Here’s another of Andy’s projects nearing completion. Just needs the tank painted and a few minor tweaks. OK, updated pics with tank painted.

Mandatory reading!

This must have been from the British division of Dellorto!

Below – warming up with the choke still on

Suzuki GT550. 1973 model.

Some of the Procrastinators gathered in Spring sunshine to take a run down to Timboon for lunch and a catch up. Not bad going for us, seeing how it’s only the fifth day of Spring! We rendezvoused at Steve’s place near Colac, with me coming from Geelong and Andy from Ballarat. Below is a map of our route.

Shiny motorcycles, getting ready to hit the road.

We usually dine at the Timboon Distillery, however, today we opted for some good old fashioned pub grub and ate at the Timboon Hotel. Three steak sandwiches and plenty of banter later we headed off to Port Campbell for some fuel. After a short run along the Great Ocean Road past the 12 Apostles we turned inland again to Simpson, and then to Carlisle River where we pulled over to chew the fat a bit more. (We are becoming so complacent about the magnificent coastline and Apostles that we didn’t even stop for a photo). There was virtually no traffic at all. The countryside looked magnificent and green, but unfortunately most of the roads were a bloody disgrace. The asphalt was consistently potholed and featured plenty of depressions or ‘slumps’, typically on the entry to, or exits of, nice sweeping corners. In a couple of the worst sections the speed limit was lowered to 80 kph (as it has been for 12 months or so) and there was no sign of any road repair work being commenced. We rode to the poor conditions and still enjoyed the ride immensely, but really, these roads are dangerous and not what you’d expect in a first world country! I wish I’d stopped and taken some pics of just how bad some spots were.

Below: A pit stop at Carlisle River – which consists of an infant welfare center, a public hall and a couple of farm houses – not much else.

Andy’s Commando gleaming in the sunshine

We arrived back at Steve’s and cranked up the shed stereo, dragged some chairs outside and then basked in the sunshine as we chatted some more. All too soon I had to head back to Geelong. It was a great day out ‘fellas – I thoroughly enjoyed the riding and your company. All the better of course for being a weekday and choosing the roads less traveled, with the consequent lack of cars. All up I did around 350kms – yet another grand day out, and in the true Procrastinator’s spirit – no decisions were made about anything!

Andy has now completed the restoration of both the T250 and the T350.

And the next project perhaps……….

Back in November 2011, I published an email from my mate Andy outlining his refurbishment of his Norton Commando fastback. That post can be read HERE

After a bit of nagging from me, he has put together this summary of his current projects. It would be great to start a trend of guest writers on this site. Anyway, Andy takes up the story ……..

BSA A7 1949

Andys beeza

Purchased as a ”basket case” in about 1987, laid under the bench in boxes until I took on a “love job” doing up a BSA B33 for a mate (Jack) in about 2007.

Thought to myself,  “I’ll just throw that old  A7 together to get my head around BSA’s”. Should have known better, once one bit gets shined up you gotta do it all!

I wound up making nearly every bolt and fitting myself in stainless steel, around about the time I finished it repro stuff was beginning to come onto the market quite well priced.

Doing a job like this is a bit like pissing yourself in a dark suit, – you get a lovely warm feeling but no-one else notices.

1974 Suzuki GT380

GT380

Aint e-bay grouse?, this one was a shed clearout, guy was moving and wanted to unload a shedful.

Paid 380 bucks for the lot, The short version is , there’s  a complete bike, plus two or three spare engines.

The silver tank on the frame in the photo, I just got at the Ballarat Swap meet, NOS, $40, didn’t really need it but for that sort of money I couldn’t leave it behind.

GT380 tank

The guy with the tank also has exhaust systems he’s willing to part with, so I  got his number. (mine has an aftermarket 3 into 1 which I’m told sound great but steal power)

It’s lower on the list than the T500, but since it’s all there I may as well “just throw it together”.

 Ducati 450

Ducati 450

This one used to be a trail bike, I bought it in about 1976 off a workmate who found out its shortcomings in the bush and moved up to a Yamaha XT500.

It really was just a streetbike with trailbike handlebars and a bash plate. It even had a low exhaust pipe???

