Say Hello to Albert

Do you wanna meet Albert? Of course you do! :) Albert is an old fellow and the crown juwel in dad's collection of vintage vehicles. But why is he named Albert? Here is the story:

Albert is a Harley-Davidson from 1925, a very rare jubilee model, that were first officially released for sale in 1927-29, so some says that there max. are 10 left in the whole world. He is a beauty:

Let's look at some details - here is the nice tool box ("the lunch box") at the front of the handlebars:

And here is the simple engine that still runs impeccably - with some TLC from dad:

I love old speedometers:

A view from the tank:

The gear-change is at the tank and there is foot-clutch. Not many know how to drive like that today:

In 1971 we moved to the isle of Moen and dad heard the rumour of the fantastic vintage Harley, which an elderly gentleman would not sell - several had already tried. Dad went out to see it, he gave it some TLC, oiled it and started it and thus became friends with the nice old man - Albert. The engine had not run for at least ten years but dad started it with the old gasoline. Dad wanted to borrow it for a Harley meeting, since he thought it should drive and be shown, but Albert said that he should then register in his own name, since Albert himself was old. But dad didn't want to do that.

Time passed by and the friendship continued. I remember Albert became a kind of reserve grandpa for my siblings and I. He often came to dinner and we visited him until he could not recognize us anylonger. Finally, Albert said that dad could buy it, but since dad didn't have any money he had to refuse - although the price was only about 90 dollars. Dad just wanted to take good care of it and borrow it now and then. But Albert said that he could have it and pay when he could afford it. That is true friendship!

Dad took it home to his garage and took it completely apart. Albert was a milkman and when the weather was bad, he didn't want his poor horse going out with the milk, so he drove the milk in the sidecar, so the Harley has never lived an easy life. Dad changed the sidecar for a speedometer, which unfortunately got stolen with some other vintage spareparts. Albert also drove a lot of contour races and had a wall full of prizes. Dad only got a few of them, and you might always discuss whether such prizes should follow the machine or the family. Albert bought the Harley in 1925, and although it was very expensive - he could have bought two other nice cycles for the same price - it was the one he wanted. So it is also special that dad is only the second owner! Very rare for such an old cycle.

My parents have attended mc meetings in every part of Denmark, and my siblings and I also sat at the back seat since we were small children. We had a tiny helmet to share. Our favourite was when we were invited to a birthday party, then we wanted dad to drive us on the coolest mc in the world. But we had to pay, the cycle should shine, so the cleaning was quite easy for dad when we were kids. At each mc meeting dad won the prize for oldest cycle, and we were afraid if he would get disappointed if he one day didn't win it. At first mum sat at a back seat made of an old football directly on the rear mudguard, but her butt hurt, so later dad made a twin-seat by taking a cast of the original seat.

The Harley was metallic baby blue for many years, which looked really good, but a few years ago dad painted it its original colour - horse shit brown, in daily speech. ;) He has improved it a bit, but it is the most original vehicle he owns. He has only built an alternator since he thought it lacked light. He often rides it with open exhaustion, which means he opens the little lid on the exhaustion and then it is really noisy. Much more than normally. Many years ago he was sure he woke up everybody in the City of Stege when he drove through early in the morning. The Harley has 7 to 9 HP when the lid is open, and 7 when it is closed. But those "tricks" are only for use in the country, as he says.

My parents have driven all the way to Paris on it, attending an mc meeting with 15,000 cycles and about 20,000 participants. And who did the oldest machine prize to to? Yep, dad! :) The Harley drove all the way down to Paris and almost back again, but right before the ferry the engine broke down (the cylinders got a huge grove). Ough! But another benefit of driving a nice vintage cycle is that everybody wants to help, so they were picked up by a truck. The truck driver drove the Harley into his truck by using a ladder. They have also driven all the way to the Netherlands and to Sweden, where they have visited High Chapperal.

Here is dad at the annual MC Moen meeting at the square of Stege:

Lovely moustache, dad! ;)

Notice the royal jools:

Dad has put on his old and original vest with the club logo:

And if you think his leather jacket looks worn, you're right - he bought it when he was 16 years old:

There is always a lot of audience when dad starts the Harley:

But beware, if you hear Albert, because it always starts raining when he is out.

