Cafe Racers Book ready to go.
Monthly Archives: July 2014
Handy Tips that will help you out in a pinch!
Ever been away on vacation and left your phone charger at home? Or wondered how to peel an egg with out making a mess?
Here is a great bunch of idea’s that can get you out of a bind and, a few here I had never heard of, so have a look, I know at least one of them will appeal to you.
1. Use retail hangers as chip clips
2. For the always-falling zipper
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4. Fit two bowls into a small microwave
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6. Use a leaf blower and PVC pipes to clean gutters without a ladder
7. The easiest way to make an ice cream sandwich
8. Unclog drains without expensive chemicals
Pour a half a cup of baking soda and a cup of vinegar into a clogged drain. Once it stops foaming rinse down the sink and your drains will be clear.
A cheap and environmentally friendly way to unclog a sink!
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11. Stop people from stealing your pens at work
12. Putting your phone into airplane mode will charge it twice as fast
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15. Fix a blurry phone camera
16. Wrap a wet paper towel around beer, and put it in the freezer to cool
in just 2 minutes
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18. Use a can opener on obnoxious plastic packaging
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22. Create a bright light in a pinch
When camping or just in a pinch, a standard headlamp strapped to a 1 gallon jug of water can illuminate an entire room or tent.
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24. Tell which side an exit ramp will be on
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26. Chinese containers are designed to fold out into plates
27. Run the razor across old jeans to resharpen and extend its life.
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30. Unwrinkle a shirt in a flash
31. Perfectly cut cherry tomatoes all at once
32. Keep a pot from bubbling over
Placing a wooden spoon over the top of boiling water will stop it from boiling over by bursting the bubbles.
33. Soft-drink lids can double as coasters
Avoid getting a tongue lashing from your mom for putting your cold drink on her new coffee table.
34. Pinching the end of a banana is a far easier way to open it.
35. Adding a teaspoon of of baking soda when you boil eggs
and the shell will come off easily.
36. If you don’t have baking soda, then peel away a small hole
at the top of the boiled egg and a large one on the bottom.
Finally, put the small hole close to your mouth and blow.
37. Stack clothes vertically side by side in the dresser to save a lot of room
38. Charge your phone while traveling
Many hotel TVs have handy USB slots in the back that will charge most smartphones.
39. Folding shirts doesn’t have to be a tedious chore.
40. Pulling the bones out of a chicken wing makes it easier to eat.
Just twist the bone and pull.
41. Place a plastic bottle on top of a yoke and gently squeeze,
to separate egg yolks from egg whites
42. Save space when packing a spare change of clothes.
43.
44. Use AAA batteries in devices that require AA
Use AAA batteries in gadgets that need AA batteries by filling the gaps with scrunched up tin foil. It won’t last as long as AAs but it’ll help you out when you’re in a pinch!
45. Avoid Elevator Pranksters
46. Play games without ads.
Putting your phone in airplane mode while gaming will stop those annoying ads from playing!
Good luck! Your life may never be the same again…
Share the post “The 46 Most Brilliant Life Hacks Every Human Being Needs To Make Life Easier”
My Alloy Bike JUST featured in great hard back book !
I was s stoked today when this book came thudding onto the hardwood floor in our will call area.
I now sell these from my parts page $50.00 ready to go and the BEST hardback book out there, makes a awesome Gift!!!
Flipping through this huge packed book and plenty of high quality photos to please everyone.
There she is, these were taken at the Sturgis show last year ad so stoked to be a part of this culture.
Michael lichter is a superb Photographer and journalist, as well as a motorcycle rider too.
A Nice write up and brilliant photos taken of every bike there at the show.
I will be grinning for a number of days now i have this in my collection.
A fun time in my life, I love what I do and always cool to hear from like minded people.
This is a way of life for me too.
If you get a chance, grab a copy as it is packed with brilliant photos of top builders from all over the country.
Available from me right now.
Anke-Eve Goldmann – Cycle Worlds Coolest Journalist.
29
Jul
BIRDS ON BIKES!!!!!!!
Well, you have to admit, if you are a bloke like me, there is nothing better than seeing a Girly on a motorcycle, Black leather, curves in the right places and blasting down the road hitting the Magic Ton is something many of us have hoped to see, and now- things are indeed changing and we see more and more Birds on bikes.
