The Barden Tele on loan

The Barden tele which Ive blogged about previously got a live airing at the weekend with a mate and his band. Sounds good imo! Good performance all round by Silver and the Rainydays.

Back in the day!

I try and explain to people that my Kawasaki, being a 91 model, is actually very much a classic in todays MC market. But when your brought up with looking at pictures of Eddie Lawson riding the Moriwaki kawasaki monsters , you realise just how much changed from that bike and then up to the delta boxed ZXR.
Air cooled, steel frame, underslung swing arms and dual gas shocks, which engines tuned to burst and of course those flat tracker bars giving everything away.
Cool that they released a modern version of the bike, but as usual the weights increase (as well as power of course) but the whole retro thing doesn't really get it as the bikes are too rider friendly! They weren't back in the day, with a 130 Pirelli on the back you were working with large tyres :-)
I suppose the generation prior to that probably felt that was also massive compared to what they had to use.
Those old kawaski Eddie Lawson replicas go for big bucks nowadays.

Another bike to die for was, in my opinion, the Mike Hailwood replica. These bikes are such dinasaurs nowadays compared to whats happened since the time that Brembo Goldlines were considered the best one could buy, alongside Lockheeds that is.Keeping in mind that in 1981 you still had to have a wee carpet under the bike in case it decided to remind you that the Italians had a different concept of Quality Assurance...

As always with the Dukes, it was that sound. I had a friend who owned the standard 900ss and it looked and sounded tremendous..but reliability versus costs...you know the rest...

Then came the beast I never owned but always wanted..back then that is..the RG500..Look at the rear tyre..didn't even stretch to a 130..but it worked..The number of times I went down Leith walk in Edinburgh and just sat on an RG , looking at the clean lines of the cockpit and wondering how she'd fair against my yamaha 350 at the time..which had powerjet 38's and Swarbrick pipes on a tuned engine...

Funny when you look back and what was and what is available out fo the crate nowadays..

Seems like the aftermarket frame constructors have been closed down as the factories are providing the bikes that everybody wants out of the crate. 

I reckon the ZXR750R K1 is more than enough for me nowadays..gettin' old and paying classic insurance on a bile with a Japan full power engine...sign of the times... 

One of the best live bands

..I was fortunate to witness the same year as this clip from Youtube.
There are a few bands that you just can't stay sober and watch! The Pogues are one of them, and the Ramones is another.
Both times was at the Barrowlands in Glasgow that I recall the days following the gig, swearing to myself that I would never drink the "water of life" ever again....
The stomach pump at St Marys hospital still didn't do the trick however...

Enjoy!(I always wanted a penny whistle as well!)

heres a diagram..

which should explain why D208RR's are awesome tyres. Unfortunately, unlike the weather today which was storm warnings, the diagram seems to be stored in a dry environment and the 208's aren't at their best when it's pissing with rain..
Regardless, I'll stay positive and hope for a bright summer with tacky tarmac!
The front is on the way, had to wait for payday, but I'll be happy when I have a new front as the one on the bike has no edge left..
Anyway, back to the diagram to assist...(?)

Chaincase replacement

well, not this exact example, but one similar to replace the one that cracked after the chain exit.
Just have to keep scouring the net for some nicer plastic..

Jackanory with a message.....

..that kinda sends a message..

Apparently a famous guitarist was playing away on a guitar and an guy who was doing an interview with him said, "wow, that guitar has a great tone"..
At which point the guitarist put the guitar down and said, " sure, what kind of tone does it have now?"

Arrrrrrrrrgggghhhhhhhh!

Monday morning.
Bike was parked up sunday and I was actually please the weather was bad so I didn't feel too bad about losing ride time. But that split link was worrying me.I still can't believe the guy at the bike shop on the saturday refused to help me out even though the split link could have come off on the motorway.
"come back on monday" was his rather sad answer when I asked to borrow the softlink tool..."I don't know what it looks like..sorry mate" was his answer..I tried to explain I'd be fucked if it came off on the way home..but this guy wasn't bothered his ass..
I made it back, driving well below the speed limit.
Monday morning.Weather is looking good.Split link in pocket- check! off I went towards yamaha centre. Kept to the city roads and not motorway to keep the speed down...take a long right...open her up around the apex..and theres a dip, infamous after Swedish winters...crunch!...clutch in..throttle down and I roll to a stop..car follows and stops..."is that your chain lying in the middle of the road?".. .. ..
-"no shit sherlock"...

