ashortnote-aje

New Website and Blog - The Pacific Express

2009-12-23T12:36:00.000-08:00

James Dean's original and now restored Triumph Scrambler

I thought I better finish of the year with one more post here.

As the title of the post states, I have a new website & blog called The Pacific Express.

It is a much more regularly updated version of ashortnote-aje, similar content and topics of interest. Accompanying the blog is a small online store that will be carrying anything I have an interest in. These items may vary from artwork to clothing & footwear or to anything else that I find interesting or enjoy.

I hope to really grow both the blog and the store in 2010. Currently in the store you can find footwear and accessories from NYC's Common Projects. I will be adding some new lines to the store in January consisting of both International and Australian lines.

Please take a look around, leave a comment or feel free to send through any suggestions you may have.

Old Times

2009-09-23T19:49:00.000-07:00

Yes, new posts are rare on this piece of interweb junk. But time has come for one. Its not really about anything, they never are these days. Anyway, I'm a little bummed today and was looking through old photo's from happier days, I came across this one a friend sent me a couple of months ago. That is my Honda Cb500 being cut up with an angle grinder. The photo was taken beginning of winter and was the last time I was able to work on this bike. I miss both my bikes right now.

Honda cb500

2009-07-30T12:51:00.000-07:00

Time for another update. The original reason for starting in the blogging business was to document the journey or restoring my vintage motorcycle. Well it mite be time for episode two!

I don't know why, but something compelled me to buy another motorcycle. Only this time, my decision making was not so calculated, more irrational and impatient. So, I ended up with numerous boxes and bits of motorcycle. Joy! Plenty of new parts, restored parts and plenty of old spare parts ie. 450cc twin engine etc. Mostly everything is there to finish it.

I purchased this in early June. It was originally a Honda cb500cc Twin. It still is, but is no resemblance of the bike it once was. This build will be inspired by early model vintage Honda race bikes. It is well underway with lots of time and money spent, but has a long way to go. This will take sometime to finish. The only problem is I'm not sure when I will ever get to it. I'm currently overseas and not sure if/when I will be returning just yet.

With this in mind, I will be open to reasonable offers if anyone is interested. Contact me for more information.

July 2009

2009-07-22T13:22:00.000-07:00

L.A's warm weather reminds me of the day i took the above photo last summer on my Pentax SLR

I'm pretty slack with my blogging efforts. I just feel I should find more productive things to do with my time. Anyway, whilst I'm wasting time i thought i would update.

Earlier this year I won myself a Green Card VISA for the USA. So, this month I quit my full time day job to be unemployed and visit the states. I arrived yesterday in L.A. and will be staying with my friend Drew for the next couple of weeks. A green card has both positives and negatives, and is actually somewhat more restrictive then initially thought. I have really been asking myself how i want to live my life over the next couple of years. Its a hard question to answer. No matter what happens there will be some hard decisions and sacrifices to be made.

I will make a trip out to NYC shortly to see some friends I lived with when in NYC a couple of years ago. That will be great fun. I have missed that city.

Anyway, I will try to post photo's when I can as I should have some spare time.

I'm really looking forward to what the next few months have to offer. Whether it be in the states or Australia. I'm reading a great book at the moment which is motivating me for adventure.

2009-05-11T04:13:00.000-07:00

I had forgotten about this blogging stuff I got myself involved in, hence no posts for a long time. I thought I would keep my latest post motorcycle related. Here are some photographs taken a few weeks ago on the Mornington Peninsula. The weather was amazing, reasonably warm, no wind and plenty of sunshine. Days like this are meant for Vintage Motorcycle's. I had been riding a 2009 Triumph Thruxton 900cc around this time for a week or so and then went back to my small Honda. It was still great fun, although very different to what i was becoming familiar with. Here are the two bikes pictured together. This was the most amazing days riding I had ever experienced.

