Saturday, April 21, 2012 (Memphis TN)—The craftsmen at the Metal Museum talk about their love for the tactile essence of their work, so it’s no surprise that they also enjoy restoring and modifying motorcycles. There’s always a bike or three parked around the museum grounds.

Today, this bike was parked near the shop where someone was grinding mold marks off a cast iron piece.

After a little research, I’ve decided this is a 250cc Sears Allstate “Twingle”, circa 1968. The bikes were rebadged versions of an Austrian bike, the Puch SGS250.

The “Twingle” name refers to the “twin/single” engine, powered by one cylinder containing two pistons.

(For another great bike at the Metal Museum, see my recent post on the “Death Bike’.)

The "Taj Mahal" themed tank

Sunday, April 15, 2012 (Memphis TN)—The 15^th annual Mid-South Motorcycle Show was disappointing.

There were few vendors, few dealers, no test rides and no entertainment or stunt shows.

I don’t know how many folks attended on Saturday, but on Sunday, attendance was very thin. There were only a handful of motorcycles in the parking lot at any time.

The show was expanded this year to include custom/restored cars, and the couple dozen cars on display drew more attention than the bikes.

This bike has a Dodge Viper auto engine.

Most interesting to me were the bikes and tanks on display from O’s Custom Paints.

The nationally-known custom bike shop, located in Bartlett, had several eye-popping sample tanks and customer bikes on display.

I especially liked the “Taj Mahal” theme tank, with its Hindu theme. It’s one of O’s stock images that can be ordered.

I also liked a lovely with a tooled leather seat and copper copper-braided fuel and brake lines.

This bike featured copper trim and lines.

There was also a “Viper STR-10” bike with a Dodge Viper engine and a bright red paint job and matching helmet. The bike is owned by the owners of the Deli Mexicana in Germantown.

To view customer-owned bikes and O’s line of gorgeous stock tanks, visit the O’s Custom Paints website.

I hope next year’s show will bounce back, perhaps by adding more vendors for the custom car crowd.

Detail of the copper bike.

Beale Town Bound Marker (Hernando, MS)

Ramesses at the Memphis Pyramid Arena

Sunday, March 18, 2012— “In the Spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of motorcycles.” (Alfred, Lord Harley-Davidson)

Despite an unusually mild winter (the fourth warmest on record, according to the U.S. National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration), I didn’t ride any more than I do in much colder years.

But with spring weather arriving nearly a month earlier than usual, the urge to get out and ride is blossoming along with everything else.

The only question is: where?

Jessie Mae Hemphill Marker (Senatobia, MS)

Sunday morning’s answer was a visit to the Memphis Pyramid Arena (to snap a few pictures of the statue of Ramesses II before it’s moved to the University of Memphis) followed by a trip down US 51 yo visit several stops on the Mississipi Blues Trail.

Pictures and details on each stop on my 125-mile ride are at Postings:

• Ramesses at the Memphis Pyramid Arena
• [Mississippi Blues Trail] Big Walter Horton (Horn Lake, MS)
• [Mississippi Blues Trail] Beale Town Bound (Hernando, MS)
• [Mississippi Blues Trail] Jessie Mae Hemphill (Senatobia, MS)
• [Mississippi Blues Trail] “Mississippi” Fred McDowell (Como, MS)
• [Mississippi Blues Trail] Otha Turner (Como, MS)
• [Mississippi Blues Trail] “Mississippi” Joe Callicott (Nesbit, MS)

Sunday, March 11, 2012 (Memphis TN)—My spring visit to the National Ornamental Metal Museum included an unexpected piece of art: Logan Hirsh’s “Death Bike”.

Hirsh is one of the blacksmiths in residence at the Metal Museum. The Death Bike is his transportation, not a sculpture.

The Death Bike features a coffin gas tank and a leather seat depicting a skull.

Hirsh does his own leather tooling along with the metal work.

He said that he has wrecked a couple previous versions of the death bike. When that happens, he just finds another bike to strip and rework.

For more about the blacksmiths at the Metal Museum, read a 2010 profile in the Memphis Commercial Appeal.

Ann and Lillian Storey originally recorded under “The Twinkles” and the song was initially released with that credit. The 1958 re-release hit #45 on Billboard’s pop charts.

In the song, a girl gossips about a boy she just met, and describes him as “a bad motorcycle”. He’s bold enough to ask for her phone number and to ask her out on a date, but he calls her when he said he would, so he can’t be all bad.

The song plays off the 1950s view of motorcycles as being wild, edgy, non-conformist. (Perceptions that still persist today with some cause.)

The chorus has a refrain of “voom voom voom” that’s echoed by a bass drum beat, with a rhythm that recalls jump rope songs. In the middle is a short but peppy guitar solo by “Wild” Jimmy Spruill. Spruill played on dozens of rhythm and blues and rockabilly hits and had a hit of his own with the 1959 single Hard Grind.

The sisters had a total of four singles (or eight tracks) to their credit, but Bad Motorcycle was their only hit.

Bad Motorcycle is available on the Cameo Parkway 1957-1967 boxed set. Fans of singer/comedienne Tracey Ullman make recognize the song from her cover version on her 1984 album You Caught Me Out. Ullman’s version is campy and silly, while the Storey Sisters’ version is a better performance with much better instrumentation.

Bad Motorcyle

Original © Thornett Music

Sunday, January 1, 2012—There are a number of superstitions about New Year’s Day, including one regarding the direction of the wind.

