
Wet-film shots with a 1950s Leica, 50mm lens and stitched together with Photoshop as a panorama, NSW 2011
The Charity Travelogue and more:
After the restoration, I planned to ride the finished Motorcycle on a Charity Bike Run through Australia, with or without an ‘escort’.
Since I have now relocated to the UK, things now look marginally different, of course!! I will still be doing a Charity run and any riders who wish to take part are very welcome (especially if on ‘appropriate’ machines), as long as they are sponsored! Joining and leaving along the way will be encouraged at specific locations, sponsorship pledge forms will be available on this site and certificates of mileage covered will have to be arranged as the project develops, as will the organisation of the ride as an event.
The first trip was originally planned from Adelaide to the east, along the south coast to Melbourne, up to Sydney and to the National Motorcycle Museum in NSW, with maybe a stop in Canberra along the way. The more the merrier, as all funds raised will go to a yet-to-be-announced Charity, Foundation or non-profit-making Organisation (suggestions encouraged).
I still expect something like a 3.000 km-ride each way… but the location will now be ‘Europe’ in a broader sense… Probably through France, Holland, Belgium, Germany and Poland, ending somewhere in the Ukraine… Not yet decided where, but it looks like being Vinnitsya.
Still looking a bit ambitious at the moment (especially in view of the fact that the bike is not yet finished, yet alone tried and tested!) and very much depending on support and the performance of the bike on the way ‘in’, the return journey might be up through Russia to St Petersburg and back along the northern coastal route to traverse as many countries as possible on the way back…
Apart from the raising of donations to the named Charity, the ride is intended to publicise the finished multimedia-book, some of the advertisers that have been attracted, like Museums along the way and parts suppliers Clubs etc., and to generally waken a few people to the sound and sight of these fabulous machines, which should never disappear from our hearts. There are, unfortunately, far too many young men, women and children who have never been exposed to the thrill of these bikes in the flesh, and I intend to do my bit to change the world, ‘one bike at a time’. Suggestions for stops and places that you may wish to have included along the way will be gratefully taken on board, as I shall be using the tour to take photographs (with a suitably vintage camera and wet-film, of course!) and to make a follow-up travelogue-style book, the proceeds from the sale of which will also go to the charity picked for the ride.
This process will repeat itself: The first bike being restored is a Velocette MSS mostly from 1948 as the chances of getting a push-rod engine repaired ‘in the wild’, should it be necessary…the second restoration I’m planning to do will probably be something from the late fifties with a swingarm and perhaps a bigger bike with more cylinders (Triumph T110?), the third I would like to do is a nineteen-twenties bike (BSA/AJS? Still not decided…)…each era presenting different challenges in the restoration, repair, running and obtaining parts for the bikes. After those books, there is still room for at least two more, one on the building/restoration of a classic ‘private’ Racer (Norton ES2/BSA B33/Ariel Red Hunter?) i.e. ‘affordable’, maybe a hill-climber… and another on building a pre-65 Trials bike (Ariel NH, BSA B40/Triumph Tiger Cub?). I also want to prove that it is fun, doesn’t have to cost a fortune, that anyone with a bit of interest in the subject can start to do it without too much by way of mechanical knowledge (yet!) and to help others to (re-)discover just how pleasurable an experience it can be to all and sundry!
Update on this is visible in the blog, I now have sold the rather lovely MAC and bought a ratty KSS Velocette in bits for the first restoration, which should be fun, and fitting the MSS engine to that!!
(Careful…☢CONTAGIOUS☢!)
© Peter Gouws, 2012
KA169/2 Pillion footrest rubbers
Proper rigid pillion footrests
What they look like is what you get: Correct footrest rubbers for the rigid Velocette MAC, MOV, MSS and KSS. They fit original parts using the original screws AND the patterns, too
Please let me know by email if you would like some/one of these or look for them on eBay!
