Bike of the month September 2016

For the last year the Admin team have selected the bike of the month and then either myself or Minx have written the article. For the next 12 months Vizman has kindly volunteered to write the bike of the month piece. I’ll be posting an update on our plans for the coming year  shortly and these include a continued drive to find additional contributors for the front page.

Next month when Vizman’s training is complete he will publish his own content but here is his debut as BOTM editor:

BOTMsep

BOTM by Viz

Wayne Kemp once wrote about building a vehicle. He was more than likely bustin’ a gut in Detroit as opposed to Hamamatsu, nevertheless we could all relate to his relentless sentence on the production line, watching as you help build something you could never afford …..(it obviously wasn’t a song based on ‘Henry’s’ plant)

Wayne didn’t have the internet to flick to the latest pages of NWS (always assumed ‘Not Work Safe’) but you have. I recommend you go take a fag/tea/dump break and witness something far removed from the chopped up slab bones of the first introduction….. ”yeah but WTF has this got to do with that?”

Well, I’ll tell you.  By congratulating clivegto for producing BOTM, read about it here.

Mr Kemp let someone else record his song ….that dude was Mr Johnny Cash, aka the man in black, and as you can see from clivegto’s own interpretation of doing things ‘One Piece at a Time’ you can create something really kool….and black*

*the best colour according to Viz

 

Bike of the month August 2016

BOTMEvery month when bike of the month looms we normally always have a debate about which bike we are going to choose. Sometimes the discussion goes back and forth for days.

July and August have been no ordinary months for OSS with 3 events over the space of 4 weeks. Fortunately for us, this month required no debate and  bike of the month just chose itself.

In July we attended the Practical classic track day event at Cadwell Park. At the end of the Saturday track sessions Practical Sportsbike Magazine judged their favourite bikes of the weekend. While two OSS bikes won awards, there could be only one overall best of show winner  and that winner is this month’s bike of the month.

13619989_10153868246373915_2996133057015595667_n

We have seen many really fine examples of the Wes Cooley GS replicas and tributes in our time and Steve Fletcher’s bike is right up with the very best of them. It went very well on track too.

13620005_10153868247438915_4761858222569473038_n

Congratulations Steve your GS is bike of the month.

Discuss Steve’s bike here.

It’s never too late to have a happy childhood

It’s fair to say that most of us are either knocking on the door of middle age or older. When you consider the bikes we covet are 30 years old, that makes sense. So what possesses a guy, still in his 20’s, to build a 300BHP monster turbo bike based around GSXR slingshot? More to the point what possesses him to then race it on Pendine sands and compete in the international speed wheelie championships? In truth, I don’t know the answer, but whatever he’s on, I would like some too.

I have been nagging him for some months to write an account of his adventures and share them here on our front page.  I’m not bothered that he hasn’t had time up until now because I know that young people don’t always do what they’re told, but if they can pull it off and do something wonderful, sometimes they escape punishment.

Here is Kev’s account of our recent dyno weekend, clearly after reading this you can see why he has little time for anything else. You can also see why his age is an advantage.

Kev Kearsley

Super busy weekend! So prior to the dyno day I had a leaky barrel that has plagued the bike since it was built, looks like someone had been a bit heavy with a pry bar at some point but never mind we can fix and make do, so with a freshly rebuilt motor sacrificing parts from my other build I had a bike without a proper set up.

Friday

Took the Friday off work to run round getting Avgas and other bits and pieces. Setup the clutch and finish all the little jobs and fitted the new motor back in.

Saturday

Saturday and I was up damn early..image.jpeg

I decided to book an early dyno session with Dan to get some data on the new setup, this meant leaving before the sun came up to be in Bingham for 08:30, even got to watch the sun rise.

image.jpeg

Arriving at 7:30 I had time to fit the full exhaust system and swap the fuel over to Avgas.

image.jpeg

Dan arrives at 08:30 and the bike is strapped in

image.jpeg

Poor show. 220bhp poor, the fuelling was way out and the bike then decided to have an oil leak all overs Dans shiny new dyno.

“I’ll be back”….. *gets on the blower ….”ello Davvveeeeee”…..

Mad dash over to SPR to get some jets after breakfast with @Havoc and a roadside recovery for @Paulm

First things first, oil leak, turns out on of the APE studs had stripped (that’s twice now). Dave got the glue gun out and promptly set fire to the offending stud. image.jpeg

image.jpeg

It was promptly replaced with a new stud and nut. Now about this time most of you would of been 3 pints in thinking about ordering a cheeky bag of roasted peanuts at the Horse & Plough. Not us, Sam Dunlop made a lovely meal and we were back on it.

image.png

Quick jet change based on info taken from my sly dyno run early Saturday morning and it was test ride time, no leaks, great success. Still rich though, big turbo bike wailing down country back roads ain’t ideal but at that moment in time necessary.

image.jpeg

Loopie being Loopie found a giggle box on the shelf of many things, didn’t take five seconds to plumb that in…. Suns going down now, no headlight… Test ride…. Hello Moto… Now we are talking! It’s getting late.

Across town @vizman is probably on his third story about the good old days at sea. Not us, we’re keen driven enthusiasts hell bent on blowing shit up. Few odds and sods and buttoned up and I was ready for bed.

Sunday

Up early, fresh as a daisy and popped over to RTR motorcycles.

First run, still too rich, lean it out, again…

It was at this point I should of stopped for a butty.

Two final runs of 296bhp & 298bhp back to back!

image.jpeg

 

Proof of all the hard work by Me and Dave.  Fuelling spot on too!

So, a busy put very productive weekend! So if I didn’t stop and say hi you may understand why.

Great event, we should keep doing these events!

Kev.