Spring cleaning

This what we do we take piles of bits and turn them into motorcycles. Took a trip over the county line today, the mild weather pulling me into a longer than planed ride as the temperature drop I turned for home my mind drifting first to projects and then to the need for petrol, the sporty tank limiting the distance between stations on to reserve and in true mad max style drop the throttle back, you know the scene when the warning light comes on and you have to dis-engage the blower, free wheel to the pump, engine ticking in the cooling air the sounds of the pump filling the tank the rain starts to fall and my mind drifts to blade runner.......and the creation of J. F. Sebastian

Busy night

Mr Gearhead fitted the stator and rotor to the 500, I'd scored some new bits in a deal for old parts, top deal, it did take him all night to thread the wires through the cases, it does matter if you use a draw wire its still a difficult job, you just need to take your time. Gordie scrapped the paint from around the fat bobs so that they could be welded. Yeah I know he could have sanded it in half the time, but it makes a noise, and we like conversation on Wednesday night, Chris finished off the tank inserts, and I stripped the paint off. Then we all stood around the shovel poked it with a stick and went home.

Punched

Kev sorted out the fork bits on Saturday and on the way home I dropped into Tim's, who didnt really look rough but everybody had told him that he did, so I just carried on the now tradition, sat in the 3 star heated loveless shed and nattered to Tim and Dave. I didnt get chance on Saturday to get the forks in the shovel, so I got up early on Sunday crunched my way over the frost and within 20 minutes its all back together. I waited till lunch to give it a test ride, nearly dropping it on the ice in the first few minutes, the progressives have transformed the ride but do mean that they are not quite 2" under, I was all for cutting the springs but when I stood back and looked at the slightly punched front end I liked it, so its staying.

Yes this is the T100

Do you want to see (me) swallow

Five hours in the chair today as usual the time passes quickly the conversation swings from techincal bike building, man sheds and through into Bens mind of which is DEEP.

Big up Nick Chopper

Big up to chopper nick for offering to sort chris W out with the genny, this sort of friendship keeps our world going round, without these friends our builds would be very much harder so Big up to Kev for sorting the bits out for the front end. We don't count favours.

Sheet metal fat bobs

Gordie formed the edges of the inner tank side, we clamped them between the two templates and hammer the edges over, get your template rights and the side drops straight in, job well done.

Chopper video star

Coffee

Madam A some how managed to con me into buying two Christmas trees, not sure how that happen, on the way we stopped by Ben's to set the scene for next weeks sessions, just when I thought we had a plan Ben throws the curve ball and says why don't we do the other side, this just blows me, I'm not a bad sketcher but I'm no tattooist, and the two are worlds apart, as we talk about the left hand arm and shoulder the conversation gets quicker as we bounce ideas around, as we start to cool down and stand chattering he hands me "closer to the edge" and we finish the conversation as always about bikes....we're passionate people not just about bikes, but work, play, food.....and for me more recently tattoo's, remember its just life....roll on next Friday

There ain't no scrap in my garage

I'm really in to this build it's a grass roots chop it's a full on Wednesday club build. The WDC isn't any sort of club no patch no t shirt, just a collective of like mind folk with a single passion. Cutting into the old metal gave me a warm feeling from the steel mills of Sheffield ...........

Quality Control

The BM frame passed quality control and was picked up by the Loveless lads

There is only one thing better than this

Summer riding

Never wish the time away.. at the end you'll want it back

At last

Back on the blog, been locked out for over a week, couldn't even post from my phone whats that all about then. Work has taken up most of the time but started on the tanks, knocked the filler out and gave them a good work out with the wooden mallet (no bounce ) and the old surface table

Pull all the old sealant out the old welds look good, then on with the templates, I'll try one if the tanks are the same profile, I'll be finishing the wood off a metal thickness smaller, so it can be used as a former.

Got a quick ride to the shops on Sunday before the rain came, so in the afternoon Gordie and me went off to poke sticks at the Loveless Bonnie, which I must say is sweet as

This time of the year goes like a click of your fingers, so its time to order and getting those starting jobs out the way, Chris W tried and failed to weld Tim's frame, but work got in the way.

Three Roller burn

Two

One

Its just art

It takes me about twenty four hours to return to a normal world after a session in the chair, the hours spin past, sat there chatting to Ben sometimes deep sometimes silence. The silence is an important part of any meaningful chat, time to reflect, or more often than not a time of pain. I said to Ben if I go quite talk to me, when my silence came he never said a word and waited for me the spark up again. I respect him for that. We both look forward to these sessions. Me not just for the ink but as much for the conversation. We talk bikes and drink tea, reflecting on the trust we have, I can build bikes but not tattoo, Ben can tattoo and not build bikes, the two are similar in a way that we know what we need and put it into the hands of others. Its on me forever...in Ben I have faith.

Thank you Ben Jones

Enter sandman

Early present from Mr W, if sand bags could talk

Very British

Last night of the Proms, orchestral music played at its best, grand stuff.

