Beachcomber's Tales from the day

Green199, Still leading it. Getting ready for the El Mirage dry lake season and I'll be at Bonneville this year (God willing and finances permitting). The sidecar topped 134 last year. This years target is 140.
 
Hoofhearted said:
Green199, Still leading it. Getting ready for the El Mirage dry lake season and I'll be at Bonneville this year (God willing and finances permitting). The sidecar topped 134 last year. This years target is 140.

Amen to that!

Would love to hear how you get on there when the time comes. :)
 
I'll let you know how I get on. Here's a short video from the 134 run last year. A friend from Denmark was over on vacation and shot it. Turn up the volume. I love the sound of singles!!

http://youtu.be/r5EBHbk3Ito
 
Hoofhearted said:
I'll let you know how I get on. Here's a short video from the 134 run last year. A friend from Denmark was over on vacation and shot it. Turn up the volume. I love the sound of singles!!

http://youtu.be/r5EBHbk3Ito

Must have played that at least a dozen times Hoof - any more ????? P L E A S E .

Anyway, there will be time for one more tale before I go off to Saxony to re-charge the system.

Another car orientated one I'm afraid ............... this one relating to a Car Show in Paris that we attended in the early 80's. Even that's over a quarter of a century ago !!!

Coming up in the next week .
 
BC Glad you liked it. The only other video I have is one that was shot in 2010 by one of the crew. I didn't know he was doing it. The first bike out is the late Willie Buchta on his 1000cc Harley sidecar. Listen to him wring it out! He knew how to put Harleys together, I don't know who was on the Honda. Then me. I had a problem with the clutch lifting cleanly. One of the plates was slightly warped but there was nothing I could do except gave it a few whacks with a hammer. The shifter was a very short throw and with the clutch drag I couldn't get it into first. So I had to leave in second. Never went so far in one gear without shifting!! It was still a 500 then. Ran 126 which was quite respectable. Only 3 mph short of Willie's liter Harley.


http://youtu.be/UwoRBeNkrTk
 
Well here as promised is the latest Tale.

There are a few more bike related tales, but that's the subject pretty well exhausted then. Not sure that the auto related Tales are right.

There's hundreds of biking anectdotes - but as I said, only a few more that would make an interesting full length tale. Maybe a few more will come back to me while on on my Saxony break in the next few weeks.


Beachcomber’s Tales from the Day
“How to close a Paris Car show down single handed” April 2013

The background to this tale brings us forward 20 years from my good old Café Racer days to a time when my day job involved designing and manufacturing replica Sports cars. There were just as many jolly japes, only this time involving four wheels.

I had struck up a good friendship with a French guy – Thierry – who had become a good customer in the late 70’s for rod and race parts. I knew him mainly from his attendance at UK Car shows and of course when he collected various body and engine kits from me.

At the time I ran a speed equipment shop in Birmingham [ “Muscle City” ], which complimented the Track T’s and other body kits we made. I had also struck a lifelong friendship with my pal AC from RAM who also ran a business making GRP bodies and kits. At this time neither of us offered replicas, although I had secured a couple of Cobra kits from Arntz [ via Keith Harvie at PAW ] and was busy designing a chassis. Adrian made my bodies for me – and in return, I supplied him with speed and rod equipment for his operation in the London area [ I was in the Midlands ].

The system worked well, and even when we both [ seperately ] got into manufacturing Cobra kits it was not seen as outright competition, more of a business liaison and he continued to make my bodies.

The bizzare part is that AC was not comfortable fronting car shows and dealing with the public, and on these occasions he would ask me to do this for him. Naturally this only worked when I wasn’t exhibiting in my own right. His interest was mainly the European shows – Essen, Frankfurt, Paris and Milan ………with a few 24 hr race attendances – Spa and Le-Mans specifically.

So when on one occasion Thierry came to collect some Track T bodies, we ended up discussing an upcoming show at the prestigious Paris Porte de Versailles show. We ended up chatting ‘til late and treated him [ !! ] to an English Fish and Chip supper. We had taken pity on him as he didn’t appear to have much spare cash and we guessed he was carrying out his business on a bit of a shoestring. We had been using the apartment above the shop to entertain our friend, and as we had plenty of spare bedrooms invited him to stay for the night and instead of driving home [ some 25 miles ] AND having had 3-4 bottles of wine, we also stayed. The accomodation was, let’s say a little spartan – but comfortable.

Normally when Mrs. B and I stayed overnight at the shop our 2 Dobermans used the bedroom [ and bed ! ] that we had offered young Thierry. When we went to wake him in the morning there he was with the Dobes lying all over him ! We thought that he wouldn’t mind and that he was probably pretty used to non luxury surroundings. He declared himself happy and had made good friends with the dogs. The next morning we discussed the Paris show in more detail and Thierry invited us to take one of the Cobra along on his stand to test out the French market.

