Luvverly motor John!

Well

you could have

“knocked me down wiv a fevver”

I needed juice for the van

having driven the tractor and “topper”

round the building plot

keeping the grass

down to golf course length

(sad or what?)

Called at St Matthieu

and there it was………

A BOSTIN CAR SHOW!

Over 100 beautiful cars

a few bikes and a small autojumble.

With no more ado

-feast your mince pies

on these beauts !

(enough of the  Cockney moments-ed)

Wacky mini cars-we gottem!

This is a Vespa!

followed by a PAPAMOBIL??????

Some great US cars

a few CADDIES…..

A fabulous Model T FORD

(who needs alloy wheels???)

A huge Kenworth Truck

plus a few Mustangs,Corvettes

and a lovely GTO which I missed!

only a few bikes,

but check out this ZUNDAPP outfit

CUTIE?

French cars(as youd imagine)

were well represented

Some great Simcas,

I,d never seen before;

a CHAMBARD?

or this lovely V8 Versaille

Looks like an old Ford Consul

dont it?

Renaults aplenty..

a 1922 model“TORPEDO”

a FLORIDE covertible

or a lovely DAUPHINE convertible

on French plates

but British owned

(Like this mint Lotus Cortina )

Ever heard of a DONNET ZEDEL?

Me neither but what a cracker!

It sounded absolutely GORGEOUS!

Panhards were a popular car” en France “

Heres my old pal Claude Bonnet

This time on 4 wheels!

His Amilcar had expired-seized gearbox.

he was waiting for the breakdown truck!

The french Morgan copy used to belong to him!

not sure of the make though…..

sorry !

There were several Alpines

including this former Monte Carlo rally car

Isnt it beautiful?

Tiny 1100 or 1300 engine lives in the boot!

If you got fed up  looking at cars

theres allways an autojumble at these do,s

Lots of expensive rusty rthings for sale.

Or how a bout a Gallette(a savoury pancake)

Theres ham ,cheese or eggs

ham and

cheese, and

eggs

OR

BASICALLY

any variation on ham and cheese and eggs……:P

The Ultimate Barn find?

A newly retired New York couple

decided to buy a home in Portugal

to eke out their limited pension.

They found a modest farmhouse that had been empty for 15 years.

(The Portugese owners had died without heirs. )

the estate was being sold to raise taxes owed

Several interested parties had viewed the property

but had backed out,

when asked to pay for the large ugly metal barn

included in the sale.

The New Yorkers bought the property at a good price

and set about opening the barn.

Its doors had been welded shut(Funny??)

An angle grinder was employed and

VOILA!!!!

This is the sight that greeted them!

A warehouse full of vintage cars

And they had title to them all!

The list included

Aston Martin

Opel GT

Lotus Elan(x2),

Lotus 7,

Porsche 356

Austin Healey Sprite,

Volvo P544,

Ford model Y,

Alfa guilletta sprint,

Guillia sprint Speciale(SS)

Nash Metropolitan,

Another Guilletta,

lotus europa,

Another Elan FHC,

Matra D jet,

Lancia Flaminia Coupe,

several US cars,

a Mini,

Fiat Topolino,

TR4,

peugeot 202,

BMWs,

Mercedes,Chryslers

ETC,ETC,ETC

(I am sure youll spot loads more!)

Estimated value 35 million dollars!

Not bad for nowt????

Basic skills

I cant believe the way some people ride!

There is no discipline,no plan,

there are no riding rules!

The French motards,

delight in riding with their right leg straight out

-the foot trailing an inch above the the tarmac

WHAT IS THAT ALL ABOUT?

Do you ride like that?

I was taught

by a mature friend

of my Dad,s in 1966.

He had a Mini Cooper S

still looks good ,doesnt it?

and apart from trying to teach me to pass my test

he gave me roadcraft lessons.

(quite a thrill driving a Cooper S at age 17! )

He taught me to use all the available road width,

to square off the corners,

to brake on the straights

and then off the brakes and onto the gas coming out of the bends

(heel and toe braking,no less!)

-on “a rising throttle”

“Slow in-fast out “”

THAT was the drill.

Follow most riders today and it seems to be the opposite!

Accelerate into the corners

brake as if your life depended on it

(probably does-ed)

carry on trailing the brakes into the corner

wobble a bit,

hustle the bike upright

and then….

GO

-like a bat out of hell!

The modern way

-Point and squirt!

Not for me,pal!

I prefer the old school..…

Plan your cornering well in advance

Smoooooothly does it!

always looking THROUGH the corner,

not AT it!

I never use the clutch once I,m going,

do you?

Match the revs,snick it up…

Blip the throttle,snick it down,

SIMPLE

if youve got

Mechanical sympathy!

