45 CHOP

Brain freeze

2012-02-26T21:33:00.003Z

Oops the spanner can't come off.
Wait sec, the pin's stuck.
Nut's tightened against it.
Ah crap, it's a ratchet spanner.
Try the opposite end.
Axle's not turning.
Oh, put a pin in other side first.
Wow that was stupid.

Just when you think you've seen it all

2012-02-13T22:14:00.001Z

http://www.bikeexif.com/cafe-racer-harley#ixzz1jfsjkmpY

I can feel it in the air tonight

2012-02-12T21:12:00.007Z

Added
Shorter forks
Shorter risers
Daytona front mudguard
Matching old-cream tank strip

Alka seltzer head

2012-02-04T18:10:00.000Z

Wet and slippy

2012-01-04T22:45:00.000Z

Sitting on the roof

Smoking a Marley

When along came a wolf

On a fucking big Harley

Final Draft

2012-01-04T22:25:00.002Z

My first ground-up build is finally done

Thanks go to brother Renshaw for the parts and Tony for mentoring me

Goodyear Grasshopper

2012-01-04T21:50:00.002Z

Not just the tyre of choice for hardcore choppers but they were used by Harley on some of their dirt-tracker bikes. Yes sir, damn good looking tyre.

I managed to get two, NOS for £30 each. Booya!

3.00 x 21

4.00x19

Last minute bits

2012-01-04T21:37:00.002Z

Exhaust clamps

Brake stay

Dead man's switch

Blotto parts

I spy with my little eye

2012-01-03T12:21:00.000Z

"Mae Gordon's original insane moving pedestal"

2012-01-03T12:11:00.000Z

Test Ride

2012-01-01T23:05:00.002Z

The master arrived to give the carb a tune up

Test rides were impressive, motor very responsive. Steering great, the bike wants to righten back up and so feels very stable. Kinda the opposite of a long forked flip-flop job. Rigid forks aren't as bouncy as the haters might have thought.

It rained

Road Trip

2012-01-01T22:39:00.000Z

The Birth

2011-12-19T23:01:00.000Z

The Magura throttle is a pull throttle so we made a little lever arm to flip reverse it. Although the arm isn't really that little at the moment. But the different holes will allow a choice of throttle response and then it can be cut down.

That'll do, pig.

Poor man's generator

Decided to see if the thing might fire. Tony wasn't there so I was kinda bricking it.

I actually forgot to prime it but on the third kick there was a splutter from the engine

4th kick

Guess who taught himself to weld? Kids, set your flame right, not too much oxygen and don't destroy it with an angle grinder when you can use a file.

Fifth kick muddafucka!

Romance of Rust

2011-12-05T21:26:00.000Z

I was only ever going to make a mess of removing the cancerous growth from the WR tanks so the job was entrusted it to a proper surgeon. Popular opinion was that Lance down at Romance of Rust is better than the Mayo clinic and he kindly agreed to roll up his sleeves.

There's an actual Hetchings in there! Look closely and you can see the trademark curly rear stays on the bike behind.

The good doctor himself

This was so mangled it was rubbing the primary chain. Now it's pancake flat.

This is all new, except the tabs. He even mimicked the wrinkles and the sloppyness of the welds.

On the right is the cancerous part that he cut out. Used to leak faster than a blind lesbian in a fish shop.

The baffles on the inside. All perfectly copied by Lance, naturally.

Extend your forks the hard way

2011-12-01T17:35:00.000Z

Look carefully at the sliders.. mental mental, chicken oriental.

Blogspot Question ? ?

2011-11-28T22:37:00.000Z

Does anybody know why my pictures are resized to 800x534 pixels when clicked on even though I'm uploading them at 3776x2520 pixels? How do I keep them full size?

Sportster upgrades continued..

