Author Archives: Steve Carpenter

What I watch on the One eyed Monster at home

Posted on by Steve Carpenter
23 Mar

Wow! Here we are almost through March andI have so much to get done in the workshop, but, there comes a time to stop and have a cuppa and reflect on life in general, I had a Mild Heart attack 13 years ago and that was due to stress and anxiety caused by working 84 hours a week just working on Motorcycles and prototyping parts etc, I think that was just the man above sending me a message to slow the heck down.

I have always had a hard work attitude but now try and manage it a bit more, I am fortunate to be able to ride every single day of the week, that’s part of my release as if I have a problem that needs solving, I jump on my steed and take it for a run around all the twisting canyon roads we are lucky to have here, and by the time I get back to the Barn, I have come up with a plan to execute that issue and 99% of the time it is resolved.

When I was living in my Mother country of Great Britain, I always had bikes and drive, I was a Motorcycle Dispatch rider for a long time and that took me all over Europe, i have been fascinated by Motorcycles my entire life, so today I wanted to tell you about a series that I have been watching on You Tube for a long long time. Must be over 600 episodes now and she records twice a week at this moment and posts on the YouTube channel, I love all of them but after season 3 the quality shoots up and panoramic views from the drone she flys just shows how cool and picturesque the places are that she visits. You will become hooked just as I did, some places I have been to but a different perspective and being a woman on your own like Afrika, India and Saudi Arabia was brave i thought but, Noraly takes it all in her own stride.

 

I just wanted to show something that I am into, I have ridden all over the world but this is on another level, follow Noraly on youtube and instagram, she is a great Vlogger.

A 31-year old, Dutch, solo-female traveler – currently on a mission to travel the world by motorbike! I blog about my travels at Itchy Boots .

Noraly Schoenmaker was a thirtysomething geologist living in the Netherlands when she learned that her live-in partner had been having a long-term affair. In desperate need of a new beginning, she decided to quit her job and jet off to India..

But her plans were dashed when she fell quickly and helplessly in love: with a motorcycle. Behind the handlebars, she felt alive and free—nimble enough to trace the narrowest paths, powerful enough to travel the longest of roads.

First, she set off toward the Pacific, through the jungles of Myanmar and Thailand, then into Malaysia. Rather than satisfy her appetite for the open road, this ride only piqued it. She shipped her bike to Oman, at the base of the Arabian Peninsula, and embarked on a journey through Iran, across Tajikistan along its border with Afghanistan, over the snowy peaks of Central Asia, and into Europe, all the way back home to the Netherlands. She covered remote and utterly unfamiliar territory, broke down on impossibly steep mountains, and pushed too many miles along empty roads, farther and farther from civilization. But through her travels, she discovered the true beauty of the world, the kindness of its people, the simplicity of its open spaces, and a new and unshakable belief in her capabilities.

How did this all start?

It all started when I went to Australia at age 23 to work in gold mining. I became rich and traveled around the world for 2 years straight. Completely broke, homeless and jobless, I returned to Holland. The next 5 years I worked for an international contractor on big ships all over the world, from Kuwait, Kazakhstan to the Bahamas and beyond.

But even though I saw a lot of the world, it wasn’t the same as full-time travel.. So I quit that job and sold all my stuff – to be on the road again! This time I’m traveling by motorbike, which is just the BEST adventure.

2. What is your earliest travel memory?

When I was 18 years, I traveled to Egypt. By myself! I absolutely loved it and have been traveling solo ever since. I got my PADI diving certificate there, rode camels through the desert and went quad biking over sand-dunes. Even though I’ve seen a lot more of the world in the years after – that first solo trip was unforgettable!

3. Where was the last place you travelled to?

I’m now traveling full-time, so there is no really a last place! Currently I’m in India, and riding on my motorbike to Malaysia via Myanmar and Thailand. Because I had to sort out a lot of paper works for crossing borders by motorbike, and get the bike ready for a long road-adventure; I’ve spent the last month in Delhi. It’s a place I never thought I would be spending a long time, but absolutely fell in love with this massive city!

4. What was the best thing you did there?

Staying in one place for a longer time has its perks. I made a lot of local friends! I got in touch with a local motorbike group and I’ve been going on rides with them and watching motorbike races at the circuit in Delhi. Those experiences you miss out on when you travel fast!

