Grease Monkeys

Born Too Late - People

2012-01-29T18:19:00.001+13:00

Coro Kev is always around. Kev and his son will ride the Panhead a thousand klicks just to say hello

The bar across the road used to be an old whore house. Excellent place with friendly staff and a monster fish in a tank behind the bar. The front yard had its own beach complete with sand. One of the Harley guys was having his 50th there on Saturday night.

James having a good time giving out the home built trophies.

Pete and Randall and I rode in on the old bikes. Sara is still sorting out the front end on her Bonnie so she rode in on George, her custom W650. They told her 'no Jap shit' so she had to hide it round the corner with the Hot Rods. Me, Pete and Randall had a 'leak off'. I narrowly beat Pete's Matchie so its time to take the Tiger off the road and give it a bit of a clean up.

Marcus is too white and ginger for the sun so he had to cover that new haircut with a hat. Neil left the scooter at home and turned up on his very cool old Ducati but he still ket the anorak.

You should go and have a beer in Shooters. Excellent place and I'm still not convinced that its not a whore house anymore.

Born Too Late

2012-01-29T17:57:00.000+13:00

This is Sid and James' second go at a British and American only Chopper Show. The first was a blast and this one continued to build on that success. This time there was no rain and a load more chops and old classic Brits and a couple of really good bands. No attitudes and everyone was having a ball.
We need loads more events like this one, run by the younger guys with none of the baggage some of us older pricks tend to bring along. The boys will continue to build cool bikes and run shows and swap meets so get out there and give them your support New Zealand.

Kumeu 2012

2012-01-26T22:15:00.000+13:00

Stolen Bike - More details

2012-01-19T08:19:00.000+13:00

Got some more details from Patrick.

Hi Jon,

Thanks for that. I am looking everywhere around, I didn't work for the 3 last days just to look for it.
VIN: 7AT09X3NX10042464

It has been stolen from the Airedale Parking, Auckland center. And I am pretty sure they put it in a Nissan Vanette van, white with the plate FAN854 (stolen car and stolen plates)

Stolen Bike

2012-01-18T08:27:00.001+13:00

Apparently the crappy summer weather hasn't put off the bike thieves. Patrick is only over here for a couple of years from Switzerland and he had picked up this nice clean W650 from Shed 5 last year. Someone decided at the weekend that they deserved a free bike and stole it. The police aren't very interested so if anyone is offered a cheap bike, please give Patrick a call on +64 (0)22 106 15 57. The rego is A6CSF.

Introducing Tiddles

2012-01-16T21:31:00.000+13:00

Got a call in work to say that my Tiger was arriving so I made my excuses and rode home to help Matt unload the van. First impressions were good. It wasn't covered in oil and everything looked to be in place. A bit of mild leaking from the forks but nothing much. Tickled the carb and gave it a coupler of kicks with the ignition off, turned it on and gave it a light test kick. Started first time and has done every time since. Runs great. A bit of a crunch getting into first but I'll look at that later. Jumped straight on and rode back into town and down to York Street for a quick celebration beer. Its a really great lane splitter, just rolling along in fourth between the cars. Bit of a problem finding neutral when it got hot in the traffic jam coming out of Newmarket in the rush hour but it was fine when I got out onto the motorway. Its not the most powerful bike in the world but it goes well when you wind it up. Pretty much like the Hinkley Bonnies really. Back brake is crap but the front ones not bad. Its strange changing gear on the wrong side but I only changed down once mistaking it for the brake.
Definitely taking it to Kumeu on Saturday for the Hot Rod and Classic Festival. Its going to be a hot day. The Panhead will have to wait for another week.

Brit Sunday in the Shed

2012-01-16T21:17:00.000+13:00

We picked up the Panhead from York Street on Saturday so I could get it sorted and back out on the road by next week but then we started to poke around with Puddles. Like every 70's Triumph he was spreading his share of the black stuff round the shed but we're focussing on getting him through a warrant of fitness and back out on the street. Main thing that needed sorting was the fork seals. Pete had a spare set so we picked those up on the way home.
Sara is determined to work on her own bike so I stood around making suggestions and being a pain in the arse while she stripped down the front end. Its really difficult to balance one of these things on a bike lift. You can't get at the frame rails because of the exhausts and the sump sits so low that you end up with all the weight of the bike sitting on a fragile piece of aluminium. Ended up balancing it on the side stand mount but we'll have to find a better way to do it out on the road.
Anyway, Sara ordered her first load of parts and we should be able to get it back together again for the weekend.

The Petes called round on the way back from the Pub and helped oil my drive a little more. It was interesting to compare Peter the Neighbour's 73 Bonnie with Sara's. Same bike but Pete has spent a lot of time getting his sorted and running well.
Milk Bar Cowboy Pete was having problems with his old Matchless. It was farting and banging on one cylinder. Pete made up a new plug lead from pieces I had lying around but it was still munted. Pete the Neighbour is used to that sort of behaviour though and always carries a full set of tools. He quickly spotted a loose connection to the condenser and it was running sweet in seconds. Pretty cool seeing all this old Brit tin instead of the usual Harley diet round here.

Head Full of Snakes

2012-01-12T22:23:00.000+13:00

Head Full of Snakes Christchurch launch party. Be there and tell your grandkids you were part of history.

Woody's back on the road

2012-01-11T11:58:00.000+13:00

At long last, Woody's back on the road. Cuba Street, Wellington.

New Zealand Life

2012-01-10T23:13:00.002+13:00

Puddles has landed

2012-01-04T19:23:00.000+13:00

So the first of the soon to be, world travelling bikes has arrived in the back of a huge truck from Biketranz. Really nice people to deal with. They have their own bike collection and are sponsoring loads of classic and vintage events including a new National Classic Bike Show to be held at the events centre in Manakau this August.
As expected, Sara's bike definitely needs some work. Fork seals are shot and it looks like the oil tank has emptied itself into the bottom of the crank case but that sort of thing was expected and basically its all there. We will probably just stare at it for a while and work out where to begin. Probably sort out the things it needs for a warrant and then run around on it a bit and let the bike show us what needs sorted before the major rebuild. Same deal for my Tiger, which is being picked up in Christchurch next Monday and should be here later next week.

In the mean time, all the other bikes have been fighting me today. I did get the Thruxton back together and advertised it for sale. The W650 has a locked uip clutch after sitting for 6 months and some freaky electrical fault and now won't even turn on the lights, never mind turn over the motor. The SR5400 cafe racer seems to have caught the same bug. Locked clutch plates and all the indicators flash constantly and the battery is immediately drained. My softail got a new battery but is now refusing to recognise the key fob and I can't disable the security so it wont start. Looks like it will have to go to the dealer, which really pisses me off since its only been there once in the last 10 years I've owned it since new.

Some days I think I should have got into cars instead.............

Puddles and Tiddles - (don't ask)

2011-12-29T20:06:00.000+13:00

So now we have a couple of Triumphs ready to be modified for the big trip.

Puddles is Sara's 73 T140V Bonneville with matching numbers. It was loved and looked after but until it arrives next week we have no idea what its really like. They will both be stripped down completely and have all the worn engine parts replaced. Al will lokk after Sara's rebuild and I will take care of mine.

Mine is a TR6 Tiger with a mid 60's frame, 72 front end and a 71 Tiger motor. Since most of the bike is around 50 years old it fits with the entry qualification for the run. This one is coming up from Christchurch in the next week and like Sara's its going to get a total rebuild. Sara's has the 750 twin carb Bonnie motor while mine is still a 650. Depending on the state of the motor when I strip it I may go with the 750 Morgo barrels but I'll keep the single carb head. They'll probably both get lower compression pistons to manage crappy fuel through Mongolia and Khazakstan and help with the reliability. Both frames will be modified and I'll take a look at the oiling on mine. My frame still has the bolt on back end which makes it weaker than the 73 but easy to turn into an instant bobber with a hardtail at some stage.

Now, back to the planning............