2011-11-28T22:22:00.002Z

Got some NOS rear shocks from the XL1200S for a really good price. Larger diameter with a gas reservoir and adjustable compression and rebound (two settings I won't know what to do with)

(By the way, painting the brakelight bulb red because the lens fell out doesn't really work, it just looks off white..)

Electric start

2011-11-28T21:56:00.001Z

Saw this on eBay recently, a cast electric start housing for a 45" gearbox. Not 100% sure how it drives the box..

Sportster upgrades

2011-11-20T20:31:00.000Z

My first trip after changing to the older style sportster tank I ran out of petrol on the motorway with no phone battery. After that I tended to get really paranoid and fill up at every petrol station I saw.

Phase 1 of the upgrades - install some kind of clever petrol metering device

Thanks to Tosh for the welding!

Snot slick

2011-11-04T00:12:00.002Z

I've looked at this bike a thousand times but only just noticed how sexy the exausts are!

http://rscolorscustoms.blogspot.com/ - for more great photos

p-p-p-pick-up-a-pan

2011-10-24T19:47:00.000+01:00

2011-10-24T19:38:00.000+01:00

Behind Bars

2011-10-01T18:32:00.003+01:00

Take I
Didn't last long.

Take II
Cut down some 7/8" Apes.
Looked good on paper but too big for the tight front-end.

Take III
Minimised some 7/8" Triumph bars.
Swedish quick action throttle and Magura lever. Trials grips.
Got that speedway look.

Third time lucky.

Tosh Industries

2011-09-18T23:50:00.000+01:00

One of the perks of moving to London is visiting Tosh's

A U T O J U M B L E

2011-09-17T21:57:00.002+01:00

The biking masses of Britain have always been quick when it comes to keeping up with the latest trends in bike design. Within months of Stefan's 45 sidecar outfit debuting at the Linkert rally, imitations have been sighted all over the place, as bikers realise trikes are dead. The Kempton autojumble was no exception...

Go big or go home.

Vincent Vega

2011-08-29T14:03:00.000+01:00

2011-08-12T00:07:00.000+01:00

Greasy Kulture outtakes

2011-08-11T22:59:00.002+01:00

Guy did a fantastic job with the latest issue and it's a huge honour to get the cover! Thanks Guy.

Olly and I had a lot of fun shooting the photos. It rained heavily and I had refractured my thumb two weeks earlier. Thanks Olly. Here are some more shots that couldn't fit in the mag:

Linkert Attacks! UK

2011-07-01T22:31:00.000+01:00

Featuring the DOOK ride-through bar

Henry Ford could have based his production line on our goody bag setup. A model of efficiency.

Stef's brilliant 45 sidecar outfit

Biker shades

Our bar featured its own working distillery (nice one Stef!)

Flying meatball

Freaky Rico

Cannot get enough of this pan!! Check out the white engine accents mmmmgnhgh

Lurvely tyres

This man drove all the way...

...with a punture!

Shit the bar's on fire

oh wait it's just the fireman abusing the customers

Knuckleheads

Too many mechaincs spoil the pan. Luckily Tosh can fix anything!

This dog loves barking and loves riding on the bike. I think. Maybe he barks because he wants some of those gay doggles.

We rode out to a pub and a couple of steam engines also turned up

a la Tosh

Alex's dual carb stroker flathead. Inspirational!

Alex I keep wishing I had asked you more about this! How? What? In the off-chance you see this PLEASE hit me up at milohiscox@gmail.com

Robo-cop!!

Sad to leave?

Original Knuck Picnic

Cycleheadz in the house

Dr Glory wouldn't approve

One man...

...and his BBQ

Back entrance

"Here's LeeDog"

And then it was gone and all that remained was a motherload of exhaustion.

2nd time this has happened

2011-06-15T01:26:00.001+01:00

Someone has been sorely disappointed!

