Veikko Sikiö hand made one cool bike. He cast the bronze and aluminum parts, wow!

"... make a liquid gas furnace, big enough to melt necessary amount of aluminium. I also had to make myself all the other tools which were to be needed in the casting-work. "

The usage of the clutch and the brake works with the same pedal. The system works as following: when you press the pedal, it first frees the clutch and when you continue pressing the pedal, the brake kicks in. I made a test version of the leverage system at first, so that I found the right relations

"First rim was a failure, but the second and the third were successful enough. On the front rim there were made places for 24 magnets, which are producing electric current for the lights when combined with a self made coil. I lathed the rims to the final size with a big lathe from at my workplace; the rims were too large for my own lathe. After some polishing and grinding I balanced the rims. One rim took 35 grams extra material and the other 50 grams, so the rims were a great success."

Found on http://www.dwrenched.com/2016/01/dwrenched.html  via  http://www.bikernet.com/pages/CASTING_A_FINNISH_WINNER_.aspx

Enjoy life... and bring a go pro... edit the footage, and share online!

Found on http://www.breedofspeed.org/speed-blog.html

Coolest thing you'll read today.

KC-135 'Flying Gas Station' on a routine trans-Atlantic flight shepparding F-4 Phantoms.

Midway across the Atlantic, and just prior to the fourth refuel, one of the F-4s started to develop some engine problems. After a quick visual from one of the other Phantoms, it was discovered Ghost’s F-4 was bleeding oil.

Shortly after barely burning turbines started to wind down. The Phantom, which is known for its dependence on power to keep flying, started to bleed airspeed and altitude simultaneously.

At this point, with the number two engine barely hanging on, the number one began to struggle with the higher temperatures and load of keeping the Phantom airborne. Watching the airspeed decay, Ghost decided to jettison his external tanks to reduce drag and weight in hopes of saving his dying jet.

Struggling with a dying number one, and an overheating number two, all the while maintaining a 45-degree nose-up attitude to keep altitude over the frigid Atlantic beneath. But sadly, moments after dropping his tanks, his jet’s hydraulic system failed, crippling the stricken jet even further. The list of available options was reduced to one.

Eject.

Still 520 miles out to sea, and facing a certain death in the waters below, “North Star” KC-135, pulled high and in front of Ghost’s Phantom, dropping flaps and slats to slow to the speed of the crippled jet.

As the altitude dropped to 4000 feet over the water, North Star hooked up with Ghost’s Phantom, and started to transfer fuel to his starving J-79 engines. Considering the lack of hydraulics, and asymmetric thrust produced by the F-4, as well as the high angle of attack flown by both aircraft at low airspeed and altitude, this was no easy feat.

The F-4E could not hold on, and broke away from the tanker, nose down in a final decent towards the waters below. The crew of North Star pushed their nose over and chased the Phantom lower and slower, this time indicating as little as 190 knots at 1,400 feet above the waves.

Amazingly, holding the connection, North Star began to actually tow Ghost’s Phantom for the final 160 miles to Gander Newfoundland, using nothing but the fueling boom.

As the coast of Newfoundland appeared on the horizon, and at an altitude of 6,000 feet, Ghost was able to coax a little power out of his now cooled number two engine, disengaged from the boom, and was now left with the simple proposition of landing a Phantom that was only capable of banking left.

Ghost’s WSO quickly formulated an approach that would allow the jet to align with Gander’s main runway while taking into account the jets limited performance abilities.

Moments later, Ghost and his WSO touched down safe and dry on the runway complex at Gander, and rolled to a stop.

