Ice With That Sir ?

Don't want to panic anybody - but. I gather that the North West passage is a doddle in these days of global warming. Gone are the days of the Karluk getting caught up in the polar ice off Wrangel and being spewed out 18 months later into the North Atlantic - cool way to circumnavigate. This picture is of the beautiful little harbour at Rockport MA taken early January last year, this was shirt-sleeve & Martini weather. Talking to one of the local fishermen doing a bit of winter maintenance on his boat it transpired that this harbour is normally locked in the grip of two foot thick sea ice for three months of the year !! Rockport is at the tip of Cape Anne, just up the road from the grimly famous fishing town of Gloucester, home base of the ill-fated trawler and so evocatively set out for us in The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger. VERY tough bunch. MORE HALIBUT !

Wagtail, Jaguar and Kiwi Stew

Spontaneous trip to the local last Friday proved to be the right move. A welcoming pint of Great Oakley's Wagtail (lightish 1038 brewed with a New Zealand hop) whilst Mrs Diplo and I peruse the menu. As usual the obvious solution of ordering the entire menu is discussed and set aside. Caution and prudence rights off the starter course - so pressed duck and chicken liver terrine, whitebait and the Tuscan Ribolita are out of the question. A second pint of Wagtail helps me settle for the grilled pork cutlet and chorizo cassoulet and Mrs D sensibly opts for the calves liver - never known to disappoint and guaranteed to be the freshest, lightest cooked liver for miles around. The Argentinian Malbec (illustrated complete with Yaguarete) waves enthusiastically from the wine list, desperate for a place on our team. Just as the Wagtail's spent, two huge elegant glasses arrive with the Chakana and the main course. Not much said for the next twenty minutes or so - plenty of sighs and happy whimpers in between slurps of the Agentinian nectar. A little post-main course rest is interrupted by discussion of the sweat choice - up 'till now things have been pretty straightforward. From the six dishes on offer it is decided that we simply can't make do without at least four of them. A further Wagtail will be needed to wash them down. A few minutes later and a gargantuan platter of goodness arrives - pint on the side. Home made panna cotta with Vin Santo-poached pears, lemon and almond polenta, VERY rich dark chocolate Nemesis, fig and almond tart with clotted cream. MORE SPONTANEITY !

Honda Project Part 3

Rebuild's on the way - the Series bonnet is open as the battery's being used as a slave for CB electrical testing. The only failing revealed to date is a weak/intermittent starter solenoid. I was pleased to see at Old Bike Hack that my mucker has been playing with OPE (other people's electrics) - this one's also been a challenge as we have a mixture of 175 and 200 looms, alternator, switch gear etc plus yards of soggy insulting tape to unravel. Allowing myself to drift into Zen mode, isolating myself from the outside world, and taking much Yorkshire Gold - ooh yes, and a couple of imported Izmir Turkish smokes - I seem to have become at one with the problem and started a process of self-healing which has lead to a clean bill of health for the CB electrical system - "...first take the log out of your own eye....".
This rather unattractive nondescript bike has entered my life in a list from D7, Greeves 250 Scottish, C15, G80 S, GPZ 600R, GSXR 1100, G3 L, DR 650, Speed Triple ,GS 1150 and now CB 175/200. It seems remarkably at home. As yet unridden, I think it may have become my favourite so far. I have mentioned earlier in these pages that I have reached the point where any bike will do, having got there it is, of course, obvious that the machine becomes no longer "ANY bike" but "THE bike". I have noticed myself taking great care and effort over reviving failed switches, poor electrical connections and putting right horrible ills inflicted on mechanical objects by many, less sympathetic, past owners. I am not a fan of polished, over-restored renovation but am more concerned with getting things to work smoothly, efficiently - as intended even. At strip-down I really thought a lot of parts would need replacing and had started to make a worrying list for e-bay hunting and a call to David Silver Spares. What I have discovered, with the help of some wise words, much tea and Turkish and a bit of peace and quiet, is that many individual bits can become perfectly serviceable by taking them to one side, stripping them to their smallest constituent parts, cleaning, lubricating and re-assembling without 37 years of accumulated grit, grime, road salt and abuse. Taking up far too much space rambling here. More to follow. MORE IZMIR TOBACCO !

