Nice Day so Far

Photo from a ride HH took after a month of rain.  He was the high bidder on an Ebay auction and bought a 1960 Series IIIA Hillman Minx, which we plan to pick up on Tuesday.  Have cleaned out the garage to make room for it.  I don't know where to park anymore, because I used to line up with a Rupp which isn't parked in there anymore.  He says he'll hang a tennis ball so I know where to park if I want him to.  So far I'm doing all right without it.

 The little BSA needed exercise, too.  No need to be rescued this time.  A crow stopped by for a visit.

 Here's a picture of the Minx.  It's got 4-doors, fog lights, a roof rack, and 4 on the floor.  I'm so excited.  Woo hoo!  Hope my shifting skills come back.  I failed last time I tried to drive a stick!

Out of Gas

Trip meter failure.  He was on his way to buy gas after a mountain run when ran out of fumes.  The passing bicyclist said, "Nice Beezer."  I used to get that mixed up with "Beemer."

An old gas can for an old bike, he says.  

Autumn

I just got a call that the BSA B-31 is out of gas so I'm off to put gas in the can and find him.  Ya me.

September Look Back

School has started up again, so it's time to obey the speed limit signs in the school zones. Summer is done.   Sort of.

 Here's a before photo of the Laverda along with a customer's Harley from back in the days of customers, and the scooter I failed to ride much because my knee felt too unstable.  Going was fun, right turns were OK, but stopping was not fun.  Alas.  Stupid knee.

 And here's the Laverda after, because it's so pretty.

Things have been getting in the way of the camping trip.  He took one failure of a trip on the 250 Ninja, but was miserable the whole time due to heavy rain.  I'm pretty sure that was the last heavy rain of the summer.  Anyway, he gave up and put a sneaky electronic ignition on the B-31.  It doesn't show, so it's sneaky.  He tried so hard and spent lots of money trying to get the original magneto and whatnot to behave reliably, but gave up.  Armature was one of the words he kept using.  I couldn't keep track.  Anyway, as soon as he's gotten a root canal (that's a tooth thing) and a club ride and the wedding of friends, he'll be ready to take the B-31 on a camping trip to Mt. Lassen.

Meanwhile, I get to see a very odd classical music production involving a local composer,  poetry,  small groups, singing, ballerinas, and the daughter playing viola.

We went for a lovely drive in the '57 Chevy for Labor Day.  He likes to tease me that I'll have to drive it.  I have, and I can, but I prefer not.  A road was closed so we followed a gravel detour that meandered between a hillside and a stream with logging on the left and farming on the right.

As you can see the sky was beautiful.  We guessed all sorts of things for the orchard, but couldn't really come up with anything.  Nut?  Fruit? Maybe one of those.

 Here's another old photo when he was still working on other people's bikes.  This is a ground up restoration of an old BMW.  It was almost as pretty as the Laverda when he was through.  I think the shirt came from Chicago, and this is the only time he wore it. 

 

This pretty sky photo has a stunt plane doing loops and other scary stunt plane tricks at the local airport.  The pilots went up one at a time and did a rehearsed routine.  They were all very nice and happy to answer any questions.  The weather was perfect for plane watching and since it was more of a competition than a spectator event, there was no admission and no crowds. 

We enjoy our quiet and calm valley.  Football season will come and things will get wilder. 

Father's Day and Camping Trip

That's Dad.  He was a handsome guy, but whenever he was going to have his photo taken, he put on his Picture Face, which he's wearing in this blurry old scanned photo.  Golf was his game, after he quit playing baseball. He'd have been a professional at baseball if it hadn't been for WWII.  As it was, he was shortstop and manager for a Pacific Coast League team, and he batted clean-up.  

 Speaking of fathers, the one who lives here is off on a motorcycle trip.  He says he's getting one in while he still can, since he doesn't know how long he'll be able to keep doing it.  But he thinks the B-31 will be a good motorcycle for an old guy because it's light, smooth, easy.  Except, he's still having armature troubles.  So though he loaded it up, it's not what he took.  I put a B-31 photo in a few posts ago, and it was one taken while it was still in New Zealand.  He bought it on Ebay many years ago.  It's much nicer now.  Just so you know.

