Me and my big mouth!!!

"Should be in the workshop next week, unless there's a complete disaster", Doh!

There's been a complete disaster, the arse hole that was selling the workshop decided to pull out on the day that the mortgage company were asking where to send the cash, what a complete wanker!

So........I have a plan to shift some stuff from my current workshop and put up a new bench etc to make it all more user friendly, wifeys car is like a van so that's it sorted then.......wifey's car goes bang, Doh!

So........Bye bye to crappy bottomless money pit Fiat Multipla and hello Citroen Xsara Picasso, that took up all of my spare time and now it's back to work again, unless there's a complete disaster I will be sorting out my current workshop over the coming weekend, watch this space....again!

Getting there at last.

My new workshop is on track now, it's all at the solicitors and hopefully (unless there's a complete disaster) I should have the keys before December, hopefully within 2 weeks.
I've been collecting bits for my Harley as that's the first project I'm going to do when I get moved in.  I've managed to buy a spare swinging arm that I'm going to send off for chroming, just so I'm not waiting around, I've got some new risers, some bars are coming from a good mate of mine, I've got some new exhaust down pipes and heat shields and some fork gaitors. I've got a matching pair of V Rod master cylinders so I can do a hydraulic clutch conversion and a lowering kit for the back end and finally a bag of correct colour wires so that I can run the wiring through my bigger bars.

Still need inspiration for the new colour scheme though.

No news is pretty irritating

Not much to tell recently, I've put my bike building on hold as I've managed to find a new workshop. This means that I can move all my stuff from my mums garage and from the other garage that I rent near my home and put it all in one place.
I'm buying the new place and it's going to be ace once I get moved in, the offer has been accepted and I'm just waiting for the official rubber stamping of the mortgage application, everybody that's looked at it so far says all the paperwork is fine but it all depends on the people that make the actual decisions........and they're taking forever!

More news to follow, hopefully.

Bikes with names........

I've never been too sure about bikes that have names, there have been a few memorable ones that spring to mind, 'Ol Blu' was a Triumph from years and years ago that stands out, as does another Triumph that was in an early BSH 'Nemesis'. Then there's my recent buy 'Temptress' which is an iconic bike in these parts (and also one that's gonna need an MOT later this month).

But...........This afternoon I was working on my plunger chop and everything I touched on it seemed to cover me in crap, either dust, oil, grease or a mixture of all three. eventually I got the front end in and had it sat on it's wheels, albeit loosely. Once I sat on it I thought 'this is a bit small' and then it came to me, this bike is having a name................. and here it is.

Say hello to 'Dirty Lil' Sister.


Just rolled out the garage, first time with a matching wheel.

XJ wheel and 6 pot caliper.

Shiny new ape hangers.

Front end looking good.

Front view.

Engine moved slightly, not right but a damn sight closer to how it will sit when finished.

Dirty Little Sister, already shortened to Dirty Lil' Sister.

Front end for the plunger chop

Finally got my yokes back from being altered and they fit lovely with the new stem and steering head inserts.

Out and About on 2 Classic Jap Bikes

Had a nice ride out today with Tony, we arranged to go out last week and just kept hoping that the weather stayed fine and luckily it did.

Set of to Seaways cafe at Fridaythorpe for a breakfast then through to Scarborough and then home via Olivers Mount and the Barry Sheene Memorial, finally stopping off at Brid cemetary to pay our respects to Benny. Only about 85 miles covered but a nice day out with a good mate.


Both the bikes at the Olivers Mount cafe.

Tea break.

Tony and me at the Barry Sheene Memorial, right on the start / finish line at the Olivers Mount circuit.

Tony's 1979 CB750 Four

My XS 650

R.I.P Benny

Benny - Dave Benninger, killed on his bike at Boynton near Bridlington aged just 24. 23rd August 1986. 25 years ago today.

Fame at last, lol.

http://motorcyclephotooftheday.com/2011/08/16/reader-ride-excellent-xs650-restomod-from-the-uk/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=facebook

Not much to report.

