Saturday 30 October 2010

A DAY AT THE SEASIDE

Set off early this morning to Bridlington for the scooter rally, my hands were cold before i even got to the petrol station and over the Wolds there was a vicious strip of frost down the centre of the road, not a day for heroism. I stopped and took a photo at the Triton Inn in Sledmere, every time i have had a Triton i have meant to ride it there and take some photos, this is the nearest i've got.


By the time i got to Brid things were warming up slightly. A good show in the newly refurbed Spa, lots of photos to come..

Hundreds of 50+ scooter boys still with their Docs and turn ups. The rally takes over the town and has an excellent centre at the Spa with all the local guest houses and pubs full to capacity, why do bike rallies have to be in a field ?


Then it was 50 miles up the coast to Whitby for the Goth weekend passing through Scarborough and a quick run round Olivers Mount en route. The second half of the ride skirts the Yorkshire Forests then over the moors but it was still too cold to take a photo apart from at the Mount where it seems i was 20th on the grid even though there were no other competitors.




Goth weekend needs to be seen to be believed! more photos next week..

Finally a blast over the moors to Pickering and home, nice and warm now, almost double figures. This is a proper 150mph biking road with no speed cameras, sports bikes will come past you so fast you wont even see what colour they were. In summer its nose to tail seaside holiday traffic today it was nearly empty.


A grand day out Gromit.

Thursday 28 October 2010

MOTOR RACING EARLY '70s


In the early to mid '70s i helped out working in my spare time for local racing driver Peter Clark. Pete had won the Northern Saloon Car championship and was racing a Crossle Formula Ford, again in the Northern series. We would work on the car a couple of nights a week then go racing every fortnight or so through the season. We raced at Croft, Cadwell, Ingliston, Oulton Park and in the first year at Rufforth where the car and driver were almost totalled in a big accident.
In the early years he won the championship twice before making the step into Formula 3, although he was on top of his game with the FF car in F3 we were little fishes in a very big sea and really got nowhere before running out of funds and Pete decided his future lay in (Le Mans style) sports cars. This took us to the 1000ks at Brands and big meetings at Silverstone but again there wasnt much of the earlier success.
The Wisharts name on the car belonged to a Co.Durham garage and sponsor of Peters run by Stan Robinson who basically blew the business by pouring all the money into motor racing and a grand lifestyle (to us anyway). The garage went tits up and much of the racing stuff sold for peanuts at the liquidation sale.
Through the Wisharts connection Paddy and i got to service on the Avon Tour of Britain in 1974, this legendary event centred in Birmingham and included races and rally stages all over the country. All the major manufacturers had teams in it and we rubbed shoulders with Mike Batt and the Wombles and got hammered with Roger Clark every night. A mint event though i ended up in Birmingham hospital after hacksawing through my finger.



The hairy boys in the top photo are Dick Palmer now parts manager at a local Volvo dealership with me on the front wheel and Pete in the car. In the lower left photo L to R Kirsty, whereabouts unknown. Christine, later my wife who sadly died in 1991. Paddy, now has his own car service and repair business after a lifetime of being late for work and Betty, Petes wife, i heard she went back to live in her native Birmingham.

Pete Clark packed in racing in the late 70s and set up the highly successful CC Racing with Dave Cook, they built and raced the works Ford Capris in the British and Euro Touring Car championships and went on the be one of the Norths top Porsche specialists. Pete's passion by then was flying and he was a very successful aerobatics pilot before being killed performing at a show in the late 90s.

LOCKIPEDIA



Went to see Sean Lock at York last night, if you get the chance to see the show take it, otherwise put the DVD on your Christmas list. Sex with Madonna, how we larfed...

Tuesday 26 October 2010

KEVs ESCORTS

Remember Kev (11th March post) and the standard 1100 Escort MK1 from Malta ?


Not so standard now ...

TRITON TUESDAY



Bob Cornforth's Triton (one of many he has built and raced), feature from Streetfighters about 10 yrs ago, words by Gary Inman of Sideburn

Monday 25 October 2010

BARN FRESH BEEZERS




Both on UK ebay at the moment, winter project anyone ?

TODAYS LESSON

Without wishing to be at all patronising it would seem there are a lot of people out there who dont know the difference between Nitro and Nitrous, even those who have it !
NITROUS- Nitrous Oxide, basically a bottle of gas that makes your fuel burn more efficiently thereby making more power, it is injected into the inlet manifold (on a carburettor engine) along with an extra shot of petrol. Top picture shows a ZRX with a neatly fitted system, the bottle is sitting inside the swingarm just behind the gearbox. Loads more to it but those are the basics.

NITRO - Nitro is a liquid fuel heavy in oxygen that is mixed with a firing agent usually a small amount of Methanol, hence Nitromethane, the staple diet of Top Fuel bikes and cars. It isnt an additive, its what they run on. So to the people that mail me telling me they have a nitro GSXR, no you havent, unless it looks like this...


Fuel bikes do not use Nitrous, street bikes do not use Nitro. In no way is it the same thing.

Sunday 24 October 2010

GOOD TASTE 1974



6 foot bullwhip !

NEWARK

Just back from sunny Newark autojumble. If i dealt in scruffy parts for CBR600 steelies and mini motos i would have filled my van, as it was i bought some rearsets and a pair of Renthals. Probably last one for me until march.

Nice Cortina with 2.0 Zetec for £7,000.

Shiny cut down but not for sale.

Really wanted to run up behing him making machine gun noises and push him back in.

Radial Alvis aero engine.

One for Adam.