Fuck me I was PISSED! Every swear word in the vocabulary was aimed at saturdays svenny...it was ALL his fault...obviously on reflection..it was all my own fault..but blame is easier...
So, I phoned another local bike shop, about 1km away..
-" hi..I'm in big trouble..chain link off...need a tool to put the one in my pocket back on the bike."..
the answer didn't help the swearing or my own already disfigured ideology of Svennies...
"naa..sorry mate..don't lend tools..not even of you leave a card.."..............
Thanks very fucking much, MATE!

so..there I was.I did what had to be done.I phoned a mate, went and bought the chain extractor / rivet tool, collected the tools required to remove the engine casing and of course the blocks to lift up the rear wheel. 15 minutes later having collected the gear the new split link was on the bike and my bpm was down a tad.

On reflection I was lucky the damage wasn't worst than it was. The only victim was the top of the magnesium chain cover which was cracked and a small piece removed...new replacement already sourced..it could have been much much worst.
I think what disappoints me more than anything else is the attitude from the bike shops.It's not just the bike shops mind, but every subculture that I'm been involved with just isn't the same anymore...getting old perhaps and missed a sign of the times sign somewhere along the line.
Years ago I was working on a bike , late in the evening in Musselburgh,scotland, when I heard a loud scooter on its way along the long straight just next to the housing. Then it popped and wheezed and there was that annoying silence you get when something has just stopped working.
I walked out of the garage and towards the scooter boy who was shaking his head at his wheels. When he saw me he didn't look much happier, as back in the 80's it was rockers versus scooter boys...that was the classic..
..but that evening we pulled his scooter into the garage and he went off with my promise that it would still be in one piece when he returned the morrow. I even tried to fix the thing, but to be honest I simply couldn't get to grips with the design or build..it was alien to me..
Wheels are wheels..oil is oil..and oil is the blood we all share.Or used to. The whole saga surrounding the chain break is actually more a disappointment of an end of an era..or simply I'm in the wrong place at the wrong time..it's like an end of an era...

Russell/Muzzy '92

Cleaned up after start up and unpacked the exhaust I bought which apparently was the exhaust from the official muzzy race shop.And you'd probably believe it was if you saw it close up. welding is amazing and everything is kept together with springs at every joint. The silencer has had all it's rivets removed and will need repacked, but I can't wait to sort it out and fit it up.
But first, a front D208RR will have to be fitted as the first is really at the end of days.
Once that is out of the way, I'll sort out the paperwork. I think I'll also fit a 4 degree advancer , together with the exhaust as that is meant to be a huge benefit.Maybe there is already one in it?

With regards packing for the exhaust, it's fairly simple. Tight = loud, looser packing= less loud .
last but not least the rear-sets will be fitted.

Anyway, I've been taking it really easy due to the split-link issue which I plan to resolve first thing tomorrow. The bike isn't pristine as she was, but there is a lot of character there which almost suits a bike that was made for the track. And of course the entire FCR39 experience is always a sweet one!
Think an oil change will be on the cards as well.

Russell leading Chandler in 1990's in the SuperSport on the zxr750r.

Startup

Now the tyre was changed to a new dunlop 208RR and the screen had arrived from germany, I filled up the tank with 5 litres and crossed the fingers...battery ran for a second and then the solenoid starting clicking...so much for the "new battery thats ready to use from the box"....
Slapped a charger on her and waited...used the time to tighten, re-tighten, check and double check...
After 2 hours I tried again...nothing.dead. I thought the CDI was cooked...worst case scenario...
then I thought I'd re-attach the red/white wire from the battery direct to the CDI.
I started checking all the connectors around the fuel pump, checked the fuel pump relay..just had the feeling that there was no fuel getting through..and It was too early to take the tank off and start checking for spark..

then...one more time, as it always is..pull in the clutch,and hit the starter button...and she started!!!

rough as to begin with, but the last time she ran, she was thrown down the road , mind..
so, she was misfiring, the carbs were all out , the rev counter was soaring left right and centre..
Then she cut out.Dead. I tried, the solenoid clicked...the fuel was set to off...bollox...

waited a while and then, on reserve, hit the starter and off again..once again she started misfiring, but I adjusted the tickover and let her run hot.After around 5 minutes and she sounded like she always had..not smooth....but smooth with an edge..