The Paris show [ “Paris Retro” ] wasn’t really my cup of tea at the time, so I called AC to see if he wanted to do it. Yes – was the answer as long as I did it for him !

At that time we were staunch Francophiles and ANY excuse for a week or so in Paris [ especially all expenses paid ] was not to be passed on. Thierry asked me to round up 5 or 6 Rods to also go along to the French Club stand – again all expenses paid by the organisers. Eventually we managed to get 4 exceptional Rods to go, with the agreement from the organisers that all travel, hotel, fuel expenses would be met in full, plus a £150 attendance payment.

All went without a hitch leading up to the show – right up to the point where we had to use a fork lift truck and a pile of pallets to get a 27T Roadster off the back of a fixed bed lorry ! The car was put on the back in the UK courtesy of a garage lift being raised to the height of the flatbed and simply driven on. They reasoned that they would do the same thing when they got to Paris – wroooong. Anyway, we got the car off without any visible damage and got everyone into the show without problem. As usual with Paris car shows this one was a 10 day affair taking in 2 weekends..

Initially the show was well attended and all the Brit cars [ and the Cobra ] were well received. One of Thierry's displays was a Convertible Citroen 11CV they had built [ from a saloon shell ] for former racing driver Jean-Pierre Beltoise - and he was due to collect it after the show. He was so impressed with the Cobra, that he ordered one to be built in LHD for his own use. Many years later this car was to be the catalyst for the RAM / Bardahl Trophy races.

Anyway – all went well until about mid-week, when the Brits had realised that their hotel expenses were not being paid – additionally the travel expenses that had been agreed to have been paid by the first Monday – hadn’t. Alarm bells started ringing and as the best [ ??] French speaker there I was asked to represent them along with my pal Thierry – who WAS the best French speaker there !

It soon became clear that attendance had not been what the organisors expected and was going to fall well short of meeting all the expenses, show costs, etc. – never mind what had been promised to myself and my fellow Brits. By the Wednesday things had reached the stage where most of the exhibitors who had been promised expenses were beginning to realise it wasn’t going to happen.

I confronted the organisers in their private offices, where they admitted the shortfall and said that only a handful of people might get paid. “That’s great – we ARE that handful – get the cash out”. Anyway they got the message and we duly received ALL our expenses and payments to the detriment of most of the other French exhibitors.

Our Hotel owner had taken matters into his own hands and come along to get his money direct from the organisers – and they paid us as well for the Hotel costs !

By this time there was serious mutterings amongst the French exhibitors who were beginning to realise they were going to get the shaft, and several of the smaller stands [ juke boxes, scooters, clothing ] were starting to pack up and leave.

All the feelgood atmosphere had evaporated by this time and none of us wanted to be there any longer than necessary. Thierry had the biggest problem as he was located 100kms or so south of Paris [ Auxerre ] and had no way of getting his stuff back without calling in his drivers – which meant the next day.

Screw that – we started dismantling the stand and called J-P Beltoise to come and collect the 11CV and decided that although we should have been heading North to the ferry port, we decided to stop and help Thierry get all his stuff back home. So if we drove the Cobra and Thierry’s Citroen C4 Woody [ Model A lookalike ] we could use the trailers to transport the stand and show material - sorted. As soon as the others saw this they all joined in and within an hour there was mayhem with cars and stands pulling out.

Thierry put a call in to his folks to let them know we’d all be staying over for a few days, then we planned to catch our pre-booked ferry on the Monday morning.

Now then – bear in mind what’s been said about the assumption that Thierry was a bit of an impoverished Rodder – imagine our surprise when we eventually got to Auxerre and found ourselves driving out into the countryside, rather than some grotty town apartment.

Even more surprise when we turned into a driveway that would have done a Stately Home proud – in fact it WAS a Stately Home – or to be more precise a GBFO Chateau !!!

Thierry then peeled off the main drive into a wooded area where there were several more modest single storey buildings – “Ah that’s where he must live “.

But hold on – the cars and trailers were parked up and we took a secluded wooded walk of about ¼ mile which opened out into a huge gravelled and fountained area flanked on 3 sides by the Chateau.

“Ah I did tell you I lived with my parents, didn’t I ?” Well yes you did, but this wasn’t what we had in mind. Our thoughts went back to the night above the shop with the Fish and Chip supper and the Dobes sharing his bed !

By now it was 3 am. And we didn’t want to rouse the household, so Thierry said we would spend the night in his “apartment” – that was one of the 3 wings of the Chateau – albeit one of the two lesser wings.

The following morning we were woken and summoned to the main wing of the Chateau where the most sumptuous of breakfasts awaited us.

It transpired that his father was the French equivalent of Wimpy or McAlpine [ huge construction engineering companies ] who had the main contract for repairing and laying French autoroutes [ Motorways ].