Peter Gouws-
Blog Titles, Chronologically
- (S)lowly starting up again 16/11/2023
- Velocette KA169/2 Rear Footrest Rubbers for rigid frames 14/11/2023
- Little ’40s Myford 3 1/8″ ML2 01/01/2019
- Footrest/Kickstart Rubber B60/2 10/06/2014
- Brooklands day!! 23/03/2014
- Rigid Velocette Top Yokes for WEBB forks 03/03/2014
- Lycett type saddles etc. 25/02/2014
- Saved rigid MSS from Australia 01/01/2014
- Visit to Wayne… and a grumble 30/11/2013
- Relocation to the UK 10/10/2013
- GTP ‘Before and After’ Album 25/09/2013
- Rigid Velocette gearbox ‘field-strip’ 10/09/2013
- GTP all back together 01/09/2013
- Velocette Kickstart reassembly 01/09/2013
- GTP Drive-side completion 24/08/2013
- GTP Primary Chain Case re-assembly 23/08/2013
- GTP full gearbox strip-down 18/08/2013
- GTP Gearbox cure… 15/08/2013
- GTP and pre-War MOV single-plate clutch 13/08/2013
- GTP Gearbox-strip #1 10/08/2013
- Anyone for GTP? 01/08/2013
- Slight Change Of Plans! 25/07/2013
- Four-stroke cycle? Nearly! 11/06/2013
- Miller Regulator Cover and More! 04/06/2013
- Miller ‘Star’ Testimonials 26/05/2013
- When is a Switch worth a Swap? 24/05/2013
- The Waiting Game 02/04/2013
- First Production Looming 15/03/2013
- ‘Racing’ Oil Tank Anyone?? 14/03/2013
- Real Glass Miller Rear Lens? 08/03/2013
- First Stampings of the ‘Star’ 05/03/2013
- New 8″ Headlamp Brackets 18/02/2013
- Slow Wake-Up after Christmas 31/01/2013
- Summer Doldrums 23/12/2012
- 8-inch Miller Headlamp 12/12/2012
- Lucas Altette? (+ some Chrome) 07/12/2012
- Miller Rear Light Update 01/12/2012
- Going (not so) cheap 19/11/2012
- The Wheel Truth 06/11/2012
- Be-Spoke Wire-Wheel Lace-Up 28/10/2012
- Smith’s Face-Job 22/10/2012
- Bluemels Brake Plate 21/10/2012
- Webb Hub and Brake-Plate? 20/10/2012
- More Sorting Out 08/09/2012
- 1928 Model K Velocette 07/09/2012
- My Book is Published!! 24/08/2012
- Velocette Mudguards and Stays 18/08/2012
- Rear Wheel Alignment 17/08/2012
- Now Trading Officially! 20/07/2012
- A Quick 50W Update 16/07/2012
- My Startup News 16/07/2012
- Let There Be Light! 05/07/2012
- More Parts from the Painters 19/05/2012
- A Tale of Two Tanks 19/05/2012
- Split Cases? 30/04/2012
- It’s a Hercus!! 29/04/2012
- Buffed Ally Covers etc. 25/04/2012
- Trial Assembly of -10 Gearbox 25/04/2012
- Good or Bad Carbs+De-Chrome 09/04/2012
- Painted Parts and Other Things 08/04/2012
- A Leica-ly Story! 24/03/2012
- 8″ Miller HID-Conversion 17/03/2012
- Webb Bottom Links 28/02/2012
- Frame and Fork Prep 19/02/2012
- Paint Preparation 19/02/2012
- No, I haven’t bought a Honda! 16/02/2012
- 1:9 Scale Velocette Model 11/02/2012
- Second KSS Tank 07/02/2012
- More Gearbox 06/02/2012
- Box #2 05/02/2012
- Gearbox Time! 04/02/2012
- Even More (expensive) Rubbish 31/01/2012
- Quick look at my KSS 29/01/2012
- Two Boxes of Gear(s) 28/01/2012
- Engine OUT! 27/01/2012
- Head J.O.B / Fuel-Tank 22/01/2012
- My KSS arrives! 21/01/2012
- More Bits than Pieces 21/01/2012
- KSS Cylinder-Head & Gears 21/01/2012
- Matching Numbers? 09/01/2012
- MAC / Bike-Work-Bench 04/01/2012
- Change of course 22/12/2011
- Inventory of Needed MAC Parts 17/12/2011
- The Bike Has Come, the Walrus Said 16/12/2011
- Transport Paid and Ready To Go! 08/12/2011
- More photos of the MAC 08/12/2011
- I Finally Found a Bike! 07/12/2011
- Looking for a Project Object 01/12/2011
- The Journey to Bielefed, Germany 26/11/2011
- Bike Pick Up and the Way Home 25/11/2011
- 1956 Matchless G80S 25/11/2011
- How it SHOULD have started 23/11/2011
Tags
'Racing' parts 8" Headlamp 1939-1955 Bad Copy Classic Bikes Cleaning up Controls Doldrums Finishing Good Copy KSS LE Legal Requirements MAC Manufacture Matchless Miller Miller 36E misterpeter MOV MSS Mythology New Parts New Skills Old Skills Originality Original Parts Pattern parts Pile of bits Rear Light Repairs Replacement Parts Reproduction Horrors Rigid Rudge Stainless STOP Trial Reassembly Velocette Velocette GTP Vincent Vintage Bikes WEBB Wheel-Building ГТП коробкой передач