Rants and comments on the world of auto repair, cars, and motorcycles from the other side of the wrench. Funny stories, apocryphal legends, and other shit too ...
Here's a nice relaxing and scenic ride on a pair of Old Gentlemen Vincents from Ramsey south 'round the Ramsey Hairpin (1:50) and up the mountain to its highest point. The cameraman is on a '53 Black Shadow. Note the almost vertical speedometer so you can see it hit the magic Ton whilst yer chin is on the tank. Heh.
I edited this from a DVD made from an old Super-8 film. Backstory here. I didn't shoot this, but I bought the movie camera and projector from Rocket Man and he threw in the reels his wife had taken. He got the moniker 'Rocket Man' before the Elton John song because he was a truck driver and used to deliver guided missiles to Cape Canaveral. You will notice he appears frequently in the vid. Helps ta sleep with the camera operator, I guess...
Credit where credit is due. The original cinematographer appears, with Rocket's mom, at :28. She did pretty good, I think, given the limitations of the home movie equipment of the time.
Me and Mrs. G appear at 2:36, and the only two seconds of video in the world of me actually riding one of the damn things in an event is at 4:26.
Riders came from all over SoCal to ride this event but most of the riders and others in the vid are from our gang from the San Fernando Valley and environs.
This is just guys and gals having fun. Enjoy.
From Super 8 shot by Elena Rocket Man at the Dirt Diggers Grand Prix at Pioneertown (or maybe Trabuco Canyon. It's been a long time.), Orange County CA in 1977. Her hubby Rocket Man's the big guy with the beard on the 750 Triumph.
I went to send Gord a picture of an old Indian Motorcycle and the link took him to a nasty, nasty place.
My bad, I thought I caught the time stamp at the bottom of the picture and instead it took him to nasty land.
Understandably, he was quite confused and didn't have a clue as to what I wanted him to see.
"No more of that" kind of response.
I finally clicked on the link I sent him and figured it out quite pronto.
My Bad, sorry bud.
This is what I wanted you to see.
No brakes or clutch handles on the bars.
No gear shifter, and ahem, the cute little seat on the rear fender.
Can you imagine?
It's on Ebay and you can "Buy It Now" for a measly five hundred and fifty grand.
I knew a guy who had one of those when I was in high school, it was ten years old at the time and still one bad assed motherfucker.
My old pal Gary was the one who told me that Morgan was resurrecting (carefully chosen word) their 3-wheeler (see post below) so naturally I sent him a link to F& G.
I've known Gary since the late '70s when I was National Service Manager (grand title, little horsepower) at Triumph Motorcycles America, the factory-owned distributor. Gary was one of a team of fitters that came over from England to rectify a rear brake master cylinder problem by replacing them in the crates before the bikes went to dealers. One of the cylinders had failed in use as a clutch cylinder in some kinda Limey car or other and I think their lawyers panicked. Anyway, due to the new cylinders arriving in dribs and drabs, Gary and his partner John were in SoCal for about four months. Perhaps Gary will see this and tell me how many units they replaced, but it wasn't very many. I think the English term for that poorly planned flusterpluck would be "a right bloody cock-up".
During that time, me and my motersickle club buds rescued these guys from sheer boredom several times and took them out to the desert and other places, made 'em desert BBQ and such as that. The club called them "the blokes from Triumph". We were all Triumph riders anyway so they were a big hit and we've been friends ever since.
Gary emigrated to Oz several years ago and is the dealer liaison for the Australian Triumph distributor.
His response to F & G was so good that I asked him if he minded if I posted it. His reply to that is the title of the post. Thanks for the one, way ahead of you on the other, mate.
Hey Gordon – Thanks for the link.
The George Formby film 'No Limit’ is one of my favourites still. It’s a tale of the battling little man beating adversity. Freeze frame one of the mainstand shots and look at the flags of all nations .What looks like an IOM three legged flag is actually a swastika! This was probably one of the last outings for the glorious Socialist Germany before the little altercation.
The pub he crashed into is now a gift shop. The beer on the IOM is an acquired taste – always reminded me of cat piss.
The Catalina races were something else – all BSA’s and Triumphs – do you remember me riding that Pink TRIUMPH twin in Bean Canyon? it reminded me of that! Of course the best racing was always pre-legislation!
TTFN
GARY
I took the opportunity to tell him that yes, I remembered how good he looked on Triumph Lady's pink TR6 desert sled and that I still have photos and my pension could stand a little augmentation...
And I won't fault him for missing the odd Matchless and Velocette in that 50+ year old clip (three posts below). Heh.
His insight on 'No Limit' (two posts below) is great!
And yes, the best of everything was before the anti-fun people found out about it.
And when I get one, I won't even have to start it myself! Mrs. G has been ready for the day since she started this one 35 years ago. At least I think it started:
I just gotta get a DVD of this. Hell, it parallels my own life/racing career (including the 'creative financing/sponsorship'. Heh.) so closely I could probably make it myself!
Here's the setup. There's a golden comedy line in this that I couldn't read 'til I full-screened it. George is a Rainbow man and gets a letter back from the Rainbow Cycle Company Ltd. telling him thanks but no thanks for a spot on their racing team but "we wish you success on your reconditioned 1925 Rainbow motor cycle". Best o' luck on that old crapcan we sold you, chump. To me that's priceless.
Here's the payoff - the Isle of Man TT race, filmed on location on the Isle of Man. TT aficionados will recognize some famous landmarks such as the Ramsey Hairpin, the famous jump at Ballaugh Bridge, and others including a particular pub that's probably had more motorcycles through the front door than any biker bar in Sturgis. Heh. Try some of this stuff on modern racebikes and you'd have many expensive lumps o' shit and a lousy movie. There's something to be said for old-fashioned simple iron and steel motorcycles.
