Thursday, 29 October 2009
Autumn Fruits
Autumn the season of mist and mellow fruitfullness. Have been sorely tempted by these guys this year, Shaggy Inkcaps very more-ish when gently poached in milk and butter... leave it until next years and there will be a bigger clump... Tasty!
Thursday, 15 October 2009
Sunday, 27 September 2009
Rich Evans and D&P Classics Meet-up with The Nation of GO Tour
Just another cool random Kustom Kulture pic from flickr
Rich Evans and D&P Classics Meet-up with The Nation of GO Tour
Originally uploaded by The Nation of GO
Rich Evans and D&P Classics Meet-up with The Nation of GO Tour
Originally uploaded by The Nation of GO
Thursday, 24 September 2009
Sunday, 6 September 2009
Derby Festé 2009
Last night we went into town to see the performance by Compagnie Transe Express - "Mobile Homme" which was part of the weekend long Derby Festé.
It was spectacular combination of Tambours becoming a human mobile and aerial gymnastics but almost impossible to photograph and video, while being jostled by the crowd in the market place. But we did get some excellent footage and images which we will share once we have gone through them and weeded out the crap ones :)
It was spectacular combination of Tambours becoming a human mobile and aerial gymnastics but almost impossible to photograph and video, while being jostled by the crowd in the market place. But we did get some excellent footage and images which we will share once we have gone through them and weeded out the crap ones :)
Saturday, 5 September 2009
feel a hacksaw moment...
Cool, the most underrated bikes to customize but I feel the time is right. just need to find one cheap enough to set a hacksaw/angle grinder to.
This winters project ?
This winters project ?
Friday, 4 September 2009
xs650 custom "The Wizard Sleeze'
The engine Triumph should have made... but a nice clean and simple chop. We like!
Friday, 28 August 2009
B...B...B...Bad to the Bone...
Hehehehe... just love it , sooooo bad to the bone.
Roof could do with being a bit lower , but still it's just too cool for school!
Roof could do with being a bit lower , but still it's just too cool for school!
The Triumph Bonneville is 50!
Just a quick note to say Happy 50th Birthday to one of the most iconic motorcycles ever, the Bonnie!
Saturday, 22 August 2009
Motorcycle Airbrush Art
One of the things I would like to do with this blog, is to put images that float my boat out into a wider audience.
Sharing what we find with a wider audience seems beneficial so that Art and the artist get the audience they deserve. This image to me shows one artist appreciation of anothers work... great shot and great paint...so is that a third appreciation from me?
Sharing what we find with a wider audience seems beneficial so that Art and the artist get the audience they deserve. This image to me shows one artist appreciation of anothers work... great shot and great paint...so is that a third appreciation from me?
In the land of the Rising Sun...
Somehow Japan keeps getting forgotten in the great scheme of Kustom Kulture. There are times I love their take on the themes over the more Western cultural imagery.
They do have a tradition of taking something existing and moulding it to their culture. Check out some of this guys pics on Flickr
They do have a tradition of taking something existing and moulding it to their culture. Check out some of this guys pics on Flickr
Sunday, 26 July 2009
Day Two... Dunkirk or Bust
Sunday, we get up at the sound of sparrows fart... or was that the sound of Bowsers' groaning as he lurched around all hangdog hangover'd , doing his packing up. Or maybe it was the alternative peal of bells aka portaloo doors banging as the early risers relieve themselves of last nights load.
For us anyway, it was a case of get everything re-packed grab a quick cuppa and say our goodbyes to all the folk who had muttered envious comments about the coming journey the previous night. Pete emerged looking far too healthy for the amount he had drunk the night before
Okay, 9:30 and we need to be checked in by 13:00 to get on the boat which sails at 14:00. A mere 120 odd miles in 3 and half hours... simples.
But no breakfast due to the size of the queue so a quick blat, south on fen land back roads, then down the A1 onto the A14 making rapid progress, then M11 and stop at the services near Stanstead for fuel and a pasty. 10:30 still got 90 odd miles to go ... no probs.
Back onto the M11 then sweeping on to the M25...roadworks...hit the PTT .."We should make it okay...if there are no more hold ups" ... clear of the roadworks and their narrow lanes and into the "bike lane " we go , carving through the Sunday snarl up like a hot knife through lard, sweeping into gaps between 4x4's and the odd white van.
