Tanks of framers and vintage class bikes shot by Bram from Belgium (DTRA racer and Baron 73 blog) at the final round of the year. My DSC-sprayed beauty isn't included because I was in the Himalayas and missed the final round. G

My brain is a gooey blob. I do have maths O' Level, but numbers are definitely not my thing. I still use my fingers as an abacus. I'm easily impressed by those who do have the capacity for numerical juggling. A nephew of mine is a mathematical whizz, he works in the city (London money market) making forecast equations, whatever that means. When he takes his seven year-old kid for long boring trips in the car, they don't play 'I Spy' he sets him algebra challenges. Sounds like cruelty to me. But I'm already bearing off my off-topic post....

ASCII stands for American Standard Code for Information Interchange. Computers can only understand numbers, so an ASCII code is the numerical representation of a character such as 'a' or '@'.

If you were born before the invention of the internet, you may recollect it as a way in which to make simple drawings with numbers a millennia before the invention of Instagram and swooping pictures of cats or motorcycles.
I love the sub basic nature of this panzer humping a truck. Who wants to show how clever they are by leaving a 'drawing' of a motorcycle in the message panel? BP

Can't remember where this photo came from, but I like it. (I know it's not a Bultaco, by the way). G

UPDATE: The photo was taken by our mate Mark on his holiday to Australia.
Then Carby added 'Astroboy is none other than the SR500 of our very own Mikey (sales manager)'

Or "How many people does it take to zip a viking into his racing boots?"
(And what tools do they need?) Nico Ornamental Conifer (here astride the Baron's Speed Shop show stopping Triumph T100 at the BSMC event) is emigrating to the southern hemisphere with his lovely girlfriend Steph. We have had the honor of crossing paths several times, and proudly have some of his One Shot enamel on the tank of the Sideburn Enfield. OC we wish you all the best. BP

Paint job for an Aermacchi by Chris Watson. BP

The mighty Red Max Speed Shop have a stand at Kempton Park autojumble, Sunbury TW16 5AQ tomorrow. Go buy some stuff for your project! G

Shawn Murray's latest tank being formed for an ER-6. BP

Jason bought along a discarded tank from one of his Rotax' many many make overs, as he thought it 'might do' our project Royal Enfield. Looks tailor made. BP

Ingenuity is magic. And f you can marry a petrol tank from one of the most ridiculed bikes; the Honda Superdream, to one of the most kool, the H-D Shovelhead, then you are a sorcerer. This wonderfully perverse marriage was arranged by Kustom Garage in Pesaro, Italy.They also did the amazingly sparkly paint job on latest Zaeta we had on the Sideburn stand at Verona, so their H-D Nuovo-Progetto Racer will most likely be getting a luscious paint job too. Shame really, I've got a thing about up-market bikes with original badge shitter tanks. BP

Spike Livingston started Ragged Edge Racing when he couldn't find replacement parts for his own Dresda Suzuki RG500 and ended up fibreglassing them himself. This svelte thing is from his steel framed Spondon Suzuki TR500Being a one-man-band, he carries virutally nil stock, it's a made to order service. I phoned in my order on Tuesday morning and it was popped out of the mould first light Thursday "....it'll be ready at 6am, I'm an early riser". The workshop is rammed with moulds for everything from Brit classics to Japanese exotica. Check this yummy TZ250 Arse.If you want something oddball taylor made, Spike is up for it.Spike is also amassing battle damaged originals such as this lovely Kirby full fairing that would have graced a Manx Norton or such like back in the day. BPUPDATE:
"I have just finished my H-D XR750 seat mould and will (as soon as I get time) be making that with integrated number boards. Also I will do the Kwaka 'Z' seat with number boards, and I have a few grasstrack items in the shed that may suit, and front numberboards etc. Keep an eye on my site in a couple of months.....
Cheers, Spike"

The 7 liter CCM petrol tank (the black thing bellow) has to be the most hideous vessel ever to grace a motorcycle, it looks like a Stealth bomber that ate a few too many donuts. So the tunnel section of the svelte Sprite tank above, was cut out with a Makita fitted with an extra thin disc meant for cutting stainless steel, so as not to make too much evil dust (a pro would use a smaller disc on an air powered grinder). Actually the whole of the bottom section needed to come out to make it fit on the oil-in-frame CCM top tube, even then it's going to need widening by 2cm otherwise there will be just no fuel capacity. Finally it should be sitting a little lower than in the bottom photo, but it's always a knock-on effect, as then the oil filler will look like a snorkel and need cutting shorter too. BP

Shawn Murray goodness from Rocky Mtn 59 blog. Nice Sporty

Team Skooter Farm are referred to a lot on this blog, but I don't know if they've ever been explained. The team's founders are old friends from the North-West of England Dave Arnold and Jon 'Captain Highside' Lee. I met up with the fellas and was invited to joining the team about five years ago. We were proud of our record of at least one member of team racing every single round of the UK short track series and crashing at least once a round. Then we all got a bit better (Jon was always bloody good, to be honest), so Dave invited new blood to join to maintain the crashing record. Jason and Steve Red Max joined in 2008 and Wilky debuted at the last race of 2009.
At full strength there are six of us with the invaluable help of Joe, Louise and Diane making sure we don't miss a heat (easier said than done as we all run two classes).
The team are spread over the full length of the country and are nothing more than a few mates who love racing. It's a social club. If I hadn't have met Dave and Jon I probably wouldn't be racing now and I certainly wouldn't be having as much fun.
And everyone is working in their garages on their bikes for the new season. I was proud of the team when I got this photo of his new hand-painted (not stickers) tank from Jason this morning. The season's nearly here and Skooter Farm are getting ready to race. GI

Garrett Brittenham will always have a special place in Sideburn's heart. His Aermacchi/Harley SX250 was on our very first blog post. Then when I started posting about The Mummies, he sent in a photo of his old Mummies tattoo. Then, when Ben got a chubby over Shawn Murray tanks, Garrett sent a photo of his friend's Sporty with its Murray work. And Garrett's Sporty is below.
Garrett, we love you.
GB's Rocky Mtn 59s blog. G

Ben, Thank you for posting about my tanks, that was a very nice compliment. The track master tanks are $800 in steel and $949 in aluminum. They are made to fit the oil in frame. They come with a vented gas cap and 2 npt petcock bungs. They are pressure tested to 3x the working pressure. I also weld in a compression sleeve at the mounting hole so no matter how tight you tighten the nut it will not compromise the integrity of the tank. They take about 2-3 weeks to complete. I hope this answers most of your questions. Shawn
S&M Cycles
S-Mmetalforming@hotmail.com
805*217*6875

Beautiful So Cal steel panel beater (the work that is; I don't know what he looks like). BP
Contact via: s-mmetalforming@hotmail.com

Lots going on over at the Adam's street tracker project blog. Go there to learn how to make your own fibreglass tank from scratch.
I'm astonished (and delighted) by how much work people put into some individual parts of their bikes. GI

More on Marcus's street tracker H-D project.

'My tank is back from painter! That flake paint is a killer in the sun! And I am happy with the bare metal section too. If you write about it, mention a thanks to Martin at Ivves Custom.
Thanks for the stickers as well. I got my CD5s today, they are soo FAT!'