The next bike he loaded up was the 250 Ninja.  It's extremely reliable, nimble, easy, light, and amazingly fast. (He says that about everything).  I failed to get a photo before he unpacked it and put everything on the 750Four Honda.   Can you see the Ninja in the background?  It's the one with all the graphic design and more current stylings.  Here's the Honda all ready to go.  He left yesterday and went up to Goldendale, Washington and met his friends from Seattle.  I'm not sure what all they were riding.  He took the camera, so maybe I'll see photos.

It's a very special bike that used to belong to his step-brother in Ohio.  He was a father, too.

I was out watering the turtle this morning, when I thought I heard thunder.  These days, lots of things make noise that sounds like thunder.  I looked around for neighbors moving their yard scrap recycle barrels.  Those are usually the cause of the sound-like-thunder.  There were some solid grey clouds to the southwest, but my view of the sky is blocked by gables.

A neighbor came over looking for HH, and I asked him if he'd seen any lightning.  He said "No, but I heard it."  Ha! Well, the sound like thunder kept up, and rumbled on in that rolling way it sometimes has, and the clouds got darker, so I decided to start winding up the hose.  Just about the time I was done, it began to pour, and I even caught a glimpse of a flash, and that crack was LOUD.  My back is still wet from moving a planter that doesn't drain in under the eaves.

There's something so exciting about thunder and lightning.  I guess it's because it's so dangerous.  I came in here and looked up all the places HH was on the weather map, and I think he's clear.   He should be home tonight, so we can have fun with Daughter tomorrow.  Don't think I'll plan a picnic.

Scatterbrained

 It's so nice to get flowers.  These are from my daughter's boyfriend's mother.  She has an amazing garden so full of flowers she has plenty to give away.  I got another bunch a couple weeks later.

 The flowers in the mug are an end-of-year gift from the high school where I volunteer.  Notice the sprockets on the fence.  HH knows I like parts, but these are the only ones he'll let me keep.  There's more to the left out of the photo.  The leaf between was made by a friend.

 The BSA Bantam lineup is part of a swap meet at the vintage motorcycle show several unknown number of years ago.  The green one is pretty cute, but HH said restoration would cost too much.  I just thought Avus would maybe think his was a lot nicer than anything here.

 This is a photo of Kenny Dreer with his Norton Commando behind him.  It's a sad and complicated story about how hard he tried and how expensive it was and how eventually there were too many obstacles, but it was pretty exciting to see him and that bike at the vintage motorcycle show.  This photo and the Bantam are so old that they aren't digital.  All I know is they were taken in the past.

HH finally racked up all the miles he needed so he could do the first oil change and retune the bike after the rebuild.  Here's the bike under the Yaquina Bay Bridge looking nothing like a troll.  I'm not sure this will get big if it's clicked, but if it does, it's spectacular.  He was really thrilled with this bike and his ride.  A bit of history now.  The bridge on Hwy 101 was completed in 1936.  When I was a kid during the Cold War days, a Russian ship came under it in the fog.  It was spooky seeing the hammer and sickle through the fog, but it needed repairs and the visit was friendly.

The Classic Sunbeam

HH wanted me to tell Avus this Sunbeam is advertised for sale in the June issue of The Classic Motorcycle.  He hasn't ridden it for years, wants the room, and wants something to help pay for the little bitty car we hope to find.  The car should be a smidgeon larger than the Sunbeam.  All the pictures we took of it are so old they're on film instead of digital, but others have photographed it.