Women have ridden bikes for years i know but back in the 50’s and 60’s you didnt see many on them in magazines, unless they were just modeling for the company, this now brings me to the infamous Anke- Eve Goldmann!
What a Girl, a great rider, a great looker and one of the top Journalists in motorcycling history.
Goldmann taught German to airmen’s children at a U.S. Air Force base in Germany. She was the first woman to ride a motorcycle with a one-piece leather racing suit, made for her by German manufacturer Harro. She rode BMW motorcycles and became a spokesperson for the marque before buying an MV Agusta.
Anke-Eve Goldmann was a journalist for Cycle World, Das Motorrad in Germany, Moto Revue in France and other international motorcycle magazines.
Anke-Eve Goldmann was a journalist for Cycle World, Das Motorrad in Germany, Moto Revue in France and other international motorcycle magazines.
Goldman was a friend of author André Pieyre de Mandiargues and the inspiration for the main character, ‘Rebecca’, in his most popular book The Motorcycle (1963).
The book was adapted for the 1968 film The Girl on a Motorcycle starring Marianne Faithfull. From the 1950s, she competed in endurance and circuit racing, at the Nürburgring and Hockenheimring but being a woman, was barred from higher level competitions.
In 1958, she helped found the Women’s International Motorcycle Association in Europe.
She gave up motorcycling after the death of a close friend.
At 6 feet tall, she stood out in any crowd and especially clad in Black leather, she was a natural with Motorcycles and could ride the socks off the damn thing.
This did not dissuade her from seeking fast motorcycles and race tracks; in many photographs she is hurtling down the tarmac, and mixing with other motorcyclists at Hockenheim and Nurburgring – such as here examining a Norton Manx at Nurburgring.
Her ‘pass’ at the tracks, beyond her riding ability, was a facility with writing a good story for the press, and she regularly sent racing and riding reports to Moto Revue in France, as well as publications in Spain, Sweden, Germany, the US, and Japan. Here at Hockenheim, she waits for track time with a pair of Jawa two-strokes and a Zundapp outfit – her suitcase strapped to the parcel rack of her R69.
She worked at a U.S. Air Force base, teaching German to the children of soldiers stationed there. She also spoke other languages, and her command of English was good enough to write two articles for Cycle World magazine in 1962. ‘An Invitation to a Lap Around the Nurburgring’ was published in the June issue of 1962, and a report on women racers in the Soviet Union (!) was printed in October of that year [and yes, I will definitely post it]. In this photo, noted motorcycle author Erwin Tragatsch, author of the definitive ‘Illustrated History of Motorcycles’, stands with a group visiting Anke-Eve with her late-model R69S, now with a British ‘Peel’ fairing (distinguishable by the clear panel in the nose – the headlamp is not mounted to the actual fairing, but is retained in the standard position. The clear section is elongated for a full sweep of light).
And don’t you wish your Elementary School teacher rode a motorcycle like Anke-Eve! She cut quite a figure in those drab days of the late 1950s, and had a bit of an exhibitionist streak.
find it especially interesting that Goldmann designed her own motorcycle racing leathers. Apparently she worked with German leather riding gear manufacturer Harro in designing her custom riding gear. I’m presuming there wasn’t much in the way of motorcycling gear available for women in the 50’s so she helped create her own.
The custom summer one-piece riding suit she designed had a distinctive diagonal zipper starting at the neck and angling across her upper torso. A look that is certainly current today in women’s fashion. Harro went on to manufacture her designs for public consumption.
In winter her jacket featured a wide multi-buckled belt, too large to be merely a kidney belt. Perhaps it helped keep her warm in cold temperatures. Her winter riding suit was significantly bulkier and larger than her svelte summer cat-suit, and clearly accommodated woolen under layers.
After her closest friend died in a riding accident, Anke-Eve Goldmann seems to have given up motorcycles altogether, and began to travel with a backpack to remote Asian locations. Traveling alone, she trekked through Burma, the Sunda Islands, Vietnam, and Cambodia, not many years after the conflicts there had ended.
So Below, a few cool pics for you to look at of this Bird on a bike, hope you like them?
I shall be doing other blogs of ” Birds on Bikes” So stay tuned…….
21 liters of snarling Four cylinder power and that was back in 1919
Just imaging listening to twenty one and a half liters of motor firing up back in 1909, people must of thought that God had come down in his chariot!