5. What was your best holiday ever? Why?

So thinking about a holiday – then it’s one involving motorbikes again! I flew to Spain and rode around the mountains on a Ducati Monster there. Riding hair-pin bends on a Ducati gives such a thrill!

6. What is your favourite travel destination?

I’ve got so many favourite places! But in my top you’ll find Greenland (because nobody goes there), Mongolia (for riding horses and reindeer in the mountains there) and Siberia in Russia for the generous people there.

7. What must one do there?

In Greenland – go on hikes! You will not come across a single soul and the nature is breathtaking there. In Mongolia – ride the sturdy ponies and stay with locals in yurds. The food is horrible but the hospitality on an entire different level. Siberia – have drinks with the locals and chat about their lives in some of worlds harshest environments to live in.

8. Who is your favourite travel companion/s?

Although I’m always traveling solo, there is one friend that I met 8 years ago in India. Her name is Mandy and she is South-African too! We hit it off from day 1, and have been trying to meet up every year since! We’ve met up again in Nepal, Tanzania, Holland, Spain and Denmark. I hope to see her again next year and travel together for a bit.

 

9. Name one item you must have when travelling.

My favourite travel item is a PacSafe. It’s a kind of portable safe, in which you can lock your valuables. It’s light but big enough to fit a laptop, money, passport etc. It has given me a lot of peace of mind knowing my valuables are safely stored when there is no locker/safe available in your hostel or hotel.

10. Your best travel advice?

Travel solo! Don’t be afraid, you will meet lots of people along the way. Locals to help you and travellers to hang out with and take your pictures ;). That is the whole point of traveling solo, you will meet tons of new people!

11. The one place you want to visit before you die?

Antarctica! It has been on my list for a long time and I actually almost made it once there.  I love cold environments and just seeing all the wildlife must be an experience of a lifetime. Sign me up!

12. Your favourite place in South Africa?

I am just finishing up my series on you tube there so go check it out.

13. Any embarrassing travel moments?

Oh where to start! Perhaps that one time I was traveling from Indonesia to Australia. I came from the Gili Islands and had to take a small boat to Lombok first, before continuing on to Bali and straight to Australia after that. When I tried to get off the small boat with both my backpacks attached to me – I lost my balance and fell in the sea. Face-planted myself on the beach and couldn’t get up because of the weight of my backpack. Completely soaked and stinky, I had another 24 hours of travel to do! You can just imagine the face of the immigration officer in Australia when I finally rocked up there..

14. Worst travel experience?

Traveling from Panama to Colombia, I took (obviously) the cheapest sailboat to get to Colombia. The captain lit up a gigantic joint when we just sailed out of the port of Panama. He was drunk and stoned most of time, there was no wind so the journey took several days longer and there was no water on board. Only booze! The food consisted of plain rice. My goodness, it was awful! When we finally reached Cartagena, I was just the happiest puppy ever!

But her plans were dashed when she fell quickly and helplessly in love: with a motorcycle. Behind the handlebars, she felt alive and free—nimble enough to trace the narrowest paths, powerful enough to travel the longest of roads.

First, she set off toward the Pacific, through the jungles of Myanmar and Thailand, then into Malaysia. Rather than satisfy her appetite for the open road, this ride only piqued it. She shipped her bike to Oman, at the base of the Arabian Peninsula, and embarked on a journey through Iran, across Tajikistan along its border with Afghanistan, over the snowy peaks of Central Asia, and into Europe, all the way back home to the Netherlands. She covered remote and utterly unfamiliar territory, broke down on impossibly steep mountains, and pushed too many miles along empty roads, farther and farther from civilization. But through her travels, she discovered the true beauty of the world, the kindness of its people, the simplicity of its open spaces, and a new and unshakable belief in her capabilities.

https://www.itchyboots.com/about

 

15. How can people connect with you?

Connect with Itchy Boots on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube,  or check out my blog Itchy Boots !

Thank you, Noraly , for sharing your fascinating adventures with us!