THE LAST MC-Tour

The last in my little series "The Last" already feels very long ago - our last motorcycle tour. We went to eat lunch at "Malerklemmen", but stopped at "Moellebaekkens Koebmandsgaard" as seen here:

They have a shop too with exhibitions of vintage things, so the feeling is very old-fashioned. Here is the  storekeeper's office:

After having lunch we drove to a lovely shop nearby where I bought tea and coffee sirup. Here is DH's Honda VT1100 Shadow:

Did you notice the jacket? DH gave me a pink mc-jacket in spring and I have decorated it with a large pink rhinestone pin:

And no, I don't want a pink helmet!

We drove on to the Harbour of Roskilde where we had an icecream and walked around and looked at the ships. Here is a very nice Harley Davidson Electra Glide, which ran so low idle that I am impressed it didn't stop.

Thank you, BIL, for tour planning - you always find the most beautiful routes.

MC Tour to the Isle of Bornholm

How was our trip to the Isle of Bornholm , you ask?

Well, it was great - right until DH drove over a kerb and cracked the engine - ouch!

We had rented a lovely little apartment with my BIL and SIL, which had the most beautiful view:

We had perfect sunshine to drive around in, so we saw a lot of things. Here I am with a perfect commercial for a smokehouse - a vintage Fiat 500:

It is so sweet. Note my extremely non-fitting mc-jeans. Is there someone out there who could design some well-fitting mc-jeans for women, please?!

While everything was still good - DH in front of the Church of Osterlars:
I love the round churches, they are really amazing and very different churches.

We also visited Bornholms Tekniske Samling, which is a fantastic museum. Among a lot of other things 6,200 cups were exhibited. A lady had collected them and she held the world record already at 1,500 cups. Here is a few of them:

Well, on the third day we wanted to take some photos of the Ruins of Hammershus, because of the lovely light - we should never have done that. Because it was at the Port of Hammer, DH drove over a small kerb and cracked the engine so the oil literally sprayed out:

Now what!?! He had never taken the time to put some road aid/help subscription on it. Fortunately, he had a very nice colleague at the Isle of Bornholm. He lend a car with a tow-bar, lend a big trailer and ramps somewhere else. But we spend all day at the small port. While we sat there waiting, all the youngsters of Bornholm came driving in cars and parked at the port. The drank, danced and listened to loud musik. There were several police men keeping an eye on them and taking alcohol tests on the drivers, so everything was under control. Here a few of the police men helped pushing the Rat on to the trailer:

And this is how it looks when you push a dead mc as the very first onto the ferry, sigh:

Sorry about the blurry photo, I ran after him, but I had to portray the situation. :)

In Sweden dear daddy was waiting with his old truck (a Chevy Stepside from 1940), which drove us all the way home:

So now I think DH owes me a new vacation!

PS: Tuesday, the Rat was repaired and is almost as good as new, so now DH can sleep at night again. ;)

MC Pause

I wanted to write "closed due to stress", but then I find it cosy to write on my blog. Today we're going on a short vacation to the Isle of Bornholm on DH's motorcycle. And I really need it - I'm literally working my ass off.

No more complaining, instead I think you should enjoy this guy:

PS: DH's mc is a Honda, but it is much more noisy than his sound, in fact I consider earplugs.

How Life Should Be

Last Sunday, we and our BIL opened Café Malerklemmen on DH’s motorcycle. The weather was beautiful, but cold – I regret that I didn’t put on my Winter mc-trousers. Fortunately, we came early, so we got our lunch quick. I brought my little camera and took some photos of the two-wheeled:
Some had brought their identical twin:
Som had brought their ”girl”:
Others had brought ”the black bitch”:
Some had a very thorough army-look:
And some had a pair of tough knight-like gloves:
I love paintbrush art:
The blaze here had some minimal but funny mirrors:
There were some insignia, a.o. No Name, Riverside and the Wild Hogs, as seen here:
As a contrast to the insignias I want to show you the owners' collection of vintage coffeepots:
Driving to the café I thought that this is how life should be on a day off: driving a tour through our lovely Danish landscape, DH once in while reaches back to pat my thigh (you cannot talk on an mc, you point and pat), eat a nice lunch, look at some mc’s, have a talk with the other mc-enthusiasts, drive home again and enjoy a homemade latte at Café Stone Corner.

