Cub Mag website

Could you all do me a small favour....just try www.thecubmag.com and see if you get a blog type of page on a blue & grey background, or a boring plain white web page with not a lot on it...thanking yoooooo.

A Short Trip South.

Just on my way home from a bit of a trip south - a VMCC meeting followed by a flying visit to the Greystone Enterprises HQ in Kent for Cub Mag related discussions, and to purchase a few bits and pieces for a Cub that I acquired shares in some months back, called Yorkie. Also picked up the fuel and oil tanks for it which had been painted by a lad called Craig, and a very fine job he's done too - wait til you see the colour; all I'm saying for now is (for those of you in the UK) think Co-Op shops (or if you're not in the UK, maybe try Googling Co-Op shops).

The drive down to Kent took a bit longer than expected, and all those weeny country lanes that twisted and turned this way and that were lovely to drive but easy to get lost in. After a chat with the lads at Greystones and a good look around the stocks of Cub bits, it was time to find somewhere to eat, which was easier said than done. Nowhere seemed to serve food mid-afternoon, and the place that everyone said did serve food, well, it wasn't 'just at the end of the road'!

There'll be more about Greystones in The Cub Mag Issue 1, which you'll be able to get your paws on in April 2012, but in the mean time, I'd just like to thank Derek and Adrian for their hospitality and time.

A NEW MAGAZINE IS ON THE WAY!!!!

Laydeeez and gentlemenz, I do hereby announce The Plan. I had planned to announce The Plan over the weekend, but had a couple of car related problems to deal with, so I thought, well, everyone loves a Monday morning announcement, so I'll announce the announcement of The Plan here and now :

I'm planning to start a new magazine all about Triumph Tiger Cubs and Terriers.

There y'go, I've said it now. I've been keeping it under my hat for a few weeks, making enquiries, costing things out and contacting people, and I think it could be a go-er. It's not quite finalised yet, but you can probably expect -

*an A5 size publication - easy to fit in your pocket/Cub tool box

*loadsa pages in full colour - just had to add another page to the first issue to make room for more articles

*subscription only, quarterly publication

*road tests on different models of Cub

*restoration stories

*service / supplier features

*Cub quiz with Great Prizes.....hopefully....maybe....well, a prize of some sort anyway!

*nostalgia series

*profiles of owners and bikes

*off road section

*for sale & wanted section

*product / book reviews

*spotted Cubs

*readers stories of Cub adventures

*techy tips

*forthcoming events - which leads me to add that I'm also planning some sort of Cub Gathering for summer 2012...that bit remains Top Secret for just a while longer though...

One of the main supporters is that well known supplier of all things Cub, Greystone Enterprises, who will be offering subscribers to The Cub Mag a healthy 10% discount! The Cub Mag also has the support of Mike Estall, author of what all Cubbers refer to as the Cub Bible, and Steve Aikens, the owner of the very popular Cub forum, - both of whom will be contributing to the first issue which is due out in April 2012.

So, like any other club style publication, much of the content relies on YOU, the reader. While I'm able to interview owners and write stories myself, it would be nice to receive some submissions written by your own fair hand, on anything to do with Cubs or Terriers. It might be that you used to have one, it was your first bike - tell us about it, take us back to the time when you were learning to ride a motorcycle and how you came to own a Tiger Cub - or maybe you trial one nowadays? The one thing missing so far from the draft copy of the first issue, is anything muddy and offroady. There's a lot of pre65/twinshock trials around the country, could you perhaps just nip along with your camera for me on a crisp, autumn weekend and get some shots of Cubs doing what a lot of people say they do best?

I know a lot of people who say they can't write. Don't fret about that. Just jot down the basics; dates, names, locations and then the rest, well, it'll be easier to fill in the blanks. Something else I'd like to feature too, is Cubs and Terriers spotted at random when you're out and about - take a photo, send it in and we'll see if the owner reads The Cub Mag!

Hey, talking of readers and subscribers, you don't actually need to own a Cub to be able to subscribe, although we hope to convert as many non-owners as possible!

