Moto Piston Rally Santander Part 3

The third day of riding for Matt and I. Got to confess that last time I did the rally it was sunny all the time so I hadn't really entertained the thought that it might be rainy. Pretty daft really what with the Atlantic Ocean, mountains and it all being so lush and green....

A bit achy from the 5000 Curves, both in body from the ride and mind from the post-ride celebrations, so got up late. It was rainy. Waited a while for it to clear up. It did, a bit. I wheeled James' little 175 Gilera out from the Santemar Hotel's underground garage and off we set. The rain returned and then returned some more. Another mistake was not to change the Gilera's rear tyre before leaving home: it is of uncertain vintage but definitely more than fifteen years old and of Chinese origin. After the bike stepped out a couple of times I began to lose my nerve with it. That combined with the rain and the extreme riding position of the Gilera causing lower back pain right around where I slipped a disc nine months back I ended up wimping out after about ten miles and sitting in a cafe supping coffee watching folks ride by before trundling back to Santander.

Nimbus in the rain. 

Unmistakable profile of an early Honda four.

Sweet! Honda CX500 Turbo.

Sanglas. Rain didn't put off the local boys as much as the
soft foreigners!

Soggy Gilera.

Kawasaki ZX6 Ninja had a mishap earlier in the week. Rider
was walking wounded. If it was you, I've got a tidy '89 Ninja
with a shot engine that I want to part with. If that sounds
interesting, get in touch...

Back to Santander and much as I was there to ride it's a pretty
city and the opportunity to have a good wander around was
not to be missed.

A Seat 600 spotted whilst strolling.

Love these late Spanish two stroke road bikes. Would be
proud to have either of these in my garage. A Montesa 350
Cronos and an Ossa 500 Yankee.

Montesa Impala.

Early seventies Sanglas. Nice thing about
Sanglas is that they had their own individual
aesthetic going on. Look carefully and there
is a transfer saying 'Freno al disco' on the side
panel. 

And here is that disco freno. Looks like a drum.
It is double sided and is indeed a disc brake.
Couldn't work out how it operates just from
looking at it so I've checked it out on google.
Basically there are four pistons and the centre of
the hub is a thick single disc. It's easiest to look
at some pictures to get the gist of  it, see below..

Sanglas inboard disc internals. Picture lifted from the ever
excellent bike-curious.

Lovely hefty Harley combo. A UL?

Ducati Darmah and Hesketh. Interesting to
see them side by side.

Moto Piston put a few special bikes on display in the hotel
foyer. Here's a 1903 Werner.

And a 1925 ohc Matchless. Super rare, I've
never seen one of these before. The cam drive
is behind the barrel. Apparently they were not a
roaring success. A very pretty and exotic bike though.

Stunning 1915 Harley. Not just a show queen it was wheeled
out several times and fired up.