What amazes me as even back then, this motor could get over 140MPH and back then, you were lucky to get a Plane to hit 70 MPH!
This WAS the FASTEST mode of transport anywhere in the world!!!!!
So I thought I would blog about it being its Monday and get your week off to a thumping start.
Four 5.3L lungs, worth 50 hp each… Look how long it takes to get the monster to fire up! That’s about 10 Horsepower per liter. Thats about 200 Horsepower, and its only today that they have JUST reached that achievement. Just an amazing piece of running engineering. Thirteen Hundred Cubic inches was just unheard of back then. it raced all over the world, and of course at the infamous BROOKLANDS and then across to the united states,Daytona had the pleasure of seeing this beast in action, as well as BONNEVELLE and many shows and fairgrounds that were on at that time of year.
Enjoy!
Thundering History: Listen To The Sound That The First Bonneville Racers Heard in 1914 – The Fury Of The Blitzen Benz Four Cylinder
This is an important year at Bonneville as they all are, but this one has a little something more in the tank and that’s history. 2014 marks the 100th anniversary of racing on the Bonneville Salt Flats and BangShift has a pretty epic ace up our sleeve to help celebrate and educate you about that first Bonneville gathering a century ago. The details will emerge tomorrow, but safe it to say that this is the most ambitious series of stories we have ever run and they’re written by one of the most well known and dogged land speed historians in the world. But we’re off the plot here.
The merits of the “records” set at the first Bonneville meet are dubious at best and we’ll get to those in the story we just teased you with but the equipment, that’s a well known and established fact. The steed that Teddy Tezlaff drove at Bonneville was one of the ultra rare, and incredibly powerful (for its time) Blitzen Benz cars built in Germany and shipped over to the USA. Powered by a 1,312ci four cylinder and making a robust 200hp, these things had set records at Ormand Beach and other places where long stretches were available for the car to really stretch out. Amazingly, a few of them survive today and this video shows that 1,312ci four banger running on a test stand outside of an engine builder’s place in Pennsylvania after being refurbished. Now, the normal starting procedure on this thing is MINUTES long. We’re talking about five or so. This video picks up right when the thing is starting.
The sound you are about to hear is the exact same one that assaulted the ears of the small group assembled at Bonneville (then known as the Salt beds of Salduro) in 1914. It is beautifully ragged now but can you imagine what people thought of it in 1914?! Hit the link below for some auditory learning about land speed history and stay tuned for tomorrow as we roll out exactly what the “big story” is that we’ve got in the pipe!
PRESS PLAY BELOW TO SEE A 1,312CI FOUR BANGER THUNDER THE GROUND AS IT DID 100 YEARS AGO –
So good to be able to see stuff working and experience at least the noise of that engine today, it must of had people running scared when they first fired it up.
Southern California Motorcycles Open day Tomorrow!
Well, if you have time on Saturday, get ya arse down to Southern California Motorcycles as they have just become California’s Best SUZUKI dealer and boy do they have some eye catching Candy there.
Just to get your eyes watering they have Ben Spies Superbike that is just stunning, but also if you are a supercross fan, Bubba Stewarts Suzuki is there on display too, some awesome machines as well as the New 1000cc model Suzuki’s that you can also sling your leg over and actually take it for a ride, I dont know any dealer ship that lets you do that?
So, tomorrow, get down to the shop, grab a free tee shirt and some food too, whilst you look at the amazing deals that Southern California Motorcycles, its going to be a fun day, see you there!
Hell On Wheels Day at PerrisBring ya bike and race!!!!
Hey Gang Some Crazy racing coming up soon at Perris, see if you can make the Hell on Wheels weekend as they have a 1/4 Dirt track, if you saw my website carpyscaferacers.com or blog on here of the UK’s Dirtquake, this is the best event here in SoCal right now and very cool people. not sure if we will have a bike ready this year but want to attend to check it out as its a great venue.
Now- NO front brake OK!!!!! You can run a rear- so if you are like me, and you want to have a go, get some practice in somewhere as its weird wit no front brake if you ride on the road all the time.
We want to go up there and see whats going on, not sure if we shall have a bike done in time but will try, but this is a super Venue and I think it would be a great meet up for like minded people. So if you want to go and watch some fun racing, this is the perfect event to go watch, I am going to mention it to the Flying Burrito ” Gene Romero” As I am sure he would get a kick out of it.
