2014 Clubman's All British Show...

"Earth to Mars...Earth to Mars...Do you know the way to San Jose...?"

There were BSA's

Lots of Beezers...

My trusty old Kodak has finally gotten to the point where it needs to be replaced...so these are all pics from the phone...some ok...some a little fuzzy...trying to take pics while holding a pair of handlebars and other goodies...while talking to old friends...and  for some odd reason I was unable to unload all of the pics...these are the ones I posted to 'Instagram', so if they are a repeat for you...sorry about that too.

This is an all original 1960 T20 Triumph Cub from Wisconsin.Yours for $2950 or best offer..

A fuzzy pic of a 1954 M33...with what might or might not be a B series motor. It looked to be mostly all there, and asking price was $2500. He had an offer of  $2200. at this point... pretty cool looking old Beezer...what am I talking about? it's younger than me....sigh... 

Here's an elderly BSA...1921 Model H 

Not sure what the 'Geezer' is closely inspecting on the 'Beezer'...

A 1965 BSA Starlight aka a Beagle in it's country of origin. 75 cc's of blazing horsepower...

A close up of a 1949 Vincent Rapide competition machine, known as 'Barnjob'... 

A 1967 T100C Very shiny...

Bonneville Street Tracker...Eddie Mulder Style...Carbon Fiber trickery...very tasty...

Nice unrestored Beezer behind it..

Tough looking BSA A65 Flattracker..(in Kawa green..?)

Speaking of Kawa green...in a hall over, there was also a European and Japanese motorcycle show.

This is a Kawa 650 W2 Flattracker that was raced back in the day against BSA's and Triumphs.... 

A trio of oh so nice Velocettes. The one in front belongs to Pete Young's wife. Pete has the 'Occhiolungo' blog you should read, and has just recently started an Instagram account, that you should look at too...if you dig old bikes and other machinery. He's a very knowledgeable feller. Link to his blog over there somewhere--->

The trio from the other side..

Wooop! Wooop! How did this Honda get in the hall...oh, It's in a British frame...Spondon, and flying the proper flag...sorry bout fuzzy focus...wish they had started this one.

Ran into this smiling fella, Tom. I bought my Triumph Cub from him at the big Japanese motorcycle show and swap in Auburn California...last summer.

He showed me the progress on his Rickman framed Triumph 650. Since I had seen it, he had the frame re-nickel plated, and the motor re-built by San Jose legend Don Harrell...who had a booth at this show.

This is what it looked like last summer...

The engine on the left as it looked last summer... has now been re-built and re-installed.

Tom in 1966 on a Triumph Cub Flattracker at the 'Three Star Raceway' in Sacramento. The raceway's gone...but Tom is still here and building and riding his Triumphs.

Well this brings us to the end of this installment...will be back with more from this show, and then a post of European and Japanese motorcycles from the other hall. Oh yeah, still have more Autorama car pics to post at that other blog of mine. So, if you like old autos...go have a look.

Dirt Quake USA....

Dirt Quake USA preparations are underway here at the 'Not ready for prime-time dirt works'. 

As I take a quick look at the calender...I see there is now a little over two months to get bikes ready and get all the travel/vacation plans figured out. And about a week out is the 'Big British show' coming up at the Santa Clara fairgrounds...down San Jose way. Time to step it up and get organized and get moving.

As of the moment...this is what my Dirt Quake 'racer' looks like....

Now if I run this seat, it might throw me into the 'Street Tracker' bracket...but, since the 'Street Trackers' and 'Street Scramblers' are running together...I guess I might as well.

Did a little hacking away of the small jungle that had grown around and over part of the Scrambler collection. Since I have room on the trailer for three small bikes...figured I might as well get three ready to go. I've offered up a ride on my spare bikes to the Sideburn staff, so best get some bikes ready eh? No reason they should come all that way over, from across the pond and not take part in the 'inappropriateness'. 

Originally I had thought of using a 350 Honda or even a 650 Triumph, but thought better of that plan (maybe next year?) Thought to myself, yeah it's been a number of years since I've been sliding around on dirt...and I'm sure I can make a fool of myself just as easily on a 'mini-bike'. So really looking forward to this mad plan...follow along here at the blog, and/or over at Instagram.

A couple of Youtube videos of past 'Dirt Quake' events in the UK

Satellite view of the Castlerock track in Washington.

That's neat...you can see the 'blue groove' from space...

Clubmans all British weekend...show and swapmeet

This is coming up at the end of the month. Going to try and not miss this, this year...

I have two Unit construction BSAs . A 441 Victor, and the makings of a B 40...which is a 350 cc motor. The other BSAs I have are pre-unit bikes. A 650 twin and a B 33 (500 single). For those not familiar with the terms. Pre unit bikes have a separate transmission case. The unit construction bikes have the motor and transmission in a shared case. Norton (I believe) was the only major British bike manufacturer to continue the separate cases, unlike BSA and Triumph that went to unit construction. There are fans of both styles, and pros and cons for both methods. Have also seen semi-unit construction mentioned...where the transmission case bolts to the motor case. Some Villiers power units come to mind, sure there were others. 

Any who....this is the 'really big show' that comes up once a year. I really need to think about parts I need and should be looking for.  And if one big show wasn't enough. There is a European and Japanese show going simultaneously, and AMA Professional indoor Short Track Races!!!  

So stay tuned for a report on all this..

Rust never sleeps...

Exhibit A , looks like something that was dredged up from the bottom of a canal. I discovered that once again, a roof leak had taken it's toll of a box of my motorcycle parts...this time the clutch basket and shift quadrant ( I believe it's called...) from my BSA 441 Victor. I almost tossed them...but had second thoughts...

Exibit B, the same parts after cleaning. I gave them a thorough going over in a blasting cabinet...and finished up with a wire wheeling and brushing. Hard to believe they are the same parts in both pictures. I bought my Victor a long time ago for a hundred dollars. At the time I thought I'd paid way too much for a bike with a seized piston. It had been left out in the rain with the spark plug out, and the rings were thoroughly rusted and the piston was thoroughly stuck tight. The bike is very low mileage, but has suffered from neglect and poor storage, on my part as well. 

The clutch basket is a cast iron part, with a hardened race pressed into it, that bearings ride against. The race has some light pitting, and there are odd pits here and there....but for now I am going to use the parts.As I recall the bearing race is replaceable by pressing it out and pressing a new one in...I might see if I can get a race.  If I can't remove the rings that are rusted in place on the piston, I may have to replace it. I've read about 'skimming' rings out of pistons on a lathe...hmmm, have never tried it, but if they don't come out easily I might give that a try. 

The poor BSA has had a hard life...but hopefully it will once again be thumping merrily down the road...

The weather has been getting warmer lately, even with the late rain storms ...so I should be getting something done on the 350 project soon...in the way of paint.

Police Motorcycle...

This evening a picture of a CB 350 police model bike was posted on Facebook at the Japanese Vintage Bike Club group page...Did a little surfing and found these pictures of a 1967 police Model. You can click on the link below the speedo picture to see and read more about it. I'd never heard of this model before. Have seen Honda 750 and 450 police bikes before..had no idea they had built a 350 Honda police model. Looking at these pics, I'd have to say that the gas tank and side covers look to be about 1971 vintage....??

link to a site with more info on this bike <--------- Click here