Here be dragons!

available on many items including drinkware, clothing, bags and jewellery cases in my shop

New dragon design

Evolution of man?

                                         Tote Bag Evolution? SidecarJon's Online Emporium

Been thinking about all that's happening in the world, not just in Palestine, but all over the world, looking at the way so many of us choose to treat our fellow humans and it led me to wonder just what went wrong in man's evolution?

why is it that we have become such a self destructive species?

many people blame religion, and I have no doubt that it plays it's part, people killing each other because their religions dictate that any alternative belief is heresay etc, but is that the REASON or the excuse?

Do not people use religion as their justification for their behaviour, to absolve themselves of any blame for their detestable acts?

And what of racism?, why have so many humans adopted the belief that the colour of a persons skin, their sex or even their sexuality should be grounds to judge a person?

I wonder if the human race will out evolve this and learn to simply accept rather than too hate, I wonder if it will happen before we annihilate ourselves?

Building a chopper with Sidecarjon and Horse part three:- axle plates

The axle plates have arrived, and they are perfect!

I designed them, then took my drawings to Graeme at

 Smith Metal Fabrications ltd where they were made up.

Ive used this company before for small jobs,and have always been very happy with the results.

In the case of my axle plates, they managed to squeeze the manufacturing of them into a very busy work schedule and still provide a top quality item.

It's rare  to find a local company that although busy will take the time to do small jobs for someone such as myself working on a small project these days.

The quality of their work speaks for itself, and their prices are very fair, I would highly recommend them.

The plates themselves are precision cut from 10mm steel plate, nice and strong!

They are different from most axle plates due to the tag at the rear, the intention is that the plates will slot inside the existing swinging arm and the original wheel spindle plus two additional threaded bars will  hold everything tightly in position whilst welding thereby  minimising  distortion from the heat produced.

Here they are slotted loosely in place to give an idea of how it will all work.

When I am ready to weld the new tubes in place, the wheel spindle bolt will go through the hole to its right, pinning the plates in place and two threaded bars will go in the place of the spindle slot in the new plate, preventing any sideways movement from the heat of welding.

Once the top and bottom rails (bottom rails not shown) are welded in place, the swinging arm will be slid forward and removed then the tags will be cut off leaving a nice tidy stretched rigid rear section 

After that, its just a matter of adding bracing and gusset plates (heavy ones in this case as the bike will eventually grow a sidecar!)

Building a chopper part two, thoughts on welding

It may be a while 'til my axle plates are ready, so I thought I'd write a little about how I plan to nail the beast together

My intention is to MIG weld the new rear frame together, there are a number of reasons for this as follows

1 (and most importantly) I know how to mig weld properly, in my case this means I've been trained to a relatively high standard.
( understanding the theory and being capable of putting it into practice is essential when working on structural components, metal fatigue fractures can move at several metres a second!)

2 mig welding equipment is relatively cheap ( I do mean relatively, buying the cheapest hobby welder you can find isn't the way to go, you get what you pay for, a better quality welder will yield better results every time)
I use the most powerful Clarke welder that a domestic power supply can cope with, it's a very good welder

3 I already own the equipment I plan to use

A lot of people prefer to use TIG welding, and if you have the knowledge and access to the relevant equipment that's great, it's probably the most common system used professionally
Personally, I've never had the opportunity to learn TIG, so MIG it shall be.

As a side note, MIG is a good place to start for someone wanting to learn how to weld, RELATIVELY cheap(see above) and RELATIVELY simple to learn (note RELATIVELY!)

Of course, someone just learning won't be trying to construct frames from scratch, not unless they're bored of living, that'd come under the heading of 'A VERY BAD IDEA'

There are drawbacks when using MIG, it produces a very high, localised heat which can cause significant distortion as the metal expands and if allowed to cool too fast, brittle welds can occur, this would be A VERY BAD THING on a frame!

Luckily, there's a simple solution to this, heating up not just the area being worked on but further out as well until the metal just begins to glow yellow and then immediately welding will minimise distortion and allow the metal to cool slower.
Another good idea is to weld evenly (ie doing both top tubes rather than doing both tubes on the right)
The logic for this is that any distortion should be equal, minimising the chances of pulling the wheels out of line( another very bad thing when it comes to motorcycles!)

Ok, so now I'm impatient to begin, where are my axle plates??!!

Building a chopper with Sidecarjon and Horse

Part one, the donor bike and its history

Let me introduce you to Horse.
This is Horse, already loosely mocked up, just to give an idea of the intended profile etc

Horse (aka crazy horse) is a 1987 Kawasaki KLR 650 trail bike.

In case you're wondering, the name has no Native American connotations.
The bike was so named because riding it in standard form was comparable in my mind to riding a psychotic rocking horse due to the infamously under sprung and under damped suspension and bad brakes that come as standard curtesy of mr Kawasaki san.

