Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Corgi scooter J.O. Conversion

Flyer for the 1950 J.O Conversion to make your Corgi look like a proper scooter. Jack Olding offered a range of accessories for the Corgi.


Sunday, August 28, 2016

BMW Garden Party

Every couple of years local BMW enthusiast Ian opens up his well tended garden to a load of old bike scruffs, lays on a hog roast and wheels out his collection of meticulously looked after airheads for inspection. Despite the ominous clouds the gods smiled down on the righteous and bar a couple of quick showers the rain held off and the collection bucket for the ACU Benevolent Fund looked to be swelling nicely.

I seemed to have left my photography mojo at home for the day but here are a few snaps that worked out OK of both Ian's machines and some of those ridden in. I'll let the images speak for themselves rather than tie myself in knots over BMW model recognition (why couldn't they have given them exciting names like Venom and Dominator rather than the forgettable R25/2, etc...)

Many thanks Ian for a grand day out.









Thursday, August 25, 2016

The Graham Walker Memorial Run 2016 pt4

The final lot of images from the Graham Walker is from the start point as folks set off past Beaulieu Abbey.

Phoenix forecar sets off.

Followed by the Humber forecar.

Well turned out Triumph and rider.

Veteran New Hudson v-twin combo.

The veteran Humber.

Followed by the Kynoch.

The Clement Garrard from 1902 was a willing performer.

New Imperial.

Ivy.

The covet-able TT Triumph.

And jealousy promoting Matynside.

Morgan.

New Imperial v-twin.

Veteran Premier.

Sunbeam.

Scott.

Indian Scout,

The Scott Clubman's Special.

Nicely turned out BSA Sloper.

Monday, August 22, 2016

Little Nap, The Napoleon of the Chimpanzee World

Little Nap was featured in this blog some four years ago. Just recently the gods very much smiled down on me and I've come across this image of the little fella with his sidecar again, this time with a human passenger. It's an image I've never seen before. The boy looks pensive as well he may. The image is a photographic postcard, I couldn't say if it has been reproduced in multiple copies or not and it was printed in the UK. There isn't a lot of information out there about Little Nap, a shame as he certainly deserves a place in the pantheon of anthropomorphic sideshow greats.

If posting this image on other sites please acknowledge the source.

Little Nap and mildly uncomfortable passenger.

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

The Graham Walker Memorial Run 2016 pt3

The third tranche of snaps from the Graham Walker....

Magnificent Norton.

Bronze head overhead cam. Superb.

It even had an aroma of Castrol R about it!

James 'pineapple' engine.

Rare early Velocette KSS.

Triumph H with wicker torpedo sidecar.

As per the previous post it seemed to be the year of the
New Imperial.

Indian Scout.

Indian from c. 1912. Way in advance of Brit
bikes of the time.

Exquisite engine of the Indian. The oil sight
glass in the crank case is a nice feature.

Humber that looks as if it was restored at the
dawn of the vintage bike movement.

Lots of springs grafted on to the Humber's
downpipe, I can only assume this was a mod
done to improve cooling.

1913 Kynoch with Precision engine.



Another view of the Kynoch.

Douglas ladies model.

If there were a prize for skid lid of the day this would be it.

Humber forecar detail.

T'other side of the Humber.

Clyno combination.

Tail end of the Clyno. Note twin chains (I assume
a two speeder with sliding dogs gearbox a la Morgan).
Also check the neat rear jack stands, ideal for
 fixing a rear wheel puncture.

One of my favourites of the run, a TT model Triumph.

This TT Triumph has the luxury of a clutch.

Rider's eye view of the TT Triumph. Note on
the left side a fuel gauge, a useful but very
unusual feature.

The Museum wheeled over this ex-works Rudge
ridden by the great man himself.

That's a lot to concentrate on when you even have the need
to adjust steering damping on the fly.

Graham Walker picked up a leg injury in the First World
War. This required him to ride with a modified brake pedal
as seen here.

The Walker Rudge bum pad is a pneumatic pillow type.

Finally this sweet BSA Silver Star. Genuine pre-war off
road machines are rare indeed.

Burgess air filter on the Silver Star.