Thursday, July 29, 2010

Quebe Sisters

Best Western Swing band in the last ten years!

Saturday, July 24, 2010

A week from tomorrow


info: http://graveldraggers.com
I'm not sure what I'm forward to more, the show itself or the ride down thru The Hoosier Hills.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

It's hard to say goodbye, but for the right price...

SOLD!!! to Mike V. Now, if I could unload my Land Rover I could afford to pickup that cheapo local 69 slabside shovel motor...

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I'd really like to start pulling together the big twin of my dreams, preferably a Pan/Shovel. I have a lot of sentimental attachment to this bike. But I cant really justify having another mid-size project waiting in the wings. I have had it too long without it being finished and running. It's a neat bike for someone with the time and skills to turn it from a project to righteous running chop.

Here's the poop:
BSA Lightning with smoothie style valve cover
Amal carbs with new gaskets and .120 jets, cleaned and well gone over
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Cut down stock shortie pipes
Boyer Brandsen/Tympanium ignition
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BSA frame with weld on hardtail and 7 1/4 neck with HD size Timken bearing races
12 volt coil
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16" rear wheel, probably Honda
Avon Speedmaster rear tyre
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Flat rear fender
Sparto tail light
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Custom upholstery by me
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Octagon oil tank
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Sportster fuel tank with vintage swap meet cap
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New clutch cable
Good numbers, no title. It is very easy to get a lost title in Indiana.
No front end-I took off the CB750 forks to put on The Silver Machine. But I will throw in a set of thrashed Showas off an XS 650 and a 19 Honda wheel with disc brake set up.

Free to a good home for the first person to show up with $1000 cash, firm, no trades. Email tiptopdadddy@aol.com

Sunday, July 18, 2010

I need your opinion

Got most of the wiring done today.
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The Boyer/Tympanium system is pretty straight forward. I printed off a very helpful color coded diagram from the JJ. Routing the wires, soldering and shrink wrapping the connections takes a fair bit of time, but doing it right always pays dividends down the line.
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All that is left is to hook up the lights and ignition switch.

I made a brake stay from $5.00 Harbor Freight tire iron. With the high price of metal it was an economical choice. It is rust resistant, cast tool steel and will stand up to lots of abuse.
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I may shorten it an inch or two.

Slapped on my Jay Hart Z-bars.
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I am really close to being done. I won't have to fiddle with the timing since the Boyer should set itself. Put on the carbs, run fuel lines, add fluids and roll it. I need to add fork stops at some point too.

The last major chore will be to cobble together an exhaust. The fishtails are more "period", but like choice of tail light (Lucas vs. Chevy), the megaphones really speak to me. I like to go with my instinct.
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What's your opinion?

I've got a silver machine

I've been working on the BSA quite a bit lately between monsoon rains and 90+ heat. Sarah didn't like the original working title I came up with. Since I wanted to go for a heavy hippie vibe and it has more chrome than a '72 Riviera we decided on a more appropriate title:

Engine is in, controls are on and I'm going to start the wiring today. It's getting close. More pics tonight...

Black Dynamite

Quite possibly the funniest movie I've ever seen.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Thee Mod Sound

Monsoon season has come to Indiana. What better way to spend the day than to sit inside watching Youtube videos.

Can you tell which band is new, old, English or American? Yeah, me neither.











It's stopped raining...OUT TO THE GARAGE!

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

A very special relationship

Despite what recent news stories about the Deep Horizon Disaster might indicate otherwise, Americans have a fondness for Brits that will never die. Snubbing the Queen and returning the Churchill bust was injurious enough, but Obama's attitude towards Britain is contemptuous and insulting. No matter how much our Alinskyite president blames BP for what appears be a truly unfortunate accident or his Marxist acolytes in the media cover his ineptitude in the cleanup efforts, there is a trans Atlantic partnership that will endure long past his tenure.
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Here I Come To Save The DAAAAYYYY!!!

Monday, July 5, 2010

BSA, update 1

Take a pile of crusty, 40 year old, mostly British chopper parts,

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Do a quickie rattle can paint job on the frame,

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Start assembling with a handsome Jap front end of the same vintage,

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Add a Mexican blanket for color and padding to the sissy bar,

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Clean up the genuine Dunlop rear wheel and other shiny bits, ancient Sears tire and Bates set with steel wool, Brasso and Meguire's,

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Add a swap meet '48 Chevy tail light for a funky 70s coach lamp sort of thing,

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And you get the results of a weekend thrash to kick off a new build on the BSA. Engine next, then wiring and set timing, it ought to go pretty quick from here on out. Stay tuned.

About Me

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An unfocused dilettante. I'm not half bad. Overall a very good yegg and a wrong guy in an increasingly right world.

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