Hot Rod Brian

Today I got an email from Guy at Greasy Kulture. Due to him and the family getting settled after the move from Australia to England the magazine is on hiatus. So, to keep the spirit of GKM alive I'm going to dip into my photo archive and post some outakes from my shoots.

Here's some pics of Hot Rod Brian Tomlinson, his BSA and collection of homebuilt righteousness from GKM#4.

See my vest

Sorry for the gap in my posts. You'd think now that I'm jobless I'd be bloggin all over the place. WRONG. I'm steppin' and fetchin' like my legs are on fire and my ass is catchin just trying to chase down a buck. I've sold a bunch of stuff on eBay like guitars, amps and other assorted junk. My unemployment is slow in coming and the IRS is holding up my refund. But I'm doing alright. Anyhow, I just finished a little sewing project I started over the winter. Here it is:





Yeah, keeping busy is important.

I'm not asking for much, just a little slice of heaven

More Indianapolis parts: Diamond Chain Company

My friend Kipp gave me a stack of Diamond Chain Company employee newsletters from the 50s thru 70s called "The Chain Gang". I've driven by the factory for years but assumed incorrectly they made log chains. In fact Diamond is the manufacturer high quality roller chains for many industrial applications, timing chains and primary and final drives for motorcylces.

Diamond started off making bicycle chains in 1892. Two Hoosier bicycle mechanics used a Diamond chain in their first successful heavier than air flying machine, maybe you've heard about it:


The design and layout of the Chain Gang mags are out of sight; informational, inspirational and even beautiful:








It would be my guess that Diamond Chain Company is not a union shop which might explain their continued profitability. Especially poignent are some of the political messages included in the publications, very timely for our age:




Diamond sponsors flat tracker Kyle Long of Plainfield, IN on his H-D KR 750 using their 520 XLO O-ring chain, http://www.diamondchain.com/products/pro_motorcyclechain.php

Most people, even citizens, arent aware that Indianapolis has a long rich history of auto manufacturing and innovation second only to Detroit. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway was originally built as a test track for makes such as Lexington, Cole, Dusenburg, Marmon and Stutz. The founders of IMS were (L-R) Arthur Newby owner of Diamond Chain and National Car Company, Frank Wheeler of Wheeler-Schebler Carburetor, the legendary Carl Fisher and James Allison founder of Allison Transmission.

I love stumbling across the forgotten pieces of my city's automotive, motorcycle and racing glory. Diamond Chain is yet another living link, no pun intended.

A note from your humble correspondent

The mysterious technical fuckup from last month which rendered my blog completely black for a couple weeks had an unintended benefit. I started a second blog I call "Unfocused", http://unfocusederic.blogspot.com/. The title was intended to have a 2 fold meaning; a showcase for my photography and writing as well as a running commentary on my other aimless pursuits.

Now I find myself with 2 different blogs covering pretty much the same thing. So, rather than get rid of one or the other I will re-focus each.

Tip-top Of The World will follow the original mission as a supplement to my pieces in Greasy Kulture Magazine covering choppers, hotrods, biker culture and related historical topics.

Unfocused will concentrate on everything else that consumes my free time: records, guitars, music, modern architecture and furniture, junk store shopping, my kids family and friends, local history, gastronomic adventures and the occasional politcal rant.

I hope you enjoy my posts, please comment and share your thoughts. Afterall, that's what these blogs are all about.

Greasy Kulture #9 out very soon!

Guy should have the new issue up for sale on the website very, very soon.

I will be delivering some copies of issues #7-9 to Northside News as soon as I get my next shipment.

Check out my features on Jim Summit and Linkert Carburetors in #8,

and in #9 Nate Spainhower's XS 650, the first Japanese make bike ever to appear in GKM,


Dig it!

I've moved my blog to http://unfocusederic.blogspot.com

Sorry, this one is giving me problems and not everyone can read it. I'll probably transfer all the entries from Tip-Top Of The World at some point. Thanks for looking,

http://unfocusederic.blogspot.com/

-ejk