The crew of North Star all received the Mackay Trophy for their efforts above and beyond the call of duty in saving the F-4E crew from certain death in the waters below.

http://www.breedofspeed.org/1/post/2015/09/the-time-a-tanker-saved-a-fighter-that-was-falling-apart-over-the-atlantic.html

the English wheel tank "Trench Crosser", developed on the basis of Colonel Tritton heavy tractor "Daimler-Foster."

http://vikond65.livejournal.com/?skip=80

Easy way to re-use an old lawn mower, and make a kid happy

Found on https://www.facebook.com/groups/1631935880418477/

Trucker blocks a crash of two motorcycles with his rig and trailer... maybe saved a couple lives

A Los Angeles police officer was driving his motorcycle on the 5 Freeway in Sylma, southbound somewhere between Roxford and the 405 Freeway, when he collided with another motor bike on Tuesday, March 24th.

Truck driver Dorian Cole, 45, a driver for Pacific Tank Lines and witnessed the collision take place around 1:30 in the afternoon. “I saw a collision; I saw the guy flip over on a motorcycle and debris hit the freeway. I looked in my rear view mirror, I saw that the scene was clear. I hit my flashers to block the area where no cars or any other vehicle could hit the officer.”

http://www.livetrucking.com/tanker-blocks-highway-to-protect-officer-after-motorcycle-colission/

Go Pro year in review, the best clips of 2015 (great editting!)

cool and innovative 1930s tail light and turnsignal

Found on https://www.facebook.com/groups/111664952275098/?fref=nf

3 cheers for Sylvie Pelesasa! Helped out a woman who had a bike stolen, and got her a new bike.

he's won 274 of 277 events with his 86 year old Douglas, and he's 81 years old. Meet Henry Body

Henry bought his Douglas bike 18 years ago and maintains it with help from friend Bill Douglas, grandson of motoring legend William who founded the motorbike-making Bristol company that originally made the bike.

http://biddishamlane.blogspot.com/2015/07/people-of-biddisham-henry-body.html

images from Classic Bike Magazine by Gary Freeman

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1283090/Going-throttle-76-motorbike-champion-eye-artificial-hip-pacemaker.html

Leonardo da Vinci's mechanical drum, possibly the most obscure and oldest wheeled thing I think I've posted

found on http://thegreatcanadianmodelbuilderswebpage.blogspot.ca/2015/11/leonardo-da-vincis-mechanical-drum.html

the most bad ass car I've seen in a long time... just hold on when you see it drift on 3 wheels, Greg Trapnell's Holden Monaro

inside the Caterpillar Visitors center in Peoria, is the largest vehicle they have ever made... and it's so big they use it as a theater.. but this is also the coolest place I've seen in a while, and you can do a virtual tour thanks to Google

http://www.pjstar.com/article/20121014/News/310149967

You’ll start your tour in the theater where a Caterpillar representative will give a brief overview of the company. Very likely, your host will be a Caterpillar rehired retiree. Who can better tell you about the company than someone who had a long Caterpillar career, like Jean who worked at Caterpillar for 42 years, retired, and then came back when the Visitors Center opened in 2012? Your host will introduce you to an orientation film, where you’ll learn about Caterpillar, its products, and its customers.

https://www.enjoyillinois.com/thingstodo/details/6047281

http://www.visitflyovercountry.com/2014/05/peoria-il-caterpillar-visitors-center.html

https://www.google.com/maps?q=caterpillar+visitors+center&ll=40.690203,-89.588625&spn=0.000016,0.010396&sll=40.690847999999995,-89.587435&layer=c&cid=1491318796988562772&panoid=Pel3peCefi4AAAALCqagRQ&cbp=13,148.99,,0,0.78&hq=caterpillar+visitors+center&t=m&z=17&cbll=40.690203,-89.588625

http://midwestwanderer.com/a-peek-inside-caterpillar/

http://www.caterpillar.com/en/company/visitors-center.html

6 year later update on the Citreon that was cannabilized to make a scooter to get out of the Sahara back in 1993

http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2009/12/survival-of-innovator-broken-2cv-no.html  for the original story I posted in 2009

His ingenious engineering saw him convert the car's rear bumper into a rudimentary seat, shorten the chassis, and place the engine and gearbox in the middle to create a vehicle which somehow kept going long enough to transport him to safety.