I ran it around on and off for a few years as a street hack, and it was alright except that if you wanted to do highway speeds, you needed to make a dentist appointment for after, because your fillings will all be rattled loose.

Unfortunately I don’t have a photo of  its early days, shit happens.

It lunched the timing pinion one day, too much end float on the crankshaft, whilst idling, I leaned it onto the sidestand, it then stopped with a loud “CLUNK!”

In a fit of despondency I sold it (as was) to another workmate, who later worked out he didn’t have the money/skills/time/marital goodwill  etc, to deal with it, and offered it back to me along with another worthy project (Panther), so I re-aquired it.

A complete engine / gearbox re-build followed,(circa 1990) I spent two weeks re-shimming all the gearbox and bevel drive shafts, the end result was the only one of these I’ve ever heard that you can’t  hear the valve gear from 200 yards away.

It then got put away with no more than about ten minutes running, various other projects took over, including but not limited to marriage/children/ several other bikes (Yamaha XS650’s, BMWR75) marriage break up etc, before I knew it ten more years had got behind me (good line that, someone should put it in a song)

I had decided at some point in the timeline that it needed to be a pocket rocket, but didn’t want to pass it off as a silver shotgun , which it never was.

Someone gave me some Yamaha XS250 forks and wheels, I thought at the time that would be good to set it apart from the ‘real’ Desmo’s.

I’ve since changed my mind, the mags look crap so they’re going, but I’ve now decided to graft a set of lower frame tubes into the frame and mount the engine/gearbox in it with a set of Norton Isolastic mounts.

If I’m lucky It will be rideable & different enough that no-one will think I’m trying to pass it off as a proper desmo, if it doesn’t work, well that’ll just give me something else to work on.

GT500 Suzuki

GT500 Suzuki

Yep, you guessed it, e-bay again!, ad said it didn’t run, but had compression.

I took a punt on it, when I picked it up the guy said he thought it was crank seals, because it used to run but didn’t any more. I felt the compression  and knew straight off it wasn’t crank seals.

Took about five minutes when I got it home to work out it was the ignition module. $26 for a monkey bike CDI kit at the local electronics store got it running.

The rear tyre was  bald but my Norton Commando rear was half down, so Nora got a new tyre, Suzie got a good enough one.

Right hand fork leg had a big graunch in the hard chrome about an inch above the fork seal which had buggered the seal, resultant oil leak had buggered the front brake pads. Rear guard was a bit ratty, swapped one for a tub of wine grapes I had an excess of, and had cost naught.

Fork staunchions aren’t cheap, re-doing the hard chrome is about $600, so a bit of hard thinking was called for.

I had a spare Commando fork tube picked up at the Ballarat swap meet only owed me $10, so I welded up the oil bleed holes in the commando tube, turned down the welds, then re-drilled the bleed holes the same as the Suzuki tube, made a new  upper bush (Commando tube is 0.5 mm smaller), made a fork top nut with british thread but same hex as the Suzi, fitted new seals, and bob’s your uncle!

It goes like shit off a shovel, very  tourquey, owes me bugger all money and goes well alongside the others. To make it dead original I only need a seat, sooner or later one will show up, I just keep looking.

1972 Suzuki T350J, T250J

T250

My first road bike when I got my learners permit in late 1973 was a T250R, I put quite a few miles on it in only four months before trading up to a GT550 (emulating Jules who had also just bought a GT550).

I always had a soft spot for this little twin, so when one appeared in ‘Just Bikes’, at the right price, I couldn’t resist.

The guy I bought this bike from didn’t know a screwdriver from a spanner, and had paid various people to completely refurbish the bike from stem to stern, then sold it to me for about a third of what his cost was! (and no it isn’t stolen), I have all the receipts for the work he even paid someone to tune the horn!

First thing I did when got it home was fit a set of ‘ace ‘bars, just the same as when I was a youngster. Once around the block, I realised that I’m not as “bendy” as I was way back then, don’t know how the heck I ever managed to ride like that, anyway the bike now has flat bars, much  better!. A set of chromed pipes sourced from opposite ends of the country helped make it look much tidier.

