makes some of our projects seem quick http://www.nzherald.co.nz/motoring/n...lery_id=141508
seems it may need new piston rings....
Now that's done can he pop over to my place.
My dads Douglas twin used to smoke like that at take off, if the rider had been too generous with the hand operated engine oil pump. (Why can't pics be posted here? works on on the main forum)
You can post pics using the " insert image " icon, for Google pics I cut and past the properties bit. From your PC you need to save them to a 3rd party site like Photobucket. I find it better than the KB main site one.
http://s777.photobucket.com/user/kiw...?sort=3&page=1 (I'm sure someone has told me about this before) (rant on) Anyway bike is now at MOTAT. I'm hoping the current ruckus over MOTAT management doesn't mean exhibits start getting sold to pay for more "culturally appropriate" shit. What part of "Museum of TRANSPORT and TECHNOLOGY' dont they understand? (rant off)
Motat has been an unhappy place for years, look what they did to the Pearce biplane replica. I wonder if they remember which box it is in.
select " get links" copy paste and so on. I applied for a job there as Facility Manager, thought I'd be a shoe in with a Norton..... From Googleing at the time was lots of issues with Volunteers resenting being told what to do by " paper' engineers and the like. Have they got Lens desk there yet as an exhibit Was it given to them of for them to look after as I have heard of bikes being sold too. I find MOTAT pretty boring, if I want to look at non runners I can go to BFTP sheds. The steam stuff is pretty cool.
My Dad had a 1914 fore and aft Douglas like this with the exposed flywheel. He was riding down Queen Street once when the flywheel fell off so he had to lean the bike against a lamp post and chase the wheel all the way down to the bottom. They used to have trouble with the tram tracks back then. The skinny tyres used to catch down into them and sometimes it was easier to ride to the tram depot in the rail and lever the bike out there. Motorcycling was more exciting then. Especially if a tram was coming the other way.....
I was talking to the mother in laws boy friend today - he's a MOTAT man....army stuff. It's been a unhappy place for years, it's just like any club, all the Indians wanting to be chiefs, all the usual back stabbing. What has happened is in this modern age with government funding they have to be accountable with the money, plans, procedures, outcomes....all that modern jargon. They don't want to do it, they want to just do what they have done for years...going forward is not part of the plan.
The bike was sent to motat as a permanent loan, but I cannot find any of the paperwork to prove it (it was about 34 years ago) I did have some correspondence with them recently and they wanted me to change the terms to a bequest (ie give it to them) but I said no as my brothers would also have to agree to that. Re the post about the flywheel coming off - that had happened with this bike too, chewed a big hunk out of dads ankle, which is why he added the black metal shield.
Maybe it would benefit with being used. Most people walk past dead bikes and cars in a static museum but will stop, appreciate and linger over a used piece of machinery being enjoyed. If museums change their exhibits, they attract visitors. Going to Motat is just a walk past all the same old tired stuff that has moldered there in perpetuity. I would love a vintage or veteran bike to cherish and so would many of us. Every ride an adventure.
when was the last time anyone went to MOTAT, I took the kids there once..... They probably spend all the money on Accountants, marketing, and EH and S these days.
As much as i enjoy MOTAT, i think it is a shame that the cars, aircraft, motorbikes etc are "parked up" when people would get more enjoyment out of seeing them move around under their own steam, many times i have thought to offer my "spare " time only to be told of all the brueaucray and red tape that goes on there.
We used to get a yearly pass every year - my kids practically grew up there. Kids like seeing familiar things, getting to know more about them with each visit....adults are far more easily bored. One of my daughters volunteered at MOTAT - they set her to work polishing spoons. She wanted to work in the steamroom or serve on the trams. Open days are good, when everything is working, and people bring other stuff in. The place is too small for what it needs to exhibit, but any other location and it wouldn't be MOTAT.
