1920 Ariel Brakeplate

Since having the bright idea of using motocross front wheels for my 20 Ariel (cos they are 21", allow mw to fit wired on tyres and allow me a small drum brake) I've been struggling to fit the wheel to the narrow girder forks. The Japanese brakeplate, being alloy, is too thick. So Ive made my own from 5mm steel plate to use the old Japanese internals. Kinda pleased how its turned out.

And with the brake boss welded on and the internals added:-

Should do the job.

Prescott

Catching up - I rode the 1913 Ariel to the Prescott Bike Festival a month or so ago. Not been out on it properly since 2009. It went really well with the bigger jet and proper engine breathing at last.

Cumbrian Fun

Went up to Millers and did the Round Cumbria on the old Ariel. Loads of pies, beer and laughs. Which is what its about.

Marzocchis

Last time I went out on the Fantic Heath commented that the back end was skipping rather than tracking. So best thing to do would be to service the rear shocks.

The Fantic has the original Marzocchis on it. No idea when or if they have ever been serviced.

Getting the springs off was a faff. Much cable ties and swearing later-

The shocks actually had a lot of oil in them, all be it a nasty brown colour.

Fully stripped:-

The seals looked ok so I cleaned out the tubes and refilled with ATF. All back together:-

And back on the bike:-

See how they feel next time out. Now to mod the rear brake pedal so I can find it when I need it.

Mai Tai #1

Since we went to the Nostalgia Weekend and found the cocktail bar I've wanted to have a go at making a Mai Tai. Trouble is there are dozens of recipes out there on the interweb. So I thought I'd try to make a similar drink to the ones we had.

First attempt:-

Recipe:-

One part dark rum

One part white rum

One part Ammaretto

Dash of Grenadine

1tsp lime juice

Fill remainder of glass with ice and half and half orange juice and pineapple juice

Its fairly sweet but not a bad effort.

For The Love of Tanks and stuff...

Went to the War and Peace Revival yesterday. After a 2.5hr wait in the queue to get in it turned out to be a cracking day. Some pictures:-

Some good stuff in the market too:-

And some old cars:-

Couple of bellends:-

Even a Vulcan fly past:-

Kryptonics

Was bored at work so I did a bit of shopping. I've always liked Kryptonics. Bit of a nostalgia thing and I have several sets of OG greens and reds, but now they are available new again. I wanted some to try on the concrete parks I frequent, so the obvious choice was a set of the cored whites. Different core colours give different hardnesses. I went for green at 97a.

Today I replaced the Spitfires I normally ride:-

Hadn't realised how offset Kryptonics are, a throwback to wide decks and narrow trucks in the late 70's. Looks kinda odd on a modern board:-

Wondering if I'll be getting some wheelbite. Time will tell...