Team blog
This is what we’re thinking - let us know what you’ve been up to, especially if it involved messing around with old Italians and you’ve got the pictures to prove it...
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9th Mar 2010 - The kids are alright
Spotted early doors one Sunday outside a Sidmouth newsagents. Belonged to the young lad serving inside, paying for his bike while his schoolmates are all still in bed. So nostalgic I went for my hankie. A zillion years ago I worked in a petrol station all day Sundays (and plenty of weekday evenings) to pay for mopeds, bikes and beer because I was doing A levels and mates who'd left school had 250s on HP. I still pine for those days, fettling my bike instead of checking paying customers oil levels with radio Luxemburg on loud enough to hear across the forecourt
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4th Mar 2010 - I sei..
There were a couple of beautifully restored Benelli Seis at the Bristol Classic show, all gleaming chrome and bonkers exhaust. But we like this much better - mad as a barrel of monkeys, a genuine racing Sei with the finest exhaust system we've seen in ages. Love those continentals, they'll race anything. And before the purists say only a fool would race a Benelli Sei, remember Joey Dunlop rode one in the legedary 1978 TT F1. He broke down, but then so did Phil Read's works Honda. Some bloke called Hailwood won. On a Ducati - of course
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28th Feb 2010 - Killing time...
A wet and windy Wiltshire is no place to ride old Ducatis, especially in February. If the mud and falling branches don't get you, the road salt will eat your crankcases alive. So while my lovely wife (Dr Girlie Nice-Smile) is experimental baking ready for this year's tea and cakes (back 1st Saturday in May) how to kill some time? Well, how about model kits - they still turn up on eBay, and can help with pre-teen bonding as offspring build up Warhammers kits. This was my first bevel 900SS - just need to change those Speedline wheels...
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24th Feb 2010 - Trinity
Benzina are indebted to Louis Stellar for this - a Ducati 3 wheeler called the Muletta (little mule). This one was probably imported to the States by long time importers Berliner, but apparently there are (were?) loads of them in Italy. Why have a two stroke APE three wheeler when you can have one powered by Taglioni's bevel overhead cam single? And you can't help but wonder if a 450RT motor would fit in there...
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21st Feb 2010 - Always in the wrong
Team Benzina helped out at the Bristol Classic Bike Show, trying to look knowledgeable on the very wonderful Ducati and MV Agusta owners' club stands. And occasionally creeping off to badger the ever helpful Magazine Man into selling more copies of the benzina magazine But the day involved using up lots of brownie points, so much effort was made to seem positive and interested when returning to Benzina HQ, especially as the family had made pancakes for a postponed shrove Tuesday. "But why are they green?" I foolishly asked "They're not" came the reply "they're blue" "Well they look green" I insisted "Thats because the yellow of the egg yolks makes them look green, but the food dye's blue" So lesson learnt; even when you're right, you're wrong Never mind - the new mag looked fab on the stand next to the coolest mag out there Sideburnand the lovely Men's File. And the new Classic Bike mag featured an Interceptor article by TB - talk about sychronicity
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19th Feb 2010 - You asked
Folk love our tees, but keep asking for a simple little black number with benzina in our top speed typeface. Well here it is; when they're gone, they're gone
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16th Feb 2010 - While the cat's away...
February in the UK's even more flipping freezing than usual, and us soft southern types can't cope with artic garage antics. Especially when the kids have nicked the heater for their bedroom - our electric meter's spinning like an old Guzzi's bacon slicer. So TB member and arty type - no, let's not mention his name - needs to get his MV125 ready for the Bristol Classic show this weekend, and finds himself on the horns of a dilemma; frostbite in the garage or a frosty reception on the MV club stand when he tells them his bikes not finished. But there's always another way, especially when his wife's taken the kids away for half term. Move the bike into the house - TV, beer and bike all within easy reach, and nice and toasty. Just watch those oily fingermarks. And be ready for that quickening heartbeat when you hear those three little words; "Darling, I'm home!"
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12th Feb 2010 - Pass the crowbar..
