3am musings on "TRAD" elements of motorcycle style...

Get ready for a long one...

My apolgies if you think this is OT, but bikes have been a noticeable portion of the traffic here... maybe just cause I actively look for bike threads, but whatever, ya shouldnta clicked it ifya didnt want to read it... For us garageless apartment dwellers, a bike project is a lot easier to pull off... take up less space, and you can dispose of your parts-bike carcass in the dumpster lickity-split.

I have a report to get out, and the database backup equivalent of a timebomb to diffuse at 4:30, but I cant get my head away from thinking about bikes... so have a discussion with me.

"Choppers" are IN, they're trendy. No knocking the fact they are cool... but when they get "cartoonish," to borrow Cole's phrasing, they get ugly and lame. Personally, if I want something with a truck tire out back, its gonna be on a truck...

70's style, with the ape hangers and serious rake and apehangers? Ergonomically, how the hell do you ride something like that? not having the oppurtunity, I wouldnt know... but I'm of the thought, just like tricked out vans, leave them dead with the 70's.

Frisco style is much more preferable, but that seems to point me toward the bobber, instead of the chopper.

(lets not hash out EXACTLY what the definition or the precise differences are between the two, it really has no bearing.)

Now we're talking... the bobber seems to be where its at for me. Harley WL, and whatever Hatch's 45 is. THAT, to me is a bike asking to be bobbed, the ultimate. THAT is the look. But you or I are not gonna find one of those in the paper and hammer the seller down to $400, not unless I'm dreaming. Add a zero, if you're lucky.

Now, once in awhile there comes along something that totally shatters what you thought was the coolest ever and replaces it. That'd be the Blue Bobber. Its fuckin perfect. Its like what God intended a bobber to be. Only problem, is its made out of unobtanium. Theres only ONE of them. The average joe such as myself will NEVER own something that cool. Well, maybe not never... but right after I get back from snowboarding in Hell and find 34 messages on my machine form Paris Hilton and call her back telling her to fuckin quit calling me.
Therefore its an anomoly... a good solid lesson in aesthetics, certainly... but the bike's "celebrity" keeps from being "real," know what I mean? Maybe if I get to see it in person someday the perception will change...

Triumphs are the next best thing to the old Harleys. (or the bitchin stuff that comes out of places like Flyrite.)Now we're back into the realm of what the avarage guy can attain. I would imagine it'd be pretty hard to build up a shitty looking triumph. Mismatched parts maybe, mixed styles, but the uderlying lines of the bike are always gonna be kickass. I've yet to see a picture of a triumph I didnt like. We've got a bunch of great examples from people here on the board who have built incredible bikes.

Yeah, I know building even a triumph that looks badass isnt as easy as falling down, theres a lot of thought and planning and those hours of staring at mocked up parts, etc.

"looks badass." Ok, this is where I'm gonna get weird on ya.

Form following function, and then form VS. function. And then making something look like something that isnt... form and function getting in the way of each other. Sacrificing function for the "wrong" kind of form... Sounds like a descent into clusterfuck? Thats sorta my whole point. I better explain all that.

We like Triumph bobbers cause they LOOK badass. They dont look like old Harley's, they look unmistakeably like triumphs, and sometimes, they look BETTER than harleys. But Whats the first thing everyone does to em? Hardtail. We're making them into something they never originally were, a de-evolution, a retro fit. (yeah, I know the early ones were factory hardtail... ignore that, it doesnt count!)

When you think about it, its a bit odd to regress technology for the sake of appearance? Perhaps I shouldnt speak on this, I've never ridden a hardtail bike, I dont have any experience to draw from. Just throwing out the thought... I'll make the connection in a few...

I had better get to my point... Here in so-cal bike-mecca, I'm gonna be so bold as to declare that the supply of "project grade" triumphs has dried up. Snapped up, hoarded, ebayed of to distant places. Yeah, theres lots of em here still, I'm sure I could go out and spend a big chunk of money and buy someone's "finished" bike. Finished by them, that is...

