Dick Allen's Blue Print Part 2

These shots of the Blue Print are from an old Street Chopper and were found floating around the blogs awhile back. I Photoshoped the top one, it was taken by camera and had a flash reflection and was distorted. I had this issue (since lost), and am guessing it's from around 1974-75. Anybody know the month and year of the Street Chopper this is from?

Except for the paint and the bars, the bike is pretty much the same as first built. Note the raised transmission. I forgot to mention that feature of the frame in the first post. It looks like this was shot near the Del Amo financial center at Hawthorne and Carson Blvd. in the South Bay.


If you can get past the model, you'll notice some of the goodies of the bike. She helps illustrate just how low this bike sits. Note the seat. Dick liked to keep them real thin.


Sorry about the magazine gutter but it's not my scan.

I wonder what became of the bike or frame?

A Lesson Pilots Can Teach Us About Riding

I've been reading a lot about general aviation lately, and it is striking how many similarities there are between flying and riding. That's probably why there are so many pilots who ride motorcycles, and vice versa.

There is one rule for pilots that I think transfers extremely well to motorcyclists: Fly the Airplane. In other words, as a pilot, your primary focus is always controlling the airplane, no matter what's going on around you. Door blew open? Fly the airplane. Your passenger is extremely sick? Fly the airplane. Airborne Zombies? Fly the airplane. Do not panic, do not get distracted, just fly the airplane until it's back on the ground and stopped.

In our case, the rule would be "Ride the Motorcycle." Ride it until it's stopped.

Without a doubt, you've heard some idiot explain a crash by saying, "I had to lay it down." It's possible at some point in your riding career, you've uttered those words. I have, when I was younger and dumber. Luckily, I'm now older and better trained, if not any smarter.

Here's the thing: There is no situation I can think of where "lay it down" is the right decision. Bailing is the wrong choice, as is freezing up and just passively sitting on the bike as it rolls toward a tree. Ride the motorcycle! You can stop in far less distance by judicious application of the brakes than by sliding across the pavement. You can swerve. You can think ahead and figure out an escape plan, though we all know some things are tough to predict, and some situations you just can't escape.

Apart from those situations, there are plenty of things that happen while riding that can be pretty distracting. Catching a big rock in the shin, for example. Discovering a bee has made it's way into your goggles. A vengeful lunch. An attractive person you'd like to impress. Distraction in any vehicle is a bad thing, but as motorcyclists we just can't afford to be distracted while rolling.

Or you could go into a turn too fast and panic. Do you give up control and go careening across all the lanes, or grit your teeth and ride the motorcycle through the turn? Maybe you lost your grip on the clutch and popped an epic, unintended, wheelie. Do you hope for the best, or control the bike?

So whatever happens on the road, remember, your job is to ride the motorcycle. Ten car pile-up right ahead of you? Ride the motorcycle. Bee sting on the forehead? Ride the motorcycle. Ride it until it's stopped, whether that's upright or on it's side.

Aston Martin DB6

.




Sometimes life makes you gifts, you can have the car or the girl, and more rarely both, my buddy "S" is lucky and he used it well ...
Which one will be the hardest to keep at home?










Shot with Hasselblad and Kodak Ektar 100




This DB6 Mk1 automatic is in its original Dubonnet red with black leather trim and black carpets.

This is a 1966 automatic with matching numbers and an odometer reading of 96,000 miles. Annual MoT certificates dating back to 1977 suggest that the mileage is genuine.

It was restored around 10-15 years ago.

History of the DB6
The DB6 was announced and shown to the public for the first time at the London Motor show in October 1965 and shares its general specification with the DB5.
The most obvious difference between the DB6 and DB5 were changes made to the rear body, the rear spoiler or KAMM tail and the lengthened wheel base to realise a 4 seat capability, reduced cost of production and an improvement in performance through reducing drag and lift at speed. Other changes led to modification to the front to reduce lift, improve cooling and this led to the fitting of quarter bumper bars as opposed to the full width ones fitted to the DB5. The use of unequal length trailing arms for the rear axle, required to enable the adoption of an increased wheelbase, also had the benefit of increasing the rear end roll stiffness which further improved the general stability of the new DB6.
Despite all of the modification for the DB6, weight was only marginally increased and the no cost option of a full Vantage specification engine realised a performance for the DB6, which rivalled that achieved by the DB4 GT some years earlier and never achieved with the DB5.
On the road, the DB6 is noticeably more steady and in general use, a more comfortable car with noticeably better internal room for driver and passenger alike. General handling is at least as good as the earlier DB5 and the ride generally is more controlled and comfortable. All in all, the DB6 though planned as an interim model, had indeed achieved a worthwhile gain over its predecessor, all be it at the expense of some of the purity of line exhibited by the DB4 and 5.
While the general specification of the DB6 resembled closely that of the DB5, its achievable maximum speed went up to 148 mph from 141 mph with correspondingly improved acceleration.


.

Old Chopper Drawings

When Greg Parigian sent his sculpture photos, I asked if he could send some of my old drawings that I haven't seen for years.

I haven't seen the top one since about 1969. He sent a copy of the bottom one a few years ago and it's been posted before.


The chopper out front is a trike featuring a surrey type top and wooden pickup box in the back. Until now, I completely forgot this drawing. It's funny how the memories come back.


I'm 99% sure this of an actual trike. There's are just too many details that I know I didn't make up. There was a Asian biker who went by the nickname "Chink" that had a trike like this. He and some other bikers lived in an old two story house across from the Jack in Box on the corner of Flower st. and Century Blvd in Inglewood, CA. Greg and I once rode our chopped Sting-Rays over to check out their bikes. The bikers got a real kick out of our bicycles and took turns trying to ride them. If only we took a camera. I Google mapped it, and it appears the house and a remodeled Jack in the Box are still there.

Born Winner

I must be the luckiest man alive! Just look at how many winnings I came into last month, and it wasn't even the whole month.

P.T. Barnum: "There's a sucker born every minute".

up and down

1964 Duo Glide

.




This 1964 Duo Glide was abandoned for years at the bottom of local H.D dealer. When "F" started to work as commercial in the garage, he immediately spotted this machine, as nobody was interested by, he restored it with the help of VTM. Paintjob was done by MBS.
The engine is now tuned and reliable with a double ignition, S&S cylinders and pistons, Jim's strenghtened pushrods and valves springs, Electronic ignition by Mallory, Delkron crankases, Andrews suicidal clutch, and double disk brakes by Performance machine.

L e t's g o f o r a R i d e !