Royal Enfield Classic 350 and Willys Jeep winter outing...

 

My Jeep still has the gearbox to be refitted after friend Callum helped me drop the box and fit a new clutch , this was way before xmas and before I had that month of Labyrinthitis and we need to get a winch set up to lift the box back up and re fit - yep we could not lying on our sides lift the gearbox - which includes the transfer box back up!, it weighs a ton! being steel pressed its not like modern alloy casings. But will get it fitted as soon be easter and hopefully warmer days on the way to go out and have fun,

Anyshow a few weeks ago I popped across to friend Chris`s farm in Berwickshire as he offered to do some roadside filming of me riding past to use in future Enfield motorbike films I have planned and we had a fun time as he took his Jeep out and across at Abbey St Bathans we got some coffee and cake along with some good jeep and bike footage, 

This toot sign has been here up the road from the village since at least 1933 as it is in a 1933 AA Road Book I have which will be featured in some featured motorbike films as is a wealth of fascinating local history...

Here is some film from a fun day up the hills in Berwickshire...

More soon...

Winter commuting on the Royal Enfield Classic 350 - How has it faired after winter road salt exposure?

 

With a loan of a car to winter commute I decided to clean the Royal Enfield Classic 350 and having just fitted a replacement chain - there seems to be a fair different life span on owners chains on these bikes and many other makes of smaller bikes that often do not come with a higher quality chain. I fitted a DID X ring which while around £80 is worth every penny from previous use of these on motorcycles.

Milage was just over 4000 miles so I did a short film

So, after spraying some Lanoguard on the underneath of the frame and centre stand then dousing the whole bike in GT85 after wrapping cloths around the brake rotors the bike has sat unwashed for 3 months near day use as my only day to day transport and 2000 miles on winter road salted roads...

Really really impressed with how the bike still looks....

More soon...

UPDATE: Back to Work soon and back to all hobbies soon!...

 

Into February... and January was a right off for myself been ill with Labyrinthitis  - don't know if an after long covid thing or end of a dirty leggy cold I had which has not 100% shifted yet but I'm now back to being able to safely drive, go to work and so try get back to regular life and hobbies!

The whole van saga has been nothing short of a disaster taking 6 month to sort but I  have a loan of a car now for getting to work in bad weather, I am not delving on it anymore i have been ill so not been able to even walk or cycle in a straight line never mind drive a car/van or ride a motorbike anywhere until this last week, so i am feeling so much better now! -) 

I have had so many requested films to make on the motorcycle by new subscribers to my Youtube Channel but those films can wait - it is only February after all and better weather lighter evenings are on the way which will allow more time...

Speaking of making films I am still trying to keep the Youtube channel to the same format which is kind of three hobbies now - Coastal cycling, The Royal Enfield Motorbike, and the Willys Jeep, and keep it in that order, the beachriding on the venerable Surly Pugsleys comes first then the motorbike and Jeep,  

But it is the motorbike film views that are for my channel gone massive in interest and the amount of views that they get...

So today with G at work I ventured out myself and a big wide beach is the best place to go to get back on a bike and after a few wobbles I was ok, so set myself a co ordination exercise doing some point to point filming which seemed to go ok!

Wee film.. good to be getting back to normal!

More soon!...

Bikes in use for 2023... and what Fatbikes are for sale soon...

With all the bikes I have had over the last 15 something years of Fatbike ownership and this blog it really has finally...finally boiled down to only one model of bike... - but not just one bike... read on!

PUGSLEY

The last production run (noted as Orange) of Surly Pugsley 2.0 as it was referred to as is for myself the perfect Fatbike for what I want to own to ride around here. With its ability to run every available size of wheel which included the widest rim and fattest tyre front and rear - that's 100mm wide rims on 4.8" tyres - Only previously on the Surly Moonlander then the Ice cream Truck

While still using a 100mm wide crankset - super wide 120 on the Surly Moonlander and Ice cream truck (Though the Moonie can run 100mm BB if a single front chainring used as i showed).  Whilst still using a 135mm or 142mm rear hub (dependent on if you want a 9mm qr or bolt through rear axle) giving a super narrow rear width rear end which I preferrer for squeezing between rocks and ruts off-road...

With both of my 20" Orange bikes built  - one for beachriding with full fat 5" wheels and one 29+ for bikepacking these rigs will see my days out as long as I can peddle an unassisted bicycle...

G feels the same with her now well known pink painted Surly Pugsley 2.0 which also has 5" fat and 29+ wheels....

29+ Bike Packing...

And 5" coastal cycling on rocks, pebbles and sand...

The last Mk 1 frame set I picked up though is a 20" size Large - previous and the Moonie are 18" medium frames. and I have this built as a rat bike for Getting logs of the beach with the FAT BOB trailer, night riding and winter muddy rides etc and this will see more use than the other older fatbikes and usually live in the van...

This does not mean I am going to sell my three original MK1 Surly Pugsleys and my Moonlander - they are all in storage now and may perhaps come out for the occasional ride in summer...I recently cleaned up a couple of the older Surly bikes that will go out a ride this summer once or twice...

These two had tyres aired up and a clean before storing again...

An original first colour 2005 Pugsley... with rare in UK Alaskan Snowcat 29" x 55mm wheels...

And the mighty Moonlander - the first official import to come to Scotland...

And of course my first Original Pugsley is all ready to go ride if I want... Scotlands first Fatbike...

Thousands of miles been done on this frame set keeping the dream alive over 15 years now...                     I cannot sell these bikes as they ARE Scottish Fatbikes history... and so worth more to keep that you would likely get for them if sold...

