Problems with some of the very early posts..

When I started this blog I was linking my photos on a host called Village Photos.  Well as it so happens that company is now out of business and shut down so most of the photos that date back to the very early days of the blog are likely not going to show up any longer.  The good news is that I do have everything stored, backed up and archived locally so if there is an old blog post that interests you and the photo is not appearing send me an e-mail (mcpotd@gmail.com) and I’ll do what I can to track it down and get it re-posted and re-linked.
Sorry for the inconvenience.  I should have kept to the more stable and popular hosting sites but this one had a lot of cool features that worked really well with e-bay auctions and such.  And who knows, they may get back up eventually.  From searching around there’s a ton of angry customers out there.

A new blog focusing on a few bikes that have been posted on here.

Aaron Pierson wrote in a while back to tell me about his new blog, "Peace And Wheelies" which features a few bikes that have been posted here along with the restoration of his H1R project.  Check it out!

A few more Sam Simmons "Buzz Bomb" pics.

Sam Sam Simons writes in with a few more of his "Buzz Bomb" pics

Hello Steve, Here's an old project for a friend wanting an 1/8 mile old school dragbike based on something 'unusual' (non RDe350/400,in other words). It's a combination of CB160 chassis,Kawa A7 350 mill,T200 front end,Yam DT rear,T125 tank,etc.,a real parts bin concoction . New internal parts were a real challenge, with zero performance pieces available (now or back then). All in all,a fun bike to build.... Best regards,

I love this bike..

Reader Ride. A hopped up Yamaha YDS3

You sure don't see too many of these.  Really cool build!  Thanks to Nicholas

Fire up the.... Toyota Yaris 1.3 SR

A LONG time ago, in a factory far, far away, Toyota made some epically reliable but unbelievably boring cars.

Chief among these was the Starlet, which back in the early Nineties failed to tempt the supermini faithful out of their Fiestas, largely because it looked so dull. That's why its successor, the original Yaris of 1999, was such a class act. In a stroke the company cracked the small car nut with something stylish and innovatively packaged, and it hasn't looked back since.

It's clear the company still knows how to make an engaging small car - you only need to look at the ingeniously packaged IQ and the cheeky Aygo for proof - but the latest version of the Yaris has some awfully big small car boots to fill.

The main thing you'll notice aboard the new arrival is just how roomy it is.

Admittedly, finding room for people and luggage where you mightn't have expected it has always been a Yaris party trick, but with the 2011 model the world's biggest car company has moved the goalposts again. If you're one of those freakishly tall people who find the Fiesta and Corsa a bit of a squeeze, the extra inches Toyota's eaked out of the Yaris might just swing it for you.

What you also notice is that the likes of the 1.3 SR version I tested are definitely aiming for the upmarket segment of the supermini sector - where people care more for equipment and bombproof reliability than image or driveability - and I doubt anyone familiar with the outgoing model are going to be dissapointed by the quality of the materials and the way it's been screwed together. It's also very generously equipped, with the stereo/satnav interface garnering particular praise, but then it needs to be for almost £15k.

Yet for everything it gains the new Yaris loses some of the ineffable magic which made its two immediate predecessors such a hit, lacking both the cheeky looks of the original and the sparkle that came across on every journey. It's by no means a bad car, but nor is it one that you'd choose over a Fiesta, a Polo or a Jazz.

Unless you're freakishly tall, that is.

Vespa 400

S2 / 394 cc / 14 PS / 20 ft/lb (27 Nm) @ 2.200 / 0 - 50 mph (80 km/h): 58,0 s / Vmax: 52 mph (83 km/h)

(click images for a larger view)

Brian Rogers of Kingswood: speaking the truth

We've been a bit quiet recently. The main problem: thinking of new things to say.

Everyone has this problem. Take this well thought out letter from Brian Rogers of Kingswood.

It certainly pushes our buttons:

1. affluent middle classes cycling
2. holding up important people on their way to work
3. tax-payer funded lycra clad louts
4. sanctimonious, car-hating people
5. fill up the car parks

That would be a good article: tax dodging affluent (actually, this is probably true), car hating, and driving to our favourite parking spaces. It would make a good article, and we have formally invited Brian to actually write for us. All he'd need is "in our lane", "red light jumping" and "speeding along too fast" and we'd win this week's Daily Mail "lycra lout" bingo.

Of course, the same day that George "coke" Osborne announces that air passenger duty won't be applied to people flying in and out of the city on private planes is particularly bad timing for the tax-payer funded text. Remember: those people who live in Monaco and fly in for three days a week may retain non-resident tax payer status, but they hold up the economy, and adding £30/week on the already outrageous cost of (tax free) jet fuel would force them stop flying in to the UK at all.

Brian needs to work on his timing a bit there.

Furthermore, a quick web search shows that he wrote pretty much the same letter  a year ago.

 irresponsible for the city council to pour tax payers' funds into a cycling track that is, well, just a hobby for a privileged and sanctimonious few?

See? The same problem we have. There's only so much orginality you can do from one point-of-vitriol. Brian is having trouble writing the same letter once a year -you can imagine how hard it us for us.

Maybe its time for the team to retire