This is the Team Darmah - the perfect old bus for relaxed summer rides. But at some stage in its history the sidestand went AWOL, I'd guessed because a faster rider than me missed the ground clearance. Or succumbed to the temptation that comes every time you see the price sidestands make on eBay. TB friend and pro bevel fettler Brian Silver (aka Moto Marianna) knocked me up a new one, and I thought even I could fit it. How hard can it be? Buggeration. The non standard stainless steel downpipes have different bends to the original. So the sidestand goes on, but the exhaust won't. Or vice versa. Hand me the crowbar, Eugene. Brian's sold me some new downpipes. And arranged to have them chromed. I might have to sell the sidestand to pay for them...
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10th Feb 2010 - Guys, be ready for Valentine's..
Sunday 14th is St Valentine's day. One of those days when treating the lady in your life well is a get out of jail card, safely tucked away for the next time you tread straight 50W across the hall carpet. So here's an easy Italian supper that looks posher than it is and won't make her worry it'll go straight to her waistline. You'll need smoked pancetta strips (Sainsbury's sell them in packs of 12 for £2, on special offer right now) plus one skinless chicken breast per person (if you're Alan Clark, the Lord who took his mistress on Honeymoon, you may want the family value pack). Hopefully your storecupboard can do the other bits; olive oil, white wine, tarragon, sherry vinegar or balsamic. Wrap each chicken breast with 3 strips of pancetta, pop into a shallow ovenproof dish. Splash in a little wine and smidge of vinegar, pinch of dried Tarragon, drizzle of the oil over the chicken. Into a 180c oven for 25 minutes Serve with pasta (I like the little fuselli spirals) or mash, maybe with pesto, plus green beans - or crusty bread and green salad. Final cheffy touch is to cut each breast into 3 or 4 slices and spread out, but you don't need to. Bottle of white, tablecloth and candles - you never know, you might get more than Brownie points...
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9th Feb 2010 - Racers on show
The race Retro Show at Stoneleigh Park, Coventry is on the lookout for period racers to display over the weekend of 12-14 March. There are prizes, and the chance to show off to Phil Read and Peter Williams. Entry details are here and if you need help with trailering a bike to the show or even a van, you know where we are
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7th Feb 2010 - Rallying call
On a freezing February morn the final photoshoot for Benzina #1 took place, as newbie model Chikki Violet grinned and bared it for lensman Jeff May - our tribute to the genius of Bob Carlos Clarke's original. The printers start work tomorrow, and should have issue 1 ready before the end of the month If you like the idea of spending time outside, the Rally season starts here. Ducati owners club start with the Severn Valley Rally on 7-9th Mayat the Unicorn Inn (B&B available), Hampton Loade, Shropshire. If you like your fun in-tents (sorry) contact Kevin Baker 07971 972866 M/H 01384 868844 or Richard Curzon 07853 261054/01562 864591 or use westmids@docgb.net At the other end of the season there's the Southern Rally on 3th - 5th September 2010 at Newlands Campsite, a sort of mini Centre Parcs close to beautiful Charmouth in Dorset - contact Chris Calton 01305 773990 H/M 07816371857 or ccalts@aol.com
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4th Feb 2010 - Don't rub too hard
We all love shiny, but some Ducati bevel owners go a bit too far. Here's a 450 Desmo crankcase that some would buff to a mirror finish. Given some free time we'd rather ride than polish - better for the bike too, as discovered by the poor soul who took his Bacofoil bright Desmo for a service. See the unsightly ridges circled on our Desmo? His were gone. They're the timing marks... "Oh bugger" was our oppo's surprisingly restrained response when a well known Duke fettler broke the news
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3rd Feb 2010 - And now for something completely different
Now this is very special - an Arai handpainted in the style of a Rio Grande blanket, c1890 Toward the end of the nineteenth century, Navajo and Hispanic weavers mastered the art of dying handspun wool with synthetic dyes, just as generations before them had mastered the art of dying with indigo. The intensity of colour carried from one dye lot to the next, allowing weavers to create depth within each colour - or so it says on the very wonderful and original Silverman Museum - and yes, you can buy one
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1st Feb 2010 - Electrickery
Electricity's like gravity - we know what it does, but not what it is. The Haydron Collider's trying to suss pulling power, but electricity? It's like women - we've given up on the understanding thing, and are just grateful for what happens. Trying to grasp that electrons shuffle about outside the wires (I'm back to electricity, not women) hurts nearly as much as 240v. But Catweasel's electrickery holds no mystery for TB friend Will H; local high school techie, he fixes bike wiring for fun (mind you he did a post-grad in production engineering for fun), and upgrading a supposedly pro re-wired Desmo 450 he observed that whoever did the previous work had a crimper which made joints "look very pretty, but not really meaty enough" That explains the dead battery and rectifier on last years Giro... We like to share this sort of expertise. Here he is at work on a 1950s MV Agusta 125, which now might make the 2010 Giro. Thanks Will.. And if you need help, maybe Will'll be at our (now Saturday pm) teas and cakes. He charges (pun intended) but his tastes are more local ale than fancy wine, so it costs bugger all for a job well done. Let us know if you need help - maybe we can track him down...