Progress

2011-12-28T22:53:00.000+13:00

Well this thing has already become life changing. Sara and I rode the bikes into Auckland this morning and kicked over some ideas over lunch and a couple of beers at the fish market. We've both been thinking about how much stuff we have built up over the last couple of years and we'd like to reduce the footprint a bit. Realistically we can't ride all 16 bikes even if we could afford the tax and warrants so we are having a clear out. Sara is selling her W650 and her little BSA and I'm starting off with the SR400 cafe racer, the Thruxton and my DRZ400SM. Big decision as I had planned to run the Thruxton at Bonneville. The new plan is that we run both of our Vlad to Paris bikes at Bonneville instead. I'll put the go faster stuff from the Thruxton on my Scrambler when it gets it's makeover. The Ironhead will be next and I might break the S&S Evo bobber down and sell the parts I don't need. May even sell the Shovel. That will be a really big deal as I wanted to keep all the old bikes. My Springer and Panhead will obviously stay.
Sara has already scored a73 Bonnie that is being picked up by Biketranz at the end of the month. I'll strip it down and the brilliant Al will do one of his bulletproof rebuilds. I'll modify the frame to carry extra gas and luggage. As a backup to the Pan" and just in case the Bike turned out to be too heavy for my old smashed bones, I'm looking for another old Triumph. Seems they're getting thin on the ground or ridiculously expensive for what might make a good lawn ornament or boat anchor, but I'm looking at a bitza with a 60's frame and a 70 motor.
Really have to get that camera out this week.......

What Bike?

2011-12-20T22:33:00.000+13:00

We've spent the last few days glued to the vintage bike listing on TradeMe looking for a bike foe Sara for the Paris trip. I'm pushing for an old 750 Triumph twin but don't know enough about what one would be the best for a trip where we need to do at least 500 km a day for 8 weeks. The panhead should be fine but is going to get pretty heavily modified. We saw a 70's Bonnie that had been recently rebuilt but the prick wouldn't answer his email and its come off listing today so he must have sold it. Some real craps on there as well. Just because it's an old Brit they think it's a classic so it's worth a bundle. Dream on.
Very cool 53 Matchless 500 this afternoon but he's looking for 15 grand.
Al the neighbor has decided to come along too and he's going to build some sort of old Matchie scrambler. He's a naval engineer and builds bulletproof Triumphs so it'll be god to have himq along.
Pictures very soon. Promise.....

Vladivostok to Paris on old iron

2011-12-15T23:09:00.000+13:00

This started off with a conversation over a few beers during Grinderfest. Doug's 50th birthday is coming up in 2013 and he had a plan to ride a 50 year old bike from Vladivostok to Paris in 50 days. This week that idea took a step towards reality with the first planning meeting for the run. I signed up straight away as long as I got special dispensation to take my 62 Pan. It's not 50 years old but he'll, I'll be nearly 57 when we go and that has to be worth something.
Doug has relaxed the rules to allow bikes that are solder than their riders so Sara has started to look for a late 60's Triumph Daytona. Doug is taking a 53 AJS and Q is looking for a cheap old BMW. We are planning to fill a container with around 10 bikes so the other prospective team, including Doug's partner Liz, are trawling through the listings for a suitable ride.
We'll be documenting the whole thing including the bike builds. In order to qualify the bikes have to be ready to go by next Easter so pressure is already on. There won't be any support truck on this trip so everyone will spend next year getting completely confident with their bike, including rebuilding it at a the side of the road.
Watch this space......

Born with too much shit

2011-11-28T17:21:00.000+13:00

Took a quick look at Aaron's swap meet at the Salvation Cafe on Saturday. Nice place. Good food and great to catch up with the Rattlers. First time I had seen Rene's W650 out on the road.

I also moved 4 of my bikes down to York Street Mechanics so they could be on display until Doug gets the 3 Cassanova bikes finished. The place is looking good and I'm looking forward to it being officially open. Loads going on in that part of Newmarket. Now if we could only manage to take over the Sugar Bar as well. How does the Handlebar Auckland sound?

End of Shed 5

2011-11-18T13:50:00.000+13:00

Some big time changes to the local hangouts this week. Shed 5 (Formerly Deus) should be due to close its doors this weekend. If you've been round there in the last couple of weeks you would have noticed that the workshop had already been emptied and that the old place was feeling a bit sad. Good news is that it is being replaced by the new and improved version.
York Street Mechanics in Newmarket (guess what street?) is due to be opened in at least a limited capacity from the end of next week. As well as the cafe/restuarant, parts and clothing shops, the workshop has been retained and is now focussing entirely on custom builds. The first three builds have already been sold and should be finished before Christmas. Three similarly themed cafe racer bikes called Cassanova will be built round three different platforms; a Kawasaki Estralla, W650 and an SR400. Another set of three bikes will then be built round a street legal drag bike frame, including hopefully, a Triumph Thruxton motor. Those will be followed by a flat tracker project.
Doug is very keen on using York Street to help build a community of custom bike builders in NZ and wants to build on the enthusiasm of the young builders who took part in Grinderfest. We are currently trying to arrange with the guys to display some of their bikes in the shop and give the custom building community a venue to launch their latest builds and pass on creative concepts and advice to other builders or potential builders.
Should be a great place to hang out and talk bikes, have a couple of beers, some nice food and spread the word. Opening hours will be extended to cover dibnner at night as well as coffees and lunch during teh day.
Check it out and talk to Doug and Dave about custom work they might help you with. I'll get some launch pictures together soon.

Stuff to do

2011-10-26T22:12:00.000+13:00

Nick who had the cool S&S slab side shovel at Grinderfest is planning a weekender at his place South of Auckland at the beginning of December. Nick has an awesome chopper and car collection and a crowd of chopper riding mates. This is a real limited numbers thing and invite only so let me know if you're interested and I'll sort out the details.
There,s also the Born With Too Much Shit chopper and hot rod swap meet at Aaron's Salvation Cafe in Avondale on 26 November and a bike swap meet at the Rothesay Bistro in Rothesay Bay over on the north shore on the first Sunday in November.
Be there and support your local bike underground.

Go the All Blacks - and now, back to work

2011-10-25T20:29:00.000+13:00

So the rugby world cup is over and the All Blackls are world champions (only just). Its been a hell of a few weeks with Grinderfest rolling into the world cup celebrations. Very tiring but its been a blast and now it's starting to feel like summer. I've been away from the computer for quite a while and the work is stacking up in the shed. I have an Evo motor and transmission to put together for one of the local West Auckland guys and I started sorting out the wiring on the Shovel while I'm waiting for a few parts coming for the Panhead. I also started work on the Thruxton.
First up was a new set of flat side carbs and a very cool set of D&D race pipes from Triumph Performance in the States. All fairly straight forward to put on so very little swearing and throwing tools for a change. Fired up first time after I put the fuel hose on correctly. Sounds awesome but its going to be hard to get a warrant when the rego comes off hold in January.
I was very tempted to buy a 73 Bonnie from Shed 5 that I saw when we went down there for the Webbs vintage bike auction last week. I think I'll try and sort out the current projects first though. Have to have something cool on the road this summer as there's srating to be a few more events planned.
Lance and his boss are organising a one day event here in West Auckland and Aaron and the boys have a hot rod and bike swap meet at Aarons cafe on November 26th. Have a look at the One Percent Magazine site for details.
Nick is organising a weekend of choppers, muscle cars and camping near the Bombays in early December and we still have to sort out the Vinegar Hill run in January.
Down in Newmarket, Doug is very close to opening the York Street Mechanics cafe and workshop. Think of it as the next evolution of Deus/Shed 5. Ive had a tour of the site and its going to be brilliant. Doug is setting out an area that will be just for us bike builders to hang out and tinker with the bikes and possibly share a few skills over a cold beer. Cant wait.
After all that, I am planning stage 2 for the Thruxton. Stroker crank, 1200cc kit, carillo rods and a lot of head work. With that and a new light weight frame, care of Doug and Dave, it had better be a flier.
Roll on summer..........

Grinderfest - We survived. Now, roll on next year.....

2011-10-06T21:48:00.000+13:00

Grinderfest Rocks

2011-09-29T22:48:00.000+13:00

Honestly. I'll get some pics up soon. They're all on the Grease Monkey site but this is a big week and we've been out every night and it has been going off. I love you all.
Irish

Sporty Monday

2011-09-20T16:57:00.001+12:00

Had a call from Shed 5 to let me know that they are having problems getting the word out about Sportster Night next Monday. So, if you have a Sporty or know someone who has, bring it along to Shed 5 on Monday night.