Wind from the north forecasts a year of bad weather, while wind from the south predicts good weather and general prosperity. Wind from the east presages a year of bad crops, while wind from the west means a bountiful harvest…but the death of a person of national importance.

New Year’s Day’s sunrise found strong winds gusting from the west and a clear sky. By mid-day, the wind had calmed, and temperatures were in the mid-60s, much nicer than the historical average high of 50ºF. (The average daily high bottoms out at 49ºF in the first two weeks of January, after which temperatures begin to rise again. Every day we beat that average is one less day of winter!)

Another superstition for New Year’s Day is that you should do the things you want to do more of in the coming year.

OK, I just made that one up, but like a lot of motorcyclists, I try to get out for a ride on New Year’s Day as a symbolic start to the year. The destination isn’t important, just the activity.

This year, my buddy Terry and I deviated from the normal New Year’s Day ride down to the Mississippi River with his cronies, and we headed up to Shelby Forest State Park for a bit.

This year, el Bandido got the nod, since the Silver Bullet made the New year’s Eve run down to the RiverKings game. On the way home, I was regretting not having the heated grips, but the Bandit’s familiar grunt is practically part of the traditional ride.

As the park, we found blue skies, bare trees, and quiet…other than the sound of of other motorcyclists making the trip out to the park.

An unexceptional ride…but time spent on the bike, in good weather, with a good friend is definitely a good omen for the year ahead.

My Little Sister’s Gotta Motorbike was inspired by the true story that Grogan’s sister was one of the first girls in South Wales with a BSA motorcycle.

BSA was a company as diversified as any of today’s Japanese motorcycle manufacturers.

Birmingham Small Arms began in 1861 as a gun manufacturer in Birmingham, England. In 1880, BSA began producing bicycles, and then motorcycles in 1910.

I remember the BSA bikes as being some of the most graceful-looking of the early-century bikes we displayed at the Art of the Motorcycle in the Memphis Pyramid in 2007.

BSA expanded into the Sunbeam brand of motorcycles, and then into automobiles for a brief period, until that line was merged into a subsidiary of Daimler.

Beginning in the 1960s, BSA struggled in the face of competition from the Japanese brands, and a 1972 merger with Norton and Triumph was the death knell for all three marques. By 1978, the various brands of motorcycles (and guns) were sold.

In the years following, the brands have been revived by successor companies, but today, the original BSA lines of guns and motorbikes are nothing more than a memory.

My Little Sister’s Gotta Motorbike

My little sister’s got a motorbike
See her coming down your way
My little sister’s got a motorbike
It’s a big black BSA
She don’t wanna do the things
That a lady’s supposed to do
My little sister’s got a motorbike
She’s a rocker through an’ through
Rock on!

by Cavan Grogan © 1977 Carlin Music Corp

The final few days of 2011 hit the mid-60s with sunny skies, an unusual combination in December, when warm days are frequently rainy. So I was able to get out on both of the bikes several times during the week.

El Bandido made a trip to the shop for a new front tire (a Michelin Pilot Road 3, replacing the Michelin Pilot Road 2 that had been worn flat after over 18,000 miles) on Thursday, and then made a trip to the movies on Friday night. (The rear tire is not quite as far gone, but if I had one on hand, it should have been replaced, too.)

The Silver Bullet made a trip to the shop to have heated grips installed on Wednesday, and then made a New Year’s Eve trip to the arena for the final Mississippi RiverKings game of the year. The ‘Kings won in a 6-0 shut-out against the (Lafayette) Louisiana IceGators and I enjoyed a ride home with temperatures still at 61*F (and heated grips, too)!

No historic trips, but it’s nice to end the year able to ride without bundling up like an Eskimo.

The band was originally formed in 1964, and despite numerous personnel changes, continues to perform today, still led by vocalist Cavan Grogan.

The band’s look is classic “teddy boy” style: hairstyles swept forward and bright, fashionable, foppish clothes that look like they came from Saville Row…in 1967.

Motorbikes were integral to the teddy boy scene, and Crazy Cavan recorded a couple hits referencing biker culture.

Both Wheels Left the Ground makes no apologies and no attempts to cover the fact that it celebrates the joys of riding fast.

Both Wheels Left the Ground

by Cavan Grogan © 1981 Carlin Music Corp

Nights have been cooler. We’ve had a drizzly day or two recently. And this morning we had thick ground fog, just perfect for a focused morning commute.

Sure, you have to be extra watchful and doubly defensive when riding in the fog, but there’s something about it that feels like riding in a dream.

A ride (or walk) in fog the is always mentally stimulating for me, and gets my creative juices flowing.

And that’s a good way to start the day!

Autumn ground fog conditions

Weather conditions needed to form ground fog are most common in the autumn. You basically need wet (humid) air, warm ground, and a cool clear night.

We’ve had the perfect conditions that past few days. A rainy Monday put a lot of water on the ground. A warm and sunny Tuesday allowed the air to become saturated with humidity, and the ground, still warm from summer, kept the dewpoint high.

A clear Tuesday night allowed the air to cool, causing the humidity to condense into Wednesday morning fog.

You generally don’t see fog in the summer, when night air doesn’t cool off enough to cause fog to form. In the spring, the ground is still cold from winter, so it’s harder to get ground fog to form. In the winter, fog is generally associated with a totally different set of weather conditions (such as warm, humid air pushing in over colder air).