The OEM silencer is currently on the bike as I'll have to sort out the paperwork and legalities.hence sewing machine immitations..

It's awesome when they start. I drove her up the road to garage 2.

Great memories and the start of Sleipner!

Just found this on Youtube, simply awesome to find this old footage of the legendary BOTT harley "lucifers hammer" ! Only the other day I found the blue prints of the oil tank that you'll see if you look closely , slung underneath the engine. Completely different design used by Dick O'brian who sent me the prints from the Harley Davidson race shop. The commentator also mentions another guy I was in contact with, Don Tilley, who was a big name in the HD racing game.

Sleipner, my own designed, built and raced Harley had it's origins with "lucifers hammer".

Super Friday!

Expectations are high for tomorrow.

The last parts are finally ready to be fitted, so first thing I'm removing the zxr rear wheel and dragging it off to get a new tyre fitted.
Then collect the screen for the fairing.
Then I have the blasted soft link to sort out, but the plan is to start up the bike!!!
As the Zep said, "been a long time since I rock n rolled!"..fingers crossed nothing shorted the CDI..
Happened to me with the V&H GSXR WT...expensive mistake..

Then the R9 is to be collected from the local music shop and once again, fingers crossed the diagnosis isn't a dead pick up...

Big day!

the greatest spam mail ever?

Compliment of the season, I am personally writing you to let you know that we have a very good prophecy for you.
My name is Mercy Nana,I am amongst the orphans who stay with pastor T.B JOSHUA from LAGOS-NIGERIA. Last night when we were praying the youngest orphan who is supernaturally blessed with the gift of prophecy who is 9 years old spelled out your email and said we should contact you and tell you to be very happy that God has come to your aid.

The young prophet by name Mathew said many things in the past for many people and it all happened. He is the best and the youngest, I promise you do not take what i have told you as a joke,never you disbelieve this message from Prophet Mathew.

Young Prophet Mathew said 14 days from now that things must surely turn around in your life. please he said that you will assist us that is what God told him. He said that you are going to help our orphanage home. We are 79 orhans staying in one little hall in the northen part of Nigeria.

We need help but nobody is out for our aid only the pastor and his wife are taking care of 79 children and things is so hard that we sleep on the floor and we share torn cloths. Sometimes we do not even eat for two days because of inadequate funds.

Please he said that i should tell you that even if it is just $1 dollar it will go a long way and help us to buy food or matress or even cloths for the orphans. Even if you have some used things you do not use anymore you can send it to us as it will go a long way here because we do not have any other help apart from our only man of God Pastor T.B Joshua.

The prophet said you should do this prayer right now,take an offering hold it with your left hand and say these prayers after saying the prayers then you can send it to us.

Say Lord, I commit these little token of support to these orphans of pastor T.B Joshua of Nigeria and all the good things and opportunities of life should knock on my door. i cover myself and my entire problem into these offering with the precious blood of Jesus. what is mine should come to me and what is evil to leave me through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen.

Then take the goods or funds or what ever you prayed with and send to pastor T.B Joshua he will receive it and the 79 orphans will pray and fast for 7 days for you. After that you will give a very wonderful testimony what you have been expecting will come to you. Never you neglect what i have just told you.

The young prophet matthew said that you will doubt this prophecy. Do not take this message for granted God be with you. If you are willing to help the orphanage with any kindness from your heart please contact Pastor T B Joshua on the following contact information.

Prophet Mathew personally directed you to send us your prayer request what you need him to pray for you. The 9 years old orphan prophet said that you should send your prayer request to us about the things that are bothering you.You should include your full name, postal address and contact telephone number when making your prayer request.

Do not doubt this message once again,do as you have been told by the young prophet and you will testify the glory of God in your life.

God bless you.
Yours In Christ,
Mercy

..so..here are the differences...in japanese...

God damnit, do a world tour!

So jealous of everybody who managed to source a ticket for the Zepp gig at the 02!
Rumours out there of a world tour...reckon that would be awesome..until then, with no official DVD of this gig, we're just lucky for the youtube snippets..