His Mother fell in love with our Daughter Holly who was only 3 at the time and insisted that we spend the rest of our stay in the “Crystal Suite”. This was a four roomed suite in which every room sported expensive crystal chandeliers and lights. The whole place was loaded with very expensive antiques and artifacts – and they seemed completely oblivious as Holly played with and got chocolate over some very expensive looking dolls.

Holly was given one of the dolls that we later discovered was genuine 18th century and from the Royal court in France - and NO I haven’t weighed it in for bike parts.

The trip back was a bit of an anti-climax after the high adrenaline of the previous week – but one never to be forgotten and I learned a useful life tip – not to pre-judge a person by their looks and demeanour !!!
 
If this is how you intend to keep spacing out the bike tales, you'll hear no complaint from me, BC. Good yarn as always.
 
That's it then folks - off to Reichenau for a week or so.

I'll be back fully recharged and ready to get stuck in to the projects, hopefully to see some meaningful progress !!! ;)
 
Ha, great read. Enjoy your holiday and can't wait to see what gets done to the various 2 wheeled mechanations when you have fully charged batteries.
 
While I was chilling in Saxony a few more bike related tales floated into my head - like I said before, most are small anecdotes not worthy of a full tale.

However, one Tale came to mind when 5 of us set off from Dagenham [ London 'ish ] for a week in sunny Cornwall. Rather, the tale centres around the events on the return journey.

" Five for Sunny Cornwall" [ apologies to Enid Blyton ] in the next 4-5 weeks
 
beachcomber said:
While I was chilling in Saxony a few more bike related tales floated into my head - like I said before, most are small anecdotes not worthy of a full tale.

However, one Tale came to mind when 5 of us set off from Dagenham [ London 'ish ] for a week in sunny Cornwall. Rather, the tale centres around the events on the return journey.

" Five for Sunny Cornwall" [ apologies to Enid Blyton ] in the next 4-5 weeks

As a Cornishman myself, looking forward to this one Beach!
 
Gentlemen,

it is with deep regret that I have to inform you that the "Tales" will be a little slow in coming [ still coming though ], and additionally some of my projects have to be culled.

I returned from Saxony with what I thought was a severe cold / chest infection - so bad [ after 2 weeks ] that I had to visit my GP.

"Do you want the good news or the bad news young Beachcomber", quoth the Doctor.

"The good news is that you can survive with one kidney" ;D

"The bad news is that the degeneration of your kidneys has recurred and you have lost 40% 'ish efficiency of one, but the other is now starting to decline". :'(

This kidney problem has been dormant for so long now I'd forgotten all about it - keep taking the pills and all that. ::)

The GOOD news is that the new medication is starting to take effect immediately and the doctor is quite confident that the degeneration can be halted.

Just thought I'd let you guys know before someone gets on my case about lack of Tales, or what's happened to the projects.
 
Hope the problem clears up BC. If there is any problems we'll join you in a few verses of that great Rolf Harris song "Who's got Sidney's Kidney/" and that should cure the problem. "Ooohhhhhhh Who's got Sineys kidney? He said we could 'ave it didn't he."
 
BC, I had that same chat a few years ago, except that my kidneys were fine apart from a large tumor on one that was pressing on other organs. One came out and I'm still here so far. That reminds me. Time to drink some more water. Be kind to your kidneys.
 
Thanx for the kind thoughts gents .................. that IS the real PISSER, having to drink so much water !!!! ;D
 
And if you are a heavy drinker and use lots of salt, your life is about to change. Low(er) salt gives your kidneys and heart a rest and booze dehydrates you and makes the kidneys work harder, so take it easy. You don't have to change to a rabbit food and water diet, just give some of your organs an easier time. And get used to visiting the mens room often.
 
Re: Re: Beachcomber's Tales from the day

beachcomber said:
...I returned from Saxony with what I thought was a severe cold / chest infection...

Fuckin' mechanics, always so sure it's a carburetor problem and not an exhaust issue. :)

Get well, BC, or we'll have to admit to our own madcap experiences.
 
Ive been lurking and enjoying this thread for some time now, Mann would I love to sit at the bar and listen..... Best wishes to you SIR!
 
Sitrep ...................... the degradation in both kidney's has now been halted - again ! ::)

Still feeling lousy, but in a positive way, if y'know what I mean. ;D

However, this second scare [ in 4 years ] has served to focus my attention on getting a few things sorted out before it's too late. :'(

None of this in a morbid way - just a desire to finish things off and ENJOY before any more health issues, old age [ older in my case ] takes over.

Here's a little life tip for all you 30, 40, 50, 60 year old youngsters .........................don't think you will live forever - get as much done as you can, while you can and enjoy life to the hilt. 8)

I feel a Tale coming on ................................... "Five for Sunny Cornwall" [ with apologies to Enid Blyton ]

give me a week or two chaps. ;D
 
Hope you heal well BC.

I think Colin Chapman's advice, "Simplificate and add lightness", works as well in life as race mechanics. ;)
Keep the "stuff" that really matters, and cut the rest. Make the most of the time you have. 8)
 
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