Well I reckon that's a good enough reason for GBC and the Blog having been a bit on the quiet side lately; as well as all this Planning of Plans, there's been the building of a new shed, doing the day job, running the local Classic and the Vintage clubs, and nipping down to Burton on Trent for VMCC meetings. Over winter, I shall be trying to put this magazine idea into motion - the next step is setting up the website - what do you reckon, website or blog? Then there's a Facebook page and Twitter....and I've got an interview with Greystone Enterprises lined up soon too...are there any questions I should be asking Adrian and Derek, apart from 'have you got the choccy biscuits at the ready'....?

Time for another shed.

I think one knows when its time to build another shed. A good clue is when one can't actually move anything, including oneself, in the shed that exists. At the moment, Cubbie's Shed houses Cubbie, the Bulto, Skorpy, the 250cc MZ project, a pillar drill, one (too) small workbench, a nice wall unit full of 'stuff', several tool boxes/tool chests, two big wooden ramps for getting bikes in and out of the shed, compressor, flame thrower/gas bottle, plus a heap of general tools and farm equip, plus half a dozen Cub projects (the roof space alone is home to about 6 spare wheels) which can't be worked on as there is no room to get to them or do anything with them. The bench is temporarily home to a gigantic chop saw, bench grinder, box of trials Cub project bits, Terry's engine, battery chargers and so on. So yep, it's time to crack on and build the sectional concrete shed that's been piled up in the yard for a year or more. Work began yesterday with the removal of a few shrubs that need to be re-homed, and hopefully today, while Mrs BC and I catch and move sheep around, the Man from Muckle Flugga will be able to get the site marked out and work out the levels and other technical stuff; then start the real digging. If all goes to plan, it should end up as a 20x20ft box, on a 5" thick base, with a double door and a single door in the front, a window in the side, and I quite like the idea of roof windows or clear panels to let as much natural light in as possible. We'll have to make the trusses and roof it ourselves as it's only the walls that we have. The trusses, I'm told, will have to be beefy and sturdy to support such a large roof area, and of course, I'll want to use the roof space for storage. At least if the base can be laid before the frosts set in, then the rest of it can be done on those lovely sunny, snow-free, dry winter days that we *sometimes* have.
View to the left of the site, and view to the right. Its just the small shrubs to move and a few of those bigger willow branches will have to 'pruned'.

One down....

Just a quick update, all the shrubs have gone - 3 have been rehomed and the other 2 are promised to the local farmer, Mrs BC doesn't think he was serious about taking them but I'm sure he was.

We decided that pruning them would be the way to go, even though, according to some, the middle of November isn't quite the right time. It sure made it easier to dig them up, plus there was no way they'd fit in the back of the car without a haircut!

The last piccy shows the first big of serious digging by the MFMF. He's gone all technical and has set out his level line and done measurements and everyt'ing.

And cos the spoil from the new shed base has got to go somewhere, it might as well go around the base of the original Cubbie Shed to stop the rubble wandering off, and to form a ramp at the front, which will be finished with something non-slip at some point.

Remembrance.

11:11 on 11/11/11.

Don't forget.

Gosh, I am living it up. That's the second year that I've been to the October Stafford motorcycle show. First, there was the possibility of getting a lift down with some friends of the Man from Muckle Flugga, who just happened to be heading that way, but then their plans changed, then there was a small chance of a lift down with Shorty, but his plans weren't confirmed, so in the end, it was a hunt on the internet for a cheap flight. The cheapest option was to stop off for lunch in Belfast, before getting back on another plane to East Midlands. Security is obviously tight in Belfast, and tourism is also obviously very important to them. Stepping off the plane and entering the airport, the first thing you come to is the tourist info desk, and the nice lady there gave out details of local buses, where to catch them, where they stopped, and she was empowered to sell tickets too. It seemed like a good idea to head towards the new Victoria shopping centre, where they've created a huge viewing dome on top, with views across the city in all directions.

With eyesight better than mine, (or wearing specs) Carrick Fergus power station could just be made out across the water, plus in the foreground sat the dry dock where the Titanic was built (according to the 'tour guide / security chap in the dome, "it was ok when it left Ireland"; I don't know what he was implying, to be sure), round to the right and up high on the hill was Storemount, and I didn't get a chance to see in the other directions because the built in movement of the platform was making one feel just a little bit strange.