1056 peavey evh amber 1st year quilt...serious weapon

So the neck pup died on the r9 and I figured, best to take out the Peavey.
And once again it never ceases to amaze me.
If you find one, buy it. If there was a hot rod of guitars this would be it!
Everything just fits together perfectly to make it into Eddies signature..not like other signatures, where guitar players possibly choose a hotter pickup or what colours, or put a sticker on it..
This beast is different in every way and despite the fact that I'm a junior at guitars, you can feel it.
The body, slightly larger with a maple cap on basswood...the crunch of the pickups is notable..and of course the patented neck , raw and incredible..possibly the greatest neck you'll ever play! try it and come back later! Even the headstock feels dwarfed and smaller...and all tightened together with a floyd and jumbo frets...seriously, try one of these out. Awesome and very individual in many ways!

Houston...we have a problem...

There are a few guitars I own which really blow me away when it comes to their feel and tone, and the R9 is deffo one of them..
Tonite my mate came over, he's what you would term a "proper" guitarist, and he hadn't played her since  I'd fitted the slider scatterwounds..he was very impressed, and thats no easy thing!
Once he'd left I kept playing her and all of a sudden she died in the neck pickup...just before this happened there something , hard to explain...happened..and then nothing..it was like a ...how could I explain..like "squeezing juice through a press with too small a holes"...like over distorted and then nothing...
This wasn't the first time the neck pickup had played around..the last time was a poor solder to the oil caps..
gutted! from warmth to cold in milli-sec. I took the back off and fiddled but nothing...

Think this time I'll take her to the shop to be looked at..

..lots if work here...

This is one thing that.. I was gonna wait a while before we talked about. Maybe we can talk about it now so you can think about it.. it's a free concert from now on. That doesn't mean that anything goes, what that means is we're going to put the music up here for free. What it means is that the people who're put -- backing this thing, who put up the money for it, are going to take a bit of a bath. A big bath. That's no hype, that's true, they're going to get hurt. What it means is that these people have it in their heads that your welfare is a hell of a lot more important, and that the music is, than the dollar. ... Now, the one major thing that you have to remember tonight,. when you go back up to the woods to go to sleep or if you stay here, is that the man next to you it your brother. And you damn well better treat each other that way because if you don't then we blow the whole thing, but we've got it, right there.

hmm..project started with a swing..perhaps...

So, if you've been reading the blog you'll know I've got a really nice looking Aprilia banana swinging-arm in the lockup. The idea was to mate it to the ZXR frame, but upon expection I deemed it to be too weak at the linkage points to feel safe to use.

So, I'm looking around the local sites and somebody in the country has a frame and engine , together with lock set, for sale... Now, that could be something to fix to the swinging arm...

So, what if we took the front end and rear end off the 450 and built a super retard from the Aprilia..."Nobody goes full retard?"

When a John Birch is unavailable...

Everybody...well hopefully everybody, likes that Iommi tone.

His 65 SG special with the original John Birch pups sounds awesome. And unless you have some nice old 65 wood lying around with Gibson and SG on it, and some JB pups, your gonna struggle to get anything close to his tone imo. For a start, his humbuckers by Gibson aren't gonna give you that tone as he actually had mini-humbuckers and a p90 in the tail and some..and plastic finger tops of course, but thats another story..

I wanted something with more bite and started looking around and decided to give Mike at Gemini handwounds a shot. Basically his mini has twice the resistence in the bridge and also uses thinner guage wire.
here is the explation of the pickup currently being built as it was ordered today:-

Mountain Queen
The Mountain Queen is constructed like the Qilin with carbon steel blades and a single bar magnet, but in this case an Alnico V. The neck pickup has a typical PAF style winding but using slightly finer wire. The result is a pickup that replaces brashness with sweetness and aggression with soul, a beautiful pickup for almost any style from jazz to rock. The bridge pickup is hot wound with extra fine wire to produce thick, rich tones with incredible harmonics way beyond anything normally associated with mini humbuckers. The Mountain Queen bridge unit is a rock machine par excellence.
Wire SWG 46 (Neck), AWG 44 (bridge), Alnico V magnet, 2 conductor wiring.
DC Resistance: Neck 8.23k, Bridge 14.1k.
 
 

rear tyre ordered

I went for the Dunlop D208RR...180/55 17

OEM Screen

Having looked around the web at costs and looking at the options, I decided to go with an original used part that was up on ebay in Germany.
So the never ending story is hopefully gonna come to an end.
Tyres still need to be purchased of course. maybe start with a rear tyre.On the other hand..I seem to remember the front didn't like being pushed..
Then theres an indicator and FINALLY...will she start?

oh, dammit..the chain soft link as well...

