remembered this scene today....

is it just me or does anyone else laugh every single time they see it.??

tried loading it up but kept having problems....and cant seem to embed it....

so click this:

funny shit.

hey to russell....

driving through sydney the other day i rounded a corner and saw this chopped up wl parked on the side....i stopped called in and met russell who as it turned out new my face from the cover of GK and the blog.....that made me feel real good....so,...hey russell...take it easy man.

my main man millan....

ever meet a young person and think to yourself .... this person will take the world by storm one day ... the world is his oyster.

peace millanovitchikins.

mikes wl pegs...

i've got them worked out now.....ill show some shots later when i strip the bike and start reassembly....but getting this set up right has taken some thinking time.

i have been trying to keep the lines real clean and not overcomplicate the construction.

they have had to be positioned (just right) to accommodate the triumph gearbox, and i have deleted the old footboard support brackets so that only complicated the issue further.

i had a set of tarozzi folding passenger pegs hidden away and wanted to use those also.

the final solution is a good one. strong and minimal. this is the right side .... i will remake the gear change lever to suit later. fuck ... thats a relief.

have i been listening to this ...

for nearly a quarter of a century?!

1.56 and i wish that scratch was on the original lp.

i dont know why....

....but the set up for the peg mounts and controls on mikes wl have been giving me trouble.....

i've looked through so many images on the netosphere all to no benefit....

i've looked at original setups, and every fucked up 45 bobber however last night and this morning early i hit on another idea....

i've had two good serious goes so far and been left wondering if they would hold up and stand the test of time.....so tonight i started again...

to date probably 8 hours or so invested...but now i think i'm ready to go....ill keep you posted over the next day or so....

machine wall photos

so much talk about ill post my photo on your wall of you being on my wall...i don't understand it, all that face book stuff.....anyway....

i recently got a scanner/printer thingamejig. well now i can get all those photos off the wall/or in the book i've had for twenty years and post the shots i've always loved, bikes that have inspired me to love motorcycles.

the following two shots are from vic willoughby's classic motorcycles published in 1975...so many beautiful shots in that book with great text.

ill let the photos speak for themselves.

machine website on the way....

and i love machines.....sorry...been taking photos today..weird how i can look at something a million times but its only through a lens and sitting on the computer that i look at it...like the wear on the handle of my mill vice....

machine website on the way....

kelly and i are mucking around with shots of the machines in the shed so that we have some appropriate background images on the new website that hopefully will be set up in the next couple of weeks. I've got new shirts on the way and been focusing on some parts i think you might like, so stay tuned.

My Mark 1....

i've posted this little movie of my le mans before but i'm changing over all my videos from you tube to vimeo.

so here it is again...

i'm planning to get more movies posted soon of some things happening in the shed....and all the people in the know say vimeo is the way to go...something about compression or such....do they measure that in foot pounds?

MACHINE moto guzzi mark 1 le mans from matt machine on Vimeo.

the man that is Terry P.

ive met some people through motorcycling. ive met some friends who have stayed and some that have gone. ive met weirdos in motorcycle clubs, weirdos at the cafe, bastards that want to kill me on the road and a band in colours that stopped to help me get a 47 knuck started and wished me safe riding as i headed off into the sunset....but nothing compares to sitting in one mans shed, and talking with him for hours about life in the australian bush, living motorcycling on the edge on the bonneville salt, dedicating 50 years to one marque and the development of one motor.

i had the absolute pleasure of spending time with terry p this week. seeing his house that he and his amazing wife built, her art everywhere, the worlds most amazing bathroom, and yes i did eat at level 41, spending time sitting next to a slow burning fire in the centre of a beautifully clean modestly sized workshop, and then talking about things that only a man like him would know, having lived in the australian bush, and built by hand a world around him, i think about my own life and how ive made some choices and how im happy with each and every one of them.

knowing when the sun rises on your property, when it comes through a certain window at this time of the year, when it sets and the colour reflected off that escarpment over there when rain is coming, and what the road holds for me on the way in and out after a heavy rain...these are the wonderful idiosyncrasies of living in the australian bush...and what i love most about my life.....totally highlighted in my mind by visiting a mans house and having him make me a coffee while i sit and talk to him about how life can bring us together in strange and very mysterious...maybe crazy ways.

my life is better because i met this man.

INDIAN 4

had the pleasure of getting up close with chilli's indian four the other day....what a beautiful machine.

rogers shovel

maybe the seat on my 48 is gonna go something like rogers, with a two up capacity....i aint sayin king and queen so get that outta your head rossi!...nice one roger. im headed your way early in the week.

my 48

fuel magazine issue 7

in the house....luke, i gotta say your quality of production is totally unbelievable....the photography is simply stunning. the new printers have done an ace job....nothing like getting aussie made....the 50 panhead is sharing this issue with a bunch of customs that reside in australia....total standout for me is mark apap's 47....holy shit mate...the lines on that car are totally spot on....so beautiful....your brothers car goes without saying....

if your not getting fuel magazine and you live in australia then there has got to be something wrong with you. this is the best mag of our stuff coming out of this country bar none. go to the link and get a subscription for a year. if your o/s and your not then thats just plain dumb.

here bro...

thank you luke.

machine colchester colt 2000

i use my lathe all the time. and not just for motorbike things. this morning i knew i was going to be using it for some serious hours today so its 6 monthly clean and service came early. i chased down a slight movement in the tool post holder that i had seen the other day and fixed that.

i was turning down a very old axle that we had found on the property here when we arrived. this bit of steel must be 80 years old and been sitting outside in the dirt for years and years. inside, like 2mm below the surface, it was as bright as the day it was made. so hard. beautiful steel. i love my colchester.

machine colchester colt 2000

mates....

max, through the aussie bush the bell tolls for you.

the 18...gone but not forgotten...

its a funny thing....

this interweb thingy...you know i fought the technology for so long....was the last one of all my friends to get a mobile phone, shit like that. But here i am now counting my blessings for the people i have met over the net that i talk to every second day that i now consider friends. its no secret that vincent has posted many things i have done over the last couple of years bike and architecture related, but what i love is that at any time of the day just about, i can send him an email and he will respond, and our times zones are very different.

If you don't check the southsiders blog now then you better, you better,.. you bet.

bonsoir vincent......olivier , i hope i can use the shot...with total respect...check out Vincent's son at digital milk...