Time to get some lunch. Disappointingly, lunch turned out to be a cold McDonalds, cos the other outlets were all too expensive. A short walk through the Cathedral area of the city led back to the right bus stop, and then I got told off at security. First of all, I had the 'wrong kind of plastic bag' for my liquids, so I had to re-bag them in the special bag she gave me, then I apparently tried to walk through the x-ray machine thingy before I was told to (good job it didn't go off), then my liquids were picked out for a random spot check, and then my netbook was picked out for another random spot check for explosives. Do I look dodgy or summat? Finally ended up with a fish and chip supper on the way back to my accommodation.

My bodyguards for the show were the MFMF and Pete. We arrived a little on the early side for the show, just before 10am, to enable Pete to get his Triumph Legend wheeled in and set up the 'for sale' sign. The sun was shining and the dark heavy clouds that were in the distance, stayed in the distance for much of the day. Sunday is usually the least busy day to go, and my snouts tell me that Saturday this year, was indeed, very packed. No sooner had we started to wander round, we bumped into Shorty fae Scotland, who did the right thing and handed over the chocolate bar he'd had melting in his pocket. Then it was time to meet up with Stu, a regular reader and commentor on the blog. Stu was hunting for a new jacket for his winter commute and I had a plan to buy some nice new winter gloves. Stu struck lucky first, and while he was busy trying a few jackets on, I stupidly browsed around the rails of waterproof armoured trousers. And then bought some. Well, they were cheaper than the pair I got at the Scottish bike show back in March, and I collared the sales lad and said if they're not waterproof I'm sending them back. Fair enough, he said, here's our address. So that sounds promising, I'll have to see if I can find a rainy day to try them out; shouldn't be too hard!

After a wander round the outdoor stalls of autojumble, looking at the piles of unidentifiable, rusty bits and pieces and many, many displays of shiny new tools; mmmm, spanners, hammers, socket sets, and best of all some pink tyres (I do have photographic proof) and cable ties about 3ft long and at least an inch wide, we made our way to the indoor halls. Full of club stands, more clothing and goodies you didn't know you needed, we had an interesting browse around. The Triumph Owners MCC were a friendly bunch, advising me on a modern colour match for Terry's Amaranth Red and giving me a free pen. We had a good chat about the new style Nacelle magazine and the changes in the Club over recent years.

They were up on the balcony, and downstairs there was a stand with a beautiful collection of vintage and veteran machines, but they were all priced at silly money. That selection alone must have totted up to about a hundred grand (£100,000).

They were beautiful, some were from foreign shores, French I think, many were British, and I wouldn't mind having any of them to ride, but d'you know which bike really grabbed my attention? The...........wait for it........the RACING TERRIER.

(I'm thinking this is the racing carb from the Terror...)

Stu had spotted it just outside the entrance to the hall and we went to have a closer look. With a racing hump, low slung handlebars with the levers nearly drooping on the front mudguard and modified 'rear sets', the little 150cc bike certainly looked the part. Ah, but it wasn't 150cc any more. The story that accompanied the 1953 bike, nicknamed the Terror, stated that it had been increased to 230cc, and raced right from day one, up until the early 1960s. I could have bought it, it was for sale, I nearly bought it - should I have bought it?

Unfortunately I missed the editor of Classic Dirt Bike, a certain Mr Britton, riding his Bultaco over a car, but I did catch a few words with him in the dirt bike hall, where his recently restored Bulto was on show, alongside 'Project CanAm' which he had finished just in time for the show. I did manage to snap this sneaky little shot of him o te Dirt Bike Arena though. There were a host of other machines that caught my eye, all trials Cubs plus another couple of Bultacos. Most were a bit too shiny for my own personal choice, but each to their own.

Just a couple of other pics that I thought were interesting - an MZ 150cc police bike...

And a Triumph Boss...

So that was at the end of a very long day, and it was soon time to head back to the accommodation for a bite to eat and to recover from nearly buying another Terrier!

Pics coming in a bit, but I'm doing this from my netbook, the pics are on my Blackberry and my main computer is pretending to be dead. At least, I hope it's just pretending!

And whilst on my travels, I spotted this rather handy Haynes book...covers all models too...