The blue bobber is one of a kind and ABSOLUTELY unobtainable. A "cool" Harley is pretty much financially unobtainable... besides only squares like accountants and lawyers have harleys! Now the triumphs are just out of reach, and punk rock is the new pop.

So I got one of those Yamahas (xs650) that look sorta like triumphs, have the neat looking engine inspired by some old Norton. At last, I'll "sorta" have my cool triumph!

(insert sound of record needle being drug over the record.)

Nope. its not a triumph. Never will be. Just like a trump bobber is never gonna be a harley bobber. If I try and build it up like one, I'LL know it isnt, aspects of the bike will ALWAYS look wrong. (No offense to Hatch and his XS, that thing looks killer, but then again he is is the kung-fu masta) It will be an attempt to capture the look of something TWICE removed... I'll be calling MYSELF a poser. There will be aspects that are off that I wont be able to correct, (skill-wise) and they'll irritate me. I've read a lot on that chopperunderground board, a lot of those guys build cool stuff, but very often, certain little aspects (sometimes BIG aspects)on their bikes look way WRONG. Perhaps I'm too picky, but I think if your gonna swing, you had better NAIL IT. Entirely. Otherwise, you just have a square peg laughably jammed into a round hole. Why expend effort making something ugly? Thats your dog's job when he's out in the back yard...

But think about it... my yamaha is technologically and engineering-wise vastly superior to the triumphs! (not aesthetically, of course, the trump will always win the beauty contest) Why go fuck up a good bike to make it into something it isnt, or will never be? Why regress?

Isnt that sorta the whole point originally of hot rodding, take what ya got and make it BETTER, not the opposite? An example on that vein... why does a lowend, dual compound sportbike tire cost less than half of a technologically inferior whitewall? Ok, well, fad dictates the market trend, obviously, but why pay more for less in the performance end, and in some way hobble the bike?

But yeah, why wreck the handling of a meticulously designed and constructed bike to make it "look" like something that is in some ways, LESS of a machine? (eg, cutting it up and hardtailing it, etc.) Ok, I could go on and on with examples to illustrate this point, provide paralles to hotrods and kustoms, but I'm gettin sick of typing.

Dilemma, then. Its not gonna get chopped, its not gonna get bobbed. But, I, like the rest of you really DIG the look of stuff that looks OLD and cool. I wanna modify, fabricate, and make something hopefully unique out of something that aesthetically, is a bad late 70's flashback.

So I'm investigating cafe style. I'm no Anglophile, admittedly the style is funky. What I do like is that they look FAST just sitting still. The style utilizes the technological advances already built into the stock bike. But THIS bike was made into THOSE back then. To twist around a cliche, its "period correct," if you will. The style better fits the particular machine, know what I mean?

So... I'm probably preaching to the choir... hell, I probably need to go to sleep... maybe the office coffee machine is secretly dispensing CRACK... but I think this idea works on all sorts of things, not just budget jap bikes...

kinda the same reason why a flat black '83 Caprice with the rims painted red sucks!

Ok... whattya think about it all?

-J

 

its all about the chicks man.....

the chicks....


build it how you like it...

althouhg i kinda disagree with (and may be misunderstanding you) "the whole idea of hot rodding is making something better" the way you are saying it...it sounds like better does not mean "look" better..but for performance.

if that were the case, everyone would be riding around in honda civic hybrids or whatever...and we wouldnt have anyone chopping tops on 51 mercs!

seriously though....i have built a few bikes...from a stock 65 pan, to an 87 heritage softail, to a evo wide tire chopper to the pan bobber im almost done with now with GIANT apes to a 39 knuck my father is just starting, and to the trump project sitting next to it with a bolt on hardtail.

hardtails LOOK better in some applications....stock looks better in some as well. me i personally like rigid frame.s...i think they look better...BUT wouldnt trade my 65 softail pan for an earlier rigid pan.

