I need to repair the bodywork on my LE Velocette as it came with a couple of cracks. These cracks could get bigger if not fixed, so I decided to fix them by tack welding them shut using a MIG welder. Now I just have to learn how to do it!

Hello and welcome to my little WordPress site! It’s so nice to have you here. I must say that all my efforts appear to be not in vain as my site seems very attractive, especially to some Americans – they spend so much time and effort trying to break into it. Amazing. Unfortunately for them, and obviously unlike them, I’m not a dullard, so they can’t break through even the very simple initial defences that this site has in place. In fact, their attempts are both simultaneously very simple and very wasted. But, dear would-be hacker, please do keep up the attacks as it amuses me that people (or maybe you’re some robots, it doesn’t matter) have the time to waste on these activities, and the more time that you’re wasting trying to attack my inoffensive little site the less time you have to get into the sites that really matter. Keep it up 🙂 – I’ll miss you when you’re gone, but not a lot.
Your friendly host, Ian.

Well, I finally gave in to peer pressure and I’ve bought another road bike! Being of the older persuasion I’ve gone for what is perceived to be an oldies motorcycle, a 2016 Honda NC750S. It’s a DCT model, meaning an automatic gearbox and clutch, so easy riding ahead. I’m really looking forward to putting some miles on this. Currently I’m working on getting a satnav system installed on it, probably using an old iPhone I have. More on this bike here.

They’re the unsung hero of most of the machines we love. Here’s a great little video on how they’re made. So, how come they’re so cheap?

Youtube video here

There have been no updates from me recently, and I’ve really wanted to get some done, but I’ve been so busy working on getting my Boxford lathe built that I just haven’t had the time. I’ve near as dammit finished the lathe now, so watch out for frequent updates on what I’ve done and what I’ve found out. Hopefully the lathe owners, or budding owners, who read this will enjoy what I’ve done. I’ve very happy to have got it together, literally!

An opportunity I just couldn’t resist. Follow my travails as I try to get an old unloved Boxford lathe back into operation…. Click here to start the journey with me.

2019 and I’ve started a blog on the development of my project LE Velocette.  Want to find out more?  Then click on the “LE Velocette” link in the menu above or click here: LE Velocette

As some of you will know, I have been trail riding for over 40 years and enjoyed it immensely. Trouble is (and by obvious implication) I am getting old and I’m both shorter and less supple than I used to be, and, because of a bad knee, not as active as I was, as I should be. So, I’m finding my recent long term trail bike, my KTM 250/350EXC just too tall, hard to get on and off, harder to manage in tricky situation and (as always) very firm on both suspension and seat. It’s been brilliant in very hard, aggressive riding situations – well, it is aimed at competition use so this is what it was designed to handle. Bottom line is that it’s not really a trail bike, so perhaps now is the time to be Mr Sensible and find a ‘real’ trail bike.

The KTM in action with my old KDX.

One that has had high commendation is the Yamaha XT225, also known as the Serow (a type of mountain goat). I rode one a few years back and really enjoyed it – small, light, fantastically manoeuvrable and a soft seat! A friend of mine had one for sale, so I took the plunge and bought it! Here are my thoughts about this bike and about the whole area of ‘real’ trail bikes in general.

The Yamaha Serow.

So what do I think of it now after a few months of ownership? Interesting question. Well, it has enough oomph (can’t realistically call it grunt) to make progress on and off tarmac, it has delightfully precise steering and the suspension is adequate when not taken too fast off-road. It is light and it starts easily. And does about 70mpg. BUT the overall size impacts the ergonomics when sitting and it does feel just that bit too small for my 5′ 10″. Ok-ish when standing, but you can’t do that all day.

So, to keep or not? I’ll give it a bit longer. I may even be able to do some mods to help (change handle bars, raise seat?). More later….

Well, I was selling the Serow until it came to MoT it. I fell back in love with it on the way back from the test, so withdrew it from sale.  I’ve now put the KDX up for sale and should go this weekend.  The KTM I’ve already sold.  Getting more space in the garage month by month!

Now, I wonder if I can make the seat a little higher?  A second-hand seat perhaps?  We’ll see…

I was thinking about the universe and the anomaly of the spins.  Like, why should there be spinning solar systems, spinning galaxies, spinning planets and so on?  Imagine our standard image of the Big Bang; it’s one of a virtually instantaneous creation of matter, rapidly expanding.  If this is a uniform creation scenario (and why could it be anything else if created from a point instant?) then matter should only be being expelled outwards in a uniform manner, like an expanding fog of matter.  And I thought “why spin?”.  There was nothing to induce a spin, nothing to impart angular momentum, and yet here we are with most things we can see spinning.  Why?  It isn’t a rational behaviour.  So, the only implication I could work out was that the spin must have been there at the start, and yet a singular point start couldn’t/shouldn’t have spin as there was nothing to impart a spin – although simplistic, a spin in one direction ought to have equal spins in the other direction, and recent investigations have revealed an imbalance in left/right spins in the universe, thus even more showing an inherent universe with spin.  My conclusion is that the universe was created from two (or more, possibly) proto-universe items colliding at an angle (not directly head on), imparting spin on the now unstable situation that initiated the Big Bang.  Thus the universe was created with inherent spin and the associated vortexes and another spin anomalies.  Well, that’ll do for an initial theory – now for the mathematicians to work out the numbers and either confirm, deny or modify this proposal 🙂

1/11/2015

Ian