For those who like old Motorcycles.

[Kickstart]

The FZR600 is now mostly together. Rear caliper fitted and bled through. Replaced the speedo cable as it snapped when I touched it changing the speedo bulbs. Changed the rear brake light switch as it decided to stick.

 

It is being recalcitrant about starting. Almost started but battery had not enough charge left.

 

All the best

 

Katy

[MrWolf]

A visitor to The Profanium for a minor repair. It is a real one from 1964, sorry for the blurry pic!

 

 

 

[rockershovel]

Had a canter down to Suffolk today on the ElectraGlide to suss out the local HOG chapter. There are some truly awful patches on the A14! Still and all, it was a cold dry day and good for a ride, apart from the diversion through Huntingdon on the return leg due to an accident on the A14.

 

I must get the ride damper fitted to that bike. It reminded me of my shovelhead days, without the vibration and oil leaks but I can see why people fit stabilisers of various descriptions to the rubber mountings. 

[MrWolf]

Well done for being out on the roads before summer.

[rockershovel]

6 hours ago, MrWolf said:

Well done for being out on the roads before summer.

If I only rode in good weather I'd never ride, in this country

 

A good fairing is worth a lot and the Harley "batwing" is pretty good, although the legshields are of limited use. I fitted a "wave" type windshield that came with the bike, which is a great improvement over the stock shape. 

 

I also have a riding suit I bought a few years ago on ebay, jacket and trousers with long zips down the trousers legs. It cost about £60 and it is remarkably effective. Amazing what you can get for the money if you look around, these days. 

[spikey]

9 hours ago, MrWolf said:

A visitor to The Profanium for a minor repair. It is a real one from 1964, sorry for the blurry pic!

 

 

 

 

Where's all the mirrors?

[New Haven Neil]

18 hours ago, MrWolf said:

A visitor to The Profanium for a minor repair. It is a real one from 1964, sorry for the blurry pic!

 

 

 

 

Eeuw.  First Real Classic, now you!

[MrWolf]

9 hours ago, spikey said:

 

Where's all the mirrors?

Fortunately, my neighbour who owns it, hates those stupid fairground rides.

Just as well, because I don't fix those stupid fairground rides.

If it needed all that carp to make the styling work, then you can bet that the Italians would have thought of it.

He did ride the thing up to Fort William and back last summer, so kudos.

He still gets called a bell boy, he still calls me a greaser, all is right with the world.

 

1 hour ago, New Haven Neil said:

 

Eeuw.  First Real Classic, now you!

 

Ah, classic bike magazines, where do I start?

 

No. That's not a classic bike. 

That's a new, retro styled bike from one of the big players.

 

No, that's a retro bobber/ dirt track / desert sled / cafe racer built by one of the small firms for hipsters who can't / won't twirl spanners.

 

No. That is a brand new bike built by someone who has bought one of the old holy trinity. (Good luck to them BTW because even the empire of the rising sun seems to be losing ground to little bikes made on the cheap in far eastern dictatorships)

 

No. That is a pastiche of a stupidly expensive classic bike that you are trying to hawk to collectors as an investment.

 

Gosh, could this month's featured bike that everybody ought to own at some point in their lifetime really be available via one of the mags major advertisers? How fortunate!

 

Golly gosh indeed! Stop press! Billionaire collector has found the remains of the last two of the 1935 JAP engined Thrapston Flagellators (now he owns all six ever made.) and he and his "team" have restored it for his collection. He truly is the saviour of vintage motorcycle history and as a registered charity, you can do your bit for posterity and donate your grandad's  unwanted Brough, Coventry Eagle, Grindlay-Peerless or just parts to his private museum...

 

Or have magazines improved in the last twenty years?

 

Yours

 

A. Cynic.

[spikey]

38 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

 ... Or have magazines improved in the last twenty years?

 I dunno.  Is Ogri still about anywhere?

[MrWolf]

1 hour ago, spikey said:

 I dunno.  Is Ogri still about anywhere?

 

I dunno eever....

[Hippel]

Wasn't there a character named 'Day Glo Derek' too?

 

Paul

[polybear]

....and Mitzi.....

Oh yes......

[polybear]

...and Malcolm....

 

I always remember one episode where Malcolm asks the Bike Shop Mechanic how to fix Piles.....

 

He thought for a moment, then says......

 

"Soak 'em in Paraffin then scrub 'em with a wire brush"

[Northmoor]

I believe the North London Hipsters pronounce it,"Oh-gree".....

[MrWolf]

None of that nonsense at the Ogri rallies organised by The Patriots MCC down at Kemble Airfield. A traditional pizzup with motorbikes, silly games and loud music of the guitar variety.

Twas also handy for looking at world war two relics and "orming about" round the remnants of the Tetbury Branch.

Ticked a lot of boxes.

[rockershovel]

I still have a collection of "How To..." articles from Motorcycle Mechanics in a folder in my garage.... useful stuff. 

 

The whole "retro/cafe/you name it" thing has become so inbred and self-referential that I pay no attention to it. 

[New Haven Neil]

15 hours ago, Northmoor said:

I believe the North London Hipsters pronounce it,"Oh-gree".....

 

Interesting - many moons ago one of our group used to insist upon pronouncing it that way, he thought he was posher than us.

 

One TT (we're back in the 80's here) a guy stopped me as we were walking along the prom looking at bikes, to look at this - which was on the back of my leather jacket at the time.