The 43-year-old had been driving his Citroen 2CV across the desert from the Moroccan city of Tan-Tan.

The going was easy and he regularly fell off the seat, which was made from part of the car's rear bumper. After a day of riding Emile was picked up by the Moroccan police who drove him to the nearest village. They also handed him a hefty fine because the registration documents for his car no longer corresponded to what he was driving.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2168061/French-electrician-stranded-Moroccan-desert-rebuilt-wrecked-car-motorbike-drove-civilisation.html

original post http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2009/12/survival-of-innovator-broken-2cv-no.html

Santa Claus continues his annual ride through the Appalachians, his 73rd ride was Nov 2015

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/331577591288266868/

In the below picture, the two cars behind the little steamer are special cab-less locomotives to be run with 1930's streamliner trains, that were painted to look like "baggage cars" for the train, with them being controlled by the 1880's locomotive.

The tradition began in 1942, when a group of Kingsport businessmen decided to do something special for its neighbors and patrons to the north in the Virginia coalfields. The Kingsport Merchants’ Bureau, predecessor to today’s chamber, solicited donations of candy from area stores. One of the volunteers dressed as Santa and joined fellow merchants as they tossed hard candy from the rear vestibule of Clinchfield’s regular southbound passenger local No. 38 on the first Saturday after Thanksgiving.

Scheduled passenger service ended in 1954, but the “Clinch” obligingly kept the Santa train running, by tacking office car 100 behind its only FP7, No. 200.

A new Clinchfield general manager, arrived in 1968, and ordered the shop to restore an 1882-built 4-6-0 No. 1, which was rusting behind the coach shed.

The resurrected Ten-Wheeler pulled that year’s Santa Claus Special and thrust this unique operation onto a higher level of public exposure. Mechanical problems forced the No. 1's, second retirement in 1979, but the Clinch kept running the Santa train.

http://www.railpictures.net/photo/326895/

Charles Kuralt, the late television journalist, covered the train in 1982, the last year it would be a true Clinchfield operation before successors absorbed the railroad. National coverage on CBS did more to bring attention to the Santa train than anything in its past. Those were the early days of CSX, and executives realized they had a winner for attracting positive press. A front-page story in The New York Times also generated money and donations from all over the country, a pattern that continues to this day. It was no longer necessary for the merchants of Kingsport to rely exclusively on local donations, as assistance from companies, celebrities, and generous individuals came pouring in.

https://wjhudson.wordpress.com/2012/05/09/clinchfield-676-and-the-santa-claus-train/

CSX approached the Kingsport Chamber in the mid-’90s and suggested making additional stops. Chamber leaders understood, and in 2001 the Santa train added five stops so all the candy, stuffed animals, wrapping paper, homemade mittens, and nearly anything else you can imagine toward the outstretched hands and upturned faces while the train was standing still. Since then, the number of stops has increased to 15.

Everybody works on the Santa train, taking turns on the “chain gang” tossing goodies from the observation platform, or for the media, getting the story. After dispensing gifts and candy to thousands of children and their parents along the 110-mile route, the train arrives at Kingsport in time for Santa to ride a city fire truck in the annual Christmas parade.

For certain, it’s an expensive operation for CSX, but local personnel pull it off each year without a hitch, so costs and disruption to normal operations are manageable, with corridor managers minimizing traffic on the day the Santa train operates.

Full story and more photos at http://trn.trains.com/bonus/santa thanks to David!