Kim also wanted to remind everyone that there are Grease Monkey specific parties on the first Saturday night and the Thursday night, as well as the prize giving on the last Saturday afternoon. Apparently teh biggest party is on the Thursday so I'll definitely be there. Spread the word..........

You can nearly smell summer

2011-09-16T13:36:00.000+12:00

Looks like everybody is getting near to finishing their latest projects ready for that Grease Monkey Summer Run.
Mike

Woody

Doug

Grinderfest - counting down

2011-09-15T14:38:00.000+12:00

So just over a week till the official start to Grinderfest and despite the fact that we have done no advertising and we haven't even printed the flyers, it seems like everyone knows about the show. There are just over 20 bikes officially registered for the week and we are expecting a few more. Lots of people are ringing Shed 5 to talk about it, the t-shirts are being printed, individual flyers for the individual nights are being printed and the team is ready to move all the shop bikes out of the big room to make way for the show bikes. Kim has started to let all the entrants know that they have been accepted and its all go. Of course I didn't manage to finish any of my bikes but I'm bringing them along anyway. May have to clean them and hide some of that dodgy wiring I didn't get around to finishing.

I'm still expecting to see a stack of other bikes on the last Saturday that will just turn up for the day. The first big party will be on the night of Sunday 25th. All the Hot Rod boys will be there and we have a great Rockabilly band up from Wellington.
Hopefully we get enough notice out for the Sportster night. I know there are a lot of Sporties running round town and I'd really like to get as many of them as possible to turn up. We've already got a huge team for the vintage Scooter night so I'm looking forward to that.

So, try and make it for as many different events as you can and tell everyone you know with a bike to turn up. Time to party..........

Pete's New Pan

2011-09-07T10:10:00.000+12:00

Tried to catch up with work on my Grinderfest bike last night after spending the afternoon drinking beers with the team at Shed 5. Much better than work but so easy to let all those tasks slip that need finishing. My front wheel still isn't sitting properly in the springer and the back one that I had professionally respoked is nowhere near straight.
Back in Wiltshire, Pete is geting on much better with his latest Pan.

Hey Jon,hope you are good,sent a few pics of pan,doing motor right now,had a few screwups as a build usually does,frame painter musta ran outa diazapan or whatever rhino tranquilizer he was doin,so went awol for a number of weeks,prepped everything in the meantime ready to bolt onto frame as soon as he was out on bail! Although it dont look much,I have all the oldtime parts I need to make it a straight forward assembly job when I drop motor into frame.Got a new old stock Superior exhaust system from the sixtees,early S&S carb,Joe Hunt mag and a few other nice period bits.Not that its period correct,man I havent got enough years left to find 100% original parts.Bank holiday weekend(monday today)spent that hacking off exhaust spigot and inlet that the alu welder stuck on the wrong ports of pan cylinder heads!Got to turn some new ones tommorow and get them to him as hes away on holiday after Wednesday(probably him and the painters off to disneyworld).Always checking Greasemonkeys,them Irish boys got a little sumthin special aboout em.Maybe innovative?is what they is,some very trick thinkin goin on there.

Found this old pic on GK,im hopeing my pan sits about the same as the springered knuck when the lump is in.Wide glide in pic got twin linkerts! Stay outa trouble,hope next pics are of pan running.

Regards Pete

Grinderfest - Final Dates

2011-09-01T18:04:00.001+12:00

Well its taken a long time with far more incidents along the way than I was expecting but we have finally nailed the schedule for the show. As you can see it has grown into a week long festival of all things petrol, with Hot Rods, Vintage Scooters, Sporties, Live Music and Partying.

The event schedule looks like this. Look! No Rugby.....

To make life a bit easier for the good folks at Shed 5 we had to come up with a simple registration process, shown below. This lets us know just who is coming and how much room we need.
Bikes (finished or not) that are eligible for the main awards need to be on display at Shed 5 throughout the week. For bikes that can't be there all week, including the Wellington and Palmy Crews who're heading up North for the party, we will have some additional awards on the final Saturday, just in time for the wrap party.
All entries that are accepted and will be there for the entire week will receive a $100 voucher for parts at Shed 5 and can get to all the parties.

So tell everyone you know that its on. Stop every old scooter andf Sporty and let them know they have their own special night. Enter your project with either Kim@shedfive.co.nz or me irishjon@greasemonkeys.co.nz
Winter's over let the show begin.......

Speed Show - Auckland

2011-08-16T10:01:00.000+12:00

I don't normally bother with the speed show. Too many boy racers in very boring cars with big exhaust cans, cheap mag wheels and very little else.This year I had nothing else to do so Sara and I headed out to the showgrounds with low expectations. Basically I just wanted a bacon and egg roll and a coffee but I was pleasantly surprised. We ended up having a great day. Watched the minis and the V8 ute stunt team drifting round the car park. Saw some very heavily modified drift cars that the guys were having a real blast racing. Saw a display of classic Jap bikes, most of which I have owned more than once. Some nice paint on the McGuires stand and some very flash Mack trucks. Nice way to spend the day after all so we'll probably be back next year. Sara now wants a Nissan GTR........

Belfast Custom Show

2011-08-02T22:59:00.000+12:00

Remember Fred's little Yam from last year's show. He's still working on it. Very cool.

Just an update on my Yam 535, here in Belfast we have just reinvented the wheel, as you know the budget is always very thight so we saved a few dollers and dumped the spokes, real easy to keep clean to, won best engineering this year, this front wheel is made from a large industrial bearing, a used 19" harley rim choped into four and welded in, couple of bits of 10mm flat bar, bit of 35mm tube, couple of bits of 20mm tube, exhaust trim axle cover, 19" used tyre and tube, bit of satin black paint and many hours with the grinder, hand drill and welder, whole job cost less than £500.

Just picked up an aluminium beer barrel goin to chop it about a bit for an extra wide rear wheel just got to find a tyre now, off to the scrap yard we go again.
Kind Regards
Fred

Hot Rods at Shed 5

2011-07-20T10:46:00.000+12:00

Busy weekend with Born Too Late on Saturday and then while we were out testing Sara's new Royal Enfield on Sunday we came across another Hot Rod event at Shed 5. It was never like this back in Belfast....

iPhone pics by Sara.

Milk Bar Cowboy

2011-07-18T16:53:00.000+12:00

Hey Pete. You made it. We must have pissed off before you get there. Good to see the Indian legal and back out on the street. Now, what about that Ironhead?

Born Too Late - The Cars

2011-07-18T10:48:00.000+12:00

Born Too Late

2011-07-18T10:37:00.000+12:00

If we needed to have an indication of the interest in old school custom bikes then Born Too Late certainly provided it. Remember that this was put in place in only a few weeks by a small group of people with no money. The number of people that turned up was just as much a surprise to the organisers as it was to everyone else. And the crowds did roll in, despite the limited advertising and the threat of another cold and wet Auckland winter weekend. When the rain did start, just after the first band kicked off, everyone stood their ground or piled into the small bus shelter or under the tent with the sausage sizzle, broke out the beers and carried on.

This was just a start. The boys have big plans for next time, probably something a bit bigger this summer and then growing it to be an annual event that includes a decent ride to another location outside town.

A stack of people, myself included, didn’t manage to get their bikes ready in time but promised to be there for the next one. The mix of cars and bikes worked really well, just like it did in the old City of Cycles shows in the Oriental Market back in the 90’s. This show had the same sort of atmosphere without the attitudes. Just a chance to hang out, party and look at some cool machinery.

Next time, make sure you get there, bring your bike and support the cause.

Grinderfest Date Confirmed

2011-07-15T22:25:00.000+12:00

Ok so we now have the final date for the show.

Grinderfest will take place on September 10th 2011 at the

Shed 5 Speed Shop
90 Wellesley St.
Auckland
New Zealand

Judging will start at 2pm but the bikes can be set up a few days before. Final details on that in the next few weeks.

So, get those spanners swinging and get those projects finished. Lets have those update pictures and confirmations to let us know how much space to clear. Finished or not, lets see those bike.

Also, remember that Born Too Late is tomorrow (Saturday 16th).
Be there and support your local bikers.

