Author Topic: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners  (Read 1437830 times)

0 Members and 3 Guests are viewing this topic.

Offline wobblywalrus

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5503
Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #2025 on: May 11, 2015, 03:17:27 PM »
Oops, I forgot the picture.

Offline manta22

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4137
  • What, me worry?
Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #2026 on: May 11, 2015, 04:00:26 PM »
Tres bien!
Regards, Neil  Tucson, AZ

Offline tauruck

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5126
Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #2027 on: May 11, 2015, 09:11:07 PM »
Chapeau Bo and daughter. Have a blast and if you have time go to the Louvre. :cheers:

Offline wobblywalrus

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5503
Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #2028 on: May 15, 2015, 05:06:34 PM »
Did some driving in the Loire Valley in a little Renault so I will get used to European road signs and driving before I haul the bike around in Wales.  We stayed overnight at the Abbye de Fontrevaud.  Some of my ancestor's bones are scattered around there.  It is a huge monastic complex of buildings dating from the 1100's.

There were a couple of gardeners working on hedge trimming and a few tourists walking around.  Gretchen was busy doing something with her hair so I took a walk.  It was late in the afternoon.  There are all sorts of rooms, doors, passages, etc.  Heck, I figured, the unlocked doors with no "keep out" signs invite opening and Walrus exploration.  It got to be early evening and I found some passage ways and rooms deep down inside of this complex.

It sure puts life in perspective to see this stuff.  It is getting dark and the rooms are lit by little shafts of dim light coming through tiny ports in the ceiling and walls.  The floors and steps are worn by almost a thousand years of use.  Some doorways are real small 'cause folks were back then.  People like us lived in these walled places for most of their lives without knowing much of what was happening beyond the gates and they were happy they were safe and secure within.  We sure have it good these days.       

Offline tauruck

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5126
Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #2029 on: May 16, 2015, 12:37:43 AM »
Thanks Bo. Awesome picture ad description. :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

Offline wobblywalrus

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5503
Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #2030 on: May 16, 2015, 04:51:19 AM »
The car was rented in Tours, a city laid out over 1000 years ago.  The place is a maze and I could not figure out how to get out in the direction I wanted to go.  I had a map.  The problem was there was nowhere to park and to look a it.  It was a bad situation.

Gretchen says "Pa, EVERYONE except you and ma use GPS.  I will turn it on and tell you which way to go."  It works great.  We got around with no problems after this.

The car is some sort of Renault econobox.  It handles extremely well, has great brakes, and it steers more accurately than any car I have driven.  That is needed here.  The roads are narrow and there are rock walls, bicyclists, etc to deal with.  The engine is a tiny diesel.  It does not have that distinct diesel stink and rattle.  Somehow they figured out how to get rid of it.  The engine turns off when the car is stopped in traffic and it restarts when it is time to go.  At first I thought something was wrong with the car.  It is designed to work this way.  The little thing is fairly quick and it gets fuel mileage better than a lot of motorcycles.  It would be nice if these rascals are sold in the US.  They are better for basic transportation than what we can buy now.

Offline Hoody

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 30
Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #2031 on: May 16, 2015, 05:45:32 AM »
The car was rented in Tours, a city laid out over 1000 years ago.  The place is a maze and I could not figure out how to get out in the direction I wanted to go.  I had a map.  The problem was there was nowhere to park and to look a it.  It was a bad situation.

Gretchen says "Pa, EVERYONE except you and ma use GPS.  I will turn it on and tell you which way to go."  It works great.  We got around with no problems after this.

The car is some sort of Renault econobox.  It handles extremely well, has great brakes, and it steers more accurately than any car I have driven.  That is needed here.  The roads are narrow and there are rock walls, bicyclists, etc to deal with.  The engine is a tiny diesel.  It does not have that distinct diesel stink and rattle.  Somehow they figured out how to get rid of it.  The engine turns off when the car is stopped in traffic and it restarts when it is time to go.  At first I thought something was wrong with the car.  It is designed to work this way.  The little thing is fairly quick and it gets fuel mileage better than a lot of motorcycles.  It would be nice if these rascals are sold in the US.  They are better for basic transportation than what we can buy now.


1.5DCi engine? if so then it's the same as used in a Nissan Micra that i had. Capable of ~100MPH and over 80 mpg if you take it steady. Part of this is down to the Common Rail injection they use on modern diesels now?

Offline Andy Cooke

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 65
Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #2032 on: May 16, 2015, 11:57:05 AM »
Have a good run at Pendine, I'd love to pop down, but I don't think I'll have the time this year.

I'm not sure how driving in France will prepare you for driving in the UK, aside from the obvious driving on the other side of the road, and the car being a mirror image (apart from the pedals which remain the same) the main gotcha is priority at round abouts/traffic islands, or whatever you want to call them, in France the driver entering the round about has priority, in the UK the driver on the round about has it.  You might still come across priority to the right junctions in France where the farmer pulls right out in front of you on a main road, we have none of that nonsense in the UK (well, not legally anyway).

You'll be back to mph in the UK, fuel is still in Litres, which is probably easier for you as our gallons are bigger than yours, so MPG can be confusing.