So- put this in your Calendar folks!!!!!!
Check it out as its August 16th!!!!!
Here is the info you need and the website below!!!!!
Hell On Wheels Hot August Nights.
Our annual run what you brung flat track race will be held at Perris raceway on August 16th. Gates open at 2pm practice at 4pm.
Camp out with us on Saturday evening
Race anything, classes for every bike, knobbies, street and flat track tire allowed.
Mini bike…. Under 100cc and has to be a Mini meaning a 6 year old could ride it.
Scooters.
Brakeless- Yes No Brakes!
Vintage: 1974 and earlier
Bomber: 75-80
Modern: 80+
East Side Moto Babes ladies only race.
Vintage Hooligan: Open twins and British singles
Pro class: Flat track bikes and riders who actually know what they’re doing.
Whiskey Challenge: Run what you brung…. No pros (see above)
Early sign up is strongly recommended we filled every grid last year.
$40 pre entry, $60 on the day, $10 admission.
Entry forms at www.hellonwheelsmc.com
DIRT QUAKE
Dirt Quake is an awesome event for anyone to attend if they have a motorcycle, this is held on the Eastern side of the United kingdom in a town called Kings Lynn in Norfolk. This is the flatland part of the UK and how do I know that, I went to school in the next county in Suffolk and used to go to Kings Lynn to watch the speedway there as I was an Ipswich witches fan and they were rival teams, the Kings Lynn Knights were their name but changed back to their original 50’s name the Stars.
So, in this quaint Saxon town you can now hear the rumble of a different tune, and thats road motorcycles in a cool event aptly named Dirtquake.
Below is the trailer for Dirtquake 2 but then we have shots that I have taken from the internet, via face book and the bike shed back home in the UK and also friends sent me some pics to try and show what goes on there.
We need it here in So-Cal as it would be a blast, no attitude, just fun.
Enjoy!
Dirtquake 3 has just finished and they had a great time, along with The Ilse Of Man Marvel “Guy Martin” has a go and enjoys it.
Use any bike and get some good tires and have a go.
So just some cool photos and vids to look at today to help you through the Hot times here that we are having weather wise.
There are some really cool photos that I saw on The bike Shed and Facebook and just thought that you may not have seen them and to try and keep you lot updated as to what goes on back in the UK and all over the globe for that matter in the Motorcycle fraternity.
I really like this event as nobody cares what you look like, its to have fun and in fact, they encourage you to go out on a limb and just have fun.
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Scott Summers Photography — with Guy Martin.
Ian Heartfield of the BSMC…
Scott Summers Photography — with Guy Martin.
Scott Summers Photography — with Maxwell Paternoster.
With Ross Sharp.
With Ame Pearce and Vikki van Someren.
Guy Martin of T.T. Fame even gets in on the race and loves it.
Hope you enjoyed the blog, we need something here at the local speedway like Costa Mesa, it would be Epic.
CB550 Bar Hopper Brat style. $4000
This is our CB550 Bar Hopper that’s for sale with original pink slip, one owner and last rode and parked way back in 1986 and now available to anyone out there for a fun looking machine.
This is not a show bike but something I wanted to resurrect from a stock bike that was simply left and then slowly corroded and this was the ideal time to do quite a few things to this bike to make it a cool Brat style Digger.
I have ridden this around and all it needs is air filters which I hope to sort out this week, but I rode her and she is a fun little bike, puffs a little smoke but it seemed to stop after a while, but sat for 28 years I am not surprised, but she seems to pull quite hard and It is fun to ride around, but this is not for a 300 pound guy as we lowered this and you would bottom the seat out on the tire.
Now we have done many things to this machine and that does not stop you from tearing it down, painting the frame and making a show machine, but we wanted to try something a little different and get the bike to look a little more Vintage than it is and I believe we pulled that off, judging by the amount of comments we have received over this bike.
As it has a title this can be shipped anywhere. And is now available, so if ya interested, drop us a line, I know the speedometer had 25,000 o it and I believe that to be a true reading, of course it now has a 2.5 inch speedometer on this machine now and it was set a zero and I have only done a couple of miles on it and maybe a couple more if you buy this as i run it as much as I can as i want to keep everything functioning.
So have a look below and see if ya like it? Thanks for looking.
Stock headers mated to our stainless muffler sets this side of the bike off very well and yes it is baffled too.
