The Koalas in our garden are still sleeping, though!

Down here in South Australia, it has been difficult to get anything done (by anyone else, that is!) since about the end of October…all the run up to Christmas was a chore, everyone is ‘flat out like a lizard drinking’ to get all the orders out of the door (i.e.paid for) by Christmas, and so nobody was taking on any new work. Very frustrating, as I have good deal of new patterns (some already distributed to those who promised to do them for me beFORE Christmas) and still no ‘land in sight’.

Only in the last week, did the industry start, sluggishly and reluctantly (“nothing ever happens until March anyway”) to wake up again, and is now, even more reluctantly, having to catch up with all those annoying emails and messages left on the phone to answer. Ah well! And they wonder why the economy is suffering, when a whole financial quarter-year goes down the gutter.

Yes, we also had a few days over 40˚C here, but on the whole, it’s been OK, and now everyone is bitching because of the rain that we’ve been waiting for since three months, has finally come. My God, it’s been below 30˚C for nearly a whole WEEK now! When is on earth is this going to END?

Well, just as Australia comes back online after a virtual, if not actual, absence of three months… the Chinese are going to take their yearly break for their New Year, for a hard-and-heavy TWO WEEKS. Yep, a WHOLE two weeks. All at once!

Food for thought, perhaps, or are we all just a little bit too complacent about the health of the Australian Economy?

I have been busy, in the meantime (no complacency or finger-pointing intended – ). Of necessity, I have not been able to work from my workshop, but have been in a more ‘sterile’ environment, up in the hills behind Adelaide; in Hahndorf, to be precise.

Changes in family fortunes and situation have dictated that I be here to keep an eye on a few things, and so I have been relegated to the computer and telephone to conduct business with and plan or finalise plans, drawings and production of sorts. This has meant that items that would have come later as ‘supporting acts’ have temporarily swapped positions with other ongoing projects to become ‘leading rôles’.

And so, the ‘Star’ pressing for the Miller rear light has taken on the pole position for this month! (there follows an unashamed ‘plug’ of the product I am making, using what I believe is termed ‘comparative’ advertising:)

All the more interesting when sometime at the middle of this month, I saw this item being offered on eBay from another foreign country, entitled:
VELOCETTE LE LUCAS MILLER TAIL LIGHT LAMP BEZEL REPRODUCTION CHROME RARE

Very interesting!

Even more interesting is that, over the last few months, the incidence of ‘hits’ on this website and blog from said foreign land have been increasing, and they have obviously taken ‘some note’ of what had been reported, especially in my blog midway through November, as some of you may remember.

Surprising is that the complete ‘STOP’ lamp, as presently made there and shipped to Vincent owners (and presumably Velocette owners, too) goes for a ‘street price’ of around £15, and for this sole item, the asking price at present is an unbelievably ‘speculative’ £28, PLUS a whopping £18 postage and packing. That’s even more than the complete EMGO, product alternative on the market!

A closer look at the inside shot of the product makes me wonder if this is a steel pressing, or moulded in some ‘rust-proof’ (synthetic) material. Perhaps someone could comment, if they have already been tempted to buy one already? I would be interested to know for sure. I also must concede that this might possibly be a shot of a rapid-prototype of the as-yet (at the time the photograph was taken) unavailable ‘retail’ item.

The parts which I shall have ready at the end of February are being stamped from 0.6mm 305 Stainless Steel sheet and then polished to a mirror-finish. This has, for me, the advantage that I can send them anywhere in the world without fear of breakage or corrosion, and that they can be ‘stored’ almost indefinitely without any noteworthy deterioration. Any slight dulling of the polish after even years of storage can be removed with a buffing-wheel or metal-polish in minutes, if not seconds.

For the end-user, the safe knowledge that it doesn’t have to handled with kid gloves must also be a bonus!

How anything like this can be listed as ‘rare’, when it’s a new item, that they presumably have thousands of in stock, is also a mystery to me, but there you have it!

If you are interested in purchasing one of the ones I make, please go to my classicbikenut.com/shop, sometime in the ides of March!

© peter gouws 2013