Bikes

 

Moto Guzzi is celebrating their 100 year anniversary this year with a few special edition models. I like the looks of this scrambler model even though most of the off -road riding I do is on my gravel lane - and I don't do much of that. I had plans to do a little something last summer with my Himalayan but that fell through, of course. Maybe this summer.

Three cylinder DKW. The tank has a different look to it. No effort what so ever to planish any of the hammer marks out. In fact, it looks like they used a ball peen hammer to planish it. Looks like the seams were gas welded, again with no effort to knock down the lumps. Interesting look, especially since the rest of the bike is so finely finished.

Another Guzzi from back in their racing heyday. The cam timing cover, crankcase and the rear hub all look to be cast magnesium judging by the color. The tank is a pretty intricate shape and not a hammer mark in sight. These usually had a dustbin type fairing and from the photos I've seen, they were always metal finished to a rather high level.

SR500 from Sideburn magazine. Surly left a comment a couple of posts back about print edition magazines. While my post was mostly addressing finding a couple of decent car mags, he sent me some info on a few car and bike mags. Since Cycle World and Motorcyclist folded their tents, I don't subscribe to any bike mags anymore. Sideburn mag would be a good one since it covers flat tracking and I'm hoping to turn a SR500 into a flat track ride. I looked at the Hop Up magazine website and they've caught my eye. Old school hot rods and jalopies and one of the back issues is a Bonneville special edition. Might need to order that one.

A guy dropped off an aluminum bike frame yesterday that needs a bit of work. Not a big job, just need to correct someone elses attempt at welding it. I need to get my argon tank refilled first, however. I'm hoping for a break in the weather but it doesn't look too promising for the next few days. More cold and snow on the way. I'm having a hard enough time keeping the lane open. The tractor battery won't take a charge so I fired up the old snow blower yesterday and cut a couple of wheel tracks down the lane so the guy could drop the frame off, plus I was expecting a delivery from Fed Ex. 

I had the lane cleaned up pretty well on Monday but the guy delivering the bottled water managed to get stuck when he was backing out. It's a pretty big truck and as soon as it stopped moving it slid sideways into the piled up snow along the berm - happened a couple of times. It took us about 45 minutes to dig him out. I've been getting a pretty good cardio workout the last few days shoveling, plowing and snow blowing. Between all that and the "nutritarian" diet, I'm down to 172. Seven more pounds and I'll be a middleweight once again. I'm not trying to lose weight but it's a pleasant by product.