Don't get me wrong, it was great fun to ride in its own lunatic way.

Alas, horse has been the victim of two myopic motorists in the past, the second accident being serious enough to need major rebuilding work. "YOU BASTARDS, YOU KILLED HORSE!!"
Actually, damn nearly did for me too, see if you can guess which bit of me made the dents in the tank....


New forks, uprated fork internals and brakes along with junking of many mangled bits were the first steps to Horse's second resurrection, but then stuff and life happened in equal amounts and Horse was left lurking in the back of the garage, gathering dust and playing home to a tribe of homeless spiders.

Now it's time to get my old friend back on the road, but in a very different guise, this is the beginning of a real back street chopper project.

I have already taken my axle plate design to a local engineering firm to be cut out.
yes, I probably could have cut them myself using a drill and hacksaw, but given the amount of time it would have taken, I opted to have them cut out professionally, besides which it was cheap, not much more than the cost if the metal.
As soon as they're done, work will commence

From Swansea to San Francisco (almost) on a Road King

Enthused up by our previous success of an epic one day road trip on our sportster which took us from Brighton to Swansea, taking in Stonehenge and the entire length of Canada en route , we thought it might be fun to see if we could ride from home to San Francisco.

We set off from Swansea in high spirits, the sun was out, and it wasn't raining (two rarities worthy of note)

Taking the South Gower road toward Rhossili, the bike was running perfectly and all was well with the world.

In fact it's a great biking road, winding its way across the Gower peninsula with its stunning scenery and herds of wild ponies grazing by the road side with relatively few cars to get in the way.

San Francisco is without doubt our favourite place to be, but days like today, out on a great bike in the middle of nowhere serve as a great reminder of how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful area.

We arrived at Rhossili without incident, but then disaster struck, the plan was to ride the bridge from the tip of Rhossili to Rhode Island and then travel cross country to San Francisco, hopefully arriving in time to watch the Forty Niners beat the Sea Hawks.

We failed to realise that no such bridge has yet been constructed, we had run out of road six thousand miles short of our target.

We walked as far as the Wyrms Head, taking in the beautiful scenery whilst surreptitiously looking for evidence of bridge construction.

As there was clearly no way to ride across the inconveniently large span of water between Wales and the USA, we chose instead to have lunch at The Worms Head hotel.
The food here was excellent, as was the local beer.

Once done, we again ventured forth, but noting that there had been no progress with regards to bridging the three thousand mile gap between Wales and America, we headed for home.

We may not have made it to San Francisco, but we had a fine day out, and who knows, maybe next time there will be a bridge!

Rhossili Bay 

The Wyrm's Head

The beach where the bridge to America should be

Zeitgeist, San Francisco

                                              click here to see Zeitgeist's web site


As an Englishman and devout biker abroad in a strange place, I have to say that Zeitgeist (on the corner of Valencia and Duboce) was probably one of the biggest culture shocks I have experienced.
Why?, well, it comes down to booze, actually!

Let me explain, if you go to a bikers pub or show etc in the uk, chances are there's going to be a great variety of beers available, and good ones at that.
Zeitgeist also has a wide variety of beers (more than forty, in fact) but also very popular is the Bloody Mary
In the uk, bikers and cocktails generally don't associate with each other

Still, when in San Francisco.....


My,my, suffice to say that a combination of Bloody Mary, a great bar and good people means Zeitgeist is now high on my list of favourite watering holes!

Gail Russell

                                                                       Gail Russell
Artwork of the week time, a pencil sketch this week, again by my father, this one would have been done in the 1940's when dad was in his early twenties.
Gail Russell had a turbulent and tragic life, it seems (click the link below the pic for more information) and died very young due in part to alcohol addiction.
I have posted this picture simply because I think it's a wonderful piece of art, despite the decay to the paper of nearly seventy years hidden in a folder

Union Jack

Union Jack

Today I thought we would have a little British patriotism, so here's the Union Jack, with a little twist.

 So far this design has had something of a  a love it/ hate it reaction from other people, but I had fun designing it, and I like it,and it's MY blog! haha

If you like it, and would like something with it on (ie t shirt, bag etc) click the link below the pic

Bikers Kitchen

Possibly the best place to build your next project, the kitchen, it's warm, there's a fridge for beer, a freezer for parts that need shrinking, an oven for heating parts up ,a table to put the engine on during rebuild time and a sink for degreasing parts not to mention easy access to coffee and food!

