G'day from Australia

[threepot900]

Long time lurker, first time poster.

I now have the money to buy many of the kits I wanted as a kid - or built badly- in the 70/80's. My wife doesn't understand my current collecting habit, but allows it, because she collects shoes, and she knows if I am at home on evil bay, I'm not out wasting money on beer and loose women. - I won't say wine, women and song, as my singing sounds like three vultures that have just found a dead goat. ........On reflection, I could be the new Lady Beaver.........perhaps I will give up my day job!!

At the moment I am collecting WAY more than I am building, but once I get the hobby room sorted out, that will change. My main interest is motorcycles, and I am glad to see Tamiya are releasing some old kits, and have just bought the 1/6th scale MB50 Honda moped and the YZ 250 motocrosser. Sad to see the Airfix BSA/BMW and CB450 are hitting £45 for 1/16th scale kits, and don't mention Heller Nortons, or Protar kits, esp the Greeves or Jawa kits.

I'm also interested in the figures such as Queen Victoria et al, and the birds in the wildlife series. If you have some you want to sell to a builder rather than a collector of boxes, give me a shout.

I also have 1:1 kits of an '81 750cc Triumph Bonneville, which I want to convert to a cafe racer, a '66 YL1 Yamaha 100cc twin and a Yamaha DT400 trail bike. To tide me over I run an '08 KTM 950 supermoto.

Sadly, I find I have to buy 40% of my kits off evil bay/the net because they are not sold in Australia, or my local model shop will not stock them. Two of my local shops have moved from 75% plastic/25% RC to the inverse. Can't blame them as they are running a business and they have to sell what makes a profit.

Other hobbies are fish keeping, home brewing and owning a Border Collie and Fox Terrier that seem to be designed to keep the local vet in new M series BMW's..........!

Thanks for listening,

Ewan

[MerlinJones]

Thanks for the intro, Ewan...and welcome. Make yourself at home and I'm sure you know, when us Brits are all tucked up, you won't be alone in here for long, 'cos we've a couple of ex-conv...a couple of your countrymen in here.

Enjoy the hobby and please share with us what you know and do.

Regards,
Bruce

[Ian]

Welcome aboard, Ewen.
Plenty of bikers on here and one or two bike builders too!

[ShaunW]

Welcome Ewan. The three pot must be the KTM then? sorry but it's a while since I last owned a motorcycle. I do remember DT's though, never ridden a 400 but certainly in my (very) humble opinion, the DT175MX was one of the best Japanese trail bikes ever made. Yes there are some more of you upside down chaps on here, many hours in front of us when you're posting - it's like H.G. Wells and his time machine

[threepot900]

ShaunW, the threepot900 was part of an old email address, as at the time I was riding a - then new- Hinkley Triumph Trident 900cc triple. The KTM is a 950 V twin, that has been given a set of "Wings" titanium cans and a performance air filter. After I took it to a nice man behind the coke factory in Adelaide, he found another 3 bhp, but more importantly another 22 lb/ft or torque. (Thats ubiquitous brown drink, not coal derived product or Columbian marching powder! )

In a previous life I worked for BSA, and we produced motorcycles for aid agencies, such as the Red Cross, based on the DT 125/175 engines, and as you say they were magic little bikes. My DT predates the MX versions by 3 years, being an old twin shock model, with a yellow tank. The closest I can get to it as a model is the old Heller kit of a TY 125 trail bike, ( which I have) but it would take a month of sundays to convert it to a DT.

I may be a few hours in front of you , but it is of no use for the Saturday lotto draw unfortunately!

[DHDrover]

G'day and welcome from a free settler. Where in OZ are you? I'm in Grenfell NSW.

Dai

[IvanV22]

Hi!
Welcome t the forum, nice to see that you like MC kits! I just ride my Honda , and build mostly aircraft and tanks.
Best from Ivan