Crazy cool John Deere riding mower snow mobile... it all started with a rider, and a real JD snowmobile, and then, it got tricky

began with the both of these

getting mixed up together

http://www.vintagesledders.com/forums/index.php?topic=966.0

Chattanooga Choo Choo jet dragster, from K C Jones racing

Skip the first minute, then, awesome surprise! (Won't anyone ever learn to edit and delete the first minute?)

https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2838/11316190943_5e51006d17_b.jpg

Found on https://www.facebook.com/groups/1631935880418477/

http://www.kcjonesracing.com/

The interior of a 1926 Rolls Royce Phantom Brougham De Ville, only 40,000 miles since new. Probably the most expensive Rolls Royce ever made

All of the woodwork for the interior, panels, cabinets and window trim was done in the Clark shop, but some of the more elaborate carving was done in London with the elaborate paintings of cherubs on the headliner done by a Frenchman living there.

Mr C W Gasque was an American businessman of French ancestry living in London who was a director of F W Woolworth & Co and whose wife was a Woolworth heiress.. The car was to be a surprise present for his wife and the body was certainly one of the most wonderfully crafted and exotic ever built on a motor car. Mr Gasque obviously had great confidence in the taste and the integrity of Mr Barnett as he left both the design details and the price to his discretion. Mr Gasque’s only stipulation was that the interior should be in the antique French style.

Mr Barnett visited London’s Victoria & Albert Museum where he saw a Sedan Chair which had belonged to Marie Antoinette. This was a miniature carriage, designed to be carried by two strong men, and it had a painted ceiling which inspired him to commission a French artist to paint a similar ceiling for the new car. This ceiling, which is painted with charming amoretti and pink roses, was raised slightly to enable the installation of hidden lighting. The unknown artist also painted - very much in the style of Angelica Kauffman or Adam Buck the ovals and roundels on the quartered satinwood veneers to the doors, central division and revolving vanities.

The central division has the appearance of a highly decorative antique commode or chiffoniere which is raised on square tapered legs with spade feet, the central two door bow fronted cupboardof which conceals two shelves with a decanter, a flask, a silver salver, glasses and a porcelain bonbonnière.This cupboard is flanked on each side by hidden doors concealing the tapestry covered, gilt metal framed occasional seats.. This elaborate division is surmounted by a small French ormolu clock and two French porcelain vases containing gilt metal and enamel flowers. The central part of the interior is, in fact, more English than French in feeling and is typical of the late Victorian or Edwardian fashion for painted satinwood furniture in the style of a century before.

It is most probable that this body was the most costly ever built on a Rolls-Royce chassis. and therefore that the complete car was the most expensive Rolls-Royce ever built. Neither Mr or Mrs Gasque had any idea of how this magnificent gift looked until it was delivered to their London residence in April 1927. Incidentally, this ten month gap between the start and the finish of the construction of the coachwork is about three times the normal time taken by coachbuilders for bodies of similar style..

The Gasques were to enjoy their splendid carriage for only 18 months as Mr Gasque died in October 1928. The car was put into storage where it remained until the death of Mrs Gasque in 1952

http://www.charlescrail.com/sold-cars/226-rolls-royce-1926-phantom-i-brougham-de-ville

I will begin the clapping, join in when you can. Hooray for Alex!

Alex went to the DMV to renew his license.

When he was told to go have his picture taken he noticed that there were some men having their picture taken, these men were wearing turbans on their heads.

Alex was asked to take his hat off to have his picture taken.

He said "no", and "no" again when asked the second time.

When he was asked why he would not remove his hat he said, "those men didn't remove their head wear, I shouldn't either".

It was explained that this was their attire and their religion.

 Alex told the DMV person that what he had on was his attire, and when he entered the Marines he declared an oath to the USA, and one nation under God, so that his oath was under God so just as good as his religion.

Well, the DMV people didn't know what to do, they spoke to supervisors and called Sacramento. Alex was told, after an hour, that he could wear his hat for the picture and if there were any problems they would let him know and he could appeal their decision.

 He told them if there was a problem he WILL appeal it. Alex feels no one has more right to display their head gear then a Veteran or active service person. When he left several employees at the DMV clapped quietly for him. He has spoken to few other Veterans and they plan to do the same.

https://www.facebook.com/Straight-out-the-trailer-park-327886717369811/?fref=nf