I like ALL KINDS of motorcycles...from stock to ratical american to jap to brit to sportbike to new to old.


personally...lately...i like newer streetfighter style bikes....
i change likei change my underwear (which is usually after each bike build)

p.s. everone thinks apes are uncomfortable..i personaly find them hella more relaxing to ride than drag bars. my drags on my long bike kill me....

 

There aren't any rules about what you start with....but....make sure its cool when you are finished.

Don't worry about what people think....if building a yamaha is what you want...don't hold back.

 

asking why people put hardtails on triumphs is almost the same question as to why dudes cut springs and throw lowering blocks on their cars. Especially if you look at it from a point of aesthetics. Yes, you sacrifice the ride for looks.

But, some (albeit not many) people put hardtails on to drop weight from the bike. For race purposes or for whatever other motivation they have.

I have a smashed collarbone. I agree with caffeine, apes are way more comfortable for me, especially on long rides.

 

you said a lot, i'll comment on what i can remember!

there are still some cheap projects out there, even in the "easy" places, my "local" triumph shop, the last bike they had sitting out front for sale was a titled $1500 asking price project, complete runner, matching numbers, mostly stock, just a 6 over front end. add another grand and you got one hell of a project. try to find a deal like that on ebay.

as far as handling, my amateur opinion says that hardtails don't necessarily make a bike handle worse, sure on rough surfaces you are giving up something, but in "normal" conditions the hardtail can give you a tighter more positive feel, especially on a light bobber. i haven't rode much but i think my former triumph rode fucking great, thanks to the seat suspension i made using a mountian bike air shock. would be a perfect addition to the more high tech yammie yo got. nice low center of gravity with the hardtail, the bike rode itself, you could practically sit still and balance that thing without touching ground...

i find it hard to not point and laugh at "real bikers" with apes higher than their fucking head.


good point you made about the jappers being better than limeys, they ARE, its a fact of life. the japs copied the brit bikes because of their success, but had much better manufacturing facilities etc. if a person is looking for a get on and ride anywhere bike, a jap bike is the choice, but if you want to carry tools, and fix to get there, triumphs are a blast! it takes all types. triumps were never "great" from the factory, a good rebuild is probably better than it was new! the things i've learned about them, and about the factory tolerances etc. are incredible. the factory book says to go ahead and try advancing and retarding the cams by a whole tooth on the gears...thats 5 deg i think! they state that the manufacturing tolerances for the cams were +/- 2.5 degrees! imagine the possible differances between two "new" bikes!

 

Build it to look cool...

I liked this bike... it has potential...

But I'm knee deep in a Triumph now... so, it'l have to wait.

Funky Rice Cooker

 

Damn! I didn't know you had it in ya! FWIW, I followed ya all the way through & agree with most.

What they said - build what YOU like & screw the rest.

I'll also second the fact hardtail bikes ain't all that bad handling wise...if you want ill handling, try a sprung-hub 50s Trump!

 

Burndup- I am having a real hard time restraining myself from picking up a yamaha and I haven't had a bike at all in 10 years. Never thought I would want one again. But your project rules. Your thinking is right on. Cool parts are cool parts and some of those 70's jap bikes were cool in thier own way. Don't make it a wannabe triumph- find it's own identity.

Maybe if you do it right some of those awesome japanese bike builders will be inspired to use yamaha stuff.

 

I think that one of the coolest things about hot rods & choppers (and motorcycles in general really) is that they allow us to do our own thing without any regard for societal expectations or "rules".

As soon as people start applying too many rules to bike and car building, I think we begin to move away from creativity & individualism, and we move closer to a world where every car at the show is a teal 57 chevy with 20 inch rims and every bike is a late model soft tail with ripped graphics and billet hand grips.

Sure there will always be people who (in the spirit if individualism) build cars & bikes that, in our eyes, are hideous pieces of shit. Machines that we consider to be abominations, painful to set eyes on. But on the other end of the spectrum, there will also be people who build really cool shit that's way outside the box because they too weren't concerned with how things are supposed to be.