Plastic fantastic...my arse!

Over the weekend and the rush has been on to try and get to the point of start up. As usual the small jobs always end up taking more time and time and time again I get so angry when I remember just how pristine the bike was before somebody decided to steal her.

The main issue has been finding replacement plastic. I'm an ebayer and I swear I haven't seen much over the past year for this year of bike in this colour combo. When I did find some gear I knew it wasn't the best of condition but that it would get me back on the road. You can see the left hand panel has a battle scar and the front cowl has also been fixed previously.Don't care, as long as they fit...and thats what this evening was about.

Although first it was the headlight problem. The starter problem was solved when I discovered I hadn't clicked the connector block into the clutch setup on the handlebar.As soon as it clicked in she turned over. I was getting worried..

Now the headlights still didn't work.Everything else worked.

This evening I plugged in a new bulb and switched on the bike.Nothing.Then I hit the starter and the main headlight went on? everything worked after I'd hit the start button, but the lights stayed off once I switched her off...how bizarre..can't remember if this was the case when I bought the bike..I'm not sure if this is legal in sweden, soon find out anyway.

So then I took the decision to try and fix the fairing to the bike.Obviously when your dealing with ebay plastics mixed with a bag of bits from a bike that nearly ended its life grinding itself down a road..your gonna be frustrated.

When I stripped down the bike, many parts were sharred down to bare metal and screws had to be removed using faithful chisel friend. The fit was very tight and by all accounts I may leave two of the bolts that fit the fairing to the radiator lower bracket, off for now.We'll see how she settles..I was also gutted that I couldn't save the windscreen which I thought I had a half chance..reduced to a large scrap heap of genuine 91 kawasaki "everysodear"...but once I'd finished this evening I was very close to the finish line. A new windscreen and indicators will have to be sourced.

One thing that really surprised me was the new feel of the rear suspension .It actually reacts positivly when you sit on the bike. It has the race-kit length rods and a later linkage which seems to have really brought some movement and life into the original stiff board set up.

The 6 pots up front feel will aslo be tested as everything has been bled , from clutch to brakes.

The race rearsets and scott russell muzzy exhaust will be fitted once all the legals are taken care of.

Rush playing Stockholm tomorrow nite...

jeez, do I never get bored with this band.
Been following them since 81 which was ironically their Moving Pictures tour.And now they're gonna play the album in it's entirety.Songs like Camera Eye are awesome and despite the last minute panic attack to simply get to stockholm, I can't wait.
By all accounts its by a rented bike , there and back in 24 hours...the things you still do to see some bands..Makes it even funnier to think that the bike is almost the same one Peart decides to shoot off on all the time!

Elmwood 3100

Sometimes something comes along..this is local...and these amps are like rocking horse crap to find..

Some would say they're one of the best ever built...

Really nice tele



I posted a while back the pictures of the 69 body that I purchased to replace the 77 boat anchor body that I had. It's together with a new mint pickguard as it needed a 60's style pickguard which is slightly different and having played her a lot I'm really impressed.harmonics across the neck which is a great 77 Fender sized neck with the lightness of the 69 body and the zing of the brass bridge. The pickups are unchanged and are handmade scatterwounds by my mate slider down in sydney , Australia. The neck is such a warm pickup you start to understand why Jazz guitarists are also using the telecaster more and more.





New battery and theres some life in the bitch!

Enough was enough! Having purchased a battery charger and being rewarded with a flashing light that was morse code for "this battery is fucked", I went out a put some money into a decent gel battery.
I removed the live red/white cable from the CDI and bolted up the battery and turned the key...and voila..there is life! Everything that was connected up worked except for the front headlights which could be for various reasons, at the moment I'm hoping its the fact that the bulbs are shot!
Now I'm just waiting for some parts that still need sourcing..with the weather good its a right pain to have to wait!
I also had to look around at tyres and I'm going to go for Dunlops Sportmax sportsmarts.

Obviously as I'm cheap as, I'm gonna order the tyres seperatly and remove the wheels and take to a shop..you save quite a lot of money this way but it is a pain in the ass...kinda follows that it would be.
I'm hoping for start up as soon as all parts are sourced...