GIVE PEAS A CHAAAAAANCE!!!!

 After spending the weekend trying to fix an electrical problem with the bike , I finally took it to the MOT center this morning where it PASSED because I changed the front tyre for another old one.

Anyway, after that I went to Wembley Central Post Office (that it self is a big adventure where you get to see the 5 continents without leaving the confort of the waiting room) and got the Tax Disc, wich allows me to circulate in the UK's roads without being chased by very naive looking policeman for the crime of riding an untaxed vehicule, wich is even worse than stealing from the poor. Fitted the Tax disc and the new illegal number plate to the bike and she's ready.

At the end of the day I took it for it's greatest journey in a veeeery long time. A "blast" up the M25 , smiling all the way and straight under the "GIVE PEAS A CHAAANCE" bridge. A true mark in my existence.

Anyway, we got home after 30 or 40 or 50 odd miles without problems but a very small oil leak showing that an engine cover needs tightening.  That's all for today and please remember those poor little peas. Give them a chance!

Desta já me livrei

Cá fica a homenage a um home que trata a estrada por tu e que domina a pilotagem motoestilística como quem carrega nas teclas dum pc.

É belha, a puta, mas dou-lhe ao kikx, pega sempre á última.Nunca falha

Mais uma recuperada da negligência e abandono do proprietário. Após um ano de "hibernage", cá vai, fina como nova. Dá-lhe gases, BARROCA!!!!!

The old tyre

By chance I managed to book the MOT for my bike on the 25th of August (Yesterday) , exactly 3 months after I bought it.  I was happy and confident that it would pass, once I've replaced all(most) every bit on the bike that needed to be replaced.

Still they managed to find it. The only bit I didnt change for obvious financial reasons, although I ment to change it in the near future.  Yes,the front tyre. Because it's a veeeery old tyre and the bike stood for many years on it, it's deformed and not as round as it should be.

It failed the test and I had to bring it back to the workshop for a tyre change.  I found an old tyre that's is better shape than mine, so I'm trying this one and because it's been raining here for 2 days now, I didnt get a chance to take it for a retest.

Anyway I also found that the charging system is not working as it should, so after running some tests, I found the stator might not be outputing enough power to charge the battery properly. Good thing I've got at least 3 of every part for this bike.

More to come soon.

Tradução: Resumidamente a mota foi a inspecção e chumbou por ter o pneu da frente "quadrado" de estar parada muito tempo no mesmo sitio. Arranjei um pneu velho mas em melhor estado e vou tentar novamente amanhã.
Também descobri que a bateria está a ser carregada a 12V, o que é muito pouco e pelos vistos vou ter que trocar o gerador dentro do motor.

Popham Airfield

Popham Airfield is halfway between London and Southampton on the M3. Home to to the Spitfire Club, the airfield is nothing else but that...a field of green grass where small aeroplanes take off and land.

This weekend the Airfield was used  for  the annual Motorcycle Meet and Autojumble where we decided to go there and get some pictures to share with the rest of the WORLD.  And because "Happyness is only real when shared", here they are...

A Commer van very similar to one my father had  in the 70s and just like this one, it  would NEVER start.

They actually managed to get a complete engine with a fuel tank and the exhaust INSIDE the wheel hub!
 This was back in the 50s. On the right there's a picture of a 68 Honda CB450. My bike inherited the engine from this same model, and from the outside you cant tell the difference, except for the exhaust.

BMW Isetta 300

All I know about this is that it had a RELIANT tag on it...

The "coolest" bike in the fields

The second "coolest" bike in the fields. No money, some brain and a pair of tools

BMW R100GS Paris Dakar

Moto Guzzi with a Swingarm

About lunch time we were both quite hungry and decided to get some food from one of the "food" trailers in the recint. We saw the "Carvery Baggettes" one and since this was the less crowded of them all, I said to Helena "There's no one here, that can only mean the food is acceptable..."A gastronomical joke few will understand, nevertheless , quite funny in a caustic way.
I've learned from all the times I've went to this kind of places to sit peacefully for at least a minute or 2 and watch how things work, and only then move on to the queue and ask for what I want. During these 2 minutes of contemplation , I saw the lad asking the costumers who ordered the "house special" if they wanted "stuffin" with it. Well, just by looking at the stuff's bowl I could not understand what the ingredients where or even if it had any. I thought to myself, this is going to be good fun!