The red light district

Garage fetish - that fine monthly mag

The axe man came to town. I have a set of fatbobs that never looked right on any bike I've had so there was only one way out cut cut cut. Taped the tanks with a cut line blocked the tank on the marking bench, check the mm and then check again, round with the height gauge load a laser disc in the grinder and lets go, Mr Gearhead acts as the adjustable cutting jig while Welding boy (gimp man) looking like an extra from that fine monthly mag "Garage Fetish" works his magic, five minutes cutting followed by 45 minutes of tank adjusted

At last

The little short mud guard didnt look right either, so I mocked up a seat unit using an old cut off of guard, card board, tape and a dust bin liner, seats going to be thicker, did I write that..thicker

Ben what........6 mix

Kicking tunes shovel regressssssss

Knuck Bell R/T

Shovel mids

Fitted the cheap set of pipes that I got of ebay in the summer, dont really like the line, butI can see thro the error. What they do is free up the space to start work on the mids. The 80's mustang tank is not working either so its back into stock, the ally tail guard is from my BM project, its sort of works and may well go that way......then again?

Shouldnt be like this

A rare moment at the Vic, top Derby gig house, Random Hand playing so me and Chris W hit the town, no dressing up here, straight from the garage, dirty T's, dirty hands and ready to rock, we arrived late and concerned about getting in, only to find No Gig, cancelled for licence reasons. No worry we take a pint of the chatty barmaid and sit at a rare empty table, and chat about ..... well bikes mainly, splitting the 3.5 gallon fat bobs and CW's TRX project. Back by half past nine standing looking at the rear pipe

, the question is can I stand the fact thats its 2 inches too far out, or do I cut it now?

Does money buy you love?

Loving these long sunny days, the shadows stretch along the ground trying to reach the dark corners as if they will remain even when we are gone. My Internet returned at the same time my iPhone arrived. So from having no chance to post, I had two. If you see a picture with just a few words then its from my phone, if you don't then you'll get my thoughts on saving shadows. Went to a bobber/Harley auto jumble last week, didn't even know that they had their own special auto jumbles, I don't buy bobber bits, well ok a sportster tank, but that's a factory tank. Bates seats whats so great about them, period correct, well so is mine, because I made it. I got to thinking that I farm a few to many jobs out, so I want to try and do the shovel with the Wednesday Club boys with what we have in our sheds with the exception of the TIG. Two bikes made me stop and take look. A pound notes pre unit, very well done, but a bit to much bling, and then the BSA framed T Bird, was just the dogs, I real mixture of BSA and Triumph. I would much prefer the Tribsa in the garage. Talking of music in my ears I pick up my two favourite Eno CDs Life in the bush of ghosts and Here come the warm jets played to tape versions to death when I was 13 building my first push bike.

Stay underground

The two different styles in some worlds would never meet. The track master Triumph with a vented twin leading front brake and disc rear just shouts slide me. Everyone who is really into triumphs would like one of these in the corner of the shed. You can buy a track master frame for two and a half thousand dollars, thats a lot of money, for an old frame. Co Built do a rotax framer for £1500, or a Rickman for about the same. The frames never come up for sale and complete bikes fetch £5k+. The deathqueen shovel is similar, if you dont need it anit there approach to a simple living makes my eyes sore trying to find the part thats not need, its sticks its finger to the lard ass hog bikes that have been born from all the TV programs. I post this picture for myself and not in the hope that others will copy the style, somethings are best staying underground.

Frontend

Garage

Death of a peony

I took the peony picture this year the flower was about to drop, deep within the centre I could just make out a skull, you could see it if you looked deep. I showed it to the Ben Jones the Grand Designer. I asked Ben if could put it on my skin, he said "no its shit" he spent a night trying to get a subtle skull deep in the peony, which to be fair he did a great job on, when we looked at it neither of use like it, so Ben put this design together using a copy of my peony and a more classic skull, trust me he said, 3 hours later its there forever

Nearly there

Wednesday clubs adventures in wheel world, well it was Thursday but the same hardcore four some. Tyre off, Chris W screwed the front end to the bench, you to have it fixed to get a good datum. Spaced the hub so that its in center of the forks and then adjust spoke nipples. The nipples were slacked then the nipples were tighten and then nipples nipples nipples, sorry. Two hours later and the rim is in the center, caliper on, offer the disc up and it all looks good, just got to bolt it all together for the final check.

Non build

This fucking wheel has been the hardest part of this non build, its taken a year to get it wrong, the disc was warped, which meant the rim was offset so that he spokes cleared the caliper, what a fuck up. Now I got it set up and measured a spacer, used the old lathe to turn one up and bolted it up, spot on, but now when I bolt the disc on the blots hit the inside of the fork and the caliper mounting bracket needs some milling.

Fuck it I'm going have a go at re spoking the wheel!