 Photos were taken at a show and barbecue at the nearest Triumph dealer's shop.  It's now a parts store because it's too costly to meet all the requirements for a dealership.  HH had a lot of fun with this bike, but he's so taken with bikes he's gotten since, this one's getting nudged out, poor thing.  It was purchased new in Massachusetts in 1947.  The seat was hand made in around 1968 by a daughter who was a leather artist and sold leather goods at street fairs in San Francisco, though looks like it was made for a Studebaker instead of a Sunbeam.  Anyway, he's excited to have the ad out, and wanted to share with you.

Here's the B-31 he's been pinion pulling at, and is planning a little solo trip with to the redwoods.  This is an old photo with the silly seat that it had when he bought it (from New Zealand.)  It's got a nicer seat now.

My Dream Car

 The guy with the Vincent Black Shadow stopped by with his newest purchase.  He didn't mind me ooing and ahhing and taking pictures, and he didn't mind that I was jealous, either.  He was so happy with it that I ended up not being jealous but happy for him.  He opened everything to let us look.  HH got to go for a ride in it.  He offered to take me around, too, but I declined.  Probably a good thing, since as HH was getting in he complained that The Guy didn't have anything with easy access.

It's fun to stay home and see what will show up in the driveway.  This Smart Car showed up last week, and the week before, my brother stopped by with his latest Porsche.  I made him tea.

It's Spring

What fun.  I get to play with a brass and pipe organ group for Easter.  Rehearsal was last night, and there are two trombones.  I got the fun part for the Gigout Dialogue, which is the Trombone part.  The other guy got stuck with the Tuba part and apologies.  He got the best parts on everything else, but nothing else is as good as the Gigout.  So Lucky Me!  What fun!  It's all fun, really.

HH got the Laverda all working and pretty and put together.  He has a bench seat, too, which isn't as nice, but he says he'll put it on and he take me for a ride after he does some more tweeking.  His test drive was 50 miles, and he wasn't satisfied, though he said it was great.  He's ordered a few more parts and grumbled about how he should have done this and that the first time.

I'm pretty excited because he's talking about maybe getting a fun little car, like our old Metropolitan (which was built on a big-eye Sprite chassis), only different, but which he sold.  I've been saying how I miss it, and was surprised and delighted just to hear him talking about getting something similar.  I'm open to suggestions, but whatever he finds will probably become It.  If I'm lucky.  I find things, too.  I found the Metropolitan and the Avanti that we we used to have.  Can't hang on to cars like we can motorcycles, because cars take up so much room!

This Morning

George (not his real name) cam over this morning.  HH, George and I (I got to work the jack) installed the Lavarda engine in the frame.

George with one of his bikes pictured below.

Happy January

There are slugs outside.  I see one smashed all over the front entry; a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  The survivors are happy because there are lovely crocus blossoms to eat.  Happy slugs.  The crocus look happy, too.

The Laverda has mostly left the guest room, where it was taking up the entire bed and floor as well as the blanket chest at the foot of the bed.  It's not all together yet, but an amazing amount of progress has been made.  The engine went from this

(Isn't it lovely?) to this

in a short time, but only short since HH started the reassembly process.  It's been quite a while since he took it all apart and got it all pretty as these pictures attest.  He claims he had to redo some of his work because he'd forgotten how it went together, and the manuals and his photos were lacking in details, but he's pretty sure he's got it right now, and even started it with the starter motor.  What larks!  Happy engine.

Old Cars Remembered

Avus posted about his cars, and HH pointed this out to me, so I'm posting about mine.  HH says he never saw a Morris Minor convertible, but I remember the gorgeous one I saw while on a family visit with my parents and brothers in Oakland, California in the 60s.  It was on the downtown streets hauling men in suits around the Kaiser Building--with top down.  I saw it briefly, but pegged it as high among my favorites.  Here are photos of one of my Dad's Morris Minors that my brainy brother Bill drove to university.  My brothers and I used to all three ride in the back seat with Mom and Dad in the front, and it was a tight fit for sure.  Now the brainy brother has a Morris Woody or two, but they're in some storage barn waiting for the mythical Someday. 