Read these books about other motorcycle and cycle travellers

Around the World on a Motorcycle, 1928 to 1936

GOT2GO: How I rode around the world on a motorcycle solo and what I learned along the way

Honda CB750K Gas Tank refurbish for 1976 SOHC HONDA K6

Posted on by Steve Carpenter
11 Mar

Well, I seem to be trying to do too many things in one go some days and must learn to relax and get to a slower pace and then get it all done. LOL!  Easy to say but they do say that integrity is the winning ingredient in the race for complacency , and to be honest, in my older age, I now seem to stop for a second and look back on things and try to dissect my days at the workshop and become more productive but in less hours, if that makes any sense, work smarter not harder my grumpy old man used to say.

So, I have been restoring an old 1976 CB750 Honda up in the barn, not to a show standard, just to be a nice clean daily rider, but sometimes things comes to a halt when I need to repaint the bodywork, but this time the formula works great and now have a superb Painter thn not only does a fantastic job, actually listens to what I want, then takes time to test colors and repaint if need be, until the job is how I want it to be.

Usually my artistic flair gets the better of me and I go into a winding road of turns, trying to get a super cool design that will wow many onlookers, but as this is for a bike that I really want to be head turning but in its stock factory livery, something that is super hard to do these days, but I am almost there with the bodywork for this Honda Four.

Now, I had a fella in Santa Ana that I have used many times in the past, and gave him my gas tank and covers, plus a few hundred bucks to help him with things and that was 6 months ago, he has buggered off and never responds to my plea, so Mister Police Officer will be collaring him soon with any luck.

I had to go on Ebay and pay an extortionate price for a fairly straight set of side covers and petrol tank off a K5/K6, it was labelled K5 but the Petcock was on the left side, making this a k6 model. Honda decided it was much safer to move the petcock to the left hand side of the motorcycle because that way if you run onto reserve whilst riding on the freeway etc, you do not have to take your hand off the throttle to turn the petcock onto the reserve position, thus being safer on the road and not slowing the bike down at all in that transition.

So, I asked my Painter if he could replicate the colors of Candy Antares Red, he said of course, then I enquired would it be necessary to purchase some reproduction decals, so he could add them then clear coat over the whole tank.  Of which he replied to me. “No, , as i can mask it and make the colors up in paint.  I was a little skeptical when he informed me that it wasn’t really a problem to attain the same effect with paint rather than a decal and he also said that the new decals will fade in time but the paint will hold true. So, I said I would trust him with that and said that as soon as the gas tank turns up from Ebay, I shall bring it over to him and see what he thinks about it.

My Painter has been spraying Motorcycles for many years and has high class clients, his time is not cheap but, he does amazing work and sometimes you just need to bite the proverbial bullet and go for it.

So, as you can see by the photo below, this was the fuel tank that I purchased off of Ebay, it does have a K5 note on it but it’s a K6 as you can tell by the petcock bung is on the left hand side, but i needed a tank that still had the old decals on the side so my Painter could measure them and reproduce them in paint, a tough task for many but not my guy.

It wasn’t perfect but it was a good candidate to the many I had seen on the net for sale, so this is what we started with,as you can see it is candy antares Red but it needs stripping completely so we can address any dings or scratches and then begin the preparation of this set up for my Big 4 Honda SOHC.

As you can see in the photo here, we have blocked the tank and made sure all is smooth and even, then Black base coat is added and it looks really good right now, the next job is to match the Gold for the design on the original decal, so this takes a little time to get right but with a lot of color test sprays we go it.

Aztec Gold is painted on the tank and this will really look nice when the clear is added later on in the process, but I am super happy with the progress and how clean everything is.

Here are the side covers, they were not in the best shape cosmetically but now bloc sanded and base coat added, these are almost ready to spray Gold, but they did need to be sanded quite a bit, and now looking good.

I am super glad the way that these came out and its all blended nicely, and when the Red is laid over these, they will give a fantastic Antares Red glow, something that I am looking forward too, this paint is top quality and will not fade in out Californian sunlight compared to many other brands I have tried over the 25 years.

I know that you will be thinking to yourself, this is too purple, but, this is not done yet and you will be super stoked at the look of this gas tank when its completed.

Just look at that, this is all paint and not decals, a lovely looking fuel tank for my K6 Honda CB750K model, this will be the Jewel on the crown when it’s all done and fitted.

