A weekend wasted

Is never a wasted weekend. Or at least that's how the saying goes.

The original plan was that I was taking the g/f up to Lake Windermere for her to compete in a swimming race. Her race was postponed due to algae, so I was set then to head over to Spalding for the Kustom Kulture weekend, until the bends and tube from OJZ arrived. With the weather looking promising I set to doing a job I'd been putting off for a while; making the exhaust system for the DR.

2 days later, and I've got a finished system. Chuffed.

Gestation

He'd had it for some time, but today the seat for the DR returned from Steve at Lucky7moto and very nice it is too.

He will see my business again. Great job Steve. Cheers. I suppose I had better get on with the bike now.

Carbuncle

Right, I'm firing into the Jawa/MZ beastie I have and I need help and suggestions from the huge (yeah right) audience here.

Bit of history; the frame is a 1974 Jawa 350, with a home built cantilever swingarm working two Hagon shocks. Some would say very TZ, they would be slightly blind.

It currently haas Dunstall bodywork, which is being filed away for a future project.

Wheels are Suzuki GSX250, forks are Suzuki GT550. Bikini fairing is BMW R90, and is being removed.

Engine is MZ ETZ250.

Spannie is Yamaha YPVS.

Get the picture?

I want something with no frills, and plenty of fun. Able to do the commute and also piss about on lanes and tracks.

This is where people out there come in; I have access to a neat little MZ TS tank, and ideas about using a single seat squab with a steel rear guard, or maybe a fibreglass flat track seat unit tagged on the back. I need to source some bars from somewhere; anyone got any 7/8" cowhorns or good wide bars lurking?

Colours; there won't be any flake or candy, I'm thinking industrial finishes; grey, ivory, brown, or maybe something in CZ or Jawa (if anyone can point me onto them) racing colours?

Calne show

Took a trip across the border to Calne bike show held in the town streets on saturday. Not a notable ride, but a good array of bikes and gear.

Godden single. If my memory is right, John Britten used a Godden based V-twin in his early sprint bikes.

Introversion

Having a clear out of one of my draws and found a load of old pics, including some I thought I'd lost. It was really good to find old memories. Prepare for a few old shots to appear. This is a few of my bikes from growing up.

The RM80 Big Wheel was my first bike, bought at 14 with tips from my paper round. £80 i paid for it as a non runner. After some (a lot) of help from my Dad it was a runner again, and I used to tear up and down the lanes and railway track between Holbeach and Gedney.

The TS125ERN was my first road bike. Bought in a working, but rough, state when I was 16, Dad helped me again to get is a bit tidier. He painted the tank, I did a lot of the cleaning and engine painting. It ended up having a new Gianelli expansion chamber and DEP silencer fitted, as well as a new seat cover after this pic. It was a cracking bike.

The CB250 was built for the Horncastle Youth Bike show, and I got a 2nd place trophy for the paint which I was well chuffed with.

The TR1 can be seen mid-build between the orange paint job seen in a few previous posts, and the green paint in the next one.

Way back when...

I was a teenage hoodlum in 1999 I built this-

I'd inherited the bike when my Dad had died a year earlier. When he had it it was a relatively clean Yamaha TR1, but he'd already bought the FZR600 wheels and worked out that it needed TZR125 discs for the front wheel to fit into the TR1 calipers and forks. The tank came from Newark autojumble and cost me a stonking £17, and I still have it. The seat is a spare from a CB250RS I had.

The exhaust was my first attempt at making one, before I knew about pre-drawn bends. The engine had been to Edgar Hedley, who was competing a very quick TR1 in Supertwins at the time. The heads were ported and flowed, the carbs were flowed to each head, the cams were Megacycle, the bores were 1st oversize with the pistons ceramic coated, the barrels ad heads were teflon coated, the rods were balanced and polished, and it made a big difference. With changed gearing the bike would pull 140mph.

It's currently in the back of the shed, on the list to be worked on when I've got a few others out of the way. I'm looking forward to it.

Confession

It's no good, I have to confess to liking small bikes. The simple Suzuki VanVan, Yamaha TW125/200, Suzuki TU250, Honda FTR250 and Yamaha SRV250 all have a special place in my heart. Sadly they don't come up very often, or if they do, I'm skint and can't afford them. I also have way too many projects.

Anyway, here are some delicious small bikes.

SRV250

We forget how many little bikes we don't get over here.

Changes

Still need top coat. Prefer it to the brown.