2008-12-20T13:18:00.000-08:00

Above you will see the latest progress photograph of what I have been working on when I find a moment of free time. It is not yet fully finished, however it can be ridden and is running well. It has only been on two short five minute rides in order to test and make changes. Hopefully today I will take it on a journey around the Mornington Peninsula and enjoy the sunshine! From now it will require minor adjustments to suit, some sidecover badges and other minor things.

I have a new set of bars from Modak Motorcycles, 299 Elizabeth Street Melbourne, which are a classic British bend. The 100 year old lady that runs the shop is amazing. The bars are pretty much the same shape as the originals, just much lower, only two inches high rather then five. These will give the bike a much sportier Cafe' look, but will be the only item that is not the same as the original. Should I put them on? Let me know your thoughts.

Hopefully I will get a chance to take some more photo's and post them soon for those interested.

Thanks.

Honda CB250 Twin

2008-11-20T00:36:00.000-08:00

After waiting patiently for almost 8 weeks, I finally had my Fuel tank and other parts in my possession and fully painted, yesterday. It took sometime!

The process undertaken to get this done meant all parts were sanded back and prepared for paint. Silver is first colour to be applied in order to create the base for the Candy Ruby Red. Paint is transparent and can sometimes require several coats to get the right result. Over the top of the silver, Four coats of red were applied to achieve the right colour and depth desired. Over this a couple of clear coats were applied for extra depth and protection.

I have started to finish off the assembly, its coming together ok. The biggest challenge was placing the fork covers and forks back in position. It definetly requires two people. Still someway to go, however shouldn't be too much longer now.

2008-10-22T05:31:00.000-07:00

It has been sometime since my last post. The reason being I hadn't done anything to the motorcycle since. Purely because I'm waiting on my petrol tank and other pieces to be painted in the original Candy Ruby Red. I dropped them off almost 3 weeks ago, and sad to say it is going to be another 3 weeks until I get them back. Meanwhile my bike sits idol and spring will have past us bye.

I did do a little work to the exhaust system over the weekend. As I replaced the old system back to the original, I removed the old brackets. I was able to only find one original bracket on ebay, so I was forced to make a replica from that. Pretty simple and turned out well. Now I play the waiting game.

Honda CB250 Twin

2008-09-30T02:16:00.000-07:00

The past weekend was very productive, motorcycle wise. Firstly, I managed to place the engine back into the frame without damaging the new paint! Following that I replaced both sprockets and chain with new items, along with some other NOS (new old stock) parts, mufflers, gear selecter, indicators etc, with plenty more to come. Most importantly, it eventually started and ran (makeshift fuel system)! Its far from finished, but is taking shape. Spirits are high.

Honda CB250 Twin

2008-09-22T05:45:00.000-07:00

The fun of working out how to re-assemble a motorcycle has begun. My decision to purchase "120" wet and dry sandpaper before beginning the assembly has been crucial and already more use than I had expected. Swingarm, forks, wheels and wiring are now in place. The motor will go in next, and hopefully the pace will pick up from there.

Honda CB250 Twin

2008-09-22T05:00:00.000-07:00

This is what has happened since the last post. There was more work than I had expected in preparing everything that needed to be painted. If I was spray painting, it wouldn't be too much of a drama, however i had the frame and parts sandblasted, then powder coated in Gloss Black. This meant, stopping sand affecting parts it could destroy (bearing races, swingarm bushes), sealing surfaces from paint and removing all rubber and vulnerable parts to heat. Anyway, here is what i got back last week.

Honda CB250 Twin

2008-09-14T01:56:00.000-07:00

Ok, it has been a while, but i have been keeping myself busy. The main reason for starting this waste of time internet updating in the first place was the process of restoring and enjoying my motorcycle. Here are some photographs of what took place last week.

This weeks mystery object!

2008-08-20T03:05:00.000-07:00

Ok, we are going to play a game. It's called "Mystery Object". I post an object of mystery and you have to guess what it is. This is fun, isn't it! Place your answer in the comments section. If you defineteley know what it is, don't respond and ruin the game too soon. Feel free to ask questions.

