Saturday, September 21, 2013

Submit your photos, articles, etc

Any submissions to the blog gratefully received....

As you can see it's a broad church, there's no high falutin self conscious connoisseur-isms going on just a love of two wheelers, powered or not. If you've got a picture of your pride and joy, latest project or whatever and you want to share it, send it in. Old photos, from a junk shop or from the family album, event reports, brochures for the library, pseudo-philosophical guff all welcome.

Of course there is no reward for sending anything in, just the pleasure of sharing. Red Devil Motors is now getting around 4 to 5 thousand hits a month and climbing, not a huge amount but there's a satisfaction in knowing that folks out there are reading your ramblings, checking out your snaps and returning for more.

Any content sent in remains your copyright and is gratefully acknowledged, most formats welcome, jpegs and word are easiest. Send in via facebook or to the email address below. The email address is as an image to help save me from spamming email trawlers so sorry but it needs to be written out.

Thanks.


16 comments:

  1. Hi Red Devil,
    I'd lay odds your BSA Saltpan photos were shot in Australia. That pushbike with upturned handlebars is bog standard Aussie of the time as is the broad brim hat and the pannier style water bag. Carrying the pushbike was a safety precaution. You had a chance of getting to safety on it if the outfit failed. What is the story behind the photos?

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    1. Hi Bob, thanks for the comment. Seems like Australia is the best bet. No story behind the photos other than I pick old bike snaps up from time to time and post them up on the blog. These two came from ebay so really I have no background on them at all. They're way better quality prints than most you get of the time, seem to have been taken with a good camera. Hope you don't mind if I copy and paste your comment on to the post. Cheers, Richard

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  2. Hi Richard,
    WE Peverill lived in Nolan St, Maryborough, about 100 miles outside Melbourne. Keilor and Gisborne are townships about 22mile apart on the Melbourne-Maryborough road so were familiar to Mr Peverill.
    Melbourne to Brisbane is some 1125 miles. Double the distance there and back was some feat pre WWI. Those old boys were tough.
    Cheers, Bob McGrath

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    1. Hi Bob, Cheers for this comment too. 24 hours at more than 20 mph average seems pretty phenomenal for more than 100 years ago and doing a good chunk of it in the dark with acetylene lights on dirt roads can't have been easy. All the best, Richard

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  3. Hi Red Devil,
    This is a worry, here I am again sticking my nose in. The first Honda arrived in Australia in 1956 and we started to see a few of them by 1958. Like everyone we were wary at first. Very different looks, a specification beyond belief. Starter motor! Indicators! Mirrors that didn't vibrate. Reliability. Nothing fell off! (although we were waiting for the motor to die after six months) They took Australia by storm. By the time they got to the UK the Japanese makers had foreign marketing sewn up. They'd had a lot of practice in Australia, the States, South Africa, etc, etc. You didn't have a chance and honestly, how did you think you could compete selling things like the Fanny Bee Plover, the Ariel Leader and the LE Velo?
    Personally I fell for Suzuki and had my first Suzuki before they ever appeared in the UK. I had quite a few over the years.
    Nowadays I play with vintage Villiers thingies but I will always deeply admire the early export Japanese bikes.

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    1. Hi Bob,
      Comments always welcome! Completely agree with you, I have huge admiration for the early Japanese machinery. I'm a firm believer that the Honda Cub is the best motorcycle ever produced. That doesn't however mean that I necessarily aspire to own or ride one. For some perverse reason I prefer cycles that leak oil, break down and go slower!
      Best wishes
      Richard

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  4. Thanks for the link to the 6-Volt blog! I hope you don't mind using some pic's of your website for the blog. They say honda's are reliable. We shall see on the next weekend...

    Ps: We have a celebration weekend if you want to visit belgium! Feel free to contact me!

    Ruben Deboosere
    http://6volt.blogspot.be/

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  5. The Five Valleys Motorcycle run hosted by Salisbury Motorcycle & Light Car Club is on this Sunday 10th April in aid of Prostate Cancer Uk
    FIVE VALLEYS CHARITY MOTORCYCLE RUN
    Scheduled: 10 Apr 2016, 09:30
    Location: Salisbury Livestock Market

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  6. Hi Richard,
    Love your new vice but us boring old ex-tradies will look at how you've mounted it and tut-tut. The edge of the rear fixed jaw should be just a whisker in front of the edge of the bench so long work can hang comfortably. Eg, cleaning up the thread on a brake rod.
    The ideal height should be set with the top of the vice at the same level as the point of your bent elbow. Get it like that and vice work is a joy.
    As it is you'd give my old apprentice master palpitations!
    Cheers, Bob

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    1. Hi Bob,
      The comments are welcome but I feel embarrassed and ashamed for this obvious schoolboy error now you have pointed it out! Most of the work I tend to do is on smaller parts but I guess I would have discovered my foolish mistake the first time I tried to clamp something larger. First thing I do in the workshop when I'm back home from sea next is to reposition it.
      Thanks for the advice. Yours shamefacedly, Richard

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  7. Hi Richard,
    Your Matchless photo of January 11th shows a Matchless Model RS side valve of 250ccc. Made only for the 1928 & 29 seasons without any changes to distinguish which year. How do I know? I have one out in my shed keeping company with my 1926 Matchless Model R 250 side valve. Neither are what you might call exciting machines but are a low cost entry into the exciting world of vintage motorcycling. Cheers, Bob

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    1. Thanks for the identification Bob. Yep, I guess not highly valued compared to some of the exotica out there but charming machines none the less I am sure. I ran a 1931 Raleigh 300 sidevalve for a while and got a lot of enjoyment out of it. In many ways I find the little side valve motors of the period more fun to ride as they seem to be able to take more abuse and revs. Richard

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  8. Richard, re the Portugese lightweight, there is a pair of Webb pressed steel lightweight fork blades on UK Ebay at the moment, item number 162956096985.
    REgards, Mark

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    1. Thanks Mark. I've passed that on. All the best, Richard

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  9. Hi folks does anyone know of a person making Goldstar Daytona frames and oil tanks please
    Regards Loz

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    1. Hi there. You could try K & S: http://www.kandsbsa.co.uk/

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