SIS

My sis Jo lookin' cool on my heap of an A10. I wont embarrass her by saying how long ago.

PANTHERS

Shaz's Panther at a Whitby club rally in 1997. She moved to Spain a few years later and completely totalled the bike (and nearly herself) in a big accident...



Took these photos last week of a little Redwing that was in for an engine rebuild at Walter and Wills place. Pretty..

MORE 70s GRASSTRACK

Richard Greer and Graham Drury in action on JAP engined machines..



Pickering and District motor club's website has lots more nostalgic shots of 60s and 70s racing
SEE HERE

LOCAL HEROES

Sidecar grasstrack racing was big round here in the early 70s, there were probably half a dozen outfits in this town alone, mostly Triumphs but the top dogs raced Vincents. Dennis Teasdale was one of the best, his passenger was Barry Wright, known as Ken Shabby after the Monty Python character, he also ran a Norvin on the road. Barry died not long after this photo was taken but his bike is still in York, and still gloriously scruffy, now owned by Dick Craven. The entry list from a 1972 meeting shows the kind of motors being used at the time

LAST WEEKEND

Got exhausts battery carrier and headlight finished and fitted, might even put some oil in it and try and play a tune later this week....still awaiting paintwork though.




Also bought this 1986 Slabside GSXR750, now listed on ebay. This was the first proper sports bike from Japan, it re-wrote everything we knew when it came out in '85 and was the start of lighter faster better which has been going on ever since. If you have some money to invest this is where it should be !

WASTED HOURS IN FRONT OF A SCREEN?

Not when you can still find little gems like this on Ebay. 4" x 18" MH slick "as new" £11.

WALTS HILLCLIMBER

Every easter Walt does the Red Marley hillclimb, Will was prepping his bike last week: check that all the oil isnt in the sump, start it up, buy some methanol, sorted.

STAN THE MAN AND HIS BIG DOG DICK

In 1991 i had an old CB750 chop which i'd bought off a local lad. I rebuilt the engine, painted the bike and generally tarted it up to sell on. Before i sold it mate John took some photos and we sent them to Martyn Moore then editor of Bike magazine. He printed this article in the June '92 edition. The T shirt belonged to John, the dog was from the local chip shop and the trousers came from Amanda (Johns girlfriend). The boots were mine.
About 10 years earlier i shared a flat with John, and Martyn slept in a cupboard in our kitchen, which had no influence on getting the feature of course !

KEVLAR

Fancy rallying an Escort MK1 or 2 ? well Kev is your man, based here in Malton, Rallysport Developments builds and prepares works spec (and beyond) works of art for historic rallying. A complete car will probably cost a touch over £100,000, yes you read that right. Bodyshells like the MK1 nearest in the middle photo come in from Malta or Portugal at about £5,000 + another £6-7k to prepare, then paint, then buy all your mechanical and running gear, £24 grand for an engine and so on... Kev works at least 24 hours a day every day and has an order book as long as your arm. Add to all that the cost of actually competing... recession what recession ?



This is one of the cars Kev builds and looks after.Have a watch.

FRANK BLACK

Been out and about in the old tub this week taking spiffing photos of it, languishing amongst urban decay like, but just when you are feeling cool some little git from primary school shouts "Batman" at you. Anyway what do 10 yr olds know of style and class, he probably still wets the bed, hopefully.
I may paint it or i might sell it, i could always use the money to buy another heap of british scrap motorcycle that i will never get round to doing anything with.

LOWRIDER MANIA

Just got a pair of grips for my Shovel from Taku in Japan, quality ! Taku's blogspot features some ace bikes along with tasty food and waitresses have a look HERE
The old beast is nearly there now, only big bits left to do are paintwork, exhausts to finish, lights to fit, wiring to do, pillion pad to make, number plate bracket....................
Taku sent me some stickers as well, ive stuck them on the bike and my helmet but no idea what they say, could be "bikes shit and riders a retard". Can anyone translate ?

TRIUMPH CORNER

1980's GSXR 1100 Slabside bodywork, hens teeth, on ebay as from tonight....

SPRING TIME

Left to right £250, £400, Sold, £300. I heart springers.




Email tri650@live.co.uk

THIS IS THE MODERN WORLD

Just as a further indication of my progress into the 21st century as of last night i have a Facebook page, incredibly i am known on there as pete stansfield , there are other Peter Stansfields but not looking like this..



