Call out the fire brigade

I got called in to cover for one of the night shift guys last night; not my favorite thing to do but overtime pay is kickin’ rad, so I went in. Pretty quite night as far as work goes, but I got a call from my brother (David) at 01:45. He told me that one of the warehouses from Dad’s store was on fire — that might be bad enough, but to make matters worse, it was the building I use as my garage. It’s less than a mile from my house, so I keep my motorcycles and the Jaguar parked there as I don’t have a garage at home.

By some stroke of good fortune, I had one car with me at work and the other parked at my house, and both my bikes just happened to be parked in other buildings. There was a truck parked in there that David and Jason pushed outside, since the fire department wasn’t going to do anything about it.

The FD basically just did damage control to keep the fire from spreading to adjacent buildings. Its a total loss, but somehow the front corner where I kept my tools, spare parts, tires, etc. for my bikes pretty much only has water damage, it didn’t burn.

All my stuff was basically salvageable, and of course the whole place was insured so I’m sure that will turn out OK. I’m waiting to hear back from the insurance agent now. Dad is out of town, so David and I are taking care of it.

Pictures after the jump.

Ariel Atom coming to the US

Also recently announced, the Ariel Atom will be coming to the US through Brammo Motorsports.

Pricing will start in the low 30s and go from there depending on options. Engine options include a 300HP supercharged Ecotec. 0-60 in 2.something seconds, or roughly as fast as a litrebike like an R1 or ZX-10R. Mainly a track weapon, it will be street legal as a kit car in many states. If you aren’t familiar, this is the car that Clarkson hailed on Top Gear and set a near-record lap time with the Stig at the wheel — just behind a Ferrari Enzo and Maserati MC-12.

Build mine with the best Brembo brake kit available, please.