Use the revs

to get the most

out of your engines performance parameters

Surely Every biker does,dont they?

Dont you believe it!

Follow a group on a trackday,

or on the road ,come to that

“racing line”

“double apex”

“continuous radius”

“adverse camber”

“HEY MAN,

WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?”

Fogarty won by sheer willpower and aggression!

He hated everyone(read his autobiography!)

Crash or win!

(a bit like Stoner or Biaggi)

A racer,sure,

but not a technician!

Keith Code,

Keith Code and Eddie Lawson in 1984

the Californian Race School guru

trainer to the likes of Swantz,

Rainey et al

always said that

“you compete against the TRACK

NOT the other riders”

Lap times are all

if you are gaining

on the man in front,

(cutting down your lap times,)

sooner or later,

you will pass your rival.

Aggressive antics and willpower

have litttle to do with it!

Its basic physics!

Listen to Toby or Julian

on the MotoGP coverage

on Sky eurosports

-they keep banging on

about half a second advantages etc etc

between riders,

but its true

You will catch up

and pass your rival

if you are gaining a time advatage each lap

(provided enough laps remain to do it in!)

One of the smoothest of all riders,

was,

(and still is ,)

John Surtees

(the only man to have been World champion

on 2 and 4 wheels-and now 74 years old)

I remember,

a friend talking to marshalls

at the Curborough sprint

(a Vincent owners club

twisty sprint track)

near Lichfield ,staffs.

where Surtees was a guest driver

at a club competition.

Always a  gentleman

of the old school,

Surtees had inspected the track,

noting all salient features.

He had talked to the marshalls

and praised them

for their dedication.

(unlike some of the modern,

ungracious prima donnas!)

Driving a Caterham 7

he had of course won the event

(Albeit in his late 70,s)

The winning feature,

common to all those

who witnessed the  4 runs,

was the inch perfect placement of the car.

Same line,same gear,same speed

EVERY TIME ROUND!

(I saw him at Mallory a few years ago on a Matchless

-same story,

knees glued to the tank,

same line ,same speed,

EVERY LAP

Its consistency that wins races!

Similarly

Its smooth,

consistent riding

that makes better roadriders!

Next time out,

relax your grip on the bars

give a little more thought

about what you are doing

and enjoy the ride!

Its not a race!

Desert Island Bikes

Are you old enough to remember

“Desert Island Discs”?

Roy Plomley,Michael Parkinson

or Sue Lawley presenting?

The theme, was to interview”celebs”

They were cast alone on a desert island

with 8 records for company,

plus one book of their choice,

and the Bible .

The desert island had food and water

and not much else.

“Welcome to  desert Island bikes”

Peterbeta biker-you are cast ashore on a desert island:

You are allowed 8 bikes

and a book or video/DVD of your choice .

As well as food and water,

there is a full sized road race circuit,

an ISDT standard,enduro course,

An international moto cross track

as well as 100 miles

of twisty coast road,

superbly surfaced ;

There is unlimited petrol and 2 stroke oil

and an internationally renowned mechanic

lives on the other sige of the island !!

Now Peter

what would be your 8 bikes and tell us why you have chosen them……

“Well Roy,

I think I would split my choice between

all the disciplines.

I would want 2 classics,

2 road race bikes,

2 off roaders

and 2 road bikes.

For my classic choice

I would have to have a Vincent Black Shadow

(a motorcyling icon and OGRIs choice of mount)

and probably  a BMW R90S

allways wanted one in orange smoke paint!

The roadracers are an easy choice

Ago,s MV Agusta

and Hailwoods Honda 250 six.

(both chosen for their noise as much as their ride!)

Just look at that beautiful engine!

This is one of George Beales superb replicas

The offroad choice would be a trick Honda CRF 230

“WHAT!!!!”"

I hear you scream

“a free choice and you pick one of those!!!!”

Well its one of the few bikes

that I can ride well

and with total confidence .

And as a complete contrast

it would have to be a Maico 490 crosser

(This ones for sale on Leboncoin.fr

I,m very tempted……..

the complete antithesis of the Honda!

I,d scare myself witless,no doubt

but I,d have plenty of time

to learn to ride the beast!

Road bikes would have to be a Honda RC30

I just love the look!

And of course an italian.

A Gilera Saturno-I just adored that bike

and thought it a superb ,lightweight

roadbike;

What a motorcycle should be!

(although the new KTM RC8

would be a close second)

The book/film choice is easy

“On any Sunday”

Steve McQueen and the legendary Malcolm Smith,

A film packed with a great mix

of exuberance and thrills.

(THE FASTEST INDIAN

would have to be a very close second!)

Its so hard limiting your choice to 8 bikes!

Probably choose a different mix tomorrow!

Why not tell me your choices?:P