T250 sans Ace bars

The sharp – eyed among you will note that it has the T250 fuel tank and sidecovers, this is about to be changed, I had acquired a set of heads from a T350II, they had straight fore and aft fins like the 250, so no-one would be able to pick up on  the bigger engine capacity, however I have recently picked up a T250, so the 350 will become a proper 350 with the correct tinware.

This 250 was a project picked up on e-bay for the right price, no-one else bid on it, the seller wasn’t real happy, but rules are rules.

Another T250!

The frame has been beautifully painted in 2-pak in a very tasteful charcoal colour, not quite standard but such a good job , I’m not going to change it. Rims are in good shape, a quick re-spoke and a spruce up of the hubs, new seat cover  (a repro from Thailand  – excellent product for $60), tinware will come off the 350

By the time this spiel gets posted I hope to have it back together, It had lunched the right hand rings, so I sourced new 1^st oversize pistons and rings, crank bearings were a bit ordinary so I fitted new bearings and seals, took me most of a weekend to make a jig to part the crank halves and about twenty minutes to do the job!

I sent all the bolts to be plated some weeks ago, found out yesterday why the plater stopped answering his phone, the bastard’s had his power cut off. Sending a “mate” round to get my stuff back later this week.

Once the 250 is done I have a T500 basket case I acquired (e-bay can get a bit addictive can’t it?), there was no crankcases or crankshaft or wheel hubs, the seller said he  couldn’t remember where they went, anyway, I knew a guy who had a   complete engine that someone had thrown away the entire gearbox (ain’t people weird?), I’ve found hubs, have all new seals, pistons & rings ($92 a set  delivered) once the 250 is done I’ll “just throw this one together”.

Suzuki T500 Titan basket case

1952 Panther Model 75 350cc

Panther

This is a bit long winded, but bear with me…

I had a Ducati 450 road/trail that lunched the timing pinion one day, in a rush of blood, I sold  it to a workmate.

In 1990, I had the job of house minding for Mr & Mrs Tarsnakes whilst they did a round Aussie trip in their Campervan.

Whilst living in Tarsnake Towers, said workmate offered me back the Ducati, I was actually happy to have it  back (I know – it’s a sickness), he also offered me his 1952 350 Panther which he said he would never do anything with, so it may as well go to me.

Deal gets done, suddenly I notice there’s no more room in Tarsnake’s garage, boxes of Ducati and Panther everywhere, and homeowner is on the return leg of his trip!

A great effort was put in, the Panther, upon examination turned out to have flogged out the drive side crank case bush (yes, bush – not really a high performance engine this!).

A visit to a mate who’s a tool maker ensued, Frank found the centre of the now oval crankcase bearing hole, bored it back round, and made a new bush.

The panther was then re-assembled from the boxes, which yielded sufficient garage space to pass muster. It fired up and ran straight off, only time it gave trouble was when I gave it a bit of a squirt it kept “nipping up” the piston. Eventually I realised that I was actually retarding the ignition at high speed (that’s a relative term) as the advance lever worked the opposite way  to my old AJS!

There’s always something to learn in this game.

The long and short of it is , this bike hasn’t been touched since then, is still a fist kick starter and whilst it’s not fast is a delight to ride. Now if only I could get those air forks to hold air for more than ten minutes, I’d ride it far more than I do. I could spend more than its value making it pretty, so she is what she is. (She’s a sweet thing. Tarsnake edit)

Panther in 2012

Thanks for the words and pics Andy. Now we will work on Steve for some history on his bikes!

OK, so that’s part of the story of Andy’s stable. Here’s a few pics of his previously owned motorcycles that I’m adding – just because it gives some more context.

R75 BMW

Yamaha XS2 650

Yamaha 650

Norton Commando

Commando fastback (AKA Canoe)

GT550

GT750 Ducati at right of this pic

Can’t find it now to scan, so you will have to wait for a pic of the Bridgestone 90 on its back wheel.

The AGM of the West Coast Procrastinators was held on 1st January 2013 at the Timboon Distillery, Vic. The minutes of last year’s meeting were not available, no office bearers were elected, nor were any resolutions proposed or passed – however, there was talk of a censure motion for the hasty and rash purchase of the westcoastprocrastinators domain name!