In fact, the only possible downside is the potential for a 'what the bloody hell is that bloody heap of scrap doing in my kitchen' reaction from an intolerant life partner.
There is, however, a way around this problem.
Your first sentence is the one that really matters, 'my love, I just wanted to make YOU something special, but there's nowhere to work on YOUR bike outside in the snow and rain, besides, I didn't want your pride and joy to go rusty'

If all is well, work can commence and you can artfully bring your own project into the kitchen in due course( hence the two bikes in the picture)

If this approach is unsuccessful, I suggest either moving the build into the front room or getting a less unreasonable life partner!

Brightona

What a day in Brighton
Fantastic bikes trikes n hotrods, great live bands and someone even remembered to order sunshine and blue skys!

Skull!

Flaming Skull and crossbones

With Halloween fast approaching, I thought it would be timely to add something a little seasonal to the shop, so here's one of my skull designs, as always, this is available on a range of clothes, drink ware , stationary, badges and so forth at my cafe press shop.

You can find it and various others by clicking the link below the picture

Snayke not Snake!

                                                                       SNAYKE

Remember 'Snake', the game that has been ported to every single electronic game playing device known to man and woman?

A simple and yet frustratingly addictive game that has been pretty much done to death, not a lot that you could do to such a basic game, right?

WRONG!

check out 'Snayke' by Alexander Szpakowski, this isn't just another clone, although obviously inspired by the original, this game takes it to a new level (scuse the pun)

Beware, though, addiction may well occur if you play this!.

In a word, it's fiendish, simple to play at first, but it'll keep you amused for a long time trying to twist your mind around the intricacies of the later levels- this is the kind of game that has the potential to turn a sane person into a gibbering recluse hunched over a game console in the corner of his case repeating the mantra 'just one more level' over and over!

Apple maps couldn't find this place, can you?!

                                       Somewhere in Suffolk painted by Geoff Thirlby
Second 'painting of the week' by my dad, this one was painted after he retired, we know it's somewhere in Suffolk, but we don't know exactly where.
If anyone recognises it, I'd love to know where it is.
If you click the link under the painting, you can see a few more of his pictures at my cafe press site.

Dad's artwork

some of my father's artwork

My father was always very self deprecating about his artwork, I always thought it was rather sad that he often seemed quicker to point out what he perceived to be faults with his work than take pleasure from the beautiful images he created.

Having said that, I know that it made him very happy that we all loved his art.
The painting above is among the last of the pieces he created, in fact, he never got around to finishing it, but I think it stands as a beautiful piece in it's unfinished form.

I wanted to share some of his art with anyone that would get pleasure in seeing it, but rather than overloading my blog with lots of images at once, I will ad a 'painting of the week' over the next month or so.

If anyone is impatient to see more, or would like to have a print etc of any of the images I post, clicking the link will take you to my website, Dad's pictures are in 'Geoff's gallery' in the artwork section.

This design has been very popular already, Dad would have been amazed that other people would want to own things with his artwork on them, I'm not surprised by that at all

Welcome back, M and P Direct

A little late posting this as MandP Direct opened their new, hugely improved shop/warehouse full of bikes and accessories a few weeks ago now.

M and P  are one of the biggest mail order bike parts and accessories companies in europe with a large shop in Swansea.
Actually, it isn't just a shop, it's very much a meeting place for local bikers and also incorporates a good cafe-well worth a visit.

The old M and P shop burnt to the ground a little over a year ago now, and bikers in the Swansea area have been impatiently awaiting the opening of the new premises.

I'm happy to say the new place looks good, the range of goodies available seems to have broadened and the quality of service is as good as ever.
Best of luck with the new, improved M and P direct, and I hope we will see more for American bikes here in the future.

To check out their website, click here: M and P Direct

Dudley Perkins Harley Davidson

Today, I thought I'd talk a little about the best Harley davidson dealership I have found so far.
That would, of course, be Dudley Perkins Company in South San Francisco (click on the name to visit their website)
Now, we live roughly six thousand miles away from this shop, but we make a point of getting our Harley parts from here whenever possible, and we ALWAYS stop by the shop when we are in San Francisco.

It's like a cross between a Harley dealership and a museum, and is well worth a visit just to check out the ancient iron on display.
This is a real family affair, currently into it's fourth generation and has been around since 1914-this shop has HISTORY!
you don't stay in business that long without doing it right.
Aside from that, the people are great, service is excellent, the staff knowledgeable, the owner and manager  happy to take time out just to chat and everyone that works there seems genuinely about the bikes. (and what a refreshing change that all is!)

If you ride bikes and live in the bay area, this wont be news, if you're visiting, make some time between visiting Alcatraz, Fisherman's Wharf, riding the cable cars etc and take a trip out there

New Welsh dragon flag design

My latest design, featuring the Welsh flag resplendant with it's famous dragon, done with a little twist!
products include calenders, stationary, clothing, drinkware, cards etc and are available by clicking on this link:  http://www.cafepress.com/SidecarJonsOnlineEmporium

living with dogs

We share our home with two 'rescue' dogs, Charlie the Greyhound and Tinker the Staffordshire Bull Terrier.
Today I came home to carnage, between them they had got into the fruit supplies, the floor throughout the house had the remains of blueberries, raspberries, avocados and bananas strewn across it.

