I always intended to race the Slabby, but I thought it’d be finished well in time, and that I’d have had the chance to test it thoroughly and iron out any little niggles before race weekend. I was wrong.

I still raced it on Sunday though.  I hadn’t even started the motor for over two weeks. I’d never ridden it. It was on brand news tyres, and had brand new brake pads all round. I didn’t even know if there were other gears in the ‘box than first, or if the clutch – unused for ten years – would take any level of abuse.

As I lined up behind my fellow competitors I was expecting the nerves to really kick in. A brief look around revealed a crowd you’d normally be impressed to see at a BSB meeting, so I concentrated on the Tarmac, and the back of the rider in front of me – a mad man called Hanus, astride an immense CBX. Then it was my turn.

After my three circuits,  I found out I’d done a 26.59, knocking five seconds off my qualifying time.

More impressive was the Slabby. It hadn’t been prepped, it wasn’t ready to be ridden, let alone raced – and hadn’t been ridden in ten years. In fact it’d only been started four times in ten years, all in the last two months. I’m blown away by that. Seven people tried to buy it off me on the day, and one chap even sent his wife to try and convince me after I told him ‘no’ at least ten times in as many minutes. What a brilliant bike.

Chris Walker, by the way, caned me with a 21.87 on his Norton, and Stavros did a 24.39 on his 2010 R1. Technically, I did beat Danny Webb – but he may not have been taking it very seriously…

Moby

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But curiosity got the better of me at the weekend – albeit I’d have to confess that it was a pretty slow burn. So, after owning my 1975 Honda CB750 Dunstall for over a year and a half – I finally wheeled it out the garage and had a go at getting it running.

I’ve not really done much with the Dunstall since getting it – short of whipping the ignition cover off to discover a total lack of back plate, points, and a spark advancer – which inspired the fitting of a Dyna electronic ignition unit (which I’ve as yet made no attempt to set up). I think the only tinkering was to clean out the petrol tap bowl and filter, which looked like they’d been filled with tea. In fact the whole inside of the tank looks pretty damn awful really. I have got a tin of Petseal to cure it of its flaking nastiness – but haven’t got round to doing the job yet.

I’ve bullied the Dunny’s kick-start lever a few times every month since acquisition, just to keep the motor free, but had no idea whether it’d run or not. Throwing caution to the wind, and keeping a fire extinguisher handy, I simply connected the fuel pipes, bunged some fresh fuel in the tank, and connected a set of jump leads. I don’t know if the feeling of trepidation ever goes away, but whenever I start a ‘non-runner’ for the first time, it always makes me a bit windy.

After a quick stab of the started button, there was the beginnings of what sounded like imminent ignition. On the second stab, with fuel pissing out the No.1 carb’s overflow with gay abandon, it coughed and roared into life. The plume of rusty coloured gas from the 4-2 Dunstall Decibel silencers was followed by a reasonable cloud of smoke as years of inactivity were burnt away. The smoke subsided quite quickly though, which makes me think the motor isn’t in too dire a state.

God it sounds good too. There’s something very recognisable about an old Honda 4′s exhaust note – and it sounds very factory with the Decibel pipes on. I can’t pretend it was running nicely, smoothly, or settled into an even idle all on its own – but it runs, and I could barely hear any cam chain or clutch rattle – but then it was hard to hear anything over the rest of the noise.

I’m delighted. Now I just need to restore the bloody thing and actually use it. The Dunny is a lifer for me – something I’ll restore properly, and probably over a long period of time – then keep forever. It only owes me

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I was in dire need of some new riding jeans, and got hooked on the idea of some Draggin numbers after seeing their mint advert with some absolute honey barely containing her arse in a pair – the power of advertising eh?

On top of that (and I’d like to be), our Ad Manager Charlie has got a whole wardrobe full of ‘em and swore they were great. He was right too.

I’ve got a pair of the ‘Biker’ jeans, which are kind of classic in style, and I’m well impressed. The build quality appears to be very good, as do the quality of the materials used. The Kevlar panels are thick and extensive, and the fit is great, even on an odd shaped fatty like me. They’re comfortable too, and smart enough to ride to the pub and enjoy a few lemonades without looking like the Terminator, or sweating your gonads off in leathers.

I hope to never try their crash performance, but in every other way I’m impressed with them – recommended.
Moby

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