This puts a lot of modern comedy chase scenes to shame. I musta learned to ride by watching this in the cradle...
There was a Catalina Grand Prix held on the SoCal island for several years back in the '50s. After a 52 year hiatus, there was one last year. This is huge to us old SoCal riders, operative word being 'old'.
A legendary event that had been nothing more than a faint memory for a select few, a tall tale for others and a history lesson learned through photos and 8mm film for most was about to repeat itself. We speak of a post-war race that took place 22 miles off the coast of Southern California on a small island called Catalina. This quaint little mound of terra firma in view from downtown Los Angeles on a clear day has been a small venture with vast history-including military training in the '40s, spring training for the Chicago Cubs Baseball team from the '20s to early '50s and the epic golden years of the Catalina Grand Prix in the '50s. 1958 marked the last year of the then legendary and world famous race and its hallowed ground lay dormant for 52 years before a miracle took place.
There's a good article in Cycle World too, which I just got in the mail yesterday.
Interesting tidbit: Even though there's an ocean between Catalina and L.A., it's the closest place to have a race these days.
Cycle World Off-Road Editor Ryan Dudek gives us an onboard view of the Red Bull Catalina Grand Prix course on his way to victory in the Veteran Heavyweight A race.
Notice that not only are there no bikes in front of him, there's almost no bikes visible behind him on the switchbacks either. Mr. Dudek was haulin' the mail.
Note to Dudek: Next time put a camera facing to the rear. I'd love to see what the rear end is doing! I betcha he got that Katoom so crossed-up a coupla times he'da got pictures of his face!
Note: you may wish to take a seasick pill before viewing. Also, Mr. Dudek crammed a 5-mile lap into the ten minute YouTube limit. If I had done the same video, crossin' the line would have been in Part 3. Okay, okay, part 6. Heh.
Who in Hell thought "pairs racing" was a good idea? That's racing? I'll give 'em this, in 45 years I ain't seen nothing like it. The last few laps should be interesting.
Update:
That's wrecked, that's ruined. Heh ...
Update (Monday):
Arguing with my buddy Noonan on Facebook about this ... whatever they call that race.
Personally, I thought the race was a joke. Cars running around in pairs for 500 miles ain't racing in my book. It's who can make the best bargain in the push/pull negotiations.
Then too, to take nothing away from the kid's talent or the Wood Bros. (their record speaks for itself), I'd offer that were it not for the "drafting" causing the wrecks that took out the real threats (Gordon, Johnson, Kyle Bush, Little E, etc) the outcome would have been quite different.
Ford Motor Co. is suing Ferrari SpA for trademark infringement after the Italian exotic-car maker named its new Formula 1 racing car the F150. Ford says the car’s name comes too close to that of its longtime top-selling vehicle the F-150 pickup truck. Ford filed the suit in federal court in Detroit.
From 1965, I was 5 years old and recognize several of these old cars, er, models of cars.
My old man actually had one of those old Volvo's. He used to race a Bugeye Sprite back then and raced one of the original Mini Coopers too.
Here's a little vid of me using my new snowthrower, which works very well indeed. So good that I have named it "Bermflinger!". I was gonna give it sort of an Alpine/Swiss type name - Ausgeflingenderbermensehrfahrren! - but I couldn't spell it.
Could my old blower have cut up and tossed this berm? Sure. Not nearly as easily and quickly though. This blower has cut my my snow clearing time at least in half and with a lot less effort. This old man thanks you, Soichiro.
Watching me blow snow is about as exciting as watching paint dry, I know, but the dogs are fun. Notice the out-of-focus bit when I heave into view. I think the camera was trying to focus on the discharged snow.
I'm getting used to the machine, which operates similarly yet entirely different from my old one. I'm getting used to the big mittens too. Watch me try and horribly fail to throw a ball for my dog!
It's raining, fixin' ta snow snowing, Mrs. G's NASCAR race is on, and I'm bored. Please forgive me...
Steven Jordan from Malvern with his 1947 Ariel, running a 600cc sidevalve 'Jap'(*) engine originally from a Howard-gem rotavator!!
*Not literally. More properly 'J.A.P.'. Putting one of these engines in a hillclimber is roughly the equivalent of putting a Briggs & Stratton in a dragster. J.A.P. made hellacious fast motorcycle engines, but this ain't one of 'em. Strange cats, these Limeys, but hey, ya go with whatcha got, and the thing probly gets him back and forth from the feed store and pub just fine...
First, watch ol' Steve get his ass blown in the weeds by a coupla 'modern' ('60s) bikes. Event is the '08 Red Marley Hill Climb:
Here's a sled in action that's slightly newer than the one Steve got his mill from:
This video shows my Howard 'Gem' Rotavator. I have brought the machine back to life. Her year of build is 8th August 1950 with a serial number of G17447 and is an early series 3 machine. This can be noted by the quadrangle gear gate. Howard was the Reg Trademark but she was made by Rotary Hoes Ltd in East Hordon Essex. She has a single cylinder BJ (British Junior) engine. I have tried to get the machine back to it's orginal state right down to the waterslide transfers which finish the machine off.
As you can see, not much difference in performance. Heh.
That said, a beautiful restoration of the old rotovator. The thing's a moose compared to a modern rototiller. Sure is purty, 'tho.
I actually have experience with the Troy Bilt type since my late mother-in-law had one to till her one acre+ garden with her husband at the helm. Considering that ol' Ralph drank a mite, it is notable that he never ran himself over with it. Being the mechanic in the family, it fell to me to keep it running on our occasional visits, which was pretty simple, although I swear I found parts that fell off it inside her home-canned veggies...
In the years after Ralph passed, Nadine modernized with a Sears lawn tractor. I know more about those things than I care to as well...