Flea Market and MC Sunday

Yesterday, DH had dedicated the whole day to me - his words, not mine, but I don't complain. We started at a little local flea market, but it was so small and we were just warmed up, so we continued to a larger one. Here is what I invested in:

Artificial apple blossom sprigs - 1½ dollar each, they will look nice in my bedroom.
A lovely decanter - 1½ dollar.
A nice wooden game - 1½ dollar (I don't know the name of the game in English).
Three nice nail polish colours (red, blue, pink) - a dollar each. I already know the glittery red will become a favourite for all the Christmas parties.
A mini hand cream for my purse - 50 cents.
A Royal Copenhagen mouse - 6½ dollars.
A lovely blue, vintage glass necklace - 8 dollars.
Two pairs brand new (vintage stock) kid skin gloves - 1½ dollar each.


DH was also lucky, he found a pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses for 16 dollars, a Dewalt drilling machine also for 16 dollars (he just loves tools), and various cords, soldering iron, and fuses. He started liking flea markets after he found some treasures too.

We went home to eat a quick lunch and then we took on all the motorcycle clothes, because we had a date with my BIL and SIL (DH's sister and husband). We went to "Malerklemmen", which is a cafe in a wood where a lot of motocyclists meet the first Sunday every months. The weather was more than perfect.

Here is DH in front of his motorcycle, aka the "Rat". Behind it you see BIL's fast red Japanese cycle:

Here we are eating a kind of Danish doughnut with softice (me and DH at the left):
Malerklemmen is known for their homemade doughnuts and during Summer you get them with soft ice cream, to make it more summery. These doughnuts are a Danish Christmas tradition.

There were mostly Japanese cycles, but four Harleys, one Norton and one vintage Victoria were also in the collection. This is one of the more special machines:

DH likes this Drag Star, it is truly nice in grey and black:

A little red Harley with a pink helmet - I guess it is a lady bike:
(remember all photos can be clicked into larger size)

So I ought to have stayed at home dusting the whole house and fighting the weeds in the garden, BUT now I'm recharged and happy, and I suppose both dust and weed will still be there next weekend.

Annual Opel GT Club Meeting 2010

This weekend we attended the annual Opel GT club Meeting, it was nice and cosy as always although the rain kept pouring down all Saturday. Here we are at our parking space:


Here is our large tent with hotdog stand and brewer's dray:

Here is Tiny Honk as the first in the line (from the left):

Nice butt(s), nice weekend:

Opel GT pillow - oh yes, we don't lack distinction:

Saturday afternoon we drove our usual motorcade, a nice long line of small cool GT's:

We drove to a café in the forest and we had to pack all our cars at the parking space:

The New Opel GT, one of the judges arrived in it. It is a big, modern monstrosity in my opinion:

We exhibited our small cars at Ringsted Outlet Center, and at the market square was a socalled "Family MC Day", where a lot, about 150 motorcycles, came and parked, so you could walk around and look and talk to the owners:

Here is a different Triumph:

We also saw some tank art, this cycle was really consistent with skulls at both tank, frame, guards and saddle bags:

Is it Merlin?

At the rear guard was written "Harley Cycles Rocks - Other Bikes Sucks" - that will always be a matter of opinion:

Well, I had my vintage dresses dry cleaned and they became almost like new, so I dressed myself up in the flowered one, and since several have asked for photos of me wearing it, I reluctantly post a photo here:

I hate seeing photos of myself, I think that's why I've chosen the role of the photographer. In my head I'm both younger and more beautiful, but that's a female thing, I suppose, deep sigh.
PS: Remember the photos can be clicked larger.