Member postings for thaiguzzi

Wish i'd discovered them years before. First came across them in 2003. Kitting out my two containers, which had fiberglass and s/steel interior walls. Brilliant invention.

+2.

Direct floor standing. No cabinet mounting, nice.

Has the all important original vice. Very nice.

Nope, he's got a restored Monarch 10EE. Obvious, innit...

Email with photos sent today to Tony at Lathes.co.uk.

Hardly Dangerous was the dominant seller when i moved here in '03. Lots of wealthy Thais buying into the "lifestyle". Who could outdo the other by buying the latest and most glitzy Twin Cam. That scene has slowly been replaced by similar wealthy lifestyle Thais, but buying into the Triumph and Ducati brand. Both are big sellers here. Triumph probably out sell all other Euro/USA brands now. BMW with their adventure style bikes sell well, and since import levies were dropped for Japanese manufactured big bikes, they have become very popular. Huge amount of Honda 500-650 here, Kawasaki have a factory here making pretty much most stuff pre 1000cc, sell well. Suzuki and Yamaha are probably the least represented in the big bike mart.

The smaller stuff, 110-150cc, as you say, sell in the millions, most households have several bikes. Kids get their first bike nowadays aged 13-14 and ride to school. Market is dominated by Honda, then Yamaha. You can put a down payment of £30 down, and ride out of a showroom on an auto scooter paying it back for the next 3 years, at silly rates.

I would'nt call Thailand Third World anymore. Out in the sticks in Cambodia i would, and parts of Laos (which by the way is a stunning country), but Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand have really moved on in the last 10-15 years.

Not only nanny state, but political correctness too. Helluva lot of Aussies out here (which surprises me) and the stories they tell me about Mother Australia make me wince. Running an SME over there sounds like a nightmare, i thought the Brits and Euros had it bad with red tape.

I'll try and find a pic of the crank and rods...

Yep.

# Basically the same as a 10" Elliott. But bigger?

# You do not need auto feed to do dovetails.

# It will machine dovetails. It will machine internal and external keyways.

# It will machine flat surfaces to such a high degree of finish, it will put your mill to shame.

# Buy it. Quickly.

Very, very, very nice.

Thanx. Motor is 830cc, Weslake "Full Circle" crank and Carillo rods. Crank, if ever sold (not going to happen) on Ebay et al would go for a fortune, possibly £2k... Bike was built to this spec (ish) and looks in '94-95. Owned it from new.

Access bung is for an easy bleed of the Morgo rotary oil pump. Each rockerbox has it's own breather too. Can't have enough of 'em on a Brit parallel twin.

Getting it into Thailand. Long story, but basically came in with my Guzzi in two of my own containers c/w Snap On tool cabinets, Boxford lathe, Mig welder and all household and workshop possessions. Paid legal import tax on everything EXCEPT the two bikes. Big mistake in hindsight. They have legal import p/work now and all taxes paid, which was expensive and a headache, but no legal plate, and because they are not FI, never can have. Can legally ride them everywhere except inside Bangkok (not interested riding in there anyhow) and the two main motorways from BKK to the NW and NE.

So yes, nowadays importing your own is impossible. However there is a huge bike scene over here, and in the last 5 years, new and S/H prices have dropped dramatically. Although most models are still more expensive than in the West. Triumph and Ducati have factories here, and there is a good choice of motorcycles of all styles these days.

Plus... it is Thailand...

Going back to the "Nanny State West" occasionally once every 18 months or so for a 4-6 week period, and it just saddens me, not shocks me, saddens me.

Me, i "retired" out here when i was 43...

Edited By thaiguzzi on 05/05/2017 09:23:13

Off topic but, ha! Hardly Dangerous (HD) used taper rollers in their wheel hubs till 1999!!

+1.

Wot he said, very well written.

Two Model A Smart & Brown lathes on Premier Machine Tools website in Notts. One for £850 and the other just over a grand. Well tooled.

I would buy either or both in a heart beat if i still lived in the UK.

My '79 Triumph. Back on the road again...

Five years off it, (i thought it was only 2-3, amazing what old age does to the memory, or having other motorcycles to ride...).

Arty farty photos taken by my daughter yesterday.

+1.

Wot he said. Just buy one. A correct imperial circlip for a 50's Brit bike gearbox. If Draganfly don't have one (which would surprise me), buy the latest issue of Classic Bike or similar and peruse the ads. Plenty of specialists.

Premier machine Tools (no relation) have a couple of VERY nice Smart and Brown's for sale. One model A and a couple of late VSL's. Reasonable money too. If i still lived over there....

LOL

Fallen face first into a fishing tackle box...