Dartford 10 miles says the sign.."Bugger" says I , as we hit the almost stationary tailback for the crossing. Wind has picked up so loaded up with panniers and roll bags we are both dreading it. We come down the other side with no side wind issues after all due to the slower than normal speed over the bridge, but with 60 odd miles still to go... it's 12:20.
We hit separate toll booths to speed up the process, "We need to nail it, to make it !"..."Copy that " says Jules with the irony in her voice loud and clear over the airwaves. We take off like scalded cats into the maelstrom of the usual Dartford Le Mans start, to try and get into a moving lane. I damn near stoppie the fully loaded GS as a white van carves into my lane inches in front of me, as Jules takes off into the distance. ABS does have it's uses.
I catch up with Jules just after the M2 turning so it is M20 all the way now, and making progress at , ahem, "slightly above" the National Limit is a task that our bikes don't often have to do for extended periods so we have a potential maintenance morning tomorrow. The GPS is now a useful tool; as it is able to show an ETA using motorway routing... of 13:30!
We keep it nailed almost to our redline's and the ETA drops steadily by the mile. The EuroTunnel terminus hoves into view. The temptation to take the hit on the cheap Norfolk Line ferry fares, and let the train take the strain flares briefly in our minds ,but the GPS now says ETA 13:10... a few more minutes at license risking speed should see us on board before it sets sail!
Suddenly we are at the end of the motorway! Seemingly now dawdling along the A-road into Dover, I check and decide an indicated 80 MPH even at this point is a wee bit fast for a potential speed trap road. ETA now says 13:05, we should just do it by the skin of our teeth.
We start to hit static of other users on the radios as we enter the Norfolk Line check in queue, so decide to turn them off and save the batteries. Paperwork handed over and we get our boarding cards... 13:30! Then after the deep joy , well for me , of handing over passports and "crossing the border", we get pulled by in by Customs. Bummer... how long will this take.
Customs lady responds to my helpful grin with a face that has sucked it's fair share of lemons.
I got the usual "Have you ...yadayadayada" questions... then came.."Have you any penknives,multi-tools or pepper spray in your luggage?" Okay , pepper spray was pushing it , but with a small gulp and fighting an urge to touch the tank bag (with a multi-tool and a penknife in), I replied "Not that I am aware of"... not fully a lie and not fully the truth...
Next question made me happy... "Where are you heading and for how long?"
Hmm lets see , "tonight a Campanile in Dunkirk, tomorrow a B&B near Spa, then Klotten on the Mosel, then back up to the Haute Fagnes for the following weekend" of course not declaring we were off to meet a bunch of Belgian and Dutch friends and some more of Excalibur MCC to go to a rally!
Suddenly it seemed more of a journey...
13:59! We made the boat with seconds to spare; the gates raised up just after we rode over them and the ropes were being tossed off of the quayside as the bikes got tied down... next stop Dunkirk!
Saturday, 25 July 2009
Day One.... Did you know that Pete is 50??
Bikes finally checked and all gear stowed and packed; we set out to catch up with Pete to celebrate his 50th birthday at the Plough in Farcet Fen. Off we head with sunny skies towards the good route... A6006 to Melton Mowbray and the A606, past Rutland Water, to the A1.
This trip, having splashed out on a pair of Midland G7's complete with headsets and PTT kits from Maplin, we have bike to bike communication. This proved invaluable for being able to talk while still moving in town, and gives two pairs of eyes for spotting cashpoints in Oakham. Not so good on the motorways or above 50MPH with the bottom end (cheap) mikes we have which came as an offer with the radios.
First issue found, the maps I had loaded on the GPS were not ROUTING maps! Bugger, means we can only tell where we are , and not depend on the magic box. No probs really,as we are loaded to the gunwhales with Michelin maps...
First minor navigation problem was the road I thought I could take is now closed off due to a bypass being built! Diversion is in place, but signs run out... a quick u-turn and we are in territory I know and arrive in style... not too late and not the last.
Tent goes up presents are presented and we get stickered... boy do we get stickered. Dawn, Pete's other half, has three times the number of stickers for the event she was expecting and they all have to be used. Great, stickers,kids and drunk bikers... what a combination for mischief.
Pete's do coincides with a wedding and another birthday party that is a mini music festival. Apart from the wedding the guests mingle and get drunk together... the wedding guests are a wee bit discomforted by lots of people staggering round wearing yellow stickers stating "Pete's not accident prone but a bit unlucky and 50!" And finding them on their cars...wonder how that happened....