The side covers came out really well and shall be fitting New Emblems to them later on in th week, but this is all worth the wait for me and super happy I went this route on the bodywork.

This still needs a buff but it looks fantastic in these new colors once more and once badges and lower tank trim are fitted it will look factory, I have always loved the K5 and K6 Antares Red.

So, there she is, stunning is all I can say, I have New Chrome Gas Cap and lock for it too, so this will be already to fit to my machine soon, and quite excited to get this on the bike, its the best parts when it all comes together as a cohesive piece.

All three sitting in the California Sun and I am taking it to my workshop where I shall put in the cupboard as I need to polish the valve cover this week, but then I can put this all on after.

This was a lot of work but completed in a timely manner, something that loads of painters I have used have always struggled with time management, but as he paints all the time for many Motorcycle and Custom cars, this was a fun job for him.

 

How much for a professional paint job like this?  Well, save your pennies as its $3500 but you can get a cheaper job and it wont last like this and I am more than happy with it, no runs, no curtains, no orange peel and, no decals to peel off.

 

 

 

 

 

Feeling Exhausted this month at Carpys Garage

Posted on by Steve Carpenter
20 Feb

I seem to always be burning that proverbial candle at both ends as of late, but, I do see some light at the end of the tunnel and have a few pokers in many fires right now, interesting times for sure, I am also working on a new website to make it less complicated and with so many hackers out there, I need to change things around a bit and its good to start a few new things from time to time.  I mean, 25 years is a long time doing anything, but I love what i do and continue to push the Motorcycle build and parts envelope when ever I can.

Once I have organized the Barn here at the Ranch, I shall be introducing some video’s of things that people have asked for and let you know what I have been up to with regular Vlogs etc, its a good platform to have these days and with all the Ai stuff flooding the market, its good to be updated with the latest software to help things along with E Commerce etc.

Just wanted to say hello and I shall be doing a few things to show what’s going on here in Southern California, new bikes to build for customers and my self and of course some New parts that I am working on for Motorcycles, Hot Rods and Vintage truck parts like my 1970 F250 Ranger that was featured in a Movie.

25 Years in Business- Time sure does fly by.

Posted on by Steve Carpenter
17 Feb

Where has the time gone? I mean, it seemed like only a couple of years that I took the big Silver bird across the Ocean to land in Southern California, but- There it is, a Milestone for me of course and a quarter of a Century has simply blown by, although I have accomplished many tasks over the year and now, I have my own Barn/workshop with no worries of Landlords breathing down your neck and building parts at my pace rather than other companies.

I love what I do and working at Home is something I have always enjoyed, I have plenty of projects to get on with, bikes to build and of course make parts and offer to you all around the globe, I am drawing up a few ideas’ as I celebrate Presidents day and am enjoying the sunny day here at the Barn in Southern California.

I will be designing some New exhaust systems, my old tube bender has retired but located a closer company that will help me with the mandrel bending to create more unique exhausts for many different models, its an exciting time here at the shop.

It certainly has been a tough year with the fires getting so close, the air had so much ash in it but now all seems to have settled down and I can spend more time in the Barn, as I need to concentrate on a few projects I need to finish and after all that can begin some new products that I have been quite excited about over the last 12 months.

So feel free to keep checking back or drop me a line at carpy@carpyscaferacers.com as I always reply and if you are in need of a quicker response, fee free to text me on 714-598-8392 and I will help you out.

Have a great presidents day and hope you have fun with your machine as much as I do?

Thanks and again and here is to another 25 years.

 

Well, 2025 is well and truly here.

Posted on by Steve Carpenter
15 Jan

Happy 2025 to everybody that I know and of course to all my customers that have purchased from me, I am so stoked that you love what I do, next month is my 25th year, so more things to come for the Motorcycle builder from me.

We have had pretty bad fires around here as you may have seen on the tv etc, my buddy lost his house and recording studio, its frightening what fire can do when there is high wind behind it, we have been clearing the yard as we have a lot of leaves here at the Ranch house, last weekend, Jenn and I bagged up 81 bags of leaves, so glad we got that done, have to watch out for Hot embers etc, but the winds have dies down now, although they say next Sunday the Santa Ana winds will pick up again and still a few weeks away until we get rain here.

