Uncle Ernie’s Place

[oldironnow]

It's better larger. He's looking right at you:

https://ilglobo.com/media/listing_images/2019/09/16/Simoncelli.jpg


.

[Fatfatboy]

Yes, better larger.
That would make for a great mural in a man cave or in a watering hole.

Such a shame that he didn’t get to show the world how good he was going to be.

[Allred]

oldironnow wrote

Thank you for sharing!
I don't know why, but I feel it's so cool to know someone who felt that moment.

There was a similar "freeze" during the winter of 1967.  The day after Christmas 1967 (Boxing Day), we woke to about a foot and half of overnight snow on top of recent freezing conditions. There were no snow plows (ploughs) working due to the holidays and I left my precious 250cc Ariel Arrow at home and walked to our regular meeting place in the center of town to see how many of the other lads had the same idea.

They were all there, and one lad (Derrick Moncaster) who had a nice 650 Triumph Trophy even showed up on his "winter bike", a 1950s 125cc BSA Bantam. The word was that the snow was so thick, and having also been blown into drifts, that the town was cut off.  Rumors were that you couldn't get more than a mile or so out of town. Monk and I decided to test the rumor and foolishly set off on his puny little Bantam.

Man was it cold, we had no helmets, or gloves, just jeans and our leather jackets, (we were young!) and only about a mile out of town we soon found the road impassible due to snow drifts, even to a little BSA Bantam. We attempted to ride through/over a particularly large drift but soon got stuck, we quickly made the decision to make it back asap, the bike was light enough for us to "carry" when necessary, but then the rear chain came off due to some frantic wheel spin in one drift.

Initially this didn't bother us too much, we were laughing out loud at the farce of it all. But we soon realized that our hands were so cold that they wouldn't function and we couldn't get the chain back on. We took it in turns to work on the chain while the other put his hands under his armpits to warm them up, but it was to no avail, our hands were just so cold we had little-to-no-feeling in them and they wouldn't function.

It didn't take long to begin to realize we were in a very precarious situation, stuck out in the open, lightly clothed, no gloves, no hats, freezing temperatures and a howling wind, with zero chance of anyone else driving by. We were getting really desperate as we struggled with the little chain on the old Bantam, seconds began to feel like minutes, and soon every minute seemed like an hour. Finally, by both of us using both of our hands together, we managed to get lucky enough to get the chain back on the rear sprocket. I cannot tell you how much of a relief that was, and we jumped on that Bantam and rode carefully but as quickly as we could back to town, both of us as cold as blocks of ice and lucky to have not suffered a worse fate. It was an early lesson to both of us that simple things can turn very serious, very quickly.


.

[oldironnow]

Fatfatboy wrote

Yes, better larger.
That would make for a great mural in a man cave or in a watering hole.

Such a shame that he didn’t get to show the world how good he was going to be.

That whole series would be different if he would've survived.

It was kind of shock to open that image up to full size.

I take it as an admonishment: "Get your shit done."

[oldironnow]

Allred!

The blind, invincible optimism of youth!

That's a really 'cool' story!

It was stupid in retrospect, but that's the power of evolution in action. You stuck with it, didn't panic, didn't Darwin yourselves, and learned from it.

Whereas other people I know seem to take those lucky breaks as some sign of a free-pass in life to blithely drive into every 'flooded river' they find until they one day they find one that's too deep and swift.

BSA Bantam - Wasn't that Kevin Cameron's first bike?

I seem to remember a story of him working on it at Hah-vard, including the feature of working on it in his dorm and sneaking it in and out of the building past the floor proctor (RA?) by standing it up on its rear wheel to fit into the elevator.

https://www.cycleworld.com/bsa-bantam-harley-davidson-hummer-motorcycle-history-classics-remembered/

[Allred]

oldironnow wrote

BSA Bantam - Wasn't that Kevin Cameron's first bike?

I seem to remember a story of him working on it at Hah-vard,

The very same...............it looked like this one, but in MUCH worse shape, rusty, uncared for, bits missing etc., etc. I was just 150lbs back then, but "Monk" was a big lad, and those 125 BSA Bantams only had 4.5hp when new, the one we were on would probably struggle to produce 3.8hp......at most, and a Bantam is a tiny thing, so it was a comical sight to begin with!

.

[oldironnow]

You were 10 stone of traction weight on the back.

That chain looks to be so very inaccessible.

I do like the advanced upside-down forks

[Fatfatboy]

Great story Allred. Thanks for sharing it.

[Fatfatboy]

I love them forks.

[Allred]

Fatfatboy wrote

I love them forks.

Imagine the rake and trail figures on that machine!

[Fatfatboy]

Allred wrote

Fatfatboy wrote

I love them forks.

Imagine the rake and trail figures on that machine!

Measured with a yard stick.

[oldironnow]

[Fatfatboy]

I like the helmet.

[oldironnow]

Same eyes on the bike.

It has to see, too.

https://www.pinterest.nz/pin/598134394232050733/?amp_client_id=CLIENT_ID(_)&mweb_unauth_id=%7B%7Bdefault.session%7D%7D&simplified=true

[Fatfatboy]

“Why is this bike cranking so slow? What’s that smell?”

 

[oldironnow]

Wow ^

[motogrady]

^. JB Weld?  No?

[Fatfatboy]

The culprit.



The negative ground cable end to the frame had broken causing a bad connection and the positive cable was loose. The positive post was fried through. The negative post just a bit deformed.


JB Weld, Good idea. I should of tried it. The battery was only two years old.
but I just plunked down another Benjamin for a new battery
and a new eye connector.

I’ve bought at least four batteries in the last few months.
A couple weeks ago I went to the parts store to get one for the Beezer. Came out of the store and the battery in the Wrangler was fried.  
All of the batteries have been at least a Benjamin. Even the little one for the Beezer.
At least they are American made.  

[Allred]

Just a brief snippet to keep your racing appetite whetted during these winter days.


.

[Allred]

A barn-find BSA Lightning  (lightning bolt on side cover).

And "rare" fully-enclosed rear chain guard