Guzzi Cylinder Heads

I'm fitting 36mm Dellorto's to the Spada engined current project and so have opened up the inlets to match the bigger carb manifolds also tidying up the exhaust ports too

Left hand one done with r/h marked up ready

Got to get the heads of the allen bolts machined down slightly

New Guzzi Cafe Racer.........

..........style bike started a few weeks back. I've had all the engine and gearbox cases vapour blasted and have started the rebuild of those.

                                                                         
                                                                               

More worryingly than the contents of the sludge trap
was that the plug was loose!

The contents of the crank sludge trap

 

New auto tensioner

I had the leman flywheel blasted too as it was slightly rusty.
Teeth are as new  

Lissie and Teddy Thompson

Madelyn and I had a great night out in Gloucester on Saturday  going to see Lissie and Teddy Thompson at the Guildhall. What a great double bill !  

Triumph T110

My friend Pete likes a challenge and here is his latest which he bought earlier this year............or was it last year?.............anyway he's already started accumulating parts and the p/tank and other tinware is  at the welders waiting for some serious repair work.
   Here is a pic of it from when he'd just picked it up and the other pic is of the chap who owned it in 1963 who is still alive and living here in Bristol.
   The Frog Eye was another project that Pete was going to take on but he

And here's the man in the pic above reunited with his
old bike approx 54 years later

has decided to sell it on............possibly striking a deal with the man who does the welding, who already owns a Austin Healey 3000 

BMW XTR PEPO

A lot of people make light of the so called 'Hipster' bike scene so heavily promoted by the likes of the Bike Shed etc. A lot of the criticism is of the brown slab seated bikes, but you can't take away from the fact that this 'scene' has  also brought out the creative juices of many.
. For me the seat unit on this BMW spoils it a little but overall I think it's very impressive with it's attention to detail, although I'm sure it'll have a hefty price tag putting it out of reach to many. 
   I think that the critics should take themselves along to the Bike Shed Show next year and dispel the myth that general public that visit all wear check shirts, have large beards and D H Lawrence haircuts etc.................a few do, most don't! You will however see bike builds that turn the generally mundane into something quite impressive and personally I still think it's the best Bike Show in the UK.

 

PALACE at the Exchange - Bristol

After missing out on going to see a few bands this year - Father John Misty, Lucinda Williams and K T Tunstall - Madelyn and I went to see the band 'PALACE' at the Exchange - a small standing only, 250 capacity - venue just on the edge of the city centre. We both really enjoyed the night including the half hour slot for the support band 'Ten Tonnes'

Joseph J Jones

I came across this video just a few days ago and look forward to his album  - Gospel Truth - at some point in the future

Moto Guzzi Le Man 1 ............

............presently on UK Ebay and probably the most expensive I've ever seen at £18,980!

Moto Guzzi Le Man / T3 850 cc Special

I met Mark well over a year ago at the local once a month Guzzi Club meet. He had a collection of parts - previously a T3 - that he'd bought off a friend some years before. I seem to remember that he said the bike had been stripped apart (inc the engine and gearbox completely disassembled) some 20 years previous. He'd bought some Le man cyl heads, barrels / pistons and a slightly rusty and dented mk 1 petrol tank.
   I went to see the collection of parts in his shed and agreed to take on the build. He had a vague idea of what he wanted it to look like although his thoughts changed from time to time here is the end result including some of what was involved along the way.

Just a small section but the frame took quite a lot of cleaning up
to remove quite heavy pitting

The crank sludge trap and behind is what came out.

Cheap foam to get a rough idea for a seat shape 

Seat base - standard leman I/II seat base/mudguard used as a mould

Well worth the effort involved to clean the frame!

Mark got the wheels built and tyres fitted at CWC but I was a little disappointed
by the polish left on the rims and clumps of grit (from the blasting)
left on the hubs

Stripped and p/coated calipers

A standard new loom with quite a bit of modification

The end result ...Sitting Pretty
Not a major reworking but just some subtle touches.
Still took some head scratching all the same!

After some deliberation and thoughts of short reverse cones
Mark decided to purchase a full new large bore Lafranconi system
and do they sound sweet!

 

BSA Rocket 3

My friend Pete sent me this pic of a chap calles Gary

that he's recently met at work. This Rocket 3 had been in boxes since 1978 and is now one of his 'ride to work' bikes

Moto Guzzi Le Man, Morini and Fiat 500

Last Monday I went to see a friend who I'd not caught up with for over two years. In that time he and his family have moved from Wiltshire into the Somerset countryside near to Taunton. He's retired from his 'normal' job  and they are now running the family farm with fantastic views looking to the Blackdown hills

   He still has his two Leman's  - a series 1 and 2 which he rebuilt when I first got to know him approx 20 years ago. He also has a 3 1/2  Morini under the stairs, his off road 250 BSA and a CB750 Honda that he's going to build into a Cafe Racer. Oh yes, he's also in the process of restoring a Fiat 500

Westonzoyland Sprint.......

............and a trip to see the sea.
     Took a trip down to Poole Harbour,across to Weymouth, then along the Chesil Beach coast road to Briport on Sunday and on the way back to Bristol called in at the NSA Sprint at Westonzoyland. A reasonable round trip of 225 miles but spoilt slightly by leaving the house a little later than intended and then the traffic on the Dorset roads. I guess everybody had the same idea to get out and enjoy the lovely blue skies, as in places the traffic was probably nearly as bad as if it'd been peak Summer............whenever that is supposed to be! 
    Still I enjoyed it and seeing the beautiful blue of the sea too was the reason that I headed in that direction. You don't quite get the same feeling at Weston Super Mare which is only approx 30 miles away from Bristol but the water is dirty brown and that's if you can even see the bloody water when the tides out!

Poole Harbour

This looked larger in the flesh than it does in this pic
and was very impressive

Chesil Beach Road

Apparently this chap made his own engine

    I didn't see it, but apparently somebody did a mid 8 seconds run at the Sprint and I certainly saw a few in the 9's