 

 

'Nice OG-ri painting, who did it'?  A friend I replied.  He - Why the BM?  Me - It's my bike. He - Oh OG-ri did once steal a BM at the bike show when Malcolm made the bomb threat. Me - you know your OG-ri. He - I should, I'm Paul Sample....  So our friend, who was with us, learned to say OG-ri not Oh-gri!

[rockershovel]

Meanwhile... a question passed to me by someone with more time on his hands than enough... what are the bikes in the opening scene of Easy Rider? Fonda rides a 2-stroke dirt bike of some kind but Dennis Hopper appears to be riding an AMC P11 or something similar?

[New Haven Neil]

On 06/03/2023 at 17:42, MrWolf said:

Ah, classic bike magazines, where do I start?

 

No. That's not a classic bike. 

That's a new, retro styled bike from one of the big players.  Short of articles, dust one of these off.

 

No, that's a retro bobber/ dirt track / desert sled / cafe racer built by one of the small firms for hipsters who can't / won't twirl spanners.   That only London hipsters can afford.  never get ridden, never see one outside of a coffee shop.

 

No. That is a brand new bike built by someone who has bought one of the old holy trinity. (Good luck to them BTW because even the empire of the rising sun seems to be losing ground to little bikes made on the cheap in far eastern dictatorships)  Yet another Mash

 

No. That is a pastiche of a stupidly expensive classic bike that you are trying to hawk to collectors as an investment. a BSA 'Goldstar' thing.  Plastic fake pushrod tunnel.

 

Gosh, could this month's featured bike that everybody ought to own at some point in their lifetime really be available via one of the mags major advertisers? How fortunate!  another BSA test

 

Golly gosh indeed! Stop press! Billionaire collector has found the remains of the last two of the 1935 JAP engined Thrapston Flagellators (now he owns all six ever made.) and he and his "team" have restored it for his collection. He truly is the saviour of vintage motorcycle history and as a registered charity, you can do your bit for posterity and donate your grandad's  unwanted Brough, Coventry Eagle, Grindlay-Peerless or just parts to his private museum...  Ah, Sammy.

 

Or have magazines improved in the last twenty years?  No.....but Real Classic is mostly written by the contributors (including yrs Truly a few times) and is full of letters saying no retros, no Harleys, want retros, want Harleys, ad infinitum.  Just wait for next months indignant letters after a scooter (Tigress) being in this month!

 

 

🤣

[Northmoor]

There's four Hinckley Triumphs on carandclassic.com right now, from the same collector who's "downsizing".  Based on the prices asked he's got enough of them to influence the market price and has now inflated their value sufficiently so that he can make himself lots more money.  He certainly didn't buy them to ride as the key selling point for them all is the showroom condition and very low mileages.  Something tells me my '93 Trophy, off the road but well stored in a garage for the last 15 years, won't be worth the same..... Not that I care, so long as once tidied up enough to sell as a quick project, it will go towards something to go and play on again.

[New Haven Neil]

Sold mine - didn't think it was that good.  Heavy, poor suspension, that kink in the pipes, looked OK though (hence being seduced into buying it) and sounded nice with the 'not for road use' pipes.

 

[MrWolf]

21 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

Sold mine - didn't think it was that good.  Heavy, poor suspension, that kink in the pipes, looked OK though (hence being seduced into buying it) and sounded nice with the 'not for road use' pipes.

 

 

 

Doesn't look much different at first, (1968 T120). I've had a number of bikes I just wanted and then wasn't all that enamored with.

 

This one, out braving the cold, only the undertaker will separate me from.

 

[MrWolf]

58 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

 

 

🤣

 

I always enjoyed the bloke in a shed learning how to engineer. 

Much more relatable and funny.

I bought Classic motorcycle mechanics until it filled up with old Japanese four bangers.

I bought The Classic Motorcycle, because it was full of the kind of old world tinkerings of the likes of Radco and lots of obscure old iron from Britain and Europe, but that went the way of Classic and Sportscar and The Automobile. No swearing in converted chicken houses, just sweating over a hot cheque book.

Classic Bike used to be very practical, how to fix your C11g or Tandon Kangaroo, (even they had scooters like the Durkopp Diana and the Rumi Scoiatollo) but that went to a lot of ex courier four bangers and millionaire's collections of racing tackle CBG, there's a lot of retro stuff...

Pass, I'm just a not so old stick in the mud!

 

[MrWolf]

8 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

 

Interesting - many moons ago one of our group used to insist upon pronouncing it that way, he thought he was posher than us.

 

One TT (we're back in the 80's here) a guy stopped me as we were walking along the prom looking at bikes, to look at this - which was on the back of my leather jacket at the time.

 

 

'Nice OG-ri painting, who did it'?  A friend I replied.  He - Why the BM?  Me - It's my bike. He - Oh OG-ri did once steal a BM at the bike show when Malcolm made the bomb threat. Me - you know your OG-ri. He - I should, I'm Paul Sample....  So our friend, who was with us, learned to say OG-ri not Oh-gri!

 

WE

 

ARE

 

NOT

 

WORTHY!!!

[Kickstart]

On 06/03/2023 at 18:21, spikey said:

 I dunno.  Is Ogri still about anywhere?

 

Hasn't been in Bike magazine for quite a few years.

Unfortunately Practical Sports Bikes, one of the few magazines left that covered actual spannering, has just stopped publication.

 

All the best

 

Katy