Spent last week in Paris with the wifey, lovely weather so saw some really nice bikes out and about. Lots of annoying scooters ridden by people that were clearly on a death wish. 1st day got passed by 2 nice black Harleys, the first ridden by a member of H.A France who nearly hit wifey who was a bit slow getting out of the way. Later in the week saw a nice mid 70's ironhead sportster that really got me thinking that I wouldn't mind one of those.............

Managed to get out and about on the XS before we went away and I'm well chuffed, it does go well.

Been thinking about my Harley lately now the XS is all done and on the road.  The Harley is going to get rebuilt over the winter and lots of work is needed. I've just got some nice chunky fork gaitors to go on it and I've managed to find a pair of V Rod Brembo master cylinders for £110 from the US, now I have a matching pair I can do the hydraulic clutch conversion that I've wanted to do for a while, clutch will be a lot lighter and it will clean the bars up too, especially after I've run all the wiring through them, all that will be left will be 2 nice braided hoses. Gonna start collecting bits now ready for winter, hope to get stuck in by November.

Before I start the Harley I need to get my plunger chop project moving about as a rolling chassis, I've sent my yolks off to be altered and for some bearing carriers to be made and then my front end can go in. They should be ready this week so should have pics on here by next week, fingers crossed.

XS 650 is done!

XS 650 was collected yesterday from John Warrington Motorcycles in Malton. He made an ace job of setting it up even though he says it's the most difficult pair of carbs to set up that he's done in years.  Once he got it going last week it was initially putting out 38hp at the rear wheel, standard is 43hp at the wheel.  Now it's done there is a very healthy 51.6hp at the rear wheel and it sounds great, it will be on the road from 1st August.

Outside John Warringtons about to make the journey home.

Moriwaki Z1000 about to get the treatment at John Warringtons.

A nice day out.

Well, I was really hoping that I would be writing about how great my XS 650 is now that it's been on the Dyno and is all set up but............ It's not ready!  Rang and spoke to John Warrington today, the lady on the phone made me feel quite optimistic when she said "I can hear it growling away on the Dyno right now actually" and then John came on :-(

Not ready yet and apparently "The graph doesn't look pretty, the fueling is all wrong and putting the air filters on makes it worse, but it ticks over lovely and starts straight away".  I then mentioned that it had tuning cores fitted into the headers as recommended by Heiden Tuning, they're coming out and we'll see what happens tomorrow.

So it's a good job I had a nice day out with Tony yesterday at the VJMC Show at Lotherton Hall, near Leeds.  Managed to make £100 on the autojumble by selling very little and saw some lovely bikes too, heres a taster, some more pics will be added to a show page later.


750 Honda Cafe Racer

Gorgeous Suzuki GS 1000S

Will it be ok????

Well, Tony and I stuck the XS 650 on the bike trailer today and took it the 40 miles to Malton to be left in what appears to be a very capable pair of hands, John of John Warrington Motorcycles. He is apparently THE man to see when it comes to Dyno tuning and having spent 5 minutes with him I can see why, what a nice bloke, very laid back and clearly very experienced with a history of tuning race bikes. An old XS 650 should be no trouble at all to him. I've now got to wait 3 days then hopefully it will be running like a swiss watch with a bucket full of extra oomph and an MOT too, fingers crossed!

Plunger Chop Project, GO GO GO

I was gonna sell it after I bought the Temptress, I even had 2 people interested in it. That didn't pan out and so I dragged it onto my bike lift the other day, just to give it a good coat of looking at and then today I went to bleed the brake on my XS 650, the very last job. It's a complete bastard and I could not get it to bleed properly and so..........I'll just have 5 minutes looking at that chop!

Rear mudguard mocked up, just to see how it looks.

Rear mudguard fitted, just need to angle the top mounts so they sit straight and then I can weld the connecting bar to them. Still nice and solid though.

This is a 'Rivnut', what a fantastic piece of kit. It's basically a rivet that is threaded right through the middle, drill a hole, insert the rivnut and then squeeze it with the rivnut gun and that's it absolutely solid in the frame tube. Fantastic tank mounting.

Tank and rear mudguard fully mounted.

View from the back, well pleased.

XS 650 update.

