Do the Ton - CAFE RACERS What's in a name ?

Hey Hoof, I've been forgetting to ask you if you'd seen these... until now that is
These decals are all over the place down here, and have been for the past couple of years...

It's referring to fishing, and there are variations on the logo that express that, but I figured you'd get a kick out of it for the Flats.

Redbird. Are there any decals that say "Saltless life" We've been suffering for a couple of years now, Maybe this year!

Uuuhhh... like this maybe?

Redbird said:

It's referring to fishing, and there are variations on the logo that express that

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It used to refer to fishing. Now it's just an extension of Vineyard Vines and Browning.

Brodie said:

As the saying goes "It is more exciting to ride a slow bike fast, then a fast bike slow."

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Exactly this.
Add a dose of 'I built it my self' and you have the formula for a successful ride

deviant said:

It used to refer to fishing. Now it's just an extension of Vineyard Vines and Browning.

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If the cap has a hook in the bill it still does damn it!

Would love to but finances don't stretch that far. Maybe in a few years when house is paid off


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I have to agree. Its a hell of a long and expensive haul. Looking at the photos of Lake Gairdner the salt looks much the same and your salt looked great this year, Its easy for me to say bring it over. I'm only about 650 miles from Bonneville. The trip can be done in a day (if you are so inclined).

Putting it on my wish list or bucket list. Our salt was tremendous this year. The club put on a great event. A well oiled machine with plenty of runs. I had to leave a day early due to my bad leg. May have gone faster but always next year


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One machine that fits that catagory from the day - was an Ariel Golden Arrow [ 250 two stroke twin ].

A young guy turned up at the Lay-Bye with it one Friday evening and proceeded to give it beans up and down for 30 minutes or so - leaving the innevitable cloud of two stroke smoke accompanied by howls of laughter and derision from the regulars. He posted around 78 mph after he insisted he wanted to be "timed" for the Ton Up club badge. Then he dissapeared for several months.

When he returned the bike was transformed completely - lightened and Cafe Racered [ as much as the bodywork would allow ], but the important bit was the engine, complete with racing cans and unusually - fitted with a fairing. The noise level was incredible but he insisted he wanted to have another go at the TU club ........................... 103 mph 8),
'nuff said.

I got beaten by a replica shuttle worth snap on speed this year. But what a cool bike in my mind( some would not like it) your fairing story reminded me. Ajs 1927 500cc streamlined


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BC brought up an interesting point there. Way back then top speed was (for me at any rate) most important. Also, as BC can confirm, once you were outside populated areas there was no speed limit. Whenever I found a long straight piece of road I'd lay down o the tank and wring its neck. I went road racing but I always loved the straight bits where you could hit top speed. When I decided to come home I didn't want to continue road racing so I went land speed racing. Suited down to the ground.

The nice thing about LSR is you don't need a turbo'ed Hayabusa. Its more personal. Pick a class and try to go faster than all the other jokers (to steal a phrase). I've never been beaten by a Shuttleworth Snap but I would like to be able to brag that I was,

As an side to all this lsr chatter please look up a great guy I met this year, his team is " blindspeed" he has a website and probably a Facebook page.


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I remember Dan Parker, who is blind, ran at Bonneville a few years ago.

Dommie Dave dropped in on his way back to Cornwall on Friday - for a "few hours" ................................ left this morning [ Sunday ! ].

The usual reminiscing sessions and again he helped me with some joint memories for the "Last Roundup" Tale - coming along, albeit slowly.

We discussed this thread and he agreed with me about reaching the Ton back then - an aspiration to be highly regarded and not lightly achieved.

One particular rider and bike came up in our discussions - a 500cc Bullet. This was at a time when Enfields in general and Bullets in particular were not highly regarded as Cafe Racer material - and certainly not Ton Up machines !

There were my own Constellations of course - but they [ Constellations ] had an excellent reputation courtesy of their Thruxton Endurance performances - including my own ex Bob Mac / Ray Knight versions.

His first mods [ as MOST of the day ] were cosmetic - clip ons , rear sets the obligatory Goldie tank and silencer. A couple of flat out blinds up the Bye-Pass netted him a tad over 80 mph. And like the guy with the Arrow, he also disappeared from the scene for a few months. However this time we knew what he was up to ! He brought the cylinder head and bottom end round to me for porting fitting larger valves and blueprinting. We also scoured the Hepolite piston catalogues to find a suitable higher compression piston and eventually found one a couple of mm's larger in diameter. Yep, neither of us could remember what piston [ it WAS over 50 years ago! ] After careful balancing and assembly the engine was returned to him along with an Amal TT carb from one of my Goldies.

The final results [ including alloy rims and Goldie swept back exhaust ] gave him 105mph.

Was it worth it ? You bet...................... 8)

And now the essence of the topic ....... last weekend I was out and about [ car ] when I spotted a young lad disconsolately pushing his Cafe Racered something or other up the road - miles from any civilisation [ OK outside Stratford on Avon ].

That brought memories flooding back of the various "push homes" I did back in the early days [ NO mobiles or breakdown services then ].

I pulled over to see if I could be of any assistance - worse case scenario, throw it in the back of the Volvo estate and get him home. Turns out to be an "Ifan" - looks remakably like a Honda 'ish power unit. He'd gone down the obligatory "cosmetic " route [ as did 70% back in the day ] - clip ons, rear sets, race seat [ from a small Honda ] open megga, and a Goldie 5 gallon style tank.

It soon became obvious the problem was a loose wire on the electics side which had cut the engine completely.

The lad was around 17 and although enthusiastic, was still learning his craft. He had made a good job of the work he'd carried out - aided by the fact that he was at college and had access to various machinery and tools.

After we got the engine running I couldn't resist "testing" it out for him [ large lorry lay-bye. ] . I did follow him home [ only 10 miles ] to make sure he got back OK. His Mum was so grateful that she invited me in for a Coffee and some rather scrumptious home made Walnut cake. I spent a happy hour or so at his house chatting stuff over and giving him some tips for his project.

Yes, it will NEVER do the Ton - but it has set him on the path that we all trod as 16-17 year olds back in the day.

That little encounter probably did more for my current morale then any amount of pills and tests !! 8)

Such good deeds never go unnoticed. Reminds me of when I had the MX track at BEE always fixing the young guys bikes or offering up lapped tires or a little premix.

I hope this young man has you hooked again Beach 8)

Tune-A-Fish said:

Only $10,000 US Only

I bet someone has one for a better deal

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I hear the Jamaicans might. ;D

Anywhere in Warwickshire is a long way from civilisation.

I know the owner of Zero Error, he's an awesome dude and makes some amazing stuff. His bobsleds were at one time the best in the world.