This is an easy one to start off with, I would expect most readers to get this right. If there are any readers that is. Does anyone read blogs? Am I just wasting my time?

Surf Trip?

2008-08-19T02:27:00.000-07:00

Yes, I went on a little "surf trip" earlier this year. I don't surf, so it was a totally new experience for me. It was more of an opportunity to take a holiday and see a part of Australia I hadn't experienced, than it was a surf trip. Plus a chance to spend some quality time in the"Green Room" with some "surfer dude" friends.

I arrived at our sunny/hot destination in tight black jeans, leather shoes, seeing glasses (no sunglasses) and my tissue paper like un-tanned skin (no sunscreen). I guess you would say I was ready to hit the beach! Sun burnt within the first 45 minutes.

It had been years since I had been on a surfboard, with good reason. I'm terrible. So bad, its never really even fun for me. Last time I surfed, I ended up not being able to walk correctly for a week. This time, I almost saw death my first surf, however was saved by my "surfer dude" friends "Quin" and "Knackers". Thanks guys! You could count all my waves on one hand for the whole trip.

So, surfing is really hard, sun is bad for your skin and eyes, sand is annoying, its too hot to wear jeans etc. Anyway, I had a good time with friends, enjoyed alcohol every night and took some photos along the way.

The Mobile Phone

2008-08-18T05:05:00.000-07:00

Sunday night I went to see a major international band " Death Cab For Cutie" play at the Metro (revamped to "The Palace"). The show itself was great! Well, what I could see of it was great...

The Mobile Phone - The first commercial mobile phone service was launched in Japan by NTT in 1978. By November 2007, the total number of mobile phone subscriptions in the world had reached 3.3 billion, or half of the human population, which also makes the mobile phone the most widely spread technology and the most common electronic device in the world.

As the above photo depicts, mobile phones also come with camera devices.

Seeing bands is not like it once was, the camera phone has really changed the experience of seeing a band and enjoying it for what it is at that moment. Imposing on my vision last night seemed to be hundreds of camera phones snapping photos and recording video footage. I guess the reason for this is so those responsible can enjoy the show when they are back at home after the show, because they missed out on seeing the show due to all of their handy mobile phone camera work! Apart from that guy that seemed to watch the entirety of the show through his lcd phone screen, he saw it all. Wow, how about a "concert ettiquite" post?

Next time you go to see one of your favorite bands play, watch the entire show from start to finish without taking a single photo. You mite really enjoy the experience.

Honda CB250 Twin

2008-08-16T04:43:00.000-07:00

I'm unsure of what my blogging future has to offer. Yet, I'm sure this classic piece of Japanese engineering will regularly feature amongst my posts.

I purchased this motorcycle in March 2008 off an old gentleman living in a NSW country town. Ebay purchase. I didn't get a good look at until I made the 6 hour journey to pick it up. Their were many imperfections I wasn't aware of. However it is a 37 year old motorcycle.

It is a early 70's Honda CB250 twin. Honda produced the CB250 & CB350 from 1968 - 1973. It's reliable motor, coupled with dual Keihin carburetors proved to be a popular design, the 350 became the highest selling motorcycle in American history, with 300,000 units sold.

My plans are to restore it back to as original condition as possible. Getting parts for this in Australia has proven to be difficult. I'm no mechanic, so the restoration is pretty slow. In the future I will try to post some photos with words on some of the work carried out so far.

This is how it looked at the beginning of my ownership.

The Beginning

2008-08-13T06:27:00.000-07:00

Whilst conversing with a fellow work colleague today, it was suggested I do one of these blog things. I took it into consideration, I had previously given it thought, and well, here I am. 13 August 12:15am, my first post. I was hesitant to get into this blogging business. This could just become another piece of interweb junk, hopefully not. I will try to update regularly & hope I can offer something of relevance, importance and interest.

Andy.