FOR SALE;  SURLY WEDNESDAY 18” £1500 - no offers!   Collection only SE Scotland

A bike I hardly use though is the Surly Wednesday - which in some ways  - felt to most other people looking in from outside the best Fatbike I probably own 

With lightweight  Fatwheels with 4.8" front and 4.5" rear,  and a pair of 29+ wheels, both set up tubeless,  while sporting a Rock Shok Bluto fork and dropper seat post, stock fork and seat post included...

And comes with a compliment of bikepacking bags this versatile thru axle 1 x 10 geared rig is ready to go for every type of riding

But I prefer riding my two Orange Pugsleys...

Which is why I am selling this bike with extras for £1500 - buyer collects, I’m not posting, and I’m not not splitting it or will accept any offers... its worth £1500 all day long so take it or leave it,  I could use the money to invest in some of my other hobbies, 

So if your interested in the original and best colour the Wednesday came in which since built ha been lucky to do 1000 miles get in touch

email;   coastkid71@yahoo.co.uk

If it does not sell it will prob just get re purposed but be good to see it go to a good home where it will get the use it deserves... 

Update; Wednesday Fatbike now sold 4 hours after posting this blogpost...

ON ONE FATBIKE 16”  £350 collection only 

Loads of new parts on a used frame I picked up,I built the wheels with new hubs, the whole drive chain is new; cable brakes, gears, cranks, BB, headset, stem, bars, brakes, sea,t, seat post, all mostly budget build but kept cost down, a nice small size Fatbike that will need nothing for £350,

SURLY PUGSLEY 20”  PTA…

There will also be a size Large Pugsley for sale but that needs the yellow frame set re powder coated before assembly - hence no pics yet... but will be a fair cheap price for someone after a Surly...

More soon...

My Royal Enfield Classic 350 - what those tank markings are for?

 Another wee film when I was laid up with the Lergy cold on what the tank markings are on my Enfield for...

More soon...

Cold War NATO USA and French Army Torches - and some LED Upgrade kits!

 

There are some things I think are great designs when it comes to military things and the right angled torch  - or Flashlight if your in the USA is one of these designs, so good in fact there still made today...

Originally metal and brass these were made by Fulton USA and Allied Paratroopers were issued with them... a two stage switch allows morse code or full on lighting options...

Here is a reproduction of the original design which is available for £30 from Soldier Of Fortune here in the UK for Re enactment purposes or collectors if you cannot source an original at a realistic price - WW2 stuff prices has went through the roof nowadays - too much to consider esp if buying online...

But like the Hotchkiss Willys Jeep there are are a lot of WW2 designs that were improved on and here are a couple of examples with a 1970`s Fulton right angle torch and a French marked item I recently bought for £20 each on eBay after many out bidder attempts to get these variants...

The Fulton USA is stamped type TL - 122 U and models ran from A - U and is a post 1973 or so as like the Vietnam era these torches are now hard plastic with a light switch guard to stop accidentally switch on the tech when hanging on clothing on in a pocket etc..

I am unsure of the age of the French torch which is stamped as a type TL 1220

But it is identical to the Fulton so probably manufactured in France under licence for the French Military...

Both torches are identical with all parts interchangeable and have interchangeable  colour lenses along with some other added neat features...

While the French torch does not have the switch guard it is also does not have the swing down handle for hanging the torch or added a lanyard...

The French torch has French writing on the base...

 

Both torches have a belt clip on the back and reming the end caps reveal coloured blue, red and a white Defuser lens, along with a spare bulb held captive under the battery spring...

Now the best bit - modern technology brings these torches up to date with LED kits that do two things - brighter light obviously but also converters to get rid of the real heavy D2 batteries for two AA batteries in plastic holders that reduces the weight by nearly 50% !  

Now the not so good news! - Fulton USA do not have a UK importer, and I only found out about these through watching YouTube films on these torches and so I emailed Fulton USA and they emailed back within a few days to say that while they do not export overseas they gave me a link to a Distributor of there products in the USA who did - www.opticscamp.com

But while the LED kits were on $19.45 a set overseas postage from USA was going to be £60...

I thought about it a while then thought if i'm buying two kits that in reality its £30 postage per kit, and I was buying this out my Work Xmas Bonus money so what the heck!...

They arrived 2 weeks later and I soon had one of the packs opened and a rich dismantled  - you can see here the original D2 batteries are wrapped in some sniper tape?, that wa to stop them rattling...

I swapped the bulb for the supplied LED bulb...

Then fitted the AA batteries into the two holders...

Will just leave a stock spare bulb in the spare bulb holder for now...

And check out the difference! below the yellowish stock bulb, in a quite heavy torch...

And now in LED - BOOM! amazing difference and the torch now weighs near nothing!

So what a result - well worth that £60 postage from USA, and picking the torches up it feels like there is no batteries in them they are that light...

Here are the filter lenses supplied including the white defuser filter lenses...

The white defuser light is particularly useful for reading as it reduces all the glare from the full beam...

with out the white defuser lenses...

Using the white defuser lenses 

So with he French made torch I watch a YouTube film about them where the guys describes them as the Hotchkiss of the Army torch world - well that's pretty cool seeing as I have a Hotchkiss Willys Jeep! so I made some mounts to carry it on the Jeep...

I drilled some holes having marked them and riveted on two stainless 45 mm tool clips...

I masked and painted the bases of the clips, then I added some black heat shrink and shrunk it on with the heat gun...

And Job done so the torch will not rattle and is secured with its own hanging clip...

Here is al the information you need to know on its Wiki page about the USA Fulton torch...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulton_MX991/U_Flashlight

And an informative Youtube film I found on the French military option

More soon...