Instead of following a formula, I say build exactly what you want. If you want a bobber, build a bobber. Don't build a cafe racer just because you think that "the rules" preclude a jap bike from being a bobber. I've actually seen a few jap bobbers that were pretty damned cool. Hell, if you feel so inclined, I say you slap that Yamaha motor in a frame, put on a triumph gas tank with Harley painted on one side and BSA on the other, and run a schwinn banana seat, cafe bars, a chopper style sissy bar, and a flowered barbie basket on the front.

Bottom line - build what you want, ride the shit out of it, and have a good laugh at all the other lemmings who spend 25 grand on a bike that's identical to everyone else's bike, plus another 3 grand on leather chaps & other Harley embroidered fag-wear so they can feel like a "real biker" (while looking like one of the fucking village people).

 

[ QUOTE ]
if you want ill handling, try a sprung-hub 50s Trump!



[/ QUOTE ]

One of my friends rode one 'back then' as a Motorcycle Cop in England, he said it was scary etc, then I got the chance to ride one...ONCE...Once to often!

 

I think there's a more significant issue here than Harley vs Trump, chopper vs bobber, and bobber vs cafe style....

You spent lines and lines talking about what you will never own (but want to?) and very little about what you do and will. I think you need to set your sights higher. I've seen knuckles and flatheads available for the $1100 range. They just need a lot more work than Hatch's. Point being, why waste your time on a Yamaha if you really want a Harley, and will always be bugged that your "dream" is "unobtanium?"

You don't "Own" a bike like the blue bobber, you build it. It takes a lot of work, time, money and sacrafice but I'm pretty sure ANYBODY could "own" one. Follow the bouncing ball...

If you don't have the skills to build it all yourself like Cole, you have to add more money to the formula to make up for what you lack in skills. If you don't have the money you have to sacrafice in other areas to have what you want. Eventually you get the ratio right and are driving/riding your dream.

"Traditional Hot Rodding" is about something bigger than using all the right parts to build your dream hot rod, or building a car "just like the 50s bro." It's about sacrafice. Early hot rodders sacraficed a lot for their dreams of speed. They gave up financial and physical comfort to build a dinky 27 roadster that would go 127 at the "Lakes." They sacraficed time and countless other valueable commodities to have top speed in the traps at the drags. It wasn't easy but they wanted it so they went out and did what they had to, to reach their goals. People died, went broke, got injured, and were ridiculed, just as often as their peers got famous, made money, won trophys, and got laid.

Point being, this is America, not some European Class System. You still have the opportunity to reach your dreams if you're willing to lay your comfort levels on the line for them.

If you really want an early Harley bobber, and people dig your truck so much, why not trade it? I bet you could get a decent knuckle project in trade if you shopped it to the right people. It might take time but I bet you'd find what you're looking for.

I've noticed you've had lots of projects since being on the HAMB but it doesn't seem like many of them keep your intrest very long. Maybe it's time to shoot for a "dream ride?"

I'm trying to be motivational here... Not picking on you.

I hate when people talk about what they want like it's something they will never have. It give's me chills like fingernails on a chalkboard...

Fatalism and jealousy are Un-American!

 

It's possible you may be over thinking the whole modified bike philosophy. Most riders do not or can not ride a bike near the limits of a decent cafe racer. If you want to live on the street, caution, skill and loud pipes will go a long way. For the porpose of "normal' street riding, making the machine lighter and a bit more powerful will do much for performance. A bobber is just the oldest, purest form of acheiving that. A cafe racer is really just a later evalution of the same premise. A flattracker is somewhere in between. (hint hint)
however you want to do your Yammy, do it. The bike hase classic lines and very conservative geometry. It is a successor to the Brits because it takes to modifcations visually well, and it is cheap.
I'll do my SR500 thumper as a simple bar to bar type bike, more of a 60s style flattrack thingie.

 

Thanks!

