Ah,
forgot to add something above.

On my way back home I had to drive through Atlanta during rush hour so I pulled off to visit a bookstore and kill some time so the traffic jams may settle down.

I was delighted to find in the Feb. 2019 issue of Thoroughbred & Classic Cars that they had an article about the rare Speedwell Riley Elf, as well as a 2 pager on the general history of Speedwell.

I had to get it!



I named my R53 Oldboy Speedwell (as well as my handle here) just by happy accident because I wasn't really familiar with the company history, but liked how the name sounded.

Recently came across some stickers which'll work perfect with my car since they're white instead of the usual yellow. I plan on putting one on when I start my mod process that'll be just around the corner in the springtimes.



Then it will truly convey its namesake with a sort of official livery.


It's somewhat disappointing to me that MINI chose to resurrect the Speedwell name only for a superficial appearance package, which heritagely speaking would be more in line with somebody like Wood & Pickett because they were more a style house type of affair...



...that MINI reduced the famous Speedwell legacy down to fashionista tartan blue trim is quite a shame in my book.

 

Quote:
"I can hear the engines through my closed windows, even with the air on. When I open my front door facing away from Hutchinson, the sound bounces back at me as if there are motorcycles racing up and down a nearby block.

And this is going on literally all weekend, even into Sunday.

I’m sure the folks participating in the event are enjoying themselves, and I hope there are enough of them that we’re at least getting a significant tourism boost.

But we really need to think about whether this sort of irritation and inconvenience is worth it."

http://www.billdawers.com/2012/10/27...for-its-charm/


BAH HUMBUG! That's just like the speedway here at home. It's been around since the early 50's and now people that have moved into the area in recent years are complaining about the noise. When they knew full well that the track was located in close proximity when they decided to build there.
Great thread, by the way.

 

Thanks.

And yep,
residential encroachment continues to take its toll.

People love complaining!

Another odd track here is the Middle Georgia Motor Speedway:



It's totally abandoned now,
although Dodge did use it to film a 2011 commercial:


It is a classic oval track with a rather grand history,
well worth a click is this article:
https://abandonedsoutheast.com/2018/...orgia-raceway/

snippet:
NASCAR and moonshine?
Who'd a thunk?




Some scenes from the 1977 Richard Pryor flick Greased Lightning were filmed there also.



Interesting sidenote:

It was also the site of the 2nd Atlanta International Pop Festival in 1970.

Hippies in Dixie!

 

 

No doubt that must've been a super fun job at SoBo!

And yeah man, the lineup for that old show at the Middle Ga. track was pretty incredible, I bet it was intense!
I think Jimi Hendrix passed away only a couple of moths later.

As a sidenote, I found out that the Speedwell Riley Elf from the mag article was recently for sale,
some great pictures of it,
here:
https://www.classicmobilia.com/showr...elf-speedwell/

It's a good looker in an odd sort of way!

 

Ain't got no new on-the-road pix,
but more junkyard jamboree!

Stopped by Knoxville Tenn. last week on my way to a job and found a set of OutMotoring gauge faces,
got both whole tach/speedo assemblies for $22.
Not bad.



It was a 2003 and I noticed that the door brake was made of metal.
Is there any reason they discontinued that design?



I don't like the plastic door brakes on my 06 as they're well worn and not stiff enough for my liking, I was planning on just getting new replacements (all the plastic ones I've seen at scrapyards are all worn in the same place as mine so wouldn't be worth harvesting) but I may retrofit the older metal design instead, unless there were inherent flaws with them --- anybody know why they changed the door brake design?

 

Probably just to eliminate another point that needs occasional lubrication.

 

I think you may be correct, seems after searching I found many complaints of creaks 'n groans so MINI possibly changed the design due to that?

Here's an example thread, which is the opposite of what I was thinking of doing:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...e-upgrade.html

But while looking I also came across many complaints of the newer design being ineffective and loosey-goosey, so the updated design may sacrifice longevity for quietness.

I'll get a pair next time just to experiment and see for myself I reckon.

 

A brightly colored bug plus rock chips out the yin-yang!

I had a glorious ride back home from Paris Tennessee yesterday.
Last week finally put on some Rota RB's that I had been planning on and shod with BFG Sport Comp 2's.




I was hoping to stop by a junkyard in either Nashville or Huntsville because LKQ is having a 40% off Memorial Day sale, but neither location had anything decent.
If you live near an LKQ yard, this weekend is a good time to go grab some spares!
https://www.lkqpickyourpart.com/deals

Anyway,
the highlight of my ride home was finding a lonesome ghost road that was great fun to drive with a prolonged series of undulating sweepers. The surface was quite rough but that didn't detract from the rewarding experience. I only saw 2 other cars and that was all the way at the end near hwy 412, it really seemed like an abandoned road. It was a good stretch too, dunno know exactly how many miles but it went on for a good while from old state hwy 13 to 412. I caught it in Linden which is almost smack dab in the middle of the state. Finding lovely fun roads like this is pure joy and why I continue to take the alternate route. On this particular road I was driving very spirited and it was perfect for practicing my left foot and trail braking.



Much better in reality than appears on the flat static map!