Cheers
Irish

Old Dog, New Tricks

2011-07-04T15:02:00.000+12:00

Caught up with some of the Hot Rod guys down at Shed 5 on Sunday. Nice people. I was meant to be down there taking some pictures but I got there late as they were getting ready to leave.
As soon as I pulled up on my old Twincam Springer I had a big crowd of people gathering round it. Most people were my age or older and everybody had a question or started to tell me about the FXR chopper, or Royal Enfield they were working on back in their sheds. People were asking me what club I was in and if I would like to join up with them (most of them seemed to be in Ulysses) and could they do a shed raid at my place. Others asked if I was a mechanic and could I help them out with their bike projects. They all seemed to be involved in lots of interesting things and that was reflected in the type of cars they had built and were driving (lots of Model A's and old Ford Coupes). After spending a very long week in what seemed to be a complete waste of everyone's time in a major IT project, it was really great to meet such a bunch of enthusiastic and energetic people. And like I said, these guys weren't exactly teenagers.

That's why I am so optimistic for the scene in Auckland, Wellington and the rest of the country this summer. I hear from so many people who are ready for a different sort of bike show, or run, or party with bikes that were built, not bought. All these new cool bars and shops popping up round the waterfront waiting for waves of Rugby World Cup supporters to spend wads of cash this September. I hope it works for them. I know that it's making the city a great place to hang out now and it should get even better after the tourists leave. I know the old guys are ready for a party and I'm sure the young guys are even more so. There is a new sense of style in Auckland that I certainly didn't see when I arrived here 15 years ago. There is the same sort of buzz (although a little smaller) that you get in Singapore and we get more freedom here to make it up as we go along. I hope that all this enthyusiasm for life starts to spill out onto the streets and that the custom motorcycle scene grows from strength to strength. I'm going to do as much as I can to promote it even if it just means that I can sit outside a cafe in the summer with a cold glass of wine and watch the pretty bikes roll by.
In the meantime, back to those sheds and lets get those projects finished. Roll on Summer.....

Rubbish Weekend but Getting Better

2011-06-27T09:33:00.000+12:00

Absolutely rubbish weekend in the shed. Found out that the clutch parts that I have been waiting on for weeks have been back ordered. That generally means months before I get fed up waiting and cancel the order. Maybe I'll have to fix up the old worn out parts and use them anyway but I hate taking things apart twice when they don't need it. Nothing done on the Evo either but I've still got time for that one.
Lots of activity on the Grease Monkey Forum though. Lots of new members turning up and some interesting bikes including some nice engine work. I'll post some excerpts here this week.
Also worked out what I need for the Thruxton. Getting a new set of lumpy cams, 39mm flat side Mikuni carbs, and a neat, short D&D 2 into 2 race pipe. Loud and fast. Should be loads of fun.

Also looking forward to Sid and James' Born to Late show. This is from their Kill Road Blog

Keep this date free if you're in Auckland or planning on it

We have been talking about doing this for a long time, and finally its going to happen

There will be trophies for the

-Best American

-Best Brit Shit

-Best Chopper

-Best Cage

-Best Tattoo

-Hottest Witch

There will be bands, bbq, records turning, and lots of booze (BYO)

Leave the japa's at home this is B.E.A.R.S ONLY!

And Pre 75 ONLY!

We are already lining up a much bigger summer show for round 2

BE THERE

Sunday - rebuild begins

2011-06-19T21:23:00.000+12:00

Fight Back .......

2011-06-14T21:51:00.000+12:00

Three different people tried to kill me today.

I ride to work. Currently I have a choice of two bikes on the road, my little Suzuki Motard and my big heavy Twin Cam Springer. The Motard is great for lane splitting. It's quick and agile and real easy to stay out of trouble. I usually ride it on wet days, which is most of the time during winter in Auckland. I love the Springer but it's pretty big and the forks tend to bounce when I am forced to run over the cats eyes, out there between the lanes. It's also hard to stop quickly.
Today was a nice day so I decided to take the Harley. I wasn't in a hurry this morning and the traffic was unusually light so I just cruised along the motorway from my place out west into the city. I was just getting to the end of the motorway where you pull onto the left lane just after the university. The car that was pulling left in front of me suddenly decided to come to a dead stop in the middle of the lane. No reason, just pulled up dead. I hit the anchors hard. I put new tyres on this bike a couple of months ago at the recommendation of teh guy at the tyre shop. I don't like them. He had some sort of a Honda that obviously weighs a lot less that my Softail. The back tyre locked and I picked the place where I was sure I would hit the car. Somehow I managed to stop about three feet away from their back bumper. Started to yell the usual abuse like I have to do every day but the driver moved on and I headed on into work.

Took a ride round to Shed 5 at lunchtime for a coffee and to see what was happening in the workshop. Doug must still be off on his African adventure with his son Hugo and their old BMW so there wasn't much going on. I had some time so I took a run round the waterfront to Mission Bay. I love riding round there but there is always a cop with a camera so I was taking it easy. As I was heading back I came across Twat number two.
Again with the pulling straight into the lane in front of me a braking. Locked the rear wheel up again and skidded to a stop. A bit closer the the car this time but going slower. More abuse.

Got to the end of another tedious day in the office and headed out into the very heavy traffic on the motorway home. I had a bad crash in Texas a few years ago and spent a long time in hospital. I've been thinking a lot about that lately especiall now that Sara and I are both riding to work on fairly constant basis. I started out with a bit of easy lane splitting and then thought that I had had a couple of close calls today and that I wasn't in any real hurry so I'd take it easy and actually sit in the traffic for once. So there I was cruising along in the proper lane, leaving a bit of space between me and the car in front. I even let a girl and a wobbly new rider on a V Max pass me between the lanes! Then came Twat number three. The traffic was slowing down and this dick head decided to pull right out of his lane and into mine and then stop. When he did stop he was sitting at an angle across both lanes. Locked up the rear wheel again and stopped a couple of inches away from the car. I was very lucky. Again.

Sara has the same thing every day. Yesterday she had someone cut her up. She followed him into the petrol station and the passengers where punching him for nearly kiling her. Another one today as well. The truck driver in the next lane to her wound down his window and threatened the guy who cut her up.
The problem is they just don't care. Its not that they didn't look. When you pull them up for it they just say that it doesn't matter. You're only on a bike. They didn't hit you. This time.

It just takes once. It hurts a lot. I don't want to end up in hospital again. I'll probably lose my leg next time. Its bad enough now. Maybe Sara or I won't survive at all. Honestly I've had enough. From now on, if you try to kill me I will break your nose (at least).

I wear a motocross helmet most of the time. When I crashed in Texas I just had a bandana on. I opened up the back of my skull and tore off the bottom of my face. Chicks dig scars but you have to wear a helmet in NZ and I'd like my face not to get any worse looking. Point is, if someone tries to kill me and tells me that it doesn't matter to them I will drag them out of the car and head butt them with my motocross helmet.
Its not road rage. Its education. There are consequences to all actions and people should be made to face those consequences. If they consequently get away with it they will keep on driving like Twats. So, from now on, try and kill me and I will break your nose.
Cheers
Irish

Grinderfest - Counting Down

2011-06-08T21:43:00.000+12:00

Caught the news tonight and the count down said 93 days to the Rugby World Cup. That means pretty much the same for Grinderfest so I hope everybody is out in their sheds with the sparks flying.
I picked up the Evo frame from the powder coaters this moring. Better job than I could have done with paint and not much more expensive. Now it all starts to come together. All the major bits are done and it gets down to the fiddly annoying crap that always takes much longer than you expected. Just sorting out the last few bits on the Ironhead as well. Are you excited yet?

Riding September

2011-06-02T21:27:00.000+12:00

Suggested by Jontrout. Cheers

MUSIC VIDEO RIDING SEPTEMBER from Hush on Vimeo.

Grinderfest getting ever closer

2011-05-31T22:40:00.000+12:00

The Evo frame went off to the powder coaters this morning. Should have it back to start the final build up this weekend. Good old aunty Liz giving us a day off for her birthday. Now all I have to do is find where all the little parts have got to. Got the COC air cleaner on tonight. Starting to work out some pin up art for the sides of the oil tank. Should be able to sort the whole thing out in time for Grinderfest. Might even get round to getting the Ironhead and Shovel running. Yeah right........