WAPG Steam Rally Part 2

2011-06-15T01:07:00.000+01:00

Sunday it rained hard

The 'tractor boys' were loving it

One loaded

One unloaded

Drama. The enormous green tractor was pushing it up onto the low-loader. Not helped by the monsoon, the rear wheels slipped right off and the driver flung to the road!

All safely loaded. Fortunately no damage to engine or driver.

Biggest tractor I've ever seen

WAPG Steam Rally Part 1

2011-06-13T23:34:00.002+01:00

Saturday was sunny

This is the turbo knob. It dumps a whole load of steam through the engine. Useful for towing 50 ton loads or scaring spectators in the ring.

Watch out crims, the rozzers are equiped.

Fame! Fortune! Blog traffic!

2011-06-10T23:51:00.001+01:00

If you've just come from the fantastic ***卍peed卍eekers*** blog then feel free to turn around and go back, I can't really handle the responsibility of having more than three followers.

Who am I kidding? I live for the stats page!

Danger Glove

2011-06-10T23:36:00.002+01:00

HEALTH AND SAFETY WARNING

These are my motorcycling gloves. I know what you're thinking, that man's right at the forefront of biker fashion trends. Had you noticed the white pinstriping? Pure business. Anyway... the last time I wore these gloves I fell off in a particularly undramatic manner and broke my thumb.

Recently I wore the gloves again and when I took them off a seam had left an imprint in my hand JUST below where the break was - you can just make out the scar above it.

So there it is - fashion broke my thumb. Or maybe I just don't get enough milk. Whaddya think, can I sue the fuckers? Did the seam contribute? Do I need softer gloves?

The state of London transport

2011-06-10T23:12:00.001+01:00

Formerly known as 'SOLO MOTORCYCLES ONLY'

Spotted this not-so-rare breed at Paddington station

Clod Buster

2011-06-06T21:53:00.003+01:00

For Adults

For Children

Squeal piggy

2011-06-06T19:33:00.002+01:00

Return & Vent

Feed

This bit stops the rubber hose from touching the exhaust

Banjo fittings are repro for a 36-37 big twin. I put the deliverance soundtrack on full volume and finished the oil system in double speed.

Fred Armitage, aged 4, chopper builder

2011-06-05T17:46:00.002+01:00

D I Y

2011-06-05T17:42:00.000+01:00

Cycling-chic

2011-06-05T17:39:00.001+01:00

http://spinwell.co.uk/

Old cycling knitwear beats leather pants and denim vests hands down

ROSSIN

2011-05-29T21:10:00.002+01:00

Spin Doctor

2011-05-24T22:54:00.002+01:00

This is the exhaust as of yesterday. Tall and slim but a bit plain Jane. So today I gave the tip a bit of bling.

Successfully popped my spinning cherry. Woop! (finally)

War Machine

2011-05-23T23:20:00.001+01:00

Paul's war machine lives on

Loving these two panheads

2011-05-22T21:37:00.000+01:00

http://bunkerstud.blog52.fc2.com/blog-entry-353.html

Find the leak

2011-05-20T22:33:00.003+01:00

This is a fun little game I like to call 'find the leak'.

I'm like the Sherlock Holmes of petrol drips.

Yahtzee!

On the road again, just can't wait to get oh shut up

Experimenting with exhaust angles

2011-05-18T21:44:00.003+01:00

- Hello?
- Yeah it's me
I wanna give you some good angles
180, 26, 345...
- What? I don't
- 209, 18, 75
- Seventy five?
- Yeah
- I'm coming over.

Speaking of which...

2011-05-18T21:14:00.000+01:00

Check the rear shocks - pure Loony Tunes!

2011-05-18T20:32:00.000+01:00

Carbohydrates

2011-05-17T23:05:00.003+01:00

There are two secrets to a successful carb rebuild. Firstly, start with a near-pristine specimen. Secondly, find someone with more experience and a load of spares to do it for you.

