Manky Monkey Motors

I rarely visit other forums -not because I see them as competition, or think I'm above them or anything like that, but simply cos I just don't seem to have the time. That sometimes leaves me under informed though, or in blissful ignorance, depending on your point of view. So I knew nothing of this until Lunatic mentioned it to me in the workshop today.
Chris Ireland, aka "Desperate Dan" may not be that well known to the hotrodders among us, or to the younger bikers, but to those of a certain age, his name's synonomous with crazy, outlandish trikes. "Lowlife", his supercharged Honda Goldwing trike's still one of my favourite 3 wheelers & the V8 Mercedes "Megolomaniac" won Best Trike in Europe. His sartorial elegance is almost as legendary as his building skills -the only man I know who has a special pair of welding slippers. It was Chris's machines that first inspired me to try 3. Never met him in person but chatted to him on the phone once or twice. Definitely mad as a box of frogs, but in the nicest possible way.
Even the best among us can make daft mistakes though. In Chris's own words:

I needed to shorten a calor gas bottle by 12" for the fuel tank on my hotrod. Not just any calor gas bottle, it was the big 47kg type and was my own stupidity. I cut a 2" vent hole with a hole saw & tons of oil so it was safe to cut, plus the bottle had been outside venting for 6 months! When I squeezed the trigger on the plasma it vented through the hole, only trouble being my face was directly over it. If I'd used a disc grinder there would have been no problem, but the plasma not only injected a spark, but also oxygen rich air at 150psi. It sounded like the afterburner firing on a Phantom, took off my eyebrows, beard, sideboards & what little hair I had on top, along with the outer layer of skin from my face. It's healing now, but the worst was inside my nose, & my lips. Eating's pretty painful.
The worst part was going back to the workshop and cutting the bottle. I was parping my pants! That was a stupid accident caused by my carelessness, I really should have known better as I've cut up loads of these bottles. It took me a week to pluck up the courage to try again. This time I filled it with water like I usually do, & used a disc cutter.

We keep saying it, but please, please be careful out there guys. Workshops are dangerous places & it only takes a second's lack of concentration to change your life forever. Or end it. Chris is one of the best & has been building since before some of our readers were born & still got caught out. Take care eh.
Chris, the very fluffiest of Get Well wishes from all of us here mate.

Lowlife.

Megolomaniac.

Get well soon Chris
Real nice bloke, spoke to him at last years Bulldog Bash.
Was camping not far from Yarmouth some time ago, stopped at the lights by the sea front, when the other lights changed, I heard a V8 and saw Chris was charging down the road on Megolomaniac, what a sound ;D

I met him, I think it was at the NABD rally - the expression 'mad as a box of frogs' must have been designed for him!  But what a gent!

Get well soon Chris.

Yup, get well soon matey, and wise words indeed about workshop safety!

get well soon chris met him a couple of times you are right about inspiration when you were younger when i first joined this site i came across the indoor fire that dd had made at first ididnt think it was him.  it was like desperate dan cant be chris ireland he was one of my heroes not in a gay way but his builds were something else picked a beach bastard up with one of my pals  for another pal a good 20 odd years ago great designer and hope he gets better soon something like that happening to him just goes to show a simple thing to forget could cause that amount of damage very lucky man 
al

I never met Chris either, but also got the bug after seeing his bikes and trikes. I went the usual route of moped and small bike, but then started reading Awol and BSH when it came out, and after seeing his stuff thats all I wanted to do.

Remember reading about the Merc like it was yesterday,that fuel tank unforgettable.Get well soon  ;)

Get well soon mate......we need builders like you out there inspiring all of us loonies to build our weird and wonderful vehicles....yep it don't take much of a slip to f**k you up...I blew myself across my workshop 2 days back fitting a new spotlight...I had flipped off the damn sockets fuse and not the lights as i was hurrying to get it done...after I picked myself up off the floor I decided to take a little break and then start from the beginning again this time isolating the whole workshop fusebox...All I kept thinking that afternoon is damn I'm lucky I had that trip switch fitted that could of been serious.....Just because we have done something many times does not mean we wont eventually get bit in the ass by the job so please take care as us builders are a rare breed! lol.....Voodoo.....

Megolomania is now owned by one of our club members, it really is a stunning piece of work. Get well real soon Mr Desparate. ;) ;) ;) ;)

Now that'd cause a stir at the Basingstoke festival of transport this year Cabman!

sadly it never seems to be on the road these days, but i`ll have a word and see if I can "borrow it" lol

I the daft old sod keeps doing himself harm we are gonna have to put him in a home. I haven't been over lately but when I do I'm gonna rip the piss out of him something rotten.

 :D So much for sympathy! Give him our best when you see him please Steve.

I'm gonna try and get up and see him in the next couple of months. He's a true gent. Spent many an evening at his workshop last year getting mostly trashed and talking bo****ks.  ;D

Some of the injuries he has inflicted on himself are quite mad! Had a coupe of grinder misshaps a while back!

Glad he's ok.

Just a normal day in the life of Desperate then  ;D...I dunno how he keeps it up




I will pass on the best wishes Andy, just before we get him in the straight jacket  ;D ;D

get well soon and if needed i found these on the net

(http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa240/pastyman_01/Artificial20Eyebrows763.jpg)

 ;D ;D

A shining (?) example of the Great British Eccentric!    -  we need more of him!

A quick email from Mr Ireland:

Thanks Andy, healing well! Wait till you see the new car, 5 litre Mercedes V8 powered Citroen 2CV!

Regards
Chris Ireland
Editor, Brit Chopper Magazine

never met chris, even though he lives just up the road.
swapped messages etc on the net.
get well soonmate.

chris.

getwell soon mate :o

Yup, completely barking!  Wonder when/where we'll get a chance to see that!

there's a build thread on the forum   ;)  ;D

Hey Steve, Im glad your sympathetic towards Chris  ::)
    
Get well soon Chris :)

it's no more than he would do for me  ;D ;D anyway he's ok...or I would have been over and nicked his indian

sounds about right  ;) ;D