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29th Jan 2010 - Undervalued classic
As word reaches us of yet another roundcase Ducati 750SS selling for some £60k, and a couple of Laverda 750SFCs making over £30k, the Guzzi V7 Sport might be the most undervalued Italian classic around. The Italian's were into building low run 750s for racing in the early seventies, and Guzzi's was the V7 Sport. Based on the touring V7, designer Tonti ditched the belt-driven dynamo between the cylinders and stuck an alternator on the front of the crank instead. This left space to run the twin top tubes of his new frame from headstock to tail, doing away with the V7's loop frame, lowering the overall centre of gravity and improving handling beyond recognition. Homologation for production racing required 100 bikes to be built, and it's thought less than 200 of the red (chrome-molybdenum) framed bikes were hand built. Later bikes came via a production line with black painted steel frames, but still had the gear driven cams and more performance than any other 750, including the Honda four and Ducati 750GT. So how much for a nicely prepped slice of lime? Just £10,500 from the always fair John Fallon at madeinitalymotorcycles Better than money in the bank
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23rd Jan 2010 - Replica Benelli
If anyones got some decent pics of a Benelli 504 Sport (the road bike) we'd love to see them. Why? Wait and see...more on the teambenzina blog
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12th Jan 2010 - Bending the wind
Braking on snow, the rarest Ducati of all and MV Agusta's experiments with downforce. It's all on the blog
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5th Jan 2010 - Make it snappy
Been helping Classic Bike out on a photoshoot; blimey, it's a lot of work. More on the blog
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1st Dec 2009 - Retiring to France
There are Team Benzina conscripts who don't get the old motorbike thing, let alone Ducatis - they just refer to our healthy interest in motorised Italiana as The Disease. Well, there's bad news for them because The Disease seems to have spread to France. More on the blog http://teambenzina.blogspot.com/
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30th Nov 2009 - The Cook Neilson legend
Europeans know the Ducati legend was forged in the heat of two battles - Smart at Imola in '72, and Hailwood at the IOM in '78. What some forget is that the stool this legend sits upon has a third leg - Cook Neilson's win at Daytona in 1977.Click on the pic to read more on the blog
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10th Nov 2009 - Paso lust on the blog
I'm getting strange stirings again, this time for the Ducati Paso. Folk will tell you they're rubbish, but they're wrong. Read why on the blog
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4th Oct 2009 - The final Tees & Cakes!
