Hi All, i see its been 3 months since my last posting! funnily enough that would explain the bags under my eyes, hair down to my ass and the sudden mood swings when i hear people talk of holidays.
Anyway, iam sure you didnt stop by at the Blog to hear me rant on about how busy things have been, as if its some excuse for not posting earlier, iam here now and thats all that matters.....right?
Even though work has consumed me lately ive quietly been making some progress on the bike, today it sort of all finally came together, well this stage anyway, iam stoked with the out come so far, its very satisfying to see the vision begining to take shape.
A couple of personal things i would like to share with you just quickly regarding the project, this being my first ground up build as apposed to previous restorations, there is such a huge difference between the two, for me anyway, being a humble Signwriter.
As we know but not in all cases, restoration, be it, re ferbing your great grandmothers mothers bed pan, a historical building or vintage machinery, they all have the same key ingrediant and that is, its an existing thing, you can see and touch it, analise and document what needs to be done to put it back to its formore glory and the satisfaction it brings if your that way inclined.
Building something from scratch with not a nut in sight (except me), no existing part or plans to measure but just a vision of what your wanting to build, i think its a challenge far greater than the restorations ive done, but its something iam thouroughly enjoying. The research time done so far would be huge, each and every component has to be thought of, possible fitting problems / options pertaining to it, style, cost, colour then sourcing the item or can it be fabbed here. Its all good stuff, interesting and above all, its another form of art thats limited only by whats between your ears,....oh and your back pocket
Being lucky enough to have numerous passions, actually i dont think its luck at all, its just the way we are, but my biggest love is design & creating, ive often mentioned in conversation that should one day i wake up and my passion for creating had been taken from me in the middle of the night, i would walk across the road, jump in the ocean and swim till i couldnt any longer then sink to the bottom!
A little drastic i know, but thats what it means to me and building this bike would be without a doubt the most enthrawling design project to date!, when you see the few following photos iam sure that will be hard to understand, just bare in mind that all the little nuts and bolts, filling and hammering are helping to build the big picture. I could go into this alot further, trust me, and i hope this hasnt bored you so much that you want to go jump in the ocean. Just want to share a brief internal part of this journey.
Here she is to date, followed by some progress pics
Picked up the Triple trees and forks from a bloke in Tasmania, came off a 2002 Harley, bought them sight unseen and my initial concern that the fork tubes could be damaged was soon put at ease when the courier dropped them off, here you can see the original forks and the transformation into what i wanted.
Because the bike is having no front fender or brake, all these ugly tabs had to go
Ready for post over to NZ, an old mate shaved them clean, make new dust caps and add some decorative scollop detailing that iam still yet to see on a shaved fork set up, magic job done by 80 year old engineering Master Bob Hindmarsh
The front end has come up a treat
There was a heap of work in the top tree, various holes plug welded, mounting tabs chopped etc,
Picked up a sweet 4 speed kicker, perfect match for the Knuck.
Rims and hubs back from powder coater, 16"x3"rear Star hub with a 21"x2"front running a beautiful little spool hub made by Wargasse Engineering in the States, was a shame to paint it
Laced up and ready for tread, the rear was easy but the front!! bugger me!! councilor session after that one i tell ya
Thought i would also add the mock up or concept visuals ive been working on, the initial set up was massive, very time consuming but well worth it as i can do colour combinations and see how various components look fairly quickly. What you see here is not the final look or colour, iam a Libran and i ponder over decisions for a long time, and just between you and me, i will be dragging this project out for as long as i can :0).......... God Bless Motorcycles in the House.
Heres a screen shot of my design computer showing the layout
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