mark V le mans before...

after impact with a wombat at 100km/h....

the mark v hit the shed today for a full makeover. its pretty screwed up in the front but the rest is looking not too bad.....we shall see when it comes apart....

matt, not me, its owner, has taken about 4 years to get her out of the shed so its about time she came good...

summer time = snake time

farm stuff...

beautiful harvest on our peach trees for the first time this year......we have had a couple for the previous two years but not like this year.

my wife has been collecting echidna quills for the last five years....we are planning to make a light from them for our bedtime reading...

ride time

did some great miles on the guzz over the last few days....the ride this morning was fast and fun for the first half but the second half had some of the worst dirt bits ever....no time to look at the scenery when your dodging holiday makers in the middle of the road heading to the beach...

the dog fox, on the run

heros 3....

the stories that i have heard about these two blokes who live near me and their bikes over the years are the stuff of legend.

stuart is the man who really taught me to weld, and in a perfect calm way when he was teaching me everything just sunk in and its been one of the pivotal learning experiences in my life...i don't think i've been taught much, more just learned by fucking up and trying again. But it just seems every now and then someone comes along and you really know you should just listen and learn.

stuarts son now works for me and in some way he just has those calm eyes listening and learning. what a good kid. can chuck a wheelie like no one i ever saw.

noel is the man who i was afraid to meet for about 4 years. i would see him riding and i would hear him flat the fuck out in the middle of the night and think about the wildlife running scared out of his way...when we finally did meet properly he had given up riding because of his last bad accident where he busted himself pretty bad and was lying in a ditch over night with a broken pelvis and various other things after hitting a kangaroo. about two months ago i finally got to drink some beers with him and my other noel mate and the stories i heard were book worthy.

in 1985, the two mates noel and stuart decided they would take their new harleys and turbo charge them. stuart thinks at the time they might have been the only street harleys in australia with turbos.

they were both well known for laying rubber around town and out the front of the various pubs, doing feet up donuts, and generally riding the crap out of their bikes. they would bust them and fix them and bust them again.

one day i'm looking forward to getting them in the same room, getting smashed with them and hearing more about those days.

Stuart, thanks for lending me these photos and for your enthusiasm when i talk about building that salt bike and noel, i know you still have that bike next to your bed...cant we just trike it 1970's style so you can ride again...cheers blokes

i was listening to zuma while writing this and cortez the killer always just gets me.

nice arvo....

spent test riding the 50 before she goes home next monday....mixtures, (i think that ram tube is tumbling that air/fuel mixture weird at mid throttle), what a sweet bike though...that 3 degrees in rake is wonderful at 70mph....

summertime blues

lee man of steel.....

plasma cutting a 10mm plate steel door for the basement......thanks lee

(he loves steel)

loco 52

been meaning to post this vid of the big block on the dyno for a while now.....sam and the boys from westend performance in campbelltown in sydney worked their magic on it....if your in sydney and your serious about getting your motor right then talk to sam....just offer him a pastizzi or two and say your from malta....special service coming your way. thanks sam.

we fitted electronic ignition, new carb, cam, balancer, and a whole lotta other changes top to bottom...we rebuilt the transmission while it was out, refitted a new torque converter with a lower stall and cleaned up motor mounts and steering stuff.

cosmetics will still have to wait until the house is built.

in the meantime the whole town knows when she starts up.

reborn again...

finally got the 50 started up again this arvo after a whole lot of work.....she started up straight away.....ill finish cables and some little bits and pieces tomorrow afternoon and take her for a test ride....somethings just take so much time. working and reworking details has always been a favourite thing of mine but there are times when enough is enough.

with the 50 i had a clutch drag problem that i could not get to the bottom of. i had that clutch out like 15 times. checked every thing many times. still had a problem.

id done so many things to find the problem that i just plain gave up and stripped the whole thing down.

i eventually found the problem in a home altered gearbox plate that had been reworked....and not true, to fix the gearbox in an offset position to accommodate a rear belt drive. the primary kept showing signs of running out of square, and i had put it down to a weirdly cut and rewelded front sprocket.

i got there in the end. the motor rewarded me with an easy startup. i love this bike. i love panheads.

very careless of you old man

paul from evolution......

i met paul recently over a beer organised by the blokes from pipeburn....i kind of felt like we instantly got along. no attitude from him and no attitude from me just talk about the shit we love.

i wont get to the xmas party mate as ill be working as usual but next time im up north expect a visit...

nice one.

michael schmidt just sent me part 2 teaser for 6 Over

hello to all the blokes,....nice michael...as always.

im sure many have seen this...

but jesus almighty.....thanks neil...

goodnight cutiepie...

my wife found this little bearded dragon , maybe water dragon on the bridge near the creek....must have been hit by a car as she had a broken left front leg by the look of it...

we knew she was a lady cause she laid a few eggs, probably cause she was totally stressed from the accident...

she said goodnight this afternoon.....what a beautiful animal.

christ.

just saw these shots from mooneyes on bubble visor.....what great photos. my god thats some head fucking aesthetics, design and engineering. what about that gearbox mounting!. holy shitbags.

daves new coupe...

come on mate.....ill swap you the pan. im so jealous....what a car.

mikes wl.......

we had a repo triumph ribbed fender put away for mikes bike but when i got down to it today it just didnt look right....those things need an 18 under them to look right.

so i had this old repo springer fender that came with my 48 when i got it...

i sliced 35mm out of the centre and stitched it back together. ...im much happier. recut the fender stays and started mounting it up.

we are gonna run a pad on this bike so i have an idea between the pad end and the fender tip i will add in a little rib/fin that will get that join looking good.

roundcase.....

im going to turn the roundcase desmo racer into a roadgoing special. I have a whole lot of ideas for it but first and foremost is that i want it to be the lightest bike that i can build.

That single design element i hope will influence most decisions i make in this build.

The first decision i have already made, is that i would like all the bodywork to be in alloy.

I started searching for an alloy tank and one has come to me through an old friend and a man that i have held in the highest regard for the last 18 years or so since we first met. Thank you ian...im planning to come see you soon....if you dont drop in first...

This tank (previously on a race bike) is the first part of the bodywork that will go on the bike.

I have compared it to the fibreglass tank currently on the bike and the shape is so much better. wider across the top and generally more flowing in its shape. its had a hard life and has had a good repair on the left tank mount......but seems the tank mount must have been a weak spot...so...i might reinforce the other mount and clean up the repaired one.

nice cap and wire finger pull that was wired on by the racer...

motor will have to come apart for a full check and yes i will reinstate the kicker.