Old broken motorcycle

[DarwinStrings]

Thanks for the welcome in the tassie tone wood tops thread. I though I better move my response here to avoid messing with Jo's thread. G'day Martin, Kim and Rob as well as the rest of you tone wood bending nuts.

It will end up as a road bike Rob, mainly for buzzing around town cause the fuel for the V6 is getting burnt at a rate that my wallet does not like. I still have lots to do on it but hope to be back to wood and guitars when the next dry season starts(the shed is covered in grease and a strange set of tools so very little wood work).

I have been frequenting a few bike forums and you can see a bit of the evolution here http://forum1.aimoo.com/XLBoard/XL-250/ ... 19601.html There is a much more detailed look at the built process on "DO THE TON" forum in their "Specials" section titled "1976 xl250 recycle" by "Oldnbroken" but you have to be a member to see the photos.

I still read the ANZLF every now and then when on coffee breaks and could not resist a comment on the "group tug" comment.

Jim

Life is still good when you are amongst the wood however a break after thirty years was needed.

[jeffhigh]

I used to have an XL500 when I lived in the bush.
But it has been a good few years since I have rode.
Welcome back Jim

[auscab]

Turning a XL into a cafe type is a great idea , it looks good .
The back of our work shop looks like a bike shop , My bro and his mate have had in there a old Honda 50 , an XR 100 and my Bro's bush ride a CR 500 , a crazy 2 stroke rocket .
Me, I went out and got a KTM 450 about 5 years back, it's like sitting on a cannon ball going uphill , great fun, but I'm almost over doing that for fun .
The idea of going for a cruise late on a summer night around the streets appeals to me on something old or new. As long as I survive in one piece.

[lauburu]

My transport at that time was a DT250 which I had to rebuild after a Yamaha vs Ford Escort encounter. Very lucky to be alive.

I sometimes have nostalgic flashbacks but living in Auckland and riding a motorbike are incompatible activities. Auckland drivers are both rude and inconsiderate - pretty dangerous if you're on 2 wheels.

Enjoy the rebuild - and watch out for tourists from Auckland
Miguel

[kiwigeo]

Used to have an XL250......best bike I ever had. The machine had very stylish lines and it was very reliable.

The worst bike I ever had was a yamaha RT360. 360cc single cyclinder two stroke with a decompression lever...if you forgot to work the lever while stariting you ended up with a broken ankle. In the end the top end bearings collapsed into the crank case and I sold the thing for parts.

[DarwinStrings]

Cheers Jeff. That is the reason I went with the old XL Martin, they have such a good reputation for reliability and they also made a shit load of them so plenty of second hand parts as well as performance parts still being produced 35 years after it was made. Also it was my favorite bike back in the 70's.

Jim

[lauburu]

Oops. Should have read DT360. Agree the RT360 was a bit of a challenge but I loved my DT 360. Heady days for a cool dude around Brisbane. Mungo Jerry sideburns, John Lennon glasses, Peter Shearer body shirts, Leonard Cohen songs ......
Thank goodness that it's only Leonard Cohen that's made a comeback
Miguel

[auscab]

Mungo Jerry sideburns, John Lennon glasses, Peter Shearer body shirts, Leonard Cohen songs ......
Thank goodness that it's only Leonard Cohen that's made a comeback
Miguel

I would give almost anything to see John Lennon make a come back I'm quite a fan of him .

But Leonard Cohen thought I'd buy a cd of his to see what every one was talking about . I think I've heard songs at some funerals that give me more joy
What happened did I buy the wrong cd ?

[lauburu]

Probably not, all his songs are rather morbid. If you're in the mood to slash your wrists he makes you think "Maybe life isn't so bad after all, there's at least one person more miserable than me". However, take a look at the "Leonard Cohen in London" DVD if you get the chance. It's a very good concert.
Miguel

PS Sorry way off topic. Back to the Hondas - does anyone remember the Bials TL250? I had a TY250 but lusted after the Bials.

[nnickusa]

Really huge Leonard Cohen fan. Have been for 35 years. Went to see the show in the Hunter at a winery first time he came thru. Every girlfriend i've ever had calls it "music to kill yourself by," but man can that guy put on a show. If you had no idea who he was, and he walked past you on the street, you';d turn around and think "that guys cool." Wife was in tears by the break. 3hrs or so. Magic.

