Personal

In June 2003, I went to
Americade in Lake George
New York, and won the
Long Distance Award with
3,339 miles. The award
was presented by Fred Rau
of Motorcycle Consumer
News, at the Friday night
Awards Presentations at
the Six Flags Theme Park
in Glens Falls, New York.
Americade is a great run
and I would recommend it
to anyone. I will be
back!

One of the important parts of any
restoration, is the research to
determine proper parts, finishes,
etc. Then starts the search for
sometimes hundreds of parts,
including little things such as
proper hardware, wire ties etc.
Each Restoration begins with a parts
manual, Shop Manual, sales
brochures, restoration books on that
model, as well as pictures from
period magazines. This room has a
closet converted into shelves with
the reference materials. Many of
the parts catalogs and publications
are located on the computer, by E-
mail to dealers, clubs, and
purchases on E-bay. More than half
of the time that goes into some
restorations is research and parts
locating.

About 2003, my wife Marilyn
surprised me with this special table top christmas tree. She started buying Motorcycle ornaments for it, and there are now more than 50 special Motorcycle Ornaments in the "Collection". In a few years, We might need another full sized tree just for Motorcycle Ornaments.
Unfortuntely the picture does not
really do it justice. The tree now has about 45 different Motorcycle ornaments. Probably will get more for Christmas!

In 1968 I briefly had an MGA. It was a junker that had been wrecked, but I got it running and drivable and was made an offer that could not be refused. Ever since then I wanted one to restore. About 20 years ago I gave up. In June of 2007 the husband of a former employee came to me and offered a barn fresh project car. It was wrecked, rotton, rat infested and pretty much worn out. I completely rebuilt everything on the car. By the end of June the car was completely gutted, the engine and trans were out, the rear end was removed, and a temporary one was put in place. I re-built the front suspension and brakes, then put old wheel and tires on it, and the bare shell was send to the body shop for proper rot repair and body work. It came back from the body shop on December 7, 2007. The pictures directly below were taken probably about the 10th or 11th, as the wiring is mostly done, the proper rear end is installed, and the new wheels and tires are on. It took me over 4 weeks to assemble the car, but many of the things I did were time consuming, such as the upholstery. The most difficult was stretching leather over the curved cockpit rails without leaving any creases or wrinkles. Bottom pictures are completed car on January 23, 2008. It looks nice out, but it is something like 25 degrees. I could not resist driving it around, and I was wearing a proper english driving cap along with gloves and scarf.