When my turn came and I was asked if I too wanted "stuffin" with my Carvery Baguette, I said "Sure, what is it?"  The young lad looked at me in interrogation as in "What kind of person asks what's in his food??" only to realise that he couldnt answer my question... He then turned to the side and asked "What's in it?" The lady besides him didnt know as well. At the same time this was happening a big fat guy (the boss I presume) came into the trailer and ver eloquently said: "err, It's got the stuff usually stuffin is made of..."

I rest my case but not without saying that a dog would have refused the "Carvery Baguette with Stuffin Stuffed"
DID I EAR NEANDERTHALS????

New rrrrrrrrruuuubber

After scavenging every dark corner, sofa, car rear seat for coins, 4 nights out begging in Oxford St, no eating solid food  for 4 months (also helps save in toillet paper) I bought a NEW rear tyre with a NEW inner tube!! YEEEEIIIIIII!!!!!

No, I did not go for the Chinese crap, I went for the Japanese crap instead, but according to my friend Skinny Dave: "Japanese, Chinese, it's all the same shit". Oh well, let's say I rather spend my money on the non comunist Orientals. They know better.

And for last... The Dance of JOY!

Now waiting for the clutch cable to take it to the MOT and finally road worthy, OH YEAH BABY, SHE'S A HEADTURNER!!!

Tradução: Tu queres é aparecer , ó meu palhaço!!

Sunday work

I just bought a pair of "Made in China" exhaust silencers for £90 what I thought was a good price. I wanted something light due to the OEM ones being too long, baffled, heavy and of course, within the £100 range.

 In the process of extending the downpipes to compensate for the shorter silencers (these are almost half the length as the original ones)I found an oil leak from the gear change shaft. Thought to myself , might as well get a new seal once I'm doing this.

I guess you can tell that I'm no expert TIG welder by the way I hold the welding rod. Anyway, these are just a mock-up to get the bike through the MOT and for later when I'll be doing some stainless downpipes from scrrrrrrrratch.

The National Motorcycle Museum

On a nice rainy Saturday, as planned, we set off direction North on the M1. The journey lasted for 2h and by 12 noon we were in Birmingham. After paying for the tickets (no, this one wasnt free entrance) we got in into this magnificent large room full of old motorcycles everywhere.

Norton's first model

Here we could find everything, from JAP engined 3 wheeled Morgans to NYC Police Indians, Panthers, P&Ms and all kinds of old makes I didnt even know.

Here I found the the early products of the British Industrial Revolution in all their glory, memories of a time long gone. England was  the center of a great engineering empire where machines were created to feed the growing demand for faster and better bikes. The races pushed forward the evolution process in motorcycle manufacturing, people bought those bikes and soon the sky was the limit. Garages and workshops became assembly lines for a new make with the bosses name.

Later came the wars, the first and the second. Factories started to produce military vehicles, weapons, amo, canons, tanks, ships, rockets, rifles, everything was bombed and destroyed. Came the reconstruction phase, slow progress, ups and downs but not like before. In the mid 60's and only 10 years after they started  manufacturing,Japanese bikes were at least as good as British ones, cheaper although hated and considered "soulless".

The Brough Superior, considered the Rolls Royce of vintage motorcycles due to the care put into every build.
The bikes were ordered by the customer, built in steel, tested, disassembled, painted, reassembled, re-tested and delivered. A bike like this would cost in the 1930's something like £150, affordable only to a few in those days.

NORTONs John Player Special from the late 80's with  rotary engines.

As you would assume, more than half of the visitors were "senior citizens" retired searching for a glimpse of the good old days, looking back with what we, Portuguese would call "saudade". No translation to any other language in the world but I guess you can call it nostalgy.

As I stood taking pictures to one specific bike, an old man next to me said, not to his friend, not to me, but to himself.

"We used to make some great stuff. Where is it all gone?"