A self-propelled man.

Now it’s time for some interior blogging….A man’s home is his castle and in some strange cases it is his hangar.

You cannot visit a man without viewing his propeller, so when helping Gunnar with the Velocette we also took a look inside his house

And what a beauty!  From a Mercedes powered Hansa Brandenburger.

A short background story:

Gunnar’s hometown Horten where once the hometown of Norway’s major naval base. And when airplanes found their way into the Norwegian army, the navy found use for them first.  In the twenties the government bought licensing rights to build the German designed Hansa Brandenburger in Norway. Thirty planes where used by the Naval Air force from 1922 to 1935. Most of them where build in Horten. The plane type was also used by the famous Roald Amundsen on his last and fatal journey.

This propeller is a big piece of local history.

A Hansa Brandenburger has done a rough landing.

We are given ten arguments for why a man shall own at least two wooden propellers.

Guns, swords and boxing all over the house…..are we dealing with a violent man?

The first Velocette ride.

It is a big day today, after working on this Velocette  Thruxton for fifteen years Gunnar was ready to start and hopefully test the bike. My brother Dag and I were invited to help and share the important moment.

Here it is, on the custom made Velo stand.

Add some petrol, don`t sniff it.

It is always nice to watch other people doing all the work.

The important last minute adjustment.

The Thruxton is a tricky machine to start, so long time Thruxton owner Dag got the honor.

It started, the oil was circulating and it sounded great. It is time to get it out.

It`s thumbs up, so give it to the owner.

“And first gear is up?”

You can easily break the speed limit in first gear…….and nobody noticed the lack of registration and helmet….

 An ear to ear grin……

It`s party time!



A very happy man!

And the number on the nicely restored speedometer………A coincident? I don`t think so….

Thirty five minutes.

On the way back from a family trip yesterday I stopped by a friend to pick up a pair of Norton crankcases he had welded for me. The pickup took thirty five minutes according to my wife and kids. They were waiting in the car. I had wisely left my cell phone in the car…..and had the car keys in my pocket. A car don`t gets that cold……The next two hours they reminded me five times: 35 MINUTES!

You will never find time for anything. If you want time, you must make it.

The french parcel.

A parcel in the mail box…What is it…..EBay?  Motorcycle part I have ordered?  But I was not expecting anything…..

What is this? Can it be a brass lamp foot? But why is it so many 18mm holes?

But there is also an 18mm spark plug in the box……I think I know what it is for now. It is a spark plug display…..my own spark plug tree!

A card from my friend Jean Marc (in Norwegian!) solved the mystery. It is a thank you gift for helping him with photos and info for his Ok Supreme restoration.

Now I have to find a good place to display it….. Thank you very much Jean Marc!

205 words for snow....

I just read that the Sami people of northern Scandinavia and Russia have 205 words for snow……so if you add a four letter word in front, you will have 410…..This is my view  at the world from my  work place today….

Mercer, Packard’s and coffee.

The local vintage car club got an invitation to visit Wallentins Restaureringsverksted. This is a restoration workshop that has Packard as a specialty, and a place well worth a visit.  This time it was to see the progress on a MERCER seven seat car from 1918.

When you see a car from this age, in this stage, you can fully admire all the beautiful detailed parts that the car is made from.  

Mercer was made in America from 1909 until 1925. Mercer was known for their high-performance cars.

This is a “hotel car” from the vest of Norway, Geiranger.  The hotels at this spectacular place had big open American cars used to transport tourists around the area.  Some of the cars have survived and can still be seen at the hotels.

 

And there were a lot of other interesting things to see:

                                                 Yes, I want a Gold Star slot machine…..

New books.

I just got some great books, which I can recommend. Interesting stories and photos, some published for the first time.

They are published in a limited edition of 500. You can get the books here:

http://www.ilkley-racing-books.co.uk/

Trondhjemsridtet

Now it is time to plan your motorcycle trips for 2012 and even 2013.

 If you have a bike made before 1954 and likes to do some long riding this is the rally for you, ca 1150 kilometers.  “Trondhjemsridtet” have its origin from 1919 and was a race from Kristiania (now Oslo) to Trondheim and back.

In 2012 it will be a “try out” rally to get the timing and route tested. In 2013 it will be serious business.

Visit the rally’s home page for more information (it`s in Norwegian but I am sure you can find a translation program). You will also find historic and present photos:

http://www.trondhjemsridtet.com

The route map from 1919.

The route map from 2012.