Yes yes

We've all heard it ...but..I never get tired of this song and I stumbled over this version on Youtube which is a version I'd never heard previously..so enjoy!

Special...

I'll kick off first and foremost by saying I'm not really that familair with Zappa and his library of music.
But now and again somebody posts something or I come across something and his genius or sheer incredibilty falls on my lap.I always loved "the torture never stops" from the very same Barcelona concert which can be found on the Tube..but this actually leaves a mark..just love the sound/tone/feel and the whole composition of the song is brilliant.Really leaves a mark, this one..

Scottish funk?

In a Galaxy far far away...
..feels like that anyway, but a while back I listened to a band headed up by Jesse Rae..
The bass playing on the  only album he released was firmly left in the memory banks..
So nowadays with Spotify making every obscurity available at the touch of a key, try giving it a listen.
Fav bass playing on "inside-out" and his voice and music really seems to go a 360 on his stage image..
actually, the man always dresses like this and is currently involved in Scottish politics so at least he dresses with intention!

Back to the music though, Scottish funk, dressed in traditional scottish dress...not something you come across every day.

Just found this on the Tube..from 2011..didn't know he was still performing..he must be about 100 years old..



talking of classic and original acts...

Muzzy Works fitted and wheezin' n poppin'!

Not forgetting this is the OEM Silencer. You can see yourself how the down-pipes are pretty standard stuff, same diameter the whole length into a rather heavy and clumsy collector box and a silencer that weighs in @ "too much"...

The Verdict?
Well, having only driven the K1 with the stock silencer, I have to say I was getting used to being ever so quiet and being the neighbours best friend.The Stock silencer really kills any race sound what soever and almost strains when your giving the beans..I really don't enjoy hearing the top end louder than the exhaust tone..
So, after the change and once the +2 advancer was fitted, I hit the start button not really knowing what to expect..
Upon start up, the first thing that popped into my head was, "what happened to the silencer packaging"...
Suddenly I'm starting on a grid waiting for the lights to turn green.Total race sound, from the front end to the rear.Revs seemed to raise much easier, probably pipe and advancer..it's just a raw sound thats hard to explain..I was slightly worried that there would be a lot of blow-by as things seemed a bit too loose..but instead it's just raw...a raw roaring rawk would pretty much summarise...It's balls have just dropped and it's become a man , instead of a geisha gal..even though all my bikes are she's...so a she-male perhaps?
If you've ever worked with hand-made exhausts with 14 springs and 3 peice headers you'll know how interesting it gets...a spring tool was bought but it ended up useless of course and I was left with a trick of pulling springs from an old Norton tuning book from the 40's..worked a treat.
I put away 5 hours to do the job from start to finish and it ended on 4...so not too bad when you consider the pitfalls..due to one of the headers hitting the cooler fan bolt I had to adjust plastic once I put the fairing back on...
Buts it's on and of course tomorrow is sunday and , well..."On any Sunday"...

Wednesday is play away..

So wednesday is the day I finally have some time from coaching teams or training myself and tonight I'll try and fit the Muzzy exhaust to the Zxr750k. I had to redrill out the rivets I added on the silencer as I managed to not notice the springs didn't fit on the sides but on the top of the silencer..doh!!!
I can't remember if I had to remove the rad to change the exhaust...and I'm not sure if it's a case of putting all the springs on prior to fitment..anyway, I'll soon find out..you know what it's like..your scrambling in the dark to fit that last impossible bolt...
No idea how the packaging in the silencer is gonna have her sounding..but just now the stock silencer is incrediblely quiet ..almost to the point of being dangerous , as cars can't hear you creepin' up behind them..
so , we shall see..hopefully this will be a more similar sound, although running straight air trumpets through the FCR's must be a nightmare to get the jets sorted..

Adjustable Wrap-arounds

Once I recieved the Gremlin Mountain Queen neck pickup I soldered it in, only to discover that once again I'd been sent a bad 'un. I contacted Mike and he replied immediatly with the news that he would send another and that I had been unfortunate. The neck pup wasn't dead, but the sound was very thin and my original mini humbucker was a lot better.So, fingers crossed the replacement is better.

So now that I'm developing the 61 Melody Maker, it's time to maybe look at upgrading the wrap around tail peice. To be honest I haven't check the intonation but by all accounts with an original it'll be off..maybe better off though..didn't really worry people back in the day and their sound was acceptable..
She's turning into a really great sounding guitar despite the thinness of the body of these old guitars..you can't beat old wood!

Edinburgh Blues Night live back in the day...