So, at home I am working on the Barn as I have a few projects I need to get out of the way, I also have 2 Vintage yamaha Dirt bikes I need to get running, clean up and sell, a 1977 YZ250 and a 1978 YZ400, bit great machines, so hope to work on them next, fun machines that the Vintage Motocrosser will love, I have noth titles and original handbooks too, so I shall post these on the website when I have them running, of course, I will give them a bit of a blast down the road and clear them out, cant beat the smell of a 2 stroke.

We went to Anaheim 1 Supercross on the weekend and had a ball, the first race of the year is always good to go to and this year we had no rain, usually it rains hard this time of the year, hence the fires are so bad as we have had a dry run, but- it was good to get out and shoot down the road to watch some racing.

I love all Motorcycles and grew up with old dirt bikes, and love watching the new series as bikes are so fast these days, its a fun event and is nice to get out of the workshop and watch some bike racing.

So, what is to offer for the New year? I will be offering More parts for your two wheeled machines as well as some Original parts for the Restorer of their CB750 Honda in line fours.

I shall also try and build a machine that showcases my 25 years here in the great United States of America, cannot believe that a quarter of a century has flown by so fast, but it sure has, so hope to have a bike out later on in the year and offer it up for sale with all cool new parts and a few bells and whistles too.

I shall be making more exhausts and different styles with options of stainless steel, Ceramic coated or wrapped etc and dabbling into some other stuff too, so keep your eyes peeled on the website, the site was down for a bit to do maintenance over the Christmas holiday and back up again now, but am contemplating a new site as I have had this many years and need a freshen up.

Thank you all for all your orders and patience, I try and answer emails and texts as fast as I can and I am looking forward to more fun parts this year and offering you more cool designs and apparel too.

So, I had better get a few things cleaned up around the ranch house and Barn then get organised for a busy year of manufacturing and creating some fun 2 wheeled machines.  Keep building and riding Y’all.

 

Merry Christmas to ALL my Customers around the world

Posted on by Steve Carpenter
22 Dec

Well, the time has flown by this year, way to fast to be honest, but its here now and whilst I am still busy, i need to stop and charge my own batteries so I can be fully charged for 2025, I hope that you have enjoyed your Motorcycle this year, whether it was just riding or rebuilding, a feel of accomplishment is hard to beat when you hear that engine crackle into life from a long time in a cold corner some place.

So, I am enjoying some good festive food and of course give me some time to watch some you tube stuff and relax with Jennifer and the animals we have at the Ranch, and I wanted to thank you all for purchasing from me and I always appreciate the emails and phone calls that I receive.

So, I thought I would add a video of stuff that I like watching and am sure that you will enjoy too or may of already watched it yourselves, if you have then I will be adding more over this Festive season for you all to enjoy.

 

Wishing everybody a Very Merry Christmas and I am always here to help, either by phone, by email or even by text, coming up to 25 years in business and love every moment of it.

Fella in the States buts a 1975 Norton Commando still in the crate

Posted on by Steve Carpenter
06 Dec

Back in 1975 I was a 13 teen year old with Motorcycle posters and pages from the MCN plastered all over my walls and even my ceiling, I was always into Motorcycles, and I remembered the day when I saw the article that Norton were bringing out a double disc 850 Commando that had an electric start, wow, that was cool as for me, I was a little bugger then and all the Brit bikes were super hard to kick over if they didn’t have a valve lift, well, not for a 80 pound teenager anyway.

So, when I saw that the New 850cc Norton had a “Lecky Start” I was super stoked, also Norton had an array of color schemes but I lobed the traditional JPS style of Livery the Black and gold or Black and Silver did it for me.

 

Below, Fella out here buys a 1975 850 Norton Commando still in the Original crate, like me, i would of put it together too but many purists cry about it, feck it, its a Motorcycle, they were made to ride not rot away in a box.

