Nailsea Bike Show......... 17th - 18th September

September sees the return of The Nailsea Bike Show and back to The Royal Oak in the High Street .
  My first visit was nearly 3 years ago when it was held at the Old Barn which was a great characterful venue and last year it I/we felt it lost it's way when held at the characterless Rugby club.
   Weather permitting  (we deserve a good next few months at least) and being back at the Royal Oak should should make it once again a pleasant, friendly and informal small show  with a good mixture of bikes on display.
    Nailsea is only approx 9mls / 20mins south of Bristol city centre

Moto Guzzi Cafe Racers

Some of you might have seen this V11 Cafe Racer on Ebay recently. I emailed the seller.Tony, to compliment him on the build and we have since had a few emails back and forth - I think that we've previously had Ebay sales and possibly emails between us over past years.
   I did say to him that it's the sort of bike that Moto Guzzi should build as a option to the 750 which I'm sure many other people have also thought.
   Anyway, the bike sold for it's Starting bid last night and I'm sure that the new owner will be especially very happy with it at that bargain price.
   I'm attaching a pic of it here so it can probably be seen in a little more detail and also one of his forthcoming build, which is also a great looker .
   A brief list of some of the parts used on this latter bike are:                                                               V1100 engine with Mikuni HSR carbs
 Leman 4 frame
  Cali EV forks fitted with Matris springs and pre load adjusters
  Prolite discs
  Front hub is from a Bellagio
  Radial brake and clutch m/cylinders
  Koso digital speedo
  Ducati Monster seat foam
  etc etc

Bristol Bike Show 2016

Not long now until the 20th Bristol Bike Show which is organised by MAG Bristol. It's a good little show with a mixture - Classics, Customs, Standard etc - of bikes and stalls, held in the same place as the Auto Italia Day.

 

Moto Guzzi Day

I just happened to look at the 'Events' page on the GuzziRiders Forum to see that Adam (Italianmotor magazine) had posted that Piaggio had asked him to mention that there is a Moto Guzzi Day to be held at the Super Sausage Cafe on the A5 Potterspury, Northants on Sunday July 24th  (9.30am  -  3pm) which is near to the Silverstone Race Circuit.
   Apparently if you register at www.motolive.co.uk you can book a Test Ride on some of the new Guzzi's and Aprilia models

Guzzi's in Yosemite National Park

I caught a snippet of Barack Obama talking on the BBC news this morning about the dangers of climate change whilst on holiday in Yosemite park and it immediately sparked memories of mine and Tony's trip across the USA and our brief ride through this huge National Park.
   It's 1,168.681 sq mls and most of the visitors spend their time in a area of 7 square mls which I find a amazing fact which puts it's size into even more perspective.
    We went through  in the early evening after the roads had been closed all day due to the snow and didn't find anywhere to stay until approx 10.30 pm where we ended up paying one of out highest prices for accommodation in our whole 3 week + trip. We were just glad of somewhere though after leaving Las Vegas that morning, riding through Death Valley and then a highway (might have been the 395?) through eastern California.

Early evening, getting cold and the road that leads into Yosemitie
and approx another 4 hours before we found our hotel for the night

The next morning and our first proper view of where we'd
stayed the night

Jo March Painting's

Our Sister in Law - Jo March - is a Artist.  We love her work and for some reason this latest piece stands out even more for me - maybe it's because in a ideal world it's the sort of place I think that I'd like to live..............if it had a large garage workshop out the back !

Jo's latest painting
with some earlier paintings below

Guzzi Cafe Roadster project

I have finally started to put local man Mark's Guzzi project together and so it's starting to actually resemble a bike rather than an assortment of parts. If I remember rightly it had totally apart (inc the engine and gearbox)  for 20 years. I rebuilt those items last year.
   Originally Starting life as a T3 this now has leman cyl heads,barrels / pistons and new 36mm carbs,. Also be fitting leman 1 p/tank with aircraft filler and V7 Sport shaped side panels a custom made dual seat and Lafranconi competition silencers.
   The frame is finished in a metallic black and the lowers in a silver with a clear subtle sparkle lacquer coat.