[auscab]

Sounds like I will have to look for that DVD Miguel, after what you and Nick have said, Thanks. I like a good show, I just got the DVD Crosby Stills and Nash 2012 a month back . The DJ's spoke highly of it on 3RRR one morning so I went out and got it, It's good too .

Back to bikes, it would be nice to build up something like Jim is doing ,Cafe ,or Bobber style I think its called. I don't know the differences . And just like you are doing Jim , with a 70s Japanese bike. I'd love to do that.

I was talking about it a week ago at work with a friend, and I was telling him of a bike I had seen in a magazine about 4 years ago ,but I could not remember the name of the bike, a super rare US pre WW2 V twin . I was looking last week for it but thought the name started with V . WRONG I looked again tonight and found it .

It's a good read . Some times I wonder if I spend too much time dreaming of things I will never be able to have, but it beats thinking of tax bills and the capital A holes who keep sending them to me.

The bike is called a Crocker .this first link is the story of how they came to be made.

http://theselvedgeyard.wordpress.com/20 ... eys-wings/

And the second link is pictures of the One i saw in the Mag 4 years back, Jeff Deckers Crocker.

http://www.jockeyjournal.com/forum/show ... hp?t=21003

[DarwinStrings]

Nice read Rob and that Crocker is a "Bobber" style. Interesting that Crocker being a designer just happened to have Paul Bigsby as his foreman for all those years and that Bigsby was part of the Crocker design team. It might even be argued that Bigsby's design was the inspiration that gave us one of the most recognised electric guitar headstocks, that is the Strat.

Jim

[auscab]

It might even be argued that Bigsby's design was the inspiration that gave us one of the most recognised electric guitar headstocks, that is the Strat.

Jim

Yeah Jim I saw the bit about "Paul Bigsby (who later went on to invent the famous Bigsby tremolo for guitars)"

What links the Bigsby tremolo design to the fender headstock ?

[DarwinStrings]

Have a look at this page Rob http://www.bigsby.com/vibe/about/history/ and check out the headstock which is 1946.

Jim

[P Bill]

Hi Jim,

Merle Tavis thought to be the inventor of the scroll headstock. The solidbody Bigsby built for Travis looks nothing like the guitars on the Bigsby product page. More 19th century than 20th. I get an elec. guitar history book from time to time from our library.

Here's the scroll on a Martin. Some damn fine pickin as well.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Go8x_1fD5vM

[DarwinStrings]

So that link I put up has some wrong information, althought it does state the Travis sketched Bigsby a picture of what he wanted they claim that the headstock is a "Bigsby original headstock design"

I had assumed that this was the guitar that Bigsby built for Travis.

Jim

[DarwinStrings]

The modern replica of the Travis D-28 has 'Bigsby" on their headstock too but I can't read the headstock on that clip you posted Bill.

From re-reading though I guess if Travis sketched the headstock then it was his design.

Jim

[DarwinStrings]

Here is the bike as it is on the road today and then as I bought it, still not finished but should be done by the end of the wet to get back to wood by the dry.

Jim

[DarwinStrings]

The final paint job

Jim

[68matts]

Looks very cool Jim, nice job

[PHANTOM]

That looks sweet as now i want one.

[Kim]

Very cool Jim but i reckon it needs a skull headlight to finish it off properly

[auscab]

Very nice Jim , scooting around town on that would be great .
How does it feel compared to the sitting up high position of the old handle bars?
More Like a road bike ?
I jumped on a 250 Yamaha a few weeks back, a road bike, that was kind of like sitting on a small Harley Davidson position I suppose,a lower soft seat, with the feet forward .
It felt so much more comfy to ride on the road compared to my off road KTM sitting up high catching the wind thing .
Do you loose a bit of that with what you have done ?

[DarwinStrings]

That is on the cards Kim but I am having trouble finding one with a snake coming out of its mouth and a knife in one eye.

The bars are lower and also more forward Rob so it is more comfy on the road. They are wider that most clippons as I made them myself which still allows a bit of leverage on the dirt.

Jim

Thanks for the feedback too Matt, long time no see Phantom just get in the skull cave and build away mate.

[Kim]

That is on the cards Kim but I am having trouble finding one with a snake coming out of its mouth and a knife in one eye.

Piece of piss Jim, just quickly unbolt one from a Gypsy Jokers panhead next time their on a brother run and pull up for a quencher on their way through town.

Cheers mate

Kim