Carb Night

2011-05-31T21:28:00.000+12:00

Go Fast....

2011-05-30T09:31:00.000+12:00

So I finally got sick of falling over things in my garage. I was working on my Grinderfest bike yesterday, stripping it back down to the frame so I can tidy up the brackets and get the frame powder coated. I had pulled off one one the tanks and was starting to pick my way past all the tools lying on the floor and between the parked bikes when I caught my foot on the springer and started to fall. Couldn't find anywhere safe to put my feet and did a very good impression of a hippo on Strictly Ballrrom spinning round avoiding all the protruding handlebars and exhausts and ened up lying across Sara's trail bike, still holding onto the tank. I saw a drunk girl do that in Ireland once. We were in Portrush for the North West 200 road races and as usual, everyone who stayed for the weekend was camping and partying on the beach. This girl was holding a full pint of beer when she fell at the top of a sand dune. She had been drinking all day and was absolutely trashed but she managed to flip and roll her way to the bottom of the hill (about 30 feet) without spilling a drop. Classic.
Anyway, back to the garage. Decided that I had too many bikes and I just can't afford to keep them all on the road with the ridiculous taxes here in NZ so some of them will either get sold or come off the road permenantly. First to bite the dust is my Hinkley Thruxton. I'm not going to get rid of it because I love that bike but it's going to become a race only bike. Not sure what sort of racing but I'm going to concentrate on making it fast and light. When I bought it the plan was to keep it for 5 years and then build a Bonneville Salt Racer. That's where I'd like it to end up but it may take some time (like all my projects). I'll start tearing it down next week to take off all the road bits to see how much weight I can lose. It will probably get a Twister frame from Shed 5 at some point to take off more weigh and make it a bit more rigid. I have aslo started to look at what can be done to the engine to get as much power out of it as possible. If anyone has got any good tuning tips for these Triumphs it would be very much appreciated.
I'll post pics and progress when I get into it. Nothing like another project eh?.....

Steve's Brother

2011-05-26T20:52:00.000+12:00

Day Out

2011-05-26T20:51:00.000+12:00

A few slight changes.

2011-05-23T22:14:00.000+12:00

The stock risers just looked plain wrong so I have gone with a set of Flanders style risers like the ones I have on the Softail. Its looking a lot better. I normally run these facing forwards so I get to stretch out a bit more but I needed to pull these ones back to give the headlight a bit of space.

This bike is really doing Grinderfest right. I have to wade through all the filings and swarf to get to my bench. The home made seat bracket I made needed a lot of grinder attention on my lousy welding and also to round off a few nasty corners to tidy things up. I mounted the buddy seat rail and its all starting to come together. Now I need to get a few hours free time to strip it all down and tidy up some welds so it can go to the powder coaters next week. While that's being done I have to sort out some final spacers on the lathe an Bob's your mother's brother...

Seat Swapping

2011-05-15T21:18:00.000+12:00

Eventually managed to get back in the garage. I had ordered a new set of risers and a 48 Panhead replica seat for the Evo but when I got it I decided that it looked too new and didn't fit with what I want in that bike so I swapped it out for the old Messinger seat from my Softail. I have ordered a very cool Bates replica p-pad from Bear Parts Co. in Queensland and that will go on the Softail along with a new black and yellow paint job (if it stops raining long enough to dig out the spray gun). I like the blue and white but it hasn't changed in a couple of years so it must be time. Spent all day playing around in the workshop making a new seat bracket for the Evo. Rough as usual but at least its all tacked together and seems to work fine. I'll finish it off this week. Might look at making some floorboard brackets and then it's time to break it down for powder on the frame. Still need to make some more design changes to get the style I want but its starting to get there.

Inspiration while waiting for the pinter...

2011-05-02T22:41:00.000+12:00

Couple of inspiration pics from Pete back in Trowbridge while he's waiting for the Pan's frame coming back from the painters..

Ok Mate,will get some pics over to you soon as the paint shows up.Forks wheels,trans oiltank etc all ready to bolt up,scored old set of zed bars from early 70s,too wide so chopped the middle out,slotted doherty levers to fit hd cables,nice 1922 generator tag riveted on(only place it says hd on the bike!),got some old classic grips from Japan,set of redone flanders risers on a shiney inline set of knuck springers,21", stock springer brake.Wanted really shiney front end.Nuthin on this one that doesnt contribute to forward motion! Just going through motor now,and need to work out what to paint on tank! Think its fair to say it wont be an eagle or the stars and stripes,might be red though! Will get some stuff off to you,cant promise when though,life is hectic right now,you know how it is,i got this giant list of things to do,and i gotta mark em off one at a time,trouble is people keep adding new ones.

Take it easy Pete(the swarf monkey!)

I heart Sporties

2011-05-02T22:16:00.000+12:00

Mike is getting stuck into his latest frame up build and I don't know where the Ironhead pic canme from but I could find a place for it in my shed.

Easter

2011-04-24T17:15:00.000+12:00

Eventually, back in the shed. Had some great ideas for a headlight bracket for the Grinderfest Evo but my Mig welder didn't want to cooperate. Just like flicking metal snot about. Couldn't manage to get it set up right so I've given up for the day. Back into it again tomorrow.

Random

2011-04-06T22:27:00.000+12:00

South Park vs Sons of Anarchy

2011-04-03T19:03:00.001+12:00

Today was a good day

2011-04-03T18:20:00.000+12:00

Had a quick blast into town on the Motard this morning and called into Shed 5 for a coffee. Seriously cool F1 Ducati full of custom parts, including a Buell fairing and a very trick race care style exhaust. Apparenty it had been built to race in BEARS but the buy changed his mind and sold it. The new owner is wrapped.
Riding up Posonby behind some typical HOG guys. A stock Night Rod and a quite nicely painted Deuce with apes. Got bored sitting behind them so I passed them at the first set of lights. They didn't like the lack of respect from the little 400cc chook chaser. Next set of lights and the Night Rodder did all the reving and false start crap. Really reminded me of the South Park F Word episode. Light finally changed and I nailed the little Suzuki and sat right beside them up to the next set of lights. The Night Rod managed to get round the corner onto K Road (appropriate location) while the guy on the Deuce had to sit there in embarassment waiting for the light to change again. I bet they'll be pissed off all day. I know I get that way when a scooter or a moped passes me in town. So pointless.....
Anyway, nice sunny day and when I got back I finally fitted the spare springer on my Grinderfest bike. Its starting to come together. Still a bit too generic for me so I'm off trawling the net for inspiration, like a new seat at least. Then a few glasses of wine and a relax. Can't beat Sundays.

Grinderfest Inspiration

2011-03-31T15:38:00.000+13:00

Baggas....

2011-03-31T15:19:00.002+13:00

Grinderfest Flyer

2011-03-30T21:21:00.000+13:00

Anybody out there handy with a set of crayons? We need a flyer for Grinderfest. I should have done one months but I'm a slack bastard. Well known fact. Anyone fancy running something up. Give me a shout on irishjon@greasemonkeys.co.nz
Might be a beer in it :-)

Progress on my Grinderfest bike

2011-03-30T21:03:00.000+13:00

Opps - I lost the mail

2011-03-29T21:28:00.002+13:00

Hey guys, Damien and Chris. I have been having mail problems and I accidently deleted your latest Grinderfest pictures. Can you send them through again?
Ta.

