Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Ajo's Save

This video has really been making the rounds but on the rare chance you haven't seen it I think it's worth posting again.

Found - Lost Helmet

My son found a red & white Arai helmet and Alpinestars gloves near the Crocodile Sunday night - 6/28. If you happen to know the rightful owner please let me know.

Monday, June 29, 2015

Captain Blood

George Seymour Grant & "Captain Blood" somewhere in South Africa

Sunday, June 28, 2015

British Tools & Fasteners

I had to cutdown and re-thread a set of Triumph pre unit forks tubes for a project bike I'm working on. I originally thought I just cut the threads on the lathe (they'd be my first lathe turned BCS/CEI threads). I don't really have access to a lathe large enough to handle the size of the tubes well so I ultimately decided to buy a tap instead. An Internet search took me to British Tools & Fasteners. I was familiar with their website but up to that point I had never bought anything from them before.

I did quite a bit of research but could never confirm for certain what the thread was. I contacted BTF with the best specs I could provide. Based on the specs alone BTF was not able to 100% confirm the thread despite them taking time to do some Internet research of their own! I basically decided I'd have to take an educated guess and order one. Unfortunately Murphy's Law assured my guess was wrong. I had to return the tap for the correct one. BTF was super helpful and their communication was simply awesome.

The large taps BTF sells are not inexpensive. Dropping nearly $100 on a single tap is not an easy pill to swallow initially. That said when my 1-1/16 BSC/CEI plug tap arrived I could immediately tell it was the highest quality tap I've seen in my life. Once I used it I was even more impressed!

You may be saying to yourself "It's only a tap, who cares?" The primary purpose of this post is to share how much I was impressed with BTF from a customer service perspective. Vintage motorcycles are primarily hobby for me, meaning the whole thing is supposed to be fun. Way too often the third-party goods and services you rely on to complete a vintage motorcycle project are a complete nightmare. When I run into someone exceptional I feel almost obligated to share. If you need British taps/dies, tools or even just fasteners I'd highly recommend giving them a shot.

Saturday, June 27, 2015

Sullivan Motorcycle Collection

I've posted stuff on the Sullivan Collection a a few times in the past. 
 
 
Evidently Bobby Sullivan has decided it's time to downsize and portions of the collection are being sold at the Mecham's Auction in Harrisburg Pennsylvania.  From the Mecham's website:

Owner of Sullivan’s Inc. and a prolific collector of Triumph motorcycles, Bobby Sullivan is in a league of his own among motorcycle enthusiasts. His collection of Triumphs spanned every year from 1936 through 1972 and comprised more than a hundred various models at its peak in size. What makes Sullivan and his collection especially unique, aside from its obvious depth and breadth, is the way it came to be. Most of the bikes that spent time as part of Sullivan’s collection were products of ground-up nut-and-bolt restorations using original, factory-correct and NOS parts whenever possible, which for a collection of this magnitude and vintage is an extraordinary feat.


 “We’d put the bikes together the same way any good Triumph shop would. We’d inspect everything, replace anything that didn’t look right, and then lubricate the parts during the assembly,” explains Sullivan. “We didn’t put oil in them because the seals would swell up, and then they’d start to drip.”
 
Sullivan eventually ran out of the space needed to house the bikes in his collection. “When you can’t walk into your conference room ‘cause it’s full of motorcycles, you got a problem,” he says. “When you go downstairs or out back and you can’t move because it’s full of motorcycles, you got a problem. When you do a photo shoot and it takes four hours to move the bikes out for the shoot, and then a couple of hours more to do the shoot, you got too much stuff.”

Over the past couple years, Sullivan has worked to find suitable buyers for his motorcycles, and has been successful in selling many. But selling motorcycles as fine as his is a huge undertaking, especially when dealing with such a large amount. Having worked with MidAmerica and Mecum Auctions in the past, Sullivan felt that utilizing their auction platform would be an excellent way to send off a select portion of his elaborate collection. A total of 15 of Sullivan’s motorcycles will be offered at the second-annual Mecum MidAmerica Harrisburg Motorcycle auction, August 2. Don’t miss the opportunity to claim a small part of Sullivan’s art as your own as it crosses the block at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex and Expo Center in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Incidenally it appears the Mecham's Motorcycle Auction in Harrisburg will be televised as a part of the regular NBCSN coverage 7/31/2015 - 8/02/2015.

Dodge 2.0

On a previous occasion I mentioned how much I appreciated Dodge's recent marketing targeting car guys. This one is pretty good too.

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Ran When Parked

1944 Indian Chief - This one has shown up on eBay a couple of times now. The listing description mentions that it was restored by Jerry Greer. There's a lot to like.

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Ran When Parked

1948 Harley Davidson U - If I ever own a Harley I suspect it will look a good bit like this one. In some ways I'd even almost prefer a BT flatty over a Knuck. I suspect it's a faux patina bike but I hardly care in this case. If it were mine I'd swap the Sparto taillight out for a Crocker and then not change a damn thing.

Monday, June 15, 2015

The Transatlantic Trend 2.0

Flathead Rob and I had the Indian and my '51 Tiger out together for perhaps the first time that I recall. It reminded me of one of my all-time favorite Edward Turner pieces. I've posted this article before but it's cool enough I thought it was worth sharing again.

Ed Fisher

Jaye Scott Strait posted the following in a FB group I am a member of recently. I don't know about you but I was absolutely blown away by it.

Big Day for Grand National Champion Triumph Factory Rider Ed Fisher yesterday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Not only was it his 90th Birthday UR was the 62 anniversary of his GNC win at the Laconia National 1953 aboard guess what? Duh.. Yesterday he did everyone the honor if riding my 1949 GP Replica race bike. The State of NH Declared it "Ed Fisher Day" and he recirved a proclamation from the Governor on behalf of the ppl of NH. In addition he received a accommodation from the FIM for a lifetime achievement in motorcycle racing congratulations Ed.

Looks like a pretty amazing day, Jaye. Thanks for sharing.

Friday, June 12, 2015

Ran When Parked

1952 Triumph 650 - This bike seems to have the Triumph world all abuzz. It has some cool parts (splayed twin carbs, aftermarket timing case cover, aircraft oil pressure gauge). If you really look at the pictures it's ROUGH. I don't know how salvageable it is but I guarantee someone once had way too much fun on it!

Buried in the back of a California shop for decades
Presented unwashed and as-found
No known history
Engine does not turn over
Frame number 01610
No engine numbers
No title, bill of sale only


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