Finding that road was a happy accident really, just using Google maps to scope the squigglies. Most often I pre-plan my route at home on the pc and print it out on paper, but when driving I may miss a waypoint and be forced to deviate from my planned route and go seat-of-the-pants. I usually use the bicycle router on google maps because it mainly utilizes secondary roads. Sometimes I use the Waze app on my phone but it isn't very good at finding fun drives because it has a problem calculating high multiple waypoints and times out. Google maps on the phone is great on the road because you can chart your own course and aim for the curves, however, it is time consuming because you must pull over and look from point to point.

I've yet to get a dedicated gps sat nav, but I've been looking into motorbike units and may end up getting myself a TomTom Rider 550 as it has some great features and I think it'd most certainly be useful to have.

 

A couple of notes:

I have long been a practitioner of left foot braking because I'm an old Saab dude and Stig Blomqvist was my hero. He was famous for his LFB technique.


Although it may seem strange at first, after practicing it becomes quite natural and muscle memory takes over.

However,
I only recently learned about trail braking.

Wish I had been hip to this much earlier!

A good video:

 

That, laddie, is proper motoring. Bravo Zulu!

 

Cheers mate,
thanks for the great comment!

Going back to Paris tomorrow and will most likely hit up TN 1790 again because it was so damn fun.

I am so glad that I got this R53, it has been very rewarding indeed.

Had some custom 43mm Speedwell center cap stickers made to fit and they came in yesterday:



Notice that the studs seem a little short?
It worries me a bit.
The previous owner did the stud conversion with M14x1.25 to M12x1.5 which is all well and good especially for finding lug nuts as the M14x1.25 pitch is rather oddball.

I was a bit perturbed when my RB's arrived and I noticed that they were M14 which the seller didn't list in the specs and I didn't have the forethought to inquire. Looking up to see what the internet said about mounting M14 wheels on M12 studs I came across conflicting info, most folks erred on the side of caution and advised against it, but I went ahead and mounted them up anyway and they did fine on the 700 mile round trip and maintained torque setting --- however, I'm gonna go ahead and get some correct M14 studs to give me peace of mind.

 

Back home now from another trip up to Paris Tennessee.

I found another lonesome ghost-road down below Sugar Tree which was Old State Hwy 69 [905], it was very similar to my new favorite [1790] except it's a much shorter stretch, but it was quite fun nonetheless.




It was one of those beautiful breezy overcast days and I decided to also take a short run on the Natchez Trace,
stopped for a brief trail walk there too.





I just love this kind of weather.



Ended up motoring down 129 into Lynchburg...



...I've never cared much for whiskey so I didn't have much interest in stopping to see all the Jack Daniels stuff,
but I did really enjoy 129 as it was quite fun.

 

Nothing much lately besides some short trips to South Carolina and south Georgia, but last week went to Paris Tn. yet again for some more work and continued exploring the alternate routes.

I'm especially fascinated with the area between Linden and Hohenwald as it is sparsely populated and the roads are very fun.



Sometimes I get lost or make a wrong choice, like when the pavement ends and it becomes a dirt road that I don't want to traverse.

Such was the case with Sinking Creek Prong.



It turned to dirt and I had to turn around.



Note to self: avoid prongs in the future!

I love the rustic roadside.



Lonely roads in the woods are lovely.





Nice skies for a wonderful drive!



Happy motoring indeed.

 

You have punctuated and defined the term "Motoring". I'm putting this thread on my watch list, vicarious is the next best thing.

 

Many thanks!

I consider it a perk having a job that requires travel because my car is so fun to drive!!!

So far 2019 has been rather slow though and our workload has been lighter than usual, hopefully things will pick up soon.

I need to get a decent camera to carry along because all I've used is my crappy phone and the shots aren't exactly exquisite.

:

One thing I've forgotten to mention so far is encounters with wildlife and how as a driver you must be hyper-aware at all times,
especially with regards to blind crests and curves!

This last trip I saw numerous wild turkeys in the road, usually in small groups --- I tried to get a pic but I was too slow, at least they move quickly and get out of the way!

I also saw 1 deer, 1 groundhog, 2 big long black snakes, and 3 large turtles all in the road.

Thankfully I'm usually driving in daylight so I don't have to really worry about a deer being transfixed by headlights...



https://www.scienceabc.com/nature/an...-in-place.html
.
...but that has always been one of my biggest fears --- hitting a deer.

Fortunately I don't have to worry about elk/moose around these parts,
those things are BIG.

I'm an old Saab guy and the Swedes are known for their safety conscious engineering,
often doing rigorous testing...

...like dropping the car upside down from 8 feet in the air:



Here's an actual elk test:


And,
here is some raw dashcam footage of what happens with a hit in the real world:




And,
I can't resist posting this old Hella advert because it's pretty funny...

 

I got hit by a deer once several years ago. He was flushed from a ravine by a bicyclist going the other way. Up out of the hole, across the pavement and hit the door frame right behind my head. No way to avoid that. Especially at night I'm constantly scanning both sides of the road and some idiot decides to tailgate me. What the hell is he gonna do if I have to 'maneuver' quickly? Anybody else reading this, keep that in mind especially during the rut. (look it up).