Join us for the final Tees & Cakes of 2009 on Sunday 4 October. The weather forecast's good, and whatever you think of the "summer" we've had, our Tees & Cakes have all been dry. It's a perfect excuse for a late summer blast And come on you owners of modern stuff - the Ducati Sport Classic at our last meet was the first bike to turn up that wasn't at least 25 years old! Just email for an invite and directions
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6th Sep 2009 - September Tees & Cakes
Might be a low key event, because we know all the lovely Ducati folk will be at the Charmouth Rally, but do join us for this summer's penultimate tees and cakes this Sunday from 10am - but if you can't make it check out our end of summer bargains online - the Diecasts and summer sweats are now especially good value
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25th Aug 2009 - Never a lender be - not even to Eric Clapton
Not a huge car fan, but the Ferrari club picnic at Wilton House was excellent - they even had one of Eric Clapton's old cars - the 365 he refers to in "Wonderful tonight". Clapton sold the 365 after blowing it up in Spain - had it flown home to be fixed first, mind. Also on show was an Enzo, Daytonas, a lovely little Lusso and a blue Dino. Plus a sea of modern stuff in watch-your-residual red. And if, like my boy, you're no Red Car fan there was a Lambo, AM V8, Mazzer Q-Porte - oh, and a Veyron.. But, but ,but had to call the AA on the way home. And as the excellent patrolman told me, problems with Ferraris always start with the explanation "It was fine until I lent it to.." Click on the pic for the full horror story...
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3rd Aug 2009 - Motogiro mania at tees and cakes
Despite it being the middle of the summer hols, two new visitors to Tees & Cakes joined the regulars - and in style! Genuine Moto Giro era 'bikes which still wore their race plates from the 2005 restorica event; a Ducati 175S an a rare Parilla
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2nd Aug 2009 - Free stuff - and the Silverstone Classic
Just back from Silverstone Classic - hope the pics inspire you to get out of the garage and over to our next tees & cakes this Sunday. But don't worry if you can't - for a limited time we're offering FREE post'n packing on all orders
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21st Jul 2009 - Top Gear at Beaulieu!
Off to Beaulieu (Francais for beautiful place - it is too) to see the Top Gear exhibition at the National Motor Museum - and a Falconry display!
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6th Jul 2009 - Italian Stallions at Team Benzina
Our second tees and cakes basked in glorious sunshine, and we had some proper Italian thoroughbreds - a Ferrari 360 Spider complete with glamorous Italian co-pilot, a freshly restored 1974 Ducati GT750 ridden all the way from Wimbledon, a rare Phillipe Stark designed Aprilia Moto 6.5, and a Mk I Guzzi Le Mans. Next tees and cakes is 2 August - show us what you got!
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5th Jul 2009 - See Lord March's chopper at tees & cakes
Just back from Goodwood's festival of speed where bizarrely Lord March had a display of choppers including a rep of the Easy Rider bike - and Peter Fonda was there to ride it. Prefered Phil Read on the MV and Chris Vermulan on Sheene's '75 RG500 myself. Or how about an original Ferrari 330P? Still got two days to visit, or just come to our tees & cakes do this Sunday morning and see my pix...
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3rd Jul 2009 - Come and see our Top Gear this Sunday!
This Sunday 5th July is our second tees and cakes - a chance to see the Tee shirts that Top Gear labelled cool stuff! We've also been featured in Classic Motorcyle, Racer and Classic and Sportscar magazines. And if you ask nicely I'll show you my pics of the Motogiro d'Italia as seen in this months Classic Bike. And no excuses this time - the weather forecast's not bad so come and see us
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14th Jun 2009 - The Italian Job
Maybe 1200 people turned up on mainly Italian 'bikes to see..more Italian 'bikes. Everthing from little Rumis and Motobis, through Mondial and Gilera-4 racers, to Jotas, Le Mans and even modern stuff. Benzina were there; well, it'd be rude not to..
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7th Jun 2009 - Tee and cakes is go!
Despite gloomy forecasts the weather was great, and we even has some proper wheels -a Ducati Diana, a Guzzi Le Mans bitza, a couple of bevel twins and a BMW Z4. Thanks to everyone who came and hope to see you all at our next open day on Sunday 5 July
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29th May 2009 - Thruxton BSB
Thruxton BSB practice today - them circuit boys, all velocity but no speed...
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18th May 2009 - Motogiro 2009
Safely back from the 2009 Motogiro d'Italia - hope the pics inspire you to ride (or even drive - we crossed paths with the Miglia Mille) to our launch party on 7th June
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10th May 2009 - Come to our launch party!
We launch with a breakfast party 9:30 am Sunday 7th June, and hope to make this a regular summer event come the first Sunday of each month.If you can join us just ‘phone or email for full details and directions - and check out the more pictures link!.