Hot Rod Blowout - Pictures

2011-03-29T14:18:00.000+13:00

Hot Rod Blowout - Wet Weekend

2011-03-28T21:13:00.000+13:00

Great weekend. Woody and Debs came up from Wellington for the weekend. The weather looks horrible on Friday but after a few beers on Friday night we decided that it would be totally gay not to ride to the Beach Hop on Saturday. Started out with a visit to Shed 5 for breakfast. Still lots of interesting bikes and cars hanging around after the auction. Woody took about a million pictures of the Dan Gurney Indy car's suspension setup, then we went home to pick up the bikes. It looked like it was going to clear up when we got out of Auckland but by the time we were heading into the Coromandel it was hosing it down. As we headed up into the mountains it got worse. We thought that it would get better when we started to come down through the cloud layer but no. Started to rain sideways and the waterproofs didn't seem very waterproof at all.
We arrived in one piece and pulled up with all the bikes that were being judged for a show prize. As i climbed off the Sportster I was asked where the number were so people could vote for us. I explained that we were only there for a beer and the man said it was a pity. Cool.
Caught up quickly with Pete and Rusty, who had just arrived, then headed straight to the pub. It had taken about three hours to get there and it was around 3 o'clock but there was still a load of people and cars around. The Beach Hop is a big 50's rock and classic car festival and is hugely popular. I normally spend at least a day checking out the cars and bikes but we were pretty wasted, wet and thirsty so all we managed to do was stand around in the pub and look out at the cars passing in the street. Still pretty cool. After 5 or 6 beers we though it was probably best to head out into the rain that had been getting steadily worse. I wanted to get through the mountains before dark. The windy mountain roads were seriously slippy. I lost the back end about 4 times and Woody and Debs ran straight through one corner. Luckily there was a run off area on the far side of the road. They went down and the twin cam springer landed on Debs leg. No damage to my bike but Debs leg was a little the worse for wear. Some kind soul stopped and helped them pick the bike up before I came back to find them. After that the ride home was pretty uneventful but we were all knackered when we got back to Auckland.
Sunday was looking much better so we headed off for the massive 10 minute ride to the speedway were the Scroungers hot rod club were holding their annual Blowout. I love this show. Its all about real rods that are driven hard. Despite the huge popularity of this event the Scroungers are very particular about who is in their club. There are only 17 members (I think) and every year they vote on making someone who is famous in the industry or the drag racing world, as an associate member of the club. Kind of like being voted into the hall of fame. Most of the weekend riders stayed at home out of the rain but there was a good mixture of Grease Monkey and Rattlers bikes that seemed to go down really well with the rodders. Barry and a mate turned up on a couple of seriously made over baggers. One wheel could probably have paid for three of our bikes but they were very tastefully done and I could have found room for either one in my shed.
All in all, a brilliant day with no attitudes, cheap entry fee, cheap beer and cool machinery. Hop we get more people there next year. And I hope Byron made it home on the cools little SR with the swing arm bolt winding its way loose every time he twisted the throttle. Magic....
Pictures in next post

Motorcycle Auction

2011-03-23T16:30:00.001+13:00

I'd never been to an auction before so I didn't know what to expect. Turned out to be a beautiful hot afternoon. Doug had three bars set up in and around Shed 5 so I got tore into the Corona's. The place was packed and it made the shed very sweaty. There was also a fasion show going on in one of the big rooms at the back. Made for an interesting mix of people.
Most bikes I had seen in the car park since the place opened as Deus. I didn't have my camera of course but trust me, the place was going off.
Good to catch up with Doug. The workshop is going great guns. Three more of the W650 softail bobbers are being built (although one may have an old Triumph mill). We were expecting the new frames to be the cheap version but all the buyers wanted the cool and expensive CNC elbow joints. There are also a number of Twister replicas (Dave framed Hinkley Triumphs) being built. Some for serious collectors and at least one for the Auckland streets.
I should have bought my credit card as most auctions ended up a lot cheaper than expected. I felt sorry for the guy selling the Chief and the Knuckle. The Knuck went for $40,000. Last auction, a couple of Pans went for $55,000 and they were nowhere near as nice as this boy.

Webb's Auction

2011-03-22T16:40:00.000+13:00

Off to Shed 5 after work to have a beer and see rich people paying loads of money for new/old toys. Some of the kit is very nice, especially the older Ferrarri, the Knuck and the 37 Indian Chief but I certainly don't have the money to spend there. I did fancy some of the old tin garage signs but they were all over priced as well. I used to build minis and there are two here but they are full of rust and not worth bothereing with unless you like throwing money away.
I did like this, however. Again I wouldn't pay $14,000 to $16,000 for a motor when I could get a new one for less from Paughco and there's a 47 Panhead on Trademe for $18,00 and a very tasty Shovel for about $15,000 but it looks very cool in its box.

Drak's Back

2011-03-17T08:04:00.000+13:00

Byron (AKA Drakulina) got bored with his Sportster so he decided to try out an SR. This is the result. Its taken a while for Japanese style SR's to catch on but now there's four non-Deus SRs among peole I know. Hope it keeps going. This bike is excellent anyway. Metalflake tank by Ben (West End Roptangs).

Grinderfest - Latest

2011-03-15T22:02:00.000+13:00

Grinderfest has officially taken off. Two more of the Grease Monkeys crew have registered their builds. Cam and Mike are both doing the hard yards by building everything themselves, including the frames.

Mike's frame gets underway

Cam's found an engine for his already

and found a use for that pipe bender

and sorted out some neat axle plate holders.

Now if I can only drag myself down to the shed and finish building that 16" front wheel I can get back in the game. I'm starting to get all excited again....

What its all about.

2011-03-10T22:17:00.002+13:00

What its all about,

Stolen from 8Negro Blog.
I know this is an ad for a bank but for me this is what its all about. I have been getting really discouraged lately with people only being interested in building stuff in their sheds and never intending to get those truly magic pieces of machinery out on the road. Tonight after work I went to the pub with people off my project in work and talked about all sorts of things we had done all round the world. Then I rode Sara's old Sportster home through the light traffic and warm end of summer air. It was an absolute blast. Riding too fast and pissing off cars. Riding bikes is good. Riding bikes you make or modify yourself is excellent. The road is always out there. Get on it while you can.

Summer in New Zealand

2011-03-03T21:54:00.000+13:00

Picked up Timmy and had a play with the traffic on the way home. Hot and sweaty all day so it was very nice to get out in the breeze. Lane splitting rules.

Taking a couple of bikes down to Shed 5 on Sunday to check out the cars. Think of it as a warm up for the Beach Hop. Looks like Pete is organizing a house down at the hop so I'll stay there on the Friday night and then head back to Auckland to meet up with the Monkeys at the Scroungers Hot Rod Bash on the Sunday. Summer in New Zealand. Couldn't beat it.

Timmy!!!!!

2011-03-02T20:35:00.000+13:00

Picking up Timmy the super motard tomorrow. I'm absolutely loving riding over the last few months but summer's over and I don't want to leave any of the old bikes sitting out on the street in the rain all week so I decided to get a heap to use as a daily commuter. Checked out all the options for making it go fast. Pretty cheap to get the big bore kit, race pipe and carb conversion. Might even have a run at the street races next year. May have to hang the little SR cafe racer from the roof so I can get the new one into my garage though. Brilliant.........

Grinderfest - New Class

2011-02-28T21:01:00.000+13:00

So I got so much stick from everyone about putting deadlines on for building a custom bike in 6 months we have had to come up with another class.

Class 1 - is still for home built or modified bikes (more hand-made than bolt on please) that must be able to be started and tick over. They don't have to be legal. We are trying to get people interested in custom bikes; not in construction and use laws. Nice if we can actually get out on the road some time without hiding every time we see a cop car...........

Class 2 - is for works in progress. No specification on how far in progress it has to be but it at least has to demonstrate some cool design or fabrication skills.

As with all the entries, there will be some sort of judgement from the Grease Monkey Forum on which entries get to the show in September (due to lack of space if nothing else). Bikes that can't make it to Auckland in September (because people do live in other towns and all the cool old Brit bikes seem to live on the mainland) will be voted on for the pictures and write-ups the owner send in to the Grinderfest Blog.
Remember to send those pics and descriptions to me at irishjon@greasemonkeys.co.nz

Stolen pictures

2011-02-25T21:50:00.001+13:00

I have been getting seriously interested in dirt bikes again. Cool ones anyway. I missed out on that basket case Bonnie but I did manage to get myself a 2005 Suzuki Motard today.
Then I saw these pics on the Rocket Garage Blog so now I have more ideas on what to do with that unsold Sporty. I also got a mail from artist and pinstriping start Damien Kurth to tell me Damien and his brother are putting something together for Grinderfest. I love it when inspiring things turn up.

Lord of the Piston Rings

2011-02-21T22:52:00.000+13:00

Forget all that crap about elves and short arsed hobbits. This is why you should come to New Zealand. Its years since I did my annual pissed up run to the Carrowdore 100 back in N. Ireland for the first street race of the year. Over here the Kiwis put their own style on everything they do. Just Google Targa racing and rallying to see what I mean. These guys would race tea trolleys if they thought it would be good craic.