We used our rear license plate set up with the good old Ford Tail light to show we are into Vintage stuff and works very well indeed and yes, it has a brake light too.
Dakota made the one off seat as we needed a low seat base to give this machine that Digger styling and it looks great.
It is nice to bring the old Girl back to life after sitting in a garage since 1986.
The Brat bike is quite a new style that popped out of the cafe Racer and bobber style and now is very popular around the globe.
Brand New tires and tubes that really give it the Vintage style make this machine stand out from the others and I am glad I went this way.
This is no show pony but it turns plenty of heads as the stance is a good focal point on this 550.
Brand spanking New Chrome rims, with stainless steel laced and of course polishied hubs with new bearings make this a clean machine,.
We rebuilt the front brake caliper and also fitted braided brake lines, a new master cylinder and of course bled it all so it stops great.
New battery in an Alloy Battery box we make gives the bike a new life once more.
Sits well on the side stand and all the lights work as well as horn on this cool Brown bomber.
We also fitted one of our machined finned oil filter covers and of course changed the oil and filter.
We fitted out Alloy Fork brace to stiffen the front end up seeing as we removed the fender.
We angled the shocks and we wanted to make this low enough for many girls who love the bikes but are not tall enough to ride and this would be perfect for a shorter person.
We used vintage lowering blocks as this really is a nice and low digger style machine with a super stance.
The exhaust looks cool as its our stainless steel end and it does have a baffle too, you can hear it at the bottom of the blog here.
Vintage 7/8 Bars were added to my new bar risers and a set of Old school style grips added, as well as fitting a neutral light in the steering stem.
Below, you can see that the carbs are now fully rebuilt and had to be as this bike has not run since 1986 when it was parked up in La Mirada.
The forks are totally rebuilt with brand new uppers from franks and I had them shortened by 2 inches, I then cleaned up the lower stanchion and then machined the grooves in them and then polished to a nice luster.
New fork uppers and rebuilt and machines, this has the right stance as we lowered the bike 2 inches.
Check the tags out, April 1986 was the st time this was on the tarmac.
We drilled and polished rear brake hub and also the main hub has new bearings and was polished too.
I used an old 1932 Cowl light up front that my buddy gave me from Limeworks speed shop and this is a genuine Cowl light too.
Stainless Spokes and new rims make such a difference.
Bike sits really well and is a head turner for sure.
Dakota takes the Little Bar Hopper on its first maiden journey around the block and it was fine.
This is a fun machine and I am sure that someone will have a ball with it.
Here is the little Stainless end pipe that we sell and we fitted this to this little Bar hopper.
So- if ya want this, it is $4000 with the Original pink slip, we are in Anaheim and if you need it shipped anywhere in the lower 48 then call Larry at 209-495-3729 as he ships all my bikes from door to door and one of the best out there.
Thanks for looking.
Time for a break soon as its been so mad here.
Well, almost the weekend and I have been contemplating letting Dakota run the shop and I take a week off with Jenn and go and have some fun, it has been some time since we have got to be out and forget about work, it sometimes just takes over our lives and we forget that there is life after 6pm.
I do have a few New products coming out and I can always add them via my trusty lap top if I am away, or need to answer something important etc, the wonders on the internet, but I don’t want to be a slave to that electrical monster.
I enjoy meeting people and talking about the many styles of motorcycles I love, but you got to try and take some time to kick back and rejuvenate- else you will crash and burn big time.
So I am going to see what to do and where to go so that I can get my creative juices flowing more freely by getting out of the workshop for a little but, but not until maybe September -October.
But I have some time to go to a few more shows, as well as maybe organize a few rides and maybe, just maybe try and arrange an event here in So-Cal for people to ride down too.
I love meeting like minded people, newbies and anyone interested in the motorcycle industry or lifestyle.
The amount of people I have met from not just in California, but all four Corners of the world- ( Does the globe have corners being round?)
So, a few more weeks and in that time I should have the NEW website pretty much ready to launch as we have a few things planned for the bikes we deal with and not only CB750 as I have branched out to Triumphs, be it THRUXTON, Bonneville or any of their brand and of course the Royal Enfield,
Life is fun and I am looking forward to more things to come from our shop.
So, enjoy life and have fun with what you do, wankers will always be wankers, but- don’t let them get to you, if you have a smile then that’s the best answer to anything.
Now go and enjoy the weekend, as I know that I am.