I guess what I'm getting at... or what I realized, is something like this:

Perhaqps a sculptor takes a piece of driftwood, and is gonna carve something out of it. There will be two determinites as to what the finished "sculpture" is gonna look like. Yes, the scultptor's idea of what the finished product will look like will have a major influence. But the wood itself, its grain, its shape, any knotholes... are also going to have a profound influence on the outcome. I just think I picked up some cafe racer driftwood...

I'm not giving up on having an absolutely righteous triumph, or even a harley for than matter. When the right deal shows up at the right time, financial matters will be manipulated as necessary to swing the deal. I realized that the yam I got is bitchin in its OWN right, that I shouldnt make it into something it isnt, but run with the grain of the wood I picked up. I want to own one or two of every cool style!

Some might remember my mentioning that I had a '71 cb350 too, that was given to me cause its in really rough shape. 100mphwheelspinner posted pix of a badass chop with a hardtail on an identical bike. I thought, yeah I'm gonna do that to mine. THEN, I saw pix of one someone else had, I think it was either done up as a streettracker or cafe style too, (I've got a jpg of it somewhere) and I thought, thats too cool, I can chop ANY bike, I'll leave this one alone and trick it out in the other style later... Hence, another project back burnered.

Yeah, I'm notorious for obtaining projects and then backing out of them! Most of that has to do with the extrememly limited workspace I have where I live.

I think I'm the type that would have a hard time with going ahead and chopping a super-clean, super original 49 Merc! I'd have to have be seriously persuaded... I KNOW it would look better that way, for instance, but that alone wouldn't be enough to immediately justify. I'm either a chickenshit, or its just easy for me to see the intrinsic qualities present in a stock design.... Ida know.

Flattracker pix, to distract me further ?

Late,
J

 

Sam, that bike you posted the link to pretty much exemplifies my original plan... cept for a peanut tank, a more conservative sissy bar, and a seat that fits better!

Thats my other problem, I'm a highly critical, nit-picking, opinionated SOB!

But, you notice how that bike even looks a little cartoonish? Its too short, the hardtailing destroyed the good lines, SORTA. It needs a stretch now, which is dangerous territory again, aesthetics wise. Cant be too long, otherwise the whole bike will be out of proportion with the small stock wheels...

I guess its a can of worms that my skills cant quite tackle yet... YET!

Later,
J

 

I like your sculptor/wood analogy. Great projects have a concept that guides them. . . however vague it may be.

Some people just "build what they like"
Some think about what they like and try to build the essence of it in a new way. I think that is what some of the jap bike and rod builders are doing. Same spirit - new outcome.

 

You can make anthing cool if you want to.People have different standards of cool.I personnaly like the 650 Yams.Also I like rigid frames and springer front ends.Here a few of mine. All XS650's

 

another

 

again

 

last one

 

VERY nice bikes, man!

 

[ QUOTE ]
70's style, with the ape hangers and serious rake and apehangers? Ergonomically, how the hell do you ride something like that? not having the oppurtunity"


[/ QUOTE ]

According to the owner of this Honda 4, he said it was un-rideable. But it was built to push the envelope at shows, not really built to ride.

 

The biggest problem with that particular bike is the cster pivot point is about three feet in front of the tire/road patch and it should be three inches. When making them that raked the triple trees need to be fudged so the forks are further forward than the axis of the steering or the wheel needs to go even further forward by extending forward where it mounts on the springer lowers.
Still be a bear to ride slow....

 

I went back and read all of your post AGAIN... and one thing stands out... that is, your skills aren't on parr with your mind.

Big problem.

Most every internet jockey that spews BULL SHIT on this computer about aesthetic this, and "the look" that, has the same problem... but I let them slide, they're like a pimple on my ass that just needs poppin'...

But you... you got the look so wrapped up in your head... you know Cole's bike looks good... you know (maybe you don't) that it carries a lot of the Triumph elements throughout its "theme"... and you know it, and bikes like it, are what you dream about. And you're settling for a fucking Yama-jaw?

And now you're going to make it a cafe bike?

Every fabricator out there had your same problem at one time in their life... but they went out and DID SOMETHING ABOUT IT... guys like Boyd, Lil' John, Jesse and our very own Cole (to name a few).