Yesterday was my first time at the Paeroa Battle of the Streets and it was an absolute blast. The sun was hot and the ride down from Auckland, playing chicken with the prat in the GTR Skyline and avoiding the traffic cops was brilliant.

The first time I had seen Motard racing in the flesh and now I have to have a go at it. Locking up the brakes 50 yards from the corner after tearing down the main street flat out and then drifting round the tight right hand bend looked so good. Only one guy slid off and he got back up, kicked the bike over and got straight back into it.

The most impressive, however, was the guy with only one arm, sliding into the corners just like all the rest. Legend.

There were rumors about a guy who drives his stock Softail up from Tauranga to race every year but this year he didn't make it.

Andrew Stroud was a big crowd pleaser, stopping the Britten on the hairpin to burn donuts. How good is it having a bar at either end of main street where you could drink beer and watch racing standing on a balcony, or sitting inside in the shade with open windows looking out directly at one of the fastest corners?

Perfect place to park up the bikes while you take in the action. No attitudes, just having a good time in the sun. James' skinny Ironhead and a stunning Rocket 3.

Triumph in a Honda Shadow frame. I was told that this bike won best custom at last week’s Triumph Owners club run.

Doug from Shed 5 giving his seriously fast T150 a work out.

Doug and Dave putting Twister away. Started out running really strong but developed a bottom end problem and they decided not to break it.

My Thruxton even found a twin on the way home. Three hundred Kms on the bike and an excellent day out

Racing again

2011-02-17T21:43:00.000+13:00

When I lived in Ireland it was all about racing but I've hardly been to a race since I left there. After going to see the classic racing a couple of weeks ago I've remembered why I likes it so much.
Doug at Shed 5 in Auckland is gearing up for the launch of his custom speed shop, along with his version of the Ace Cafe (at least the bar part) so its all looking good for this winter.
I missed out on a basket case 71 Triumph Bonneville this week. I was following the auction while sitting in a boring meeting in work but my phone doesn't have a back button on the browser and some girl won the auction by bidding an extra 98 cents, just as it was closing. Seriously pissed off. That was going to be my speed shop project. Anyway, I'm off to the street racing this weekend. Should be just like back home. Hopefully there will be at least some home built bikes around.

Things you do when there's nothing on TV.

2011-02-13T22:40:00.002+13:00

Sons of Kapok and their glorious leader Henry Cooper the Battle Hamster on his 36 Knuckle.

Interesting facts - Hamsters are a noxious pests in New Zealand and are not sold in pet stores, hence the Zhu Zhu version with his Stella Artois helmet.

The bear is little Billy from Scotland. He drinks and is prone to violence.

Humphrey, on the other hand, is everybodies friend.

More Classics

2011-02-13T21:00:00.002+13:00

Trying to buy a 71 Bonnie basket case. No idea what I'm going to do with it yet or where I'm going to fit it in with all the other half finished projects but I'm really stoked about it. on the positive side, I did manage to finish the model Jeep I started a year ago. Now I'm on a roll.
Off to the street racing next week. Just like back in N Ireland. Until then, here's some more from last weekend.

Pukekohe Classic Festival

2011-02-07T23:02:00.001+13:00

Who owns this?

2011-02-06T22:34:00.000+13:00

Nearly missed this at the track at Pukekohe today. We had all walked past it a few times an ignored it, thinking it was just another scruffy Street Bob. This looks like its had a lot of work done. First Pan I've seen that had an alternator in the left case. If anyone knows who owns it I'd be interested in hearing more about it.

Indian Fours at the Classic Bike Racing Festival

2011-02-06T22:15:00.001+13:00

Best display at the Classic Bike Racing today

Grease Monkey Build Off

2011-01-24T21:58:00.000+13:00

We have just started to kick around the idea of a garage bike build off. This was inspired by the recent build off competition that Deus had in Sydney and the cool little Honda that won it. We have been looking for different ways of getting New Zealand into home built custom bikes and the ida of a competition to give some of the many project builders that we know about and those we don't, the incentive to get back into their sheds and finish those builds.
I'm particularly guilty of having half completed projects cluttering up my shed for years at a time and I know a lot of people who are in the same boat. We will only get the motorcycling public in New Zealand interested in our type of bikes if they see them all together and see how much fun we get out of these heaps and how many interesting and varied people are into this scene. Of course we need to get crowds of our type of bikes out on the road but that won't happen when we're still tripping over piles of parts and collections of rusted pipes.
The Grease Monkeys are putting their collective heads together to come up with what passes as rules. Basically we want to ensure that entries are home built bikes; not V-Rods with ape hangers and drag pipes. We don't expect to have many people start brand new projects (given that we want to schedule the event for around the time of the Rugby World Cup towards the end of September) but we will expect at least a photographic history of the bike from its humble beginnings to the finished masterpiece.
I will be creating a separate web site for the build off (we need a better name for it) and we will follow the various projects up until the show. Its all a bit sketchy now buts its starting to come together.
More details coming soon.

pan start

2011-01-16T21:56:00.000+13:00

Paul winning the "Be a Man. Start a Pan" contest at Kumeu. Pity he forgot about the $2 entry fee so I get to keep the bike. Now if I can only get it to run every time, I can get it registered.

cars at Kumeu 5

2011-01-16T20:33:00.000+13:00

cars at Kumeu 4

2011-01-16T20:31:00.001+13:00

Cars at Kumeu 3

2011-01-16T20:25:00.000+13:00

Cars at Kumeu 2

2011-01-16T20:22:00.000+13:00

Cars at Kumeu 1

2011-01-16T20:17:00.000+13:00

Bikes at Kumeu

2011-01-16T14:40:00.000+13:00

Hey Hey We're the Monkeys - at Kumeu

2011-01-16T14:24:00.006+13:00

Sara, Pete and I rode out early Friday evening and set up camp in the quiet section of the Kumeu Showgrounds and started to have a look at the swap meet sites. I was surprised at the number of people already there. Looks like a lot of people make this event part of their family holidays. The atmosphere was very laid back and friendly and I think that Friday night camping is definitely the way to go.

Got a call from Shaun and his crew who had just arrived from Palmy and went out to meet them at the gate. Shaun offered to pick my Pan up in his trailer so we headed off the get the bike before the gates closed for the night. Loads of beer and good conversation later we had decided to have a competition on Saturday. "Be a man. Start a Pan".
Jody had his Hookers Kustom Rides stand set up and he managed to score a ride on one of the mint vintage John Deeres just before it got dark. Seriously happy man.

Paul eventually fired it up after the correct number of beers, kicks and throttle positioning.

Great weekend guys. Now Gerald is going to build me an aluminium tank and seat for my Thruxton and we are arranging to have a ride to Taupo so that everyone can meet up later in the summer. Thanks everyone.

Garage tidy up.

2011-01-09T20:55:00.001+13:00

Got totally fed up with no room to move in the garage so I moved stuff around so that I could get the Flyrite and its bench out into the workshop. I'd already moved the S&S Evo into the garage during the week. There was only me and Sara to shift stuff around and no brakes on the Sporty so it was a bit of a nightmare. Usual load of swearing from me of course. Luckily I had the crane in the workshop and despite the lack of space we managed to get the Sporty up on the bench. This bugger is seriously low. I think its around 2.5 inches of ground clearance. May end up being an ornament instead of a road bike unless someone can convince me that its still rideable. Might put longer forks in and see how that goes.
At least I can get to walk round the bikes left in the garage. Did I say that I was considering chopping the 04 Sporty in for an Ultra Bagger? Wonder if that'll fit.

I also got a quote for $350 to hire a pickup for 3 days so taking all the bikes to Kumeu this year is looking unlikely, seeing as how I'm broke as usual. Never mind. I have a new cunning plan for a bike show/buildoff thing in September, around the start of the Rugby World Cup. Stay tuned.