Well, I couldn't let them get away with such unruly behaviour, a punishment was clearly called for.
After due consideration, the answer came in a rare flash of brilliance.
I took their dog food, biscuits and other treats and dumped them all out on the floor.
Ha, see how THEY like it, that'll learn 'em!

Harvards and Dad

A beautiful sunny day today, so the children, the dog and I went for a long walk on the downs.
We sat to admire the view and I was remembering dad when out of the blue (quite literally) a Harvard flew overhead, circled us once and went on its way.
Dad learned to fly in Harvards (amongst others) during world war two.
Just one of those moments

San Francisco- the best place in the world?

Telegraph Hill

Me, I really dont like cities, London?, hate it, Cairo, despise it and so it goes on.

I am not a city person.

So why could it be that of all the places I have seen in the world San Francisco is the place I love more than any other?

There are many reasons to love San Francisco, the architecture, both man made and natural, complimenting each other rather than battling for space (just look at the redwood grove surrounding the Transamerica pyramid to see what I mean)

 The art, oh my, the art, every where you look there is an expression of someone's ideas in paint, sculpture, music and so much more, such a creative place I have never known

 The food (why there aren't more fat 'Friscans I shall never know, I swear I could eat an amazing meal in a different place three times a day for five years at least!)

The open spaces, so many parks, there are even gardens in the sky, overhanging balconies of the skyscrapers

The people, never have I felt so welcomed in a place that is so new to me, the people are nothing short of amazing, everyone, it seems has time to chat, everyone is pleased to meet you and there is so much , well, LIFE about the city.

Tony Bennett once sang about leaving his heart in San Francisco, and I suspect that countless others feel the same way.

'You know its going to be a good day when you wake up in San Francisco'- one of my favourite quotes, was it Herb Caen that said it?, I'm not too sure, but it's always stuck with me.

 This is the place I was brought to by the love of my life, this we share, just the two of us and we will never stop coming back here, one day, to settle.

For these and so many more reasons, I think San Francisco will always be my favourite place on this planet.

Our beloved Harley Davidson Road King is for sale (located in Wales)

here she is, our beautiful Road King, she has never let us down and we love her dearly, but alas, she has to go!
She's a 2007 model which has benefitted from the addition of a Hyper Charger and vance and Hines pipes (all professionally set up on a dynamometer by Mayor's Motorcycles)
It also has a complete quick detach touring kit including two different rear racks, a tour pack, two different sized screens(standard and extra tall) and clib on leg shields(not that we ever need them,  it never ever rains here in wales,  ahem, coff)

the handlebars have also been swapped, all the wiring now runs through them and it has been fitted with replacement stainless control lines etc.

It's not showroom mint, it gets used all year round, but it is very, very good, only one owner before us and has been professionally serviced using good quality components (eg Lucas OIl)

She's only covered seventeen thousand miles, and could be yours more ten and a half thousand pounds including a new MOT.

The price ISN'T negotiable, but I might take a much cheaper part ex, be it bike (bmw?, Vmax?, 1200 Bandit?, WHY?) or car(and by car, I mean a PROPER car, Jeep, Cadillac, why?, something INTERESTING!)
oh yes, all the original bits are also included in the sale

Alison's Spiritual Art

Alison's Spiritual Art

here you will find my sister's creations, more things for those inclined toward delicate images, you won't find hot rods or bikes here, but rather  fairies and goddesses and other such things.

there are many pretty things to be found, including beautiful furniture (decorated boxes, mirrors and more) and baby items (mercifully, I'm well passed the time where I need to find baby things!)
Alison is very creative, if you don't see what you want, it's always well worth asking

New Designs featuring Thoth, Taweret and Bes

Products featuring these designs available here

Sketch Art

This is a sketch I made from a photograph of my Harley Davidson Road King, I've added it to a few products in my shop which can be seen by clicking  HERE.
i will be doing a lot moe of this style of work when time allows
If anyone has something that they would like to see rendered in similar style, be it bikes, places, anything really, contact me, provide a photo to work from and I can make a print on paper for an agreed price, alternatively I can add the finished design to a variety of different products in my shop where you can simply buy what you want.
If it's added to my shop, I need to be clear whether you are happy for it to be visible to and buyable by the public at large, or whether it's something personal and private

Chopper gods !

Click here to see where I sell my own artwork on various things-my favourite at the moment is the Anubis as chopper god design.
 Loosely mimicking the art style of ancient Egypt, this piece was originally a tongue in cheek sketch that I made for my partner which then progressed to a painting which seemed popular with a number of people.