They bought a welder... then maybe took a class or hung out with a guy who knew how to do it right...

then they worked their ass off... put in the time... and spent time fabricating instead of EATING.

And they all achieved something that very few do... that is, they took what was in their head... and built it.


I'm not their yet... it's a process that takes YEARS...

But you have to start somewhere... so buy a welder, take a class... and put those demons to rest...

Sam.

 

This bike has elements of a couple styles - the bobber influence is obvious, but so is some of the flattrack/cafe elements. I really like this bike - just goes to show that you can mix & match elements of any style and still end up with a great looking bike!

 

Yeah, Sam, you got me... I think I'm afraid to fuck shit up... I sought and found this particular yamaha cause I figured it was a disposable shitty little bike that I could wreak my madness on and throw away if I fucked up.

So, I was pleasantly surprised about how cool the bike was, yet disappointed cause now I dont want to "destroy" it.

What do I mean by that? I have the ability to tackle some things, but not others... I'm on the cusp of being able to take on a bit more, but can't quite... thats whats frustrating.

I got a little wirefeed welder I'm getting pretty good with... I can lay decent beads on thick metal, and I can actually do small pieces of sheet metal without miserably warping them or blasting holes in them.

But hardtailing a frame? uh-uh. Not when its my ass that has to ride around on it. I also dont have the luxury of a garage... so my fabrication happens on my doorstep, much to the joy of my neighbors. The evening I narrowed a luggage rack 3 inches to fit my touring bike is likely fresh on their minds still. I had the hearing protection on, they didnt!

I keep the thing by the door, I use it every oppurtunity I can justify.

I'll probably get to move to a place with a garage some time this year... when I do, a real, honest to goodness mig and a tank and torch set are pretty much at the top of the priority list.

have a look at this thing, yamaha same as mine, see the seat/tail fairing? what do you see? I see half of one of those big stainless steel mixing bowls that you can make "anything" out of...



...and a junkyard tank.

As far as the bikes themselves and their particular styles go, I like most all of them. As far as furthering my fabrication skills, I gotta continue taking baby steps until I grow some running legs. Then maybe I can do some CARS!

Thanks for the advice,
J

 

Burndup...

It's true that NOW is not the best time to own or build a "chopper", for sure! I rode one years ago, when everyone said it was stupid to own one!

(These same dipshits are now driving around with WCC stickers on their SUVs! )

I want another "cartoon chopper" someday, but I'll wait till the general public moves on to the NEXT trend so I don't have to put up with kids in Neons asking me what "theme" I had in mind when I built the bike or anything!!!

My next bike will be a weirdo deal for sure...in the process of counting out pennies for it now!

Sam makes a good observation once more, too. That being that certain basic skills are essential to being able to create what's in your head for REAL on a reasonable budget.

(ANYONE can do it if they can afford to pay someone to build what they want, but it comes easier and takes on a more personal meaning when you can do it yourself!)

Ha Ha...and I'm one of those dinks who CAN'T weld!

(In my case, it's not a big deal, very few of my visions actually INVOLVE welding...and I can usually find someone to do what little torch work I end up needing...but that's just ME!)

Back to YOU...

Anyone who's been around here a while will remember your bumbling through the infamous Cadillac fiasco, and has no doubt seen your small block Chevy posts dealing with your "UPS Truck". That's all GOOD...cuz you were LEARNING (hopefully!) as you went!

We've seen you go from spastic CRX jockey, to young guy struggling to understand older American cars while living with one on a daily basis...to a young man resigned to narrow his focus and mess with bikes for a while! Sure, it may seem scatterbrained to some, but it illustrates that you're ambitious and eager to try new things and tackle challenges that are new to you! You've got the spark and the creative spirit...the skills to realize your mechanical dreams will come in time! Meanwhile, just keep at it...doing what you can when you can with what you have, while making a conscious effort to expand your horizons and make steady progress towards where you want to be!