Tarted up with a 'rubber ducky' float she's ready to go

2011-05-17T22:25:00.001+01:00

Aermacchi Project

2011-05-08T19:03:00.000+01:00

45chop and 23bricks collaboration. Will it be a hill-climber, ice-racer or pile of parts in the corner?

Progressive suspension

2011-05-03T00:30:00.002+01:00

and power steering!

Red Marley Norton

2011-05-01T14:46:00.002+01:00

Saw this incredible Norton power up the hill at Red Marley. Tried to find it in the Paddock but alas, all was in vain. Like an elusive, drilled big-foot all I ended the day with was a blurred, over-exposed, five second filum.

Fortunately there are better trackers out there and haze5555 found the beast. Via CorpsesFromHell.

Mutant

2011-04-28T23:42:00.000+01:00

http://cyclebicycle.com/?page_id=169

Red Marley Hill Climb 2011

2011-04-27T17:35:00.001+01:00

Easter Monday, Rench and I went to the Red Marley Hill Climb to check out the Class 1 pre-1950 rigid bikes, swap the chocolate fueled kids' screams for some Ethanol fueled engine screams and scope the competition with a view to compete next year (it's possible, unless you have certified chronic vertigo, the majority of Class 1 riders are over 50 and mildly tubby). The oldest rider of the day was 75 and must have more balls than Wimbledon.

The slope gets to about 1 : 1.5 at the top just after the 'pimple' - a little dirt jump they dig into it.

1949 Jap 500 ridden by 68yr old Gerald Llewelyn

1949 Triumph Trophybird 650 ridden by 71yr old Roger Gagg

Malcolm Russell (42) came first in Class 1 (24.91s) for the second year running on this 1929 Ariel 500 Red Hunter, the oldest bike racing.

Not-quite-total-loss oil system

Ethanol conversion, one of the few modifications

1949 Norton Jap 500 ridden by 72yr old Dave Faulkner, not sure if it's technically a rigid but if I was 72 and someone questioned my legitimacy then I'd karate chop their jugular.

1948 Matchless 500 ridden by 66yr old Andy Smith

1939 BSA 410

Classes 2 & 3 were both pre-1971, under and over 350cc respectively.

Metisse bodyworks EVERYWHERE

Leigh Owen won Class 3 (20.02s) and got the fastest time of the day (19.78s) in the all-comers race on this blue 1969 Cyril Jones Jawa 500.

The car park was no Yokohama but there were a couple of vincents:

And a typically British trike:

TTFN

2011-04-27T14:41:00.000+01:00

Another pic of one of my favourite knucks

Tang of Titanium

2011-04-12T00:09:00.000+01:00

Should the thumb metacarpal bone become damaged or misaligned it may be necessary to install a retaining device. Great care and accuracy are needed and should be carried out by a qualified professional only.

When out cold, pull the bone into alignment and clamp firmly in place. It may be possible to shoot retaining wires (2545-11) through the structure without removing the covering layer. However, if any surrounding muscle fibre has been drawn into the break during re-alignment, then it will be necessary to fully dismantle, remove foreign objects and then install a titanium plate (2543-11).

In the latter case, cut down the cover along the bone line and spread with a clean clamp. With the internals re-positioned, drill evenly spaced holes of 1.1mm radially through the undamaged area. Position the titanium plate (2543-11) and fix with 1.5mm titanium screws, without over-torquing. Reassemble and re-join cover with even spaced stiches.

NB: It is advised that a running in period of six weeks is observed. Pressure and sudden movements are to be avoided but frequent controlled exercises will prevent any permanent sticking.

Tank slapper at 20mph

2011-04-06T18:56:00.000+01:00

Looking rather shifty

2011-04-06T18:46:00.000+01:00

Bairstow & Son

2011-03-30T21:51:00.000+01:00

Mercedes Red

Peugeot Blue

Slice of deep-fried gold

2011-03-30T00:09:00.000+01:00

Hand Shifter

2011-03-28T22:01:00.003+01:00

Sweet-ass shifter pin from MagnetoZoo. Sunk it into the WR shifter knob.

