Sunday 25 November 2012

kick starting the beast...

The Bible has landed!
Donny Petersens Unauthorised Tech Guide to the Shovel part one!

 Shovels have different personalities, ignore this and kicking could become a prolonged exercise 
- hahaha, he knows his stuff

Can't wait for Part Two


the rivet counters latest offering

 
 they were gathered round oohhing and aaarrrrhing
 quickly???? your having a laugh mate....
and then the chief expert cracks, 'bet thats faster than a harley'...
oh how they chuckled into their barbours

haha - chop it...





Monday 19 November 2012

it can't be thirty four years...

Over to Rickmansworth on Sunday to meet an old mate...
who has one of my dog's pups - 'Myrtle' ...
 I've known Ken since the late seventies, we worked for the same agency, then shared the same flat, set up desk space in soho and each of us went on to some success ...
He hasn't changed a bit and still in the business, though he's an MD now...

Thursday 15 November 2012

you want to learn some riding skills...

the day I met the rivet counters uncle (the one on the right)

I passed him on his classic velocette about a minute away from Newlands Corner.
He steams up to me as I am parking up, with little room to turn as he parked so close
'You want to learn some riding skills'
Hows that?
'You want to learn some riding skills, my bike won the 1929 Manx Grand prix'
Yeah, I can't get round those damp corners with these fifteen year old tyres
'You want my advice, sell that and get a moped!'
er yeah, it does need new tyres...

and he flounced off to get his tea








Sunday 11 November 2012

and twenty five kicks later...

In the hope of improving starting by getting the engine to turn over more when kicking, I had purchased a smaller kick starter gear earlier in the year...
 original sixteen tooth kick starter clutch...
 puller teeth cut to size...
and (amazingly) it just popped off... 
 fourteen tooth replacement (left)...  
Found that lock washer tabs not used again! - I tapped the tabs up...
 These beauties pulled the studs out...
 But  a lorra heat would not loosen em...
and found a small bit of earlier damage...
and twenty five kicks later she finally started...

bitch...

Sunday 4 November 2012

in the court of the crimson king . . . . . . . . . east sussex . . .

 what a difference a day makes - after fridays hail stone showers...

a trip to Classic Cycleworks, proprietor, paint maestro, Keith Baker...
work in progress...
 Yes You...
 
operations room...
 Keith tells it like it is... 
an artists tools of trade - in the right hands...
Keith helped start the infamous Southern Cycles emporium (Surrey) 
 importing custom parts, back in the day 
pick a tank - any tank
keiths operating room
 She didn't like starting all that day, don't blame her having a strop, covered in road muck and crap but ran like a champ there - and back
this Challenger sits in an even bigger spray booth back at chez bakersfield
and keith and Karen kindly gave me tea and a tour  

http://www.classiccycleworks.net
and
Hot Rod Paint Shop
http://www.bakers-field.co.uk