Don't be afraid to tear into that bike of yours...it ain't the last ride you'll ever own...and you'll learn new things as you go to it! That's how us "older" guys did it!

 

Thanks!

But my CRX was torched and junked long before I showed up here with a model A chassis and no clue... We'll just forget about the roadster tub made outta the VW shell...

You left out the best part of my hamb history, the infamous Barbie Bike/Hollister challenge...

 

Ha Ha...stepping stones, Buddy...stepping stones!

 

You'll spend as much time and likely even more money building a cafe racer out of that Yamaha as you would if you were to build a simple chopper out of it.

I like cafe racer style bikes alot...but to do one right takes money. For instance, a junkyard tank is not going to give you the look your after, especially if you're as picky about having the right parts as I am.

I suppose I look at things a little differently than most here on the board when it comes to building bikes. Because I do hold my build to a set of standards, and I set rules for myself. The guys in Japan do this too...they just have a different set of standards and rules. They aren't just slapping shit on their bikes because it's there...they think it through. It's somewhat formulaic, but when done right, the formula disappears and the design as a whole shines through.

I've only totally built (actually rebuilt I suppose) one bike, but I did a lot of research and tried to build to an era. I want the bike to look like it could have been put together in a certain timeframe, and nothing should jump out as 'out of place.' Some people point to the extended hardtail, 16" rear wheel, and big Firestone tire...but all of those things were available or could be fabricated in the timeframe I wanted it to fit in.

Has anybody used the exact same combination that I used? I don't think so...and that's where having a vision in your head comes in. And of course I put my own twist on the bike...to me that's what takes what could be an otherwise mundane traditional build and makes it interesting.

This falls right in line with what most of us our doing with cars and keeps this on topic. If you've seen the Mad Fab video, there's a spot in the Cole Foster interview where he talks about the '36 he's doing. He says that there are three famous '36 three windows...and he wants his to be the 'mystery' fourth one. He wants people to look at it and say "wow, where's that fuckin been?"

I think that's what all traditionalists should shoot for... with everything they build, be it cars or bikes. Most of us won't achieve it, but if you push yourself each time you build something, then you are going to get better and better. Some people (like Cole) have natural talent for this sort of thing, and are going to be miles ahead...but anyone with determination can build something worthwhile.


Do your research.

Go out to the garage, parking lot, driveway...whatever...mock it up 'til it looks right.

Spend time on that part that 95% of people will never notice when you're done.

RULE your fucking project.


This all sounds a bit preachy, but when you are serious about what you do...it sometimes comes out that way.

I don't lay claim to having built anything that's spot on perfect...I probably never will. And like Sam says, this process takes YEARS. But I make the effort. I refine my ideas, and my skills. Don't let anyone tell you you're too young, or you can't do it. I'm 26, and I might just still be young and dumb, but I believe that there's nothing out of reach if you've got the determination.

I'm off my internet soapbox now...

 

Burnedup,
I totally agree with so much of what you're saying. When my girlfriend complained about me being too busy, I asked her to move out, and three days later I had a $160 XS650 in the back of my truck.

I found a Bates 60's vintage cafe/dirt track seat for it, and started the conversion to street tracker. I shoved it into the corner of the garage when things got really busy (and my motivation took an unrelated nose dive) again, but at VLV I had such a good time putting around on my buddy's hardtail BSA I think I'm going to build a Yamabobber.

The side case is thick enough I can grind the YAMAHA off and still have enough material for a side case. I'm not ashamed to ride a Yamaha (I raced one when I was 10), but I want my bike to be a mystery, and most people won't know what the hell it is.

I've scoured the 'net looking for inspiration and found a pile of bikes. Here's a bunch of pictures I found. Yeah, there's a few bikes that aren't Yamahas, but they fit into what I was looking for. One or two may be from HAMB links.

It's pretty obvious that you can do whatever the hell you want with one of those. Take a look at the pictures.

I'm in Torrance, but go downtown (The Brewery) a lot. Perhaps a beer & bullshit session is in order?

Tackett