Back when I was a teenager I lived in central Edinburgh and every weekend we used to collect all the spirits we could find and pour them into a large cooking pot, we then passed round a small snaps glass and tasted the brew....it was usually always ruined by something resembling coconut or even worst, cheap wine...it all went in, and just like the magic potion in Asterix we all became invincible before heading into Edinburghs pub districts to listen to the blues...Blues N trouble were always the best band to catch, as The Preservation hall would be sold out and even standing areas included the tables..
It all changed with the advent of pissed off neighbours which ensured that decibel limiters were fixed above the stages around the pubs..the death of live music as we knew it..things would never be the same again and it was like watching the extinction of the Buffalo...


Once I'd moved to Sweden in the late eighties, early ninties, The BnT's played a gig at the local blues bar in Uppsala..I met up with them and we all got trashed on a free bar and some skin ups..good times and a fantastic band!

Muzzy AMA Supersport works exhaust

One night I noticed a guy in California was selling a full Muzzy exhaust system which he noted in the ad had apparently adorned Scott Russells AMA Supersport ZX7R..okay; i know what your thinking...they all did...
Anyway, 3 days later and it was mine. And when it arrived it's fairly obvious this is indeed a hand made exhaust.No idea if it did adorn a works Muzzy bike, but the amount of work in every section of the pipes, the plenums and belling of the sections and quality of the welding..held together with a bunch of springs..has me wondering..this is no ordinary standard pipe imo..

The ad also added the silencer packing would need changed..and the ends of the silencer had had the rivets removed.The packing was layered and extremely tight and wired to the baffle..thats the best way to ensure nothing gets baffled and the gases just head straight out! Loud pipe in other words...
The amount glass fibre and wire (all done by hand) was impressive and it took a fair amount of work to clip and unwind the wire and finally remove the baffle from the skin scratching packing.

Out with the old , and wrap up with the new..loose, so it's not as loud as a full race pipe.

Then I just got happy snappy once the pipe was put back together and the down pipes were slotted into the collector, awaiting springs..the headers go into a separate plug that goes into the head and attach by springs..as I said before..the workmanship per pipe section is exceptional and the pics just don't give it justice!

The weight of the entire exhaust is less than the stock silencer...

1 of 3 of Grandads Medals in Scottish Football...

Just brilliant...

and some....





Seriously feel the Black Crowes are on par with Zepplin with regards their song writing and overall soul in their music, I understand why Jimmy Page toured with them.

39mm flatslides...no pain-no gain!

Just getting used to the rebuilt k1.
You never just "let loose" once you've done a rebuild from the ground up, replacing a frame, welding up a swinging arm and changing the tie rods and rocker in the rear.
The weather has been picking up and now back to being crappy. The front tyre arrived in the post today which is great as the one she currently wears has completely lost its edges across the entire ratio....as I tend "ride the front" quite hard and enjoy braking real late, it doesn't leave much confidence once your down to nothing on the front..so a new Dunlop 208 RR will be put on tomorrow.
I took her out for some speed runs on monday and I wasn't too happy that the foot-pegs started vibrating around the 180 and into 220. I'll have to have to check the engine mountings are tight.
Reading about these engines and the cam chain gets a mention.Apparently they wear out, so thats the next job then.I did feel it was a bit noisy and also heard the transmission was pretty loud.
The gearboxes selector forks take a kicking due to the tall first and close ratio second to six.

Now the biggest complaint about these bikes are the flatslides. Roller coaster power peaks and dips, open the throttle too wide and the air/fuel ratio bogs you down and your left in a huge flatspot until she coughs up flem and lets you go.You have to really be careful and start understanding once your in the zone to throw her WOT.
As I'm used to bikes being difficult, like Laverdas 180's running open trumpets, or 400/4's running open, the flatslides are a great challenge of point, squirt, but with the precision of a surgeon! Wrists get a great work out despite a hydraulic clutch..
The Gsxr 6 pots are also something to get used too, I'm really surprised by how much feel they have.I reckon its down to the standard master cylinder, so maybe an upgrade on the way...

Next move is to get the Muzzy works silencer repacked, re revitted and hopefully she'll breathe easier!
Also possibly a 4 degree advancer for the ignition.

But lets get that front tyre fitted first so I can get more confidence to throw her around and really test those flatslides!

Coming soon..

Dropped in the letter box today..
The replaced Gremlin Mountain Queen mini humbucker which has double the output of a stock mini, and some silencer packaging to finally work on the works Muzzy pipe for the zxr...

pics to follow and perhaps some sound clips of the hand made bucker in the tail of the 61 melody maker D.