Happy Memorial day

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service. The picture above is from France. I don't know when is the Memorial day for them. It seems that every nation has its memorial day or equivalent of it. Japan has one as well. It always rained on the day every year and my grandpa told me that rain was tears of falling soldiers'.
Memorial day became a sale day for most of people. Also it is said that the most cook out day in a year.

Sadly the Memorial day became just a day off to many people...

Below is an installation art of Edward Kienholtz, "The Portable War Memorial" 1968

Hochseeflotte 1916

a picture of the Imperial German Navy's High Sea Fleet. or a portion of it anyway. i thought it was pretty neat because of the Zeppelin floating overhead. this was just before the Germans inflicted a severe tactical defeat on the Royal Navy at the Battle of Jutland. seemed appropriate for memorial day since sailors, soldiers and airmen/women all over the world are very much alike. they obey the will of their political masters and die as necessary.

Indian Bobber

Ercole

all Moto-Guzzi's don't have 2 wheels. some have 3, such as the Ercole{Hercules} models shown here.
top picture is 1952 model without a cab. next is a 1952 model with a cab and last is a 1959 model with cab. these are tough little vehicles although not fast in any sense of the word. 500cc single with 5 speed and reverse transmission enables the Ercole to haul almost a ton of whatever fits. that's a lot to move around with only 500cc's.

911 sidecar

French police motorcycle with an ambulance sidecar attached. Circa 1900.
Via: Strange Military

Dennis Hopper 1936-2010

The much-loved American filmmaker and actor Dennis Hopper died today at his home in Venice, Calif., seven months after his manager announced that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. He was 74.

For most of bikers, he is known as a co-writer, directer and a star of iconic motorcycle movie, "Easy Rider"

I was just talking about him last night. I wanted to contact him about donating my art piece to his collection. I guess that will not happen. Son of a Bitch...

Hopper was also a serious painter, sculptor and an art collector.

Well Gary Coleman died yesterday, but I was not surprised. "What you talkin' bout Willis?"

RIP Dennis Hopper...

I always imitated his character from "Blue Velvet" whenever I engaged in oral sex. That usually got laughs or freaking the girl out.

Armored Steam Ram

these are pictures of the USN's armored steam ram USS Katahdin 1896-1909. in the latter part of the 19th century there was a movement in many naval circles to revive the ancient ram in steam form. Katahdin was the USN's version. entirely impractical in an age of armored heavily armed steam ships the USN and the Royal Navy both built examples. the main problem was they weren't fast enough to catch and ram anything like a battleship or armored cruiser before they were sunk by gunfire. in any case the modern battleships or cruisers of the time could outrun the ram. good thing they didn't build but the one for the USN. the sailors hated it, in any kind of sea the water washed over the vessel and everyone had to remain below in the heat and humidity, not pleasant. the Katahdin was mostly kept in reserve and finally sunk by gunfire as a target ship. the last picture is a drawing showing the Katahdin doing what she was meant for but never accomplished.

Simon Lake 1866-1945

Simon Lake was the United States other prolific submarine inventor of the late 19th and early 20th century. John P. Holland being the other. here is a picture of Simon Lake and his early submarine Argonaut I. this submarine as you can see had wheels. it was designed to roll along on the bottom of a body of water and did so successfully many times. it also had an air lock from which divers could issue forth. powered both on the surface and underwater by a gasoline engine which drew its air from tubes extending to the surface. for extended use at depth compressed air was also available. the boat could stay on the bottom for 24 hours. Lake actually made a cruise in the open ocean from Norfolk, VA to Sandy Hook, NJ. during the cruise he ran on the surface and under water, at one time submerging to ride out a storm on the ocean's bottom. Lake made a fortune from salvaging sunken ships with his submarines. the USN bought a few submarines from Lake but mostly used the Holland type from Electric Boat Company.

Whubert N. Winchester's Master Bait 'n Supplies

Armoured Cruiser Thursday

this week we bring you a picture of HMS Minotaur an armoured cruiser of the British Royal Navy. launched in 1906 Minotaur and her sisters were the zenith of British armoured cruiser production. armed with 4 9.2" guns in her main battery and 7.5" secondaries she was heavily armed indeed. Minotaur fought at the Skagerrack or Battle of Jutland in 1916. unlike her sister ship Defence{which went up in a ball of fire after being hit by the German Battlecruisers} she survived the battle and WW1. the top picture shows the gun crew loading a 9.2" naval rifle. they are ramming home the projectile to be followed by the bags of explosive material. the lower picture is of Minotaur herself. powered by two 4cylinder triple expansion steam engines she could make slightly in excess of 22kts.

Whubert N. Winchester

I like the hubcaps hangin on the front of Nate's Bait Tackle & Grocery. Pure Class.

Want to be a porn star?

Paid auditions every day!

H-D ad by a Buell Fan

ON A HUNT....

Fer a coupla tramp...olines fer the framework
like to put together on of deez fer the bicycle show.....

SANCHO STOP'D BY GARAGE......

SCHEME'N WE IS..........GOONS GOTTA PROJECT.

Wichita Race Tracks

here's a picture of an early Wichita race track, Speedway Park. this track was located about 2 miles south of Douglas on Meridian. this is a picture of the race held on Oct. 14, 1915 it was won by a Stutz. apparently the track didn't last too long as no one seems to know what happened to it. in 1921 Meridian Speedway opened on the same site but with a 11/2 mile more or less oval track instead of a circle. this track lasted until December, 1923. the bottom picture is of the race held July 4, 1922. the race was won by an Indian.

Isle of Man TT

can't have too many pictures of the TT. after all it is the greatest and most famous of all motorcycle races. we'll start with a picture of the Isle itself, as the Manx call it, Ellan Vannin. the heavy purplish line is the outline of the race course. since they used to race cars there as well i've included a picture of the magnificent 1914 Humber. next is the 1959 Honda team from Japan. the first year for Japanese motorcycles and Honda at the TT. and last but hardly least is one of the most revered English Race Bikes ever, the famous Manx Norton. this one is a 1957 model.

Isle of Man TT

since the Isle of Man TT races are starting this month i thought it would be appropriate to post a few pictures of same. the poster with all the different motorcycles and engines is called the TT Twist. the ones for 1961 and 1934 are self explanatory. couldn't find a date on the #52 AJS poster but looks like the 50's to me. and the final one is the famous Stanley Woods on his Moto-Guzzi in 1935. Stanley an Irishman won the TT an amazing 10 times on an array of motorcycles. Cotton, Norton, Moto-Guzzi and Velocette.

Rotary Power

the first rotary powered motorcycle was the German DKW/Hercules W-2000 in 1974. it was a 249cc engine with a single rotor. rather cheaply made and not overly reliable the bike sold poorly. it was an ok bike, ok performance, ok handling. also not quite what folks thought of when thinking about a motorcycle they might want to own. the top picture is a picture of the rotor and combustion chamber of a rotary engine. only one moving part the rotor. on early rotaries the tip seals gave quite a bit of trouble since modern ceramics technology wasn't quite there yet. the second picture is of course of the bike itself and the third an Italian ad for the Hercules.