My second car was a beauty, as seen in the photo at right.  Like the first only spiffier.  The first one Dad bought for me.  It was three colors, a Volkswagon-burnt orange red with a white top and a blue right hand door, which opened on it's own schedule, usually when making a left hand turn, but not when the passenger wanted to exit.  Another exciting feature was the rain it collected on the floorboards which sloshed back and forth with the use of brakes and gas pedals, and always made me laugh, especially when maneuvering out of a parking place.  Everything on this second car worked, except the defrost, so when it was icy out, the window had to be down with the scraper in hand working like a window wiper.  It just wasn't made for ice.



One more car, a 1960 Jaguar MKll.  Dad bought it in the early 60s while I was away at camp and drove it to visit (and show off).  I saw it parked and ran to get my little brother Stan to show him the beautiful car parked in the alley.  He was very pleased to tell me it was Dad's.  When I went to the tech school in town Dad let me drive it.  Years later, HH said I could have it and we made Dad an offer, which he accepted.  This photo was taken while it was still Dad's car.  That's his Porsche on the other side of the Jaguar.  Brother Bill bought the Porsche and has it still.  We sold the Jaguar to pay medical bills when DD was born.  It went back to England, but was fun while it lasted.

Success with Seeds

We took a trip this spring, and when we returned, temperatures were in the high 90s, so I waited for them to fall back to the low 80s before planting seeds.  I bought Mailbox Mix morning glories, and it wasn't until very recently (possibly late September) that there were any blooms.  It's such fun to look every morning and see what new flower has opened.  I think this is the most it's given me in one day.  There are also pole beans tangled up with this, and I've now harvested enough to make a pot of beans.  This is much better than the time I grew zucchini or turnips--my other attempts as seeds.  The birds, however, are having quite a fruitful time planting seeds in the driveway.  What to try next year?

The Amazing Box

 HH's brother sent his old lathe, which weighed in the box somewhere between 300 and 400 lbs, to Portland for Himself to retrieve from the shipping company, which was in the industrial area about 175 miles away or so.  We had to use the truck to get it because it wouldn't fit in the car.  Everywhere we went people were giving us admiring glances and high fives, not knowing the trouble that lay ahead for us.  The day was hot and the traffic heavy, and we broke down twice on the side of the interstate, the first time on a narrow bridge near a very busy exit onto another interstate, with trucks whizzing by what seemed like inches away.  There was a vapor-lock and fuel refused to get past the carburetor.  What Himself says about it is, "If you have old vehicles you don't know what's wrong with them until you drive them."  He thinks he might need a new fuel pump soon, because maybe it was just getting too old and weak to push through that vapor-lock, and maybe it's time to service the radiator.  He got to check things and see what was working and what wasn't.  Anyway, it was an exciting adventure for us.  We had a picnic in the cab while we let it cool off.

 We made it safely home after a second breakdown, but this time he knew it was just too hot, and he got to check things, and we got home in the very perfect exact nick of time for me to get to the park and play with my band, which was having an extra bonus concert just down the road from our house.  Just one fun thing after another.

Brother of HH likes to do things well, and that is how he made the crate for the lathe.  I never saw a label bolted on before I saw this.  This was the second freeway breakdown without a motorcycle in as many months.  I'm happy and lucky to get to have all this fun and adventure.

Look What I Found

i am amazed that this blog is still here, just sitting around doing nothing for years.  HH and I took a little drive (he likes to say it was 8,000 miles) to see old friends and relatives on the other side of the Mississippi River.  We also saw the Atlantic Ocean from the tip of one side of the Chesapeake Bay.

I got distracted by the Capitol Dome, which we saw on a whirlwind tour of Washington, DC, which they just call Washington on all the road signs, but here is HH with both the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean behind him.

This green photo was taken at a relative's in Ohio.  She has a bottle tree and a glass tree.  The yellow sign just peeking out from the left says to watch out for motorcycles.  We made it to the east coast and back to the west coast, just by taking the little roads through the little towns and farms.