I’m not sure that would make a successful Hollywood title but it sure as hell excites me!
I don’t know whether everyone does it but I carry moments of regret through life somewhere buried in a dusty box in the corner of my brain. They spill out sometimes and I go through an internal process of closing my eyes and shaking my head side to side as I remember the feeling. It is largely pointless of course as the moments are long gone.
The bike(s) I shouldn’t have sold, the engines I shouldn’t have blown up, the Rolls Royce I shouldn’t have crashed (it wasn’t mine.. I was working as a mechanic in New Zealand and being towed to a garage) and definitely in the mix.. the Silk Scott frame I shouldn’t have cut the front tubes out of. Putting the fact that it wasn’t going to be easy to swap engines without doing something ‘detachable’ aside… the Silk Scott sat rather forlorn for at least 10 years until I started looking at possibilities last year. It’s not finished by any means but Alan (Noakes), who’s been working on the detachable cradle has got a loose assembly together now. he just sent me the pictures: This is how Christmas should feel.
The next step is to braze the lugs up.
So that’s what Alan has been doing!
What have I been doing?
I’ve stripped the weighted cranks out of the crankcase my dad machined for the Silk Scott as I need to do some final work on the gas flowing on the transfer and inlet passages (I love doing this.. stick a MotoGP DVD on and needle file for hours). I’ve also written to Rex Caunt, an ignition expert, to get advice about the process of setting up a charging system using the ring of magnets on the side of the flywheel.
It’s all too much. I’m off to bed.