Honda Project Part 2

Managed to get a couple of hours in the 'shop earlier in the week. All the painted frame bits have been acid scrubbed and etch-primed ready for some black paint. The 'shop has taken on the air of a butchers - bloody chilly and bits hanging from hooks everywhere. The No2 CB frame can be seen lurking by the wheels. This frame is suffering from Atlantic rust and the swing arm won't actually swing - it's been getting a regular soaking with penetrating fluid and has just had it's first visit from the gas-axe to try and free things up a bit (swing arm bushes here are nylon so will melt out if need be). Depending on e-bay success we may be using fresh wheels, failure there will mean a trip Central Wheel for some new rims and spoke sets for an in-house re-lacing. Ooh - nearly forgot to mention - I had the most enormous, delicious pork chop last night, cooked in the oven with some root veg, apples, sausages, tonnes of garlic, sage and bits - all served up with 1/2 dozen kidneys and some garlic-fried potatoes - washed down with a bottle of Davy's French White No1, a bottle of Davy's French Red No1 and a 75% Tempranillo Rioja from Calificada. MORE CONFUSION !

Honda Project Part 1

Just a quick up-date on progress with the ex-Cornish CB project. As can be seen by the suspended carcass, the gralloching has well and truly been completed. This dismembering exercise is the first and most important part of the butchery process. The more substantial joints are removed for future fettling, allowing access to the guts - no waste here, vital organs are preserved and all parts are laid up in storage. It has become apparent that our victim was grossly overweight and a ruthless approach is being taken to discarding extraneous mass. The poor thing will be lucky to develop 16 horse power which is barely enough to get me hauled up the road. As a family hack/commuter machine we are not looking for performance but any weight lost at this stage has got to help. The frame we're using is the better of the two salvaged from Cornwall - here it awaits a rust removal acid treatment, to be followed by a coat of self-etching primer and a bit of black paint. The engine is the 200cc number from the complete bike, we believe this to be a runner so there are no plans to dismember it. The tank shown is a spare, but rather tasty, 1972 175 piece, the plan here is to clean it up but not strip it, the rust spots and crazed finish lend a certain authenticity. MORE PATINA !

Diesel Strokers & Mrs Robinson

My knowledge of two stroke diesels is limited, not withstanding, I have known for years that this was an area of internal combustion engine technology that I would, at some stage have to investigate further. I guess none of us have been able to re-visit Mike Nichols' '67 Graduate without fast forwarding to the elopement - that GM bus hauling up with the unmistakable Detroit 12 litre 32 valve V8 2 stroke roar - this lovely sound is often accentuated by the employment of a sluggish automatic gearbox playing havoc with the revs. (All of this accompanied by a rather startled look from Katherine Ross as she weighs up the pros and cons and a trickle of S&G's "Hello Darkness"). Move on 13 years and around the globe to South Australia, just West of Nundroo on the (then) very empty Eyres Highway. Quietly minding my own business on the XT500 loaded up with gear - it was getting dusk and,to give myself more chance in the kangaroo avoidance game, I had slowed to 60 and was riding straight down the centre of the road - the problem with coaches having engines at the back is you don't get to hear them coming - how I survived the Greyhound streaking past me on the near side at 80 is unknown, the noise however is etched securely in my brain somewhere - glorious two stroke rattle and howl, FANTASTIC smell and heat. Move on again - another 5 years and I found myself driving a Commer CDY (as shown below) tipper, only for a day, but the noise ! Obviously I knew I was in stroker territory but for some reason never looked under the bonnet. I have only just discovered the brilliant opposing piston design of the Rootes TS3 !?%&£$!!? BRILLIANT - 3 cylinders, 6 pistons, 12 con-rods, 6 rockers and 1 crankshaft - all that and a stroker to boot. How this piece of engineering has passed me by for so long is a mystery, I'm just glad I found it now before it's too late. Apparently the little 215 cube (3523cc) motor was producing 335 lbs.ft of torque at 1200 revs ! MORE FROM LESS !
STOP PRESS - if you need to know what a TS3 sounds like - watch this !

Lucky Dip

Trip to Cornwall completed just before Christmas. That Lizard is a bloody long way - 339 miles -. The call of the wild proved too strong and it became necessary to mount an expedition to collect some motorcycle bits. The original plan was to end up with enough clobber to build one, or possibly two machines from the contents of a shed situated very close to The Atlantic Ocean. What you see here is a '60/'61 ? BSA A50 in for repairs (ignition problems) a complete, but ropey CB 175 (sporting a CB 200 engine and tank) and, hidden in the middle, another complete CB 175 in various plastic boxes. The return trip took 10.50 hrs driving which seems ok for 678 miles. Much diesel was burnt and more than a few snaggers were consumed. One notable fuel and breakfast stop was taken atop Bodmin Moor which has to be a treat. Since arriving at Diplo HQ the haul has been checked over and we seem to have a lot of rust which could well have been left in Cornwall, we also have sufficient goodies to get a really cute CB200 special, lightened considerably and to serve as a family hack/commuter machine. Plans to make a second (CB 175) as a field bike/gp trainer are under discussion. MORE 'SHOP TIME !