Kumeu 2011

2011-01-06T14:48:00.000+13:00

The Kumeu Classic Car and Hot Rod Show is something of a big deal, particularly round here in West Auckland. Seems that its some sort of a law that everyone here has to own at least one classic American car or hot rod. To me that's the best thing about summer, seeing all the cool cars out on the road.
The bike scene is big in NZ but the numbers of old custom bikes that you see actually being ridden is still very small. That is beginning to change slowly and hopefully it all takes off before I get too old to ride.
I have been going to Kumeu for a long time, ever since I got to NZ and have watched it grow from a few cars in a big shed and a fire outside in an old drum surrounded by men in big coats drinking beer.
The last few years it has been huge with thousands of cars. A large number of bikes always turn up but still not the sort I'm interested in. Too many skanky nearly stock Harleys and that Hog club attitude to customizing. Rene and the rest of the Rattlers brought their bikes last year and that was a great start to try and get people interested in something different. I had wanted to get the Grease Monkeys there this year to try and boost the numbers but as most of the guys are from Wellington and further South, that was a big ask at this time of year.
I have decided to truck as many of my half built projects out to the show grounds next Friday and stay for the weekend. At least that will give people an idea of what we are about. Hopefully Shaun is bringing his Panhead up from Palmy and a few of the other guys may drop by over the weekend. The Pete's are bound to camp for the weekend for the pleasure of drinking Lion Red in a field and hopefully nobody will buy another rusty car shell when they're pissed this year. I am lending Satan (SR400 cafe racer) to Andy cause he looks more authentic on it that I do. Its a quiff thing.
This week I have been rushing around trying to get everything into a state where they can at least stand up on their own. Usual amount of fuck ups along the way but I'm getting there. Sara has done a great job of putting up with my temper and impatience as usual.
Last thing to do is to put fluids in my Panhead tomorrow and see if I can get it running. Wish me luck and I'll see you all at the show.

History

2011-01-05T16:36:00.000+13:00

Bert sent me this. One of my old cards from hundreds of years ago. Funny seeing as I have spent all week painting bikes for myself. I wonder if this would pay better than that computer shit I normally do as a job?

Happy New Year

2010-12-31T17:53:00.000+13:00

Spent today rubbing down tanks and fenders. Starting the year with some new paint jobs.
Heading off on the Triumph tonight into the sunshine for a barbecue and jam session at Pete's to end the year right.
Hope this one has been good for y'all and next year is even better. 2011 is going to be all about getting cool home built bikes out on the street, and New Zealand wining the Rugby World Cup. I can't wait. Bring it on..
Happy New Year
Irishjon.

Today I are..........

2010-12-27T22:53:00.000+13:00

Mostly listening to Prog Rock and drinking Stella.
Did some work on the Evo, straightening out the rear fender and trying out a spare seat. Nearly burnt my thumb off. Maybe the Stella was a bad idea!! Tomorrow, its back to the Panhead. Then I'll finish the 16" wheel for the front of the Evo and put the old Harley springer front end on it. Busy holiday.

Last Day at Work

2010-12-23T09:11:00.000+13:00

Last day at work this year and I are mostly drinking Stella......
HAPPY CHRISTMAS FROM GREASE MONKEYS....SEE YOU AT KUMEU.

2010-12-16T17:10:00.000+13:00

Pics taken at Shed 5 Auckland by Sara

I Hate Wiring

2010-12-16T11:42:00.001+13:00

I have been messing about with this thing for weeks and I thought I had just about finished it last night. When I tried to fit the battery holder I found that the main wiring harness was on the wrong side of the frame tube. Bollocks!!

Too much hassle to disconnect everything and do it properly as this bike was meant be registered two weeks ago. It'll have to stay like this till next rebuild. And to think I used to wire things for a living all those years ago.

I started on this one even longer ago. Put on the original wiring harness and worked out where everything needed to go and then left it. This is back to the bottom of my to-do list.

All this one needs is the wiring for the spot light relay sorting and its been like that for over a year. Maybe I've got that ADHD, attention deficit for Harleys disorder.
Bugger it. This thing is on the road by New Year.

Shed 5 W650

2010-12-12T21:28:00.002+13:00

I got asked round to Shed 5 (ex Deus Auckland) to see the new W650 softail that Doug and Dave have been working on for the last couple of months. The boys have built up a serious aversion to the cookie cutter approach to building customs so everything on this bike was built from scratch. The joints between the frame tubes took 150 hours on a CNC machine to complete and this frame has been a labour of love for Dave. This frame can be adjusted in design for any motor and we are already talking about putting my Thruxton engine in one. That will be without the very expensive CNC parts but will be just as strong.
Despite the bobber styling and some very cool hardware, like the beautiful handlebar levers and remote master cylinder hidden under the chopped and channeled Triumph tank, this bike is going to be used as a farm bike by the very lucky owner. Very cool bike.

Pictures by Sara

Junior's Kustom Rides - Open Day 2010

2010-12-08T10:23:00.000+13:00

Woody got the Wellington and Palmy Crews together at the first open day at Junior's new facility last weekend. Sorry I missed it but I'll see all y'all at Kumeu.

Eurodave - Greasemonkeys Msainland Crew

2010-11-30T02:42:00.000+13:00

How's this for innovation? Not your average everyday cafe racer. Excellent job.

Brooklands

2010-11-18T21:17:00.000+13:00

From Pete in Trowbridge. Brookland Meseum.

I want this to go to work on.

Kaukapakapa - Sunday

2010-11-15T21:21:00.000+13:00

Pete brought little Elvis to his first car show

New Shirts - Coming Soon

2010-11-15T20:57:00.001+13:00

Another Dentist Bill - Something Else Must Go

2010-11-10T22:44:00.001+13:00

Dentist has just given me an estimate for the work I need done over the next year. I could have got a pretty decent Model A Roadster for the same price so now something else has to go. Bugger.

On the good side, I got out to play on the 04 Sporty today. Off the road for nearly three years and it goes like a scalded cat.

SR 400 For Sales

Another Pan Project

2010-11-08T21:52:00.000+13:00

Looks like everyone is building a cool Pan lately. Doug and Shaun are both working on theirs and mine is still lying ignored in a corner of the garage. Just got these pics from my mate back in Trowbridge in the UK to show the start of his latest Pan project. Pete has built a stack of these and he really knows what he's doing. I'm going to follow this one and see if I can get any tips for mine. The Blue bike is from Jokers in Sweden and is the inspriation for Pete's build.

Grease Monkeys

Born Too Late - People

Born Too Late

Kumeu 2012

Stolen Bike - More details

Stolen Bike

Introducing Tiddles

Brit Sunday in the Shed

Head Full of Snakes

Woody's back on the road

New Zealand Life

Puddles has landed

Puddles and Tiddles - (don't ask)

Progress

What Bike?

Vladivostok to Paris on old iron

Born with too much shit

End of Shed 5

Stuff to do

Go the All Blacks - and now, back to work

Grinderfest - We survived. Now, roll on next year.....

Grinderfest Rocks

Sporty Monday

You can nearly smell summer

Grinderfest - counting down

Pete's New Pan

Grinderfest - Final Dates

Speed Show - Auckland

Belfast Custom Show

Hot Rods at Shed 5

Milk Bar Cowboy

Born Too Late - The Cars

Born Too Late

**** Grinderfest Date Confirmed ****

Old Dog, New Tricks

Rubbish Weekend but Getting Better

Sunday - rebuild begins

Fight Back .......

Grinderfest - Counting Down

Riding September

Grinderfest getting ever closer

Carb Night

Go Fast....

Steve's Brother

Day Out

A few slight changes.

Seat Swapping

Inspiration while waiting for the pinter...

I heart Sporties

Easter

Random

South Park vs Sons of Anarchy

Today was a good day

Grinderfest Inspiration

Baggas....

Grinderfest Flyer

Progress on my Grinderfest bike

Opps - I lost the mail

Hot Rod Blowout - Pictures

Hot Rod Blowout - Wet Weekend

Motorcycle Auction

Webb's Auction

Drak's Back

Grinderfest - Latest

What its all about.

Summer in New Zealand

Timmy!!!!!

Grinderfest - New Class

Stolen pictures

Lord of the Piston Rings

Racing again

Things you do when there's nothing on TV.

More Classics

Pukekohe Classic Festival

Who owns this?

Indian Fours at the Classic Bike Racing Festival

Grease Monkey Build Off

pan start

cars at Kumeu 5

cars at Kumeu 4

Grinderfest Date Confirmed