clip-on bars, sporty tank with quick filler, everything made in the shed, no paint, bare steel, scotchbrited, yep, no stand, i carried a piece of wood around to lean the bike on.......

bollocks to four-strokes, bollocks to emission regulations, bollocks to catalytic convertors, bollocks to fly-by-wire, bollocks to your carbon-fibre tax disc holder, bollocks to rim-tape, bollocks to direct access, bollocks to tyre warmers, bollocks to matlock bath, bollocks to moto gp, bollocks to 23 year old chopper jockey's, bollocks to overpriced 'classic' bikes, bollocks to everyone who slags off real road racing as 'dangerous', bollocks to harley davidson, bollocks to people who can't even check their own tyre pressure's, bollocks to forest, bollocks to health and safety, bollocks to ear-plugs, bollocks to abs, bollocks to speed camera's on open roads, bollocks to the bastard who got 'the dog with no name' put down, bollocks to people who can't accept other peoples point of view, bollocks to replica racers using modern engines and claiming it's a 'hailwood replica', bollocks to mainstream music, bollocks to work, bollocks to.....

1969.