We imbibe some of the local brew and after a brief torchlight lust session over the Wunderlich BMW parts catalogue with Bowser we head for bed... quiet start really.
This trip, having splashed out on a pair of Midland G7's complete with headsets and PTT kits from Maplin, we have bike to bike communication. This proved invaluable for being able to talk while still moving in town, and gives two pairs of eyes for spotting cashpoints in Oakham. Not so good on the motorways or above 50MPH with the bottom end (cheap) mikes we have which came as an offer with the radios.
First issue found, the maps I had loaded on the GPS were not ROUTING maps! Bugger, means we can only tell where we are , and not depend on the magic box. No probs really,as we are loaded to the gunwhales with Michelin maps...
First minor navigation problem was the road I thought I could take is now closed off due to a bypass being built! Diversion is in place, but signs run out... a quick u-turn and we are in territory I know and arrive in style... not too late and not the last.
Tent goes up presents are presented and we get stickered... boy do we get stickered. Dawn, Pete's other half, has three times the number of stickers for the event she was expecting and they all have to be used. Great, stickers,kids and drunk bikers... what a combination for mischief.
Pete's do coincides with a wedding and another birthday party that is a mini music festival. Apart from the wedding the guests mingle and get drunk together... the wedding guests are a wee bit discomforted by lots of people staggering round wearing yellow stickers stating "Pete's not accident prone but a bit unlucky and 50!" And finding them on their cars...wonder how that happened....
We imbibe some of the local brew and after a brief torchlight lust session over the Wunderlich BMW parts catalogue with Bowser we head for bed... quiet start really.
Friday, 24 July 2009
Delays......
Well here we are looking out the window at a fairly good day. No rain and possible showers, but Jules has a badly bruised foot ankle knee and leg from a fall yesterday and I am wiped out after a hectic couple of weeks in work after our main client pulled a go-live date forward by a MONTH!
Most of us booked the end of July off as we expected to be working flat out through August, but nooo, computer says go go go for July.
That and swine flu have caused a shed load of extra work and one very tired Scouse, who is still a day of bike prep away from leaving... so tomorrow we hit the road. Can't wait!
Most of us booked the end of July off as we expected to be working flat out through August, but nooo, computer says go go go for July.
That and swine flu have caused a shed load of extra work and one very tired Scouse, who is still a day of bike prep away from leaving... so tomorrow we hit the road. Can't wait!
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Wednesday, 8 July 2009
Rock Store
Nuff said...Roland Sands...his bike..far from ordinary...but it's a tractor...purty ... but still a tractor!
Why is it an inline V is considered the "ultimate" engine for a custom bike; when it is nowhere near as aesthetically pleasing as a British made twin or triple?
Tuesday, 7 July 2009
Ace Cafe - Spring Riot 2009
It's not just bikes we like, there is the whole Kustom Kulture schtick that some think came to it's ultimate expession with the Hot Rod.
Rods and Chops and Bobbers and hardcore Rock and Roll... finest combination in the world!
Rods and Chops and Bobbers and hardcore Rock and Roll... finest combination in the world!
Every Picture Tells a Story
This one deserves a much wider audience.
Would have loved to have had this viewpoint watching peeps do things with bikes that nobody thinks is possible. Like running one up a vertical rock wall. Huge cojones!
Would have loved to have had this viewpoint watching peeps do things with bikes that nobody thinks is possible. Like running one up a vertical rock wall. Huge cojones!
Friday, 3 July 2009
This is HARDCORE!
Face it you puny weekend adventurers on your 1200 GS Beemers and your KTBooms... this is Hardcore Adventure Motorcycling.
This is the steed of the true optomist!
This is mad as cheese!
And I feel kinda dirty that I like it so much!
This is the steed of the true optomist!
This is mad as cheese!
And I feel kinda dirty that I like it so much!
Wednesday, 1 July 2009
Brass Balls Bobbers Has the Hot Model 1
Okay it's a production bobber, not a home built job.... but it's what I would build anyhow...if I wanted a tractor... :)
www.brasssballsbobbers.com for more info
www.brasssballsbobbers.com for more info
2nd Chop and Stock Custom Show
A selection of pics from a day out at the Chop and Stock show near Leicester.
All of the images can be seen on our Flickr pages
All of the images can be seen on our Flickr pages
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