Things I miss about university...

2011-03-28T21:54:00.000+01:00

Breakfast

Pressure Drop

2011-03-28T21:50:00.000+01:00

Beefed up the mounting tabs for the sole reason to be able to stand on the bike and surf down the M4 (yeah right).

Spun up an attachment for a bicycle pump and pressure tested it in the bath.

Two mini leaks, hardly worth welding up..

FREE iPhone Background

2011-03-28T21:38:00.000+01:00

Oil tank tales

2011-03-28T21:35:00.000+01:00

If you can't go fast then at least dress for the job

2011-03-28T21:20:00.002+01:00

Limbo

2011-03-28T21:15:00.001+01:00

Took 0.878" out of my forks in the quest for perfect stance.

Peg Leg

2011-03-26T23:35:00.001Z

The twat in orange is vaguely amusing but the real viewing candy comes at the very end of the vid.

First Draft

2011-03-22T03:16:00.002Z

Shakedown

2011-03-21T16:16:00.000Z

The DVLA authorised the WR to be roadworthy last week so when I got home on Friday I fired her up and blasted out on her first (legal) ride.

It was going well until the sun came down and the throttle stuck 3/4 open. Got home easily enough just using the kill switch to regulate the speed.

Saturday wasn't quite so smooth. The engine timing plug fell out.

Nothing a dive into the nearest pub can't sort.

But then 200 yards later a very odd shaking started coming from the engine. The cavalry arrived.

Diagnosis: the central clutch nut had wiggled off and embedded itself in the primary practically pulling the engine and gearbox off their mounts.

To be continued...

Garden Fresh

2011-03-14T14:52:00.000Z

The other day Tony brought some old bike related photos over with him. They were fantastic, the stories make me so jealous. He kindly let me borrow these ones to scan in.

Tony took them around 1976 in London, he and Phil Kaufman (pictured, moustache) were in a pub and a girl came up and said hey you like bikes... next thing they're pulling a 45 out of a garden.

Islington

Wandsworth

Flood Street

Clapham

Bill Fucking Murray Esq

2011-03-13T19:56:00.000Z

Trying on glasses

2011-03-11T20:44:00.000Z

RetroCustomRacer.blogspot.com

2011-03-11T16:59:00.001Z

45" Chop - More oil than fuel

2011-03-09T21:27:00.003Z

Where cars go to die

2011-03-07T21:29:00.000Z

First sunny day of the year and spent it climbing around the car breakers.

RACE ONLY

2011-03-03T18:14:00.000Z

I'm turning Japanese
I think I'm turning Japanese
I really think so

Centripetal Acceleration

2011-02-28T00:32:00.000Z

My brother Sidney was making some Damien Hirst-esque spin paintings this weekend for his A-level art. We plonked a 2800rpm 500W drill in a machine vice, and ground some flat edges on a bolt. These are the fruits of his labour...

POST #

2011-02-26T21:21:00.000Z

Paying my respects

2011-02-26T20:35:00.000Z

The almighty HWZN Bross.

The mounting of Jack Tracey

2011-02-26T20:33:00.000Z

The shaving of Jack Tracey

2011-02-25T20:26:00.001Z

Deep Mystery

2011-02-24T22:28:00.002Z

Picked up this donor piece in a rather fetching how's-your-father magenta at a cold and mediocre Kempton swap meet.

Cracked it open and from within the crevice, lurking amonst the black phlegm, I found an old biker stash...

... which consisted of a bit of mangled gauze (understandable) and a spongy cylindrical butt plug (undeniable) which kinda surprised me, is it meant to be floating around in there?

Reasons to be cheerful, part 3.

2011-02-22T23:36:00.003Z

"Cheddar cheese and pickle

the Vincent motorsickle

slap and tickle."