It's so close now, new handlebar grips are on and front brake hoses made and fitted. Just need to bleed the brakes which is proving to be an arse of a job and then it's done. Now where's that dyno!!!!!

E Type Jag

I've always had a soft spot for old Jags, whether it's because I used to work on them years ago or whether it's because of the way they ride, the smell or just the design.

So............. I went out of the house earlier to walk the dog and there was a gorgeous 4.2 E Type, just winking at me right outside the house.

The dog.......Poppy.

The E Type.

A picture of the wife sat on me chopper.

Not that chopper.............

This one!

A bit of progress

Not done a lot this week, work got in the way followed by a bit of decorating that I really couldn't get out of any longer, the book of excuses was empty.  Been out on the Harley though and managed to fit new fork seals in the Temptress, sort out the floppy gear change and give it a fairly decent test ride.  It's 100% better than when it landed at my house and is pretty rideable now.

XS 650 has come to a bit of a standstill for no other reason than I wasn't prepared to pay the stupid prices people charge for brake line fittings. Managed to find some now though on e bay and they are in the post, should have new brake lines made up and fitted over the weekend, then it just needs to go on the dyno and all will be complete.

What next...........!

I'm getting overcrowded so something has to go, I can't seem to get a buyer for the Z650 and I think it's just down to the colour so I'm gonna bite the bullet and paint it a more sedate colour, can I get it done before winter though as the Harley is going to be completely torn down over the winter for a major going over, watch this space.

The Temptress has landed!

Temptress has arrived, not in as good condition as I had hoped. When I said to the bloke "Tell me everything that is wrong with it" I did mean everything. Fork seals leaking isn't a problem, neither is the slightly rough running.
Gear lever flopping around all over, busted speedo, awful paintwork on frame and mudguards was a bit of a surprise, so was the snapped throttle cable mount on the carbs. However............. Carbs stripped and cleaned and 4 new o rings on the pilot jet bungs and 2 extra turns out on the air screws and it's running lovely, bracket welded up and throttle cable is smoother than ever.

I decided to take some 2000 grit wet and dry to the front mudguard and found that only the tank has been lacquered, so after a rub down out came the T Cut and I managed to find a shine under the orange peel.

New gear lever should arrive tomorrow so I've got to alter that and mate it up to the forward controls and then we're laughing, just needs a tax disc holder as the one fitted is bust. Obviously the last owner wasn't using it up until last weekend as he said, particularly as it's only done 300 miles in 2 years.

Just as it arrived, bars pulled right back, last owner said his wrists hurt riding it, no bloody wonder. I've moved the bars and it's spot on now.

Today just before the carbs come off.

Number plate at the side or should it move, can't decide.

Just before the bars got adjusted.

It's running!

It was a scary moment but I plucked up courage, oil in, fuel in, ignition on, jump on kick start. First kick and it fired up even before the kick start got to the bottom of it's stroke, fantastic!  Motor has had some big changes and so the most it does at the minute is tick over ok, doesn't rev up very well but I was told that after the head work it will need to go on a rolling road so i'm well chuffed so far.

Latest pics with only a few jobs to go.

It's only nearly bloody finished!

Yes, it's true. There is light at the end of the tunnel, my XS 650 is almost done, I'm down to a short list of jobs now;

Finish the wiring, I've got lights and indicators and brake light working but the idiot lights aren't right and neither is the oil pressure light.
Oil to go in, front brake hoses to make and fit, fuel taps to clean and fit, tank to cut and polish and then it's just a good check over and a clean before the big start up, fingers crossed already.

This week I've finished polishing the engine cases, fitted the new engine sprocket to lower the gearing a bit, put the chain on, adjusted the clutch, made and fitted the exhaust brackets and refitted the side stand that was a bit stiff due to the powder coating.

The last polished case fitted.

Out in the sun and looking gorgeous.

Tempted by a Temptress

Got all excited this week when I saw a long lost chop from sunny Bridlington for sale on E bay. Built in about 1984 by my mate Charlie and featured in Back Street Heroes magazine in 1985. I couldn't resist and 3 days after i saw it the winning bid was mine, it arrives from Gloucestershire next week.