The NYD ride has become a regular event in recent times. We do some other rides together throughout the year, but this one is a bit special as it marks the beginning of a year of riding ahead. When we four ‘fellas get together, there is a lot of shared history and with that goes a certain amount of banter, story telling and laughter.

Marty and I left Geelong and met at Steve’s property near Colac. Andy had traveled from Ballarat on NYE and spent the evening drinking fine wine with Steve.

Here is our route. (Click on map to enlarge). The Geelong to Colac highway section is omitted. The circuit shown is around 210 kms, virtually all on back roads and through some beautiful farmland and bush. It also takes in the famed 12 Apostles.

Gathering at Steve’s place near Colac, Vic. The banter had started already!

Steve’s Commando ready to go.

Andy’s Commando ready to go.

The weather forecast had been for a sunny 25C day with a late changes, however, it was obvious at the start of the day that this was not to be the case, and so waterproof gear was packed – by some! The run down to the Distillery only took around an hour and we were actually a tad early. There was a little drizzle as we neared Timboon, but nothing to warrant donning wet weather gear.

As you can see – all were in good humor. 

I received this sticker with a T-shirt that I bought and it accurately encapsulates my mechanical abilities and knowledge. 

We had booked and were allocated a seat out on the deck. Unfortunately just as we started eating two families were allocated a table near us and the sound of poorly behaved squealing children was fairly intrusive.

Some had garlic prawn pizza

Some had grilled fish

I had the ‘cholesterol special’.

In a new feature for 2013, here is my score card for our meals. Your experience may vary! This proforma is not mine and I’d like to acknowledge its author, however, I can’t find the URL where I first saw it – so my apologies to someone in advance!

I took a few pics around the building and in my absence my helmet mysteriously disappeared from my bike! Hmm, didn’t take the bate and lo and behold, it reappeared from Steve’s bag. The truth be known, I was in a drowsy post postprandial state and didn’t even notice its absence.

From Timboon we took a short run down to  the Great Ocean Road at a tiny place called Peterborough. The weather was really deteriorating and in the strong wind it was easy to appreciated why around 200 sailing ships sunk along a short 130 km section of coast- commonly known as “The Shipwreck Coast“.

Peterborough Vic on the “Shipwreck Coast”

Three procrastinators. Within 200 meters of the shore at this point, lie the wrecks of three ships; the Newfield (Aug 1889), the clipper Schomberg (Dec 1855 – skippered by the legendary ‘Bully Forbes’ and the Young Australian (May 1877). Actually the scandal of the Schomerg offers some interesting insights into Forbes’ captaincy.

The reason these guys still have their helmets on is because it started drizzling about this time, as it did until Port Campbell,where we stopped for gas. In the gas station the console operator had a secondary screen with a readout and wave forms tracking across it. I asked her about it and she told me it was real time wave height and interval between swells measured from a beacon 20 kms out to sea. It was typically reading 7 meters while I was talking to her, but she told me that waves of 17 meters can commonly occur during winter!

As we were leaving the gas station it started to rain a little and by the time we reached the 12 Apostles it was raining properly, so Marty & I donned wet weather gear over the leathers. The sightseeing  helicopters had stopped flying due to the poor conditions. We hung around for 15 mins and then headed off in light rain and gusty winds – so much for a sunny 25C! We headed inland via some bumpy back roads rather than continuing along the GOR.

As a consequence of the rain there are no more photos, nor did we stop at the Apostle Whey cheesery as we had originally planned. Despite the rain and drizzle, it was actually OK riding through the bush on virtually deserted roads. By the time we approached Colac the rain stopped and as we emerged from the bushland into the farming land the temp actually went up 4C from the 14C it had been.

Despite the weather, we had another great start to 2013. What could be better than riding motorcycles with your best and oldest mates? Well, there was a tinge of sadness in the background actually.

Our thoughts were occupied throughout this ride with the loss of an old mate (and flatmate for Andy) with the sad news that he had died on New Years Eve after a battle with cancer.

RIP Terry Stokes AKA “Mother”.