The seven plagues

2011-02-22T22:22:00.005Z

1. Setting fire to once beautiful, once rock-steady hands. Black, red, very hot, considerably shaky hands.

2. Losing good camera. Crap phone camera. Poor lighting. Holding things with one shaky hand in poor lighting and trying to take photos on crap phone with other shaky hand.

3. Buying 25 cutting discs that are too big.

4. Cheap bendy drill bits, crooked holes, broken drill bits. Expensive centre drills, poorly aligned tailstock, broken centre drills.

5. Spending too much time getting parts to line up perfectly, not tacking enough, parts drifting apart mid weld. Achieving just the right shape, tacking enough, welding it adequately and still warping it beyond any kind of acceptable tolerances.

6. Exploding welding tips. Welding generally with aforementioned shaky hands.

7. Cluster flies.

Yayo strikes again

2011-02-16T14:40:00.001Z

To spin slow, first you must learn to spin fast.

2011-02-12T14:15:00.000Z

Share the wealth

2011-02-04T23:52:00.001Z

Borrowed and scanned these photos from a friend who's been a Harley man in the UK for years. Sorry for the black lines and watermarks but not everyone wants to be the face of the net. Anyway, hopefully I remembered the story right so if you're sitting comfortably children then I'll begin...

The Greek police force used HD 45s but didn't just have a fleet of bikes, they had a whole service set with all the spare parts they'd ever need. When the Greeks decided to try and actually catch a criminal the Harley stock was pushed to one side to rot and be chewed on by goats.

But goats like to roam and the parts were taking up space so eventually it all got shipped over to Holland. The Dutch dealers liked NOS parts as much as the next man and they went through it and nicked the best parts. When they'd had their fill a scrap dealer in England bought the load and that's what you see here.

Remember this is 1983 and the internet hasn't been invented yet so nobody even knew about it. Then a mate of a mate heard about a bloke who'd maybe seen some bike parts in a town somewhere and it was probably worth a drive just in case and POW! before they knew it these photos were being snapped.

The scrap dealer was your typical English merchant, the type that gives the impression he doesn't want the business. Care was needed with minimal poking around and certainly no more than one visit a week. But there was a lot of good stuff in there and not all of it for 45s, bits of knuckles and all sorts. That's how Harley made their money, selling you stuff you didn't need.

Yes, that mass is a tangle of frames. The dealer wasn't a Harley bloke but he had an old school appreciation for gear. When it came to paying he would kinda look at the part, weigh it in his hand and spot you a price, probably dependant on how much hassle you'd caused and how much cider he'd had the night before.

After a while a list was made. This is the front page. At least I think that's what it is, not sure why it's in dollars not sterling but a cool list none the less.

It's a restorer's wet dream. Crate after crate of beautiful NOS parts, all the bits you need. He had a wheelbarrow-sized load of carburettors, all fully re-built with new rebuild kits, wrapped in greaseproof paper and neatly stored. A mere £10 per carb.

The parts seem cheap now but there wasn't a big bucks Harley scene back then. The dealer bought the whole lot for £20,000 and would have probably sold it all for £40,000 if someone had offered but that kind of money wasn't around. In the end it all went back to Holland which is where I now get most of my bits from, J W Boon.

Yeah, it's disgusting and something I'll never experience thanks to eGay and the like but I loved hearing the story and thought it worth recording.

Oh Mickey

2011-02-04T21:52:00.003Z

Next Door

2011-02-04T20:05:00.001Z

Sit on me

2011-02-03T23:14:00.000Z

I was giving this photo a thoroughly uptight and personal examination when I noticed, aside from the extraordinary front mount magneto, futuristic transparent braking system and gone with the wind hair, a slightly different way of mounting the seat springs.

So when it came to mocking up my seat I did this, it took about ten seconds. But I can sit on it and my cheeks are angled at the perfect pertness so it might stay like that .

Bates racing seat from Mike D. Stop staring you perv.