So now i can talk to you all on there as well as Dirty Bobbers, Flywheel, Choppertown Nation, 200mph, OSS, Jockey Journal, email or even the telephone ! I will probably not be tweeting though.


On the 5th February i set up my blog flag counter to tell me if i am just publishing to myself or not. It seems i am not, in the last 4 weeks i've had 1400 hits from all over the place. Thankyou all for being arsed to look and please keep popping in, i have lots more old and interesting stuff to come.

SCARLETT WOMAN

Scarlett finished the logo on my carb stack, top girl ..HERE SHE IS

6 MUSIC

Working as i do mostly on my own has the advantage of being able to listen to what i want during the day. Having got fed up with the Rap and R&B that Radio 1 had become (and the coming of Chris Moyles!) i discovered 6 music in 2004. I got digital radios for workshop and home and we were sorted. Some of the presenters at first were an acquired taste but you could be assured they were people with great musical knowledge and commitment. I have heard bands and artists over the last 5 years i would never have otherwise known and been entertained by the epic George Lamb show for the last 3 years on weekday mornings (sadly now moved to weekends and a pale shadow of its former self), together with Lauren Laverne, Steve Lamacq, Nemone Metaxa, Shaun Keaveny and, best of all, last years afternoons were down to Cerys Matthews. All presenters play predominantly the music they like not what is forced upon them by commercially pressured playlists.
I wake up at 7.0am to anything from The Damned's New Rose to Hendrix's Star Spangled Banner and the goodness continues through the day along with classic archive sessions from the John Peel shows and live studio bands. If i go out in the van and have to listen to Radio 1 or 2 it just makes me even more appreciative of 6.
So having made a radio station part of my life the BBC are going to close it down. Apparently it is only listened to by a small minority, it costs 7 mill a year to run and they need to cut corners to save money. I dont propose to put a load of links to various sites regarding these moves, if you have an interest (and have read this far) do a bit of Googling, and if you havent listened yet you'd better have a try before its too late, you can listen online if you dont have a digi radio. The BBCs licence fee money income is 3.6 billion a year, can cuts not be made elsewhere ? one episode less of Lark Rise to Candleford and fewer Cash in the Attic Celebrity specials. The whole "shut it down to save money" mentality is just an easy option, financiers and economists should surely be able to trim costs and make stations that exist more viable.
Just think for a minute, the BBC spent millions and had more people in Canada presenting the winter Olympics than team GB had competitiors. Minority interest ?
As possibly the only radio station that cares about new unsigned music and playing it alongside the music we all grew up with it must survive. You can join campaigns to save it on Facebook and Twitter, it might not make a difference but at least we will have tried.
Im tuned in now, Nemone is playing "Betty and the Werewolves" album of the day is "The Smiths". i rest my case.


Back to rusty old mo'bikes and shit tomorrow !

T120 PART 4

I used the Bonnie quite a lot and changed a few bits around, top photo is at the Farmyard Party '93, bottom shot taken by Laura one sunday morning on a trip out to the Jolly Farmers. The following year i had a brainstorm and pulled it to bits, the rolling chassis was sold to Steve Plowman who will continue the story....



click HERE

More than anything else i want that mag back !

CHEAP 'ARRIS

Absolute bargain on ebay yesterday, this EFE turbo Magnum 1 was built by a guy from round here a few years ago at phenomenal cost. It is possibly the most special Harris around and it was listed for £4,000 buy it now at 9.00am. I was so near to hitting that button, thankfully it had gone by tea time so my mind up was made up for me. There is someone out there with a very big grin.

PETES NORTON

Petes ES2, ridden and hidden ! Every couple of years he drags it out, wipes it down and does a local vintage run. He's had it for at least 40 years and every week someone comes in trying to buy it. I will try to get a pic one day when its not laden up with garage crap and you can marvel at its beauty

TIDDLES

Tiddles (Pete) works next door to me. This is not the back of his workshop, this is his workshop ! Can you spot a Porsche 911, Daimler 250, Micro lite and a Norton ES2 hidden amongst the rest of the ongoing (and mostly unstarted) projects




The last fish, actually there was only ever one, died about 7 yrs ago !