On Saturday, April 25th, Cheffins Auctioneers (who handled the sale of the late Syd Barrett's house and belongings) are auctioning a customised Honda VF500 FII E previously owned by Nick Mason.

The Honda VF500FII E was first imported in March 1984. The bike was originally offered in a red or blue colour scheme, but this particular machine was painted in a pink colour scheme by its second owner Nick Mason, who bought the bike in 1987. Although known for his love of classic racing cars, he always had a motorcycle or two for transport in and around London, where both his home and business interests were based.

The motorbike will be auctioned in Cheffins Vintage Auction, at Sutton Saleground in Ely, with an estimate of £1,500-2,500. More details at www.cheffins.co.uk.

Many of you will recall the news back in November 2008 of the release of the Pink Floyd inspired album "Technology Analogy". The product of actor, producer and director Corey Feldman (a massive Floyd fan), it was released on November 25th and amongst the Floydian connections are Scotty Page (saxophonist for Floyd between 1987 and 1989), and the highly regarded multi-instrumentalist Jon Carin. Oh, and a Storm Thorgerson designed sleeve, to wrap things up nicely.

The band (including Jon Carin) are performing their first show (presenting the album itself amongst other things) at The Key Club on the historic Sunset Strip, Los Angeles, next Friday (April 10th) at 8pm, helping to raise funds and "collective consciousness" for the environment. Tickets at $20 are now available through Ticketmaster or at The Key Club's box office.

David Gilmour's official website has confirmed his interest in possibly contributing a vocal part to the backing track for a "sing-in" protest against the extradition to the US of Scot Gary McKinnon, who is accused of hacking into US military websites.

The sing-in is being held on April 2nd, and involves a multi-artist rendition of Graham Nash's "Chicago" - itself referring to the 'Chicago 7' who were arrested for protesting at the 1968 Democratic Convention. David will not be present at the protest.

He said: "Gary McKinnon should not be being extradited to the USA for his naïve hacking. It is a heavy handed response from the US and it's hard to understand that the English justice system could not be more effectively used to prevent this. I am hoping that common sense will prevail".

Those of you able to head over to Dearborn, Michigan, this summer, should consider a visit to the Henry Ford Museum. Between May 16th and September 7th, 2009, Rock Stars Cars & Guitars 2 brings a selection of vehicles, guitars and memorabilia from a number of bands, including Kiss, Metallica, and Pink Floyd.

The exhibition features more than 20 cars, more than 50 guitars and amongst the wide array of rock memorabilia are iconic costumes and concert props. One of the vehicles is Nick Mason's Lola Cosworth T297 racing car [click thumbnail to the right] which features a wonderful Wall-themed paint job. You'll also see his custom Ferrari-themed Fender Stratocaster and custom drum kit and cymbals.

Other items of interest include Pete Townshend's 1956 Lincoln and smashed Rickenbacker guitar sculpture, and a range of guitars and costumes from Kiss. You can find full details of the exhibition at www.theHenryFord.org.