Kempton autojumble

2011-01-30T15:55:00.001Z

Lots of hideous BSA accesories..

..but only one harley part

Anzani Custom

2011-01-28T13:48:00.000Z

So I just finished researching those mental 2400cc Anzani stayer bikes and Bam! as if the Gods of coincidence are throwing some fate at me I only go and stumble across a German Anzani-powered custom on the amazing corpsesfromhell blog. Laaav eeet!

Stayer bikes

2011-01-28T01:01:00.000Z

Check out these crazy bikes, evolved (as the best looking do) through the specialised competition of pacing.

Popluar in the 1920s onwards this was sort of like the European version of board track racing. Teams consisting of a motorcycle and a bicycle (or 'Stayer' bikes) would race around a velodrome at up to 75mph. The bicycles keeping up with the motorbikes which provided an aerodynamic slipstream, often 'regulated' through the leather suits worn by the riders.

Both riders recieved medals though it wasn't unknown for the motorcyclists to fix the races. Crashes were painful and once a fuel tank exploded in Berlin killing nine spectators.

The motorcycles had a roller behind them to control how close the bicycle could get. They were also MASSIVE in both engine and size. They had to accelerate smoothly (for obvious reasons) and so scrapped gears or clutches and just chugged up to speed.

1928 Anzani 2400cc ioe (above). Next three are by Meyer and also 2400cc:

Recognise those forks

Cool cylinder fins

Three cylinders. Mad seat position and handlebars.

Tandem motorcycle!

The bicycles were also specialised and designed to get the rider as far forwards as possible into the slipstream. Small front wheels and minimal rake helped and reversed forks gave extra trail for high-speed stability. Highly geared, no brakes. I also love the saddle and handlebar braces.

So ugly I want to *ahem* ride it.

Moser's stayer bike. He almost died during a pacing race. Didn't stop his career though.

Nice ear protectors.

More pictures at yesterdays and vintagetrackbikes.

This bike must be tiny in the flesh

2011-01-27T23:53:00.002Z

Ace 45

It's very important...

2011-01-25T21:41:00.004Z

a) to get your bars tuned for the right riding position and an even weight distribution

b) to use fashionable metalflake Super Sixties grips (preferably one gold one silver)

Jack Tracey

2011-01-25T21:10:00.004Z

There are parts and then there are PARTS. This one is definitely in capitals.

Jack Tracey windshield, coming soon to a WR near you.

Thank you Yas!

Drink driving

2011-01-22T16:25:00.004Z

Still one of the fastest ways through central London.

One-way streets, red lights, riding on the pavement, bus lanes... What they gonna do? Take your number plate down?

This is the fastest bike I have ever owned or ridden. Extremely rigid and light TT track frame. As track frames are de-raked compared with normal bike frames it's agile through traffic. And less leverage is needed so narrow bars give the best control. Carbon-fibre front wheel is aerodynamic and has a low moment of inertia. It also runs a tubular tyre which can hold about 200psi so there's almost no tyre rolling resistance (the main form of drag on bicycles). 48x15 gearing. Pedal cages. I run a rear brake only but combined with a fixed gear gives great braking feedback and sense of traction.

It's cold in London.

Mudguard [ˈmʌdˌgɑːd]

2011-01-18T14:31:00.004Z

Got a £10 mudguard (Queen's English for fender) from Kempton. Then got trigger happy with a cut-off disc.

Contracted TB, pneumonia and a bit of cancer from the burning paint fumes. One small gas welding pleasure is you don't have to clean the area before hand.

Decided to up my sheet metal level from "tripped over and put a dent in it with his head" to "only got three fingers but still tries hard" by putting a wire edge around it. Used a hammer, pliers and some 3.2mm welding rod.

Under the outer black paint I found, cream, metallic blue, red, lots of green and some fiberglass filler. Hence the lung diseases.

Hmmm. Work in progress.