No idea where else in the UK you might be heading, but transport museum wise, National Motor Museum Beaulieu (pronounced bew-lee), and the National Motorcycle Museum nr Birmingham are probably the main ones, The Heritage Motor Museum isn't that far from the motorcycle museum and is all British cars. 

Andy

Offline wobblywalrus

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5503
Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #2033 on: May 16, 2015, 04:17:59 PM »
The rental policy I had gave me two options to pay for fuel.  One was to fill up the tank before I returned and get no fuel charge.  The other was to pay for a full tank as part of the rental and that would be the fuel charge.  The distance was pretty far so I took the second option.  Cripes, I had no idea the little car would give me far better fuel mileage than my motorcycle.  The silly thing only used a couple of gallons for the entire trip.  A guy learns a lot the first time he does anything.

The lighting in my shed and my eyes are not the best.  I have a hard time reading the torque wrenches with the numbers stamped into the metal unless the light is real good.  Also, everything I work on is metric and the primary measurement reading on American torque wrenches is imperial.  It takes some mental addition to figure out the correct metric torque setting.  Lately I am trying to minimize extraneous thinking.  This way, I can concentrate my declining mental powers on the important stuff, like racing, eating, drinking, and sex.

It is vitally important that I get a torque wrench that is easy to read and the primary unit of measurement is metric.  My son, Josef, mentioned the French brand Facom.  One of my last acts in France was to visit the Facom dealer.  I had to take the metro (the subway) to get there.  It is in a shopping mall right in the middle of Paris under the Hotel De Ville, an old style building.  The Parisians did not want to tear down a nice looking old structure to build an ugly modern shopping mall, so they built it under the old building.  The wrench I was looking for was there.  It was not cheap, as Facom tools are high quality and made in France.  It is exactly what I need so it is worth the money.

We crossed La Manche and cleared Dover customs the day before yesterday.  Now we are in Bilghty.


   

 

Offline wobblywalrus

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5503
Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #2034 on: May 17, 2015, 04:58:35 PM »
The food is real good in London.  Fish and chips, Cornish pasties, etc. Despite my best intentions, "adding ballast" is what is happening.  Hopefully I can still fit in the leathers when it is time to race.

Offline Sporty Dan

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 131
Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #2035 on: May 17, 2015, 09:22:13 PM »
Glad to hear you and your daughter are having a great time! What an awesome experience for the two of you to share!

Offline tauruck

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5126
Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #2036 on: May 17, 2015, 11:30:18 PM »
I second what Dan said. :cheers:
Nice wrench Bo, now don't go loaning it out hey?. :-D

Offline wobblywalrus

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5503
Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #2037 on: May 18, 2015, 05:20:34 PM »
The FIM record I was aiming for last year was in the mid 150's and it was set by an Aprilia Tuono.  The team with the Aprilia was not real serious that year so I figured I had a chance.  It would take me a couple of years, but 160 mph was doable.  The Aprilia team returned to BUB last year.  They were teaching a young lady how to ride.  She pushed the record up to the mid 160's.  Carp, I said.  These folks are still not real serious.  The Aprilia is getting these speeds with basically an OEM bike, an inexperienced rider, and with no or nominal added streamlining.  The bike can go in the 180's if they get serious.

A serious look at my options tells me that the Team Go Dog, Go! bike, rider, and chief mechanic are hopelessly obsolete.  This happens to us all at some point.  No hard feelings about it. The only thing I can do to stay competitive is to get a new bike.  New bikes are OK, but they are homogenized and pasteurized to the degree they are like appliances.  Riding them is like having sex using an inner tube rubber.

The other option is to have fun and forget about setting any more records.  That is what is happening now.  It was a real hard decision to let the record chasing be something in my past.  Now it is just a crazy old bastid on a warhorse of a Triumph.  Life is good.   

Offline Koncretekid

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1203
Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #2038 on: May 18, 2015, 08:41:31 PM »
Bo,
You're talking like an OLD has been!  I know if you went back to an obsolete old push rod motor, you would be competitive again.  You're trying to set a record with an OHC motor that was designed basically as a retro bike for nostalgia seekers, which will never be competitive with modern racing bikes.  Never give up!
Tom
We get too soon oldt, and too late schmart!
Life's uncertain - eat dessert first!

Offline Old Scrambler

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 721
  • Going Fast - Slowly
Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #2039 on: May 19, 2015, 11:14:37 AM »
Bo.............I whole-heartily agree with Tom :wink:  There are dozens of open records available in the Classic era............and your a lot younger than we are :lol:
2011 AMA Record - 250cc M-PG TRIUMPH Tiger Cub - 82.5 mph
2013 AMA Record - 250cc MPS-PG TRIUMPH Tiger Cub - 88.7 mph
2018 AMA Record - 750cc M-CG HONDA CB750 sohc - 136.6 mph
2018 AMA Record - 750cc MPS-CG HONDA CB750 sohc - 143.005 mph
2018 AMA Record - 750cc M-CF HONDA CB750 sohc - 139.85 mph
2018 AMA Record - 750cc MPS-CF HONDA CB750 sohc - 144.2025 mph

Chassis Builder / Tuner: Dave Murre