Comfort ;
Mk3 Commandos were mostly delivered in two forms, the Roadster, as in the pics, and the Interstate, which had a vast touring fuel tank and a rearwardly displaced seat to allow it to fit. The side panels were also different, but the bikes were mechanically identical.
Roadsters got wide bars, so the rider sat upright, with the small tank fitting easily between the knees.
It’s very comfortable. Lots of riders fit dropped bars. No idea why. Slightly more challenging is the Interstate, which typically came fitted with flat touring bars and the rider’s backside rests about six inches further back than on the Roadster. Many people consider this to be a great fast touring posture. Others beg to differ. Changing bars is cheap, footrests less so.
Equipment;
As basic as it is traditional. Speedo and tacho (from a couple of different suppliers – just to give concours terrorists the vapours) and a small collection of idiot lights mounted in a neat panel between the clocks. Lucas switchgear and electrical gubbins, but an American Prestolite starter motor.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2024

Posted on by Steve Carpenter
28 Nov

Well, here we are already, it’s 10am and Jenn is getting the turkey ready to put in the oven, I love this time of year and enjoy having the day off with the Macy’s parade on the TV and the smell of stuffing and gravy being made etc.  I am always Thankful at this time as it really is time to stop and reflect to how lucky we are to live in this great country and enjoy life to its fullest.

I would like to thank ALL of my customers for their orders and of course friendship, having a Motorcycle fraternity is something I will always cherish and I really do enjoy helping people create their own motorcycles and supply as many parts as I can, at affordable prices. So thank you all for a great year and of course, more to come in the next year ahead of us.

Enjoy this day as much as you can, as the weather cools down, you may be spending more time in that warm Garage shed or Barn?  Looking forward to seeing what you build in 2025 and hopefully will see a few photos of the finished creation?

Happy Thanksgiving and many thanks for all your orders, calls and emails, I am always here to help and see that you get the best part and value for your two wheeled machine.

 

We shall probably watch a movie later, I love Steve McQueen in the great escape.

Count down to Turkey day!

Posted on by Steve Carpenter
23 Nov

Thanksgiving will soon be upon us, but its a celebration that I enjoy food wise and of course, me originally being a Redcoat, people think it may bother me, but- if it wasn’t for that day- Oct 19th 1981, well I wouldn’t be here if my original country and planted the flag. So I celebrate Turkey day with open arms, I love the American flag, be it : The Stars and Stripes Old Glory The Star-Spangled Banner The Red, White and Blue I have it tattooed on my left elbow and the union Jack on the right, I guess you can call me an Anglo-American.

But, as it is almost upon us to share and eat the food that  Thanksgiving is based on, a harvest feast shared by the Wampanoag people and the English colonists (Pilgrims) of Plymouth in 1621. This event is known as the “First Thanksgiving”, though the term was not used at the time. It’s the most wonderful time of the year in the US – a time for food, family, friends, and being thankful for everything really.

As a kid I always wanted to be American, My Dad hated it and as I was into Rockabilly music, he used to say I looked like a Yank, I thanked him, much to his annoyance. I have a few special Turkey day sales on right now to say thank you to all my customers over the last 12 months and will be enjoying the Thursday gorging on all the lovely grub that my Girl will be cooking.

I am still trying to come to terms with the New website format, so forgive a few mistakes and placement of photos but just wanted to say that I hope that you all have a fantastic Thanksgiving and Thank you for choosing me for all your parts for your Motorcycle, it means so much.

Back online after some glitches but all good

Posted on by Steve Carpenter
05 Nov

Well, what a frustrating few days that I have encountered, modern technology is great, until it takes a spiralling fall into the abyss. I have been pretty good on my computer over the years, with no training as such, I just worked my way through any problems and if I was stuck, my web guru Christian Riggs, would help me out.

But, I had no idea that Google changed servers and the site went down, so no way of knowing how to get the site back online, my mate was such a brilliant help and its up but as its new software, the whole blog and typing format is nothing like I am used to, so forgive any mistakes as I am learning as I hen peck at this keyboard.

Things are busy here at the shop and I am trying to get a few more parts available over these next few weeks as it will not be long until the Festive season begins and I am as Busy as Santa trying to get all the presents out the door.

So, thanks for bearing with me over the last week as it was quite the trip getting everything back on line, but persistence paid off and we are all rolling along now, yeah, the rear brake may be binding a bit but I will smooth things out on the format here.

If you need any help with anything on my website or a problem with your Motorcycle etc, just drop me a line carpy@carpyscaferacers.com I am here to help, and have been for almost 25 years now.

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