Friday at last, the weekend begins

Its that time at last, Friday evening, its nice to know that the weekend is now here, I have many orders to try and get out the door and tomorrow I shall be up early so i can pack a bunch more orders to send to my Customers.  It’s my Birthday Monday and although i have to work, I am blessed to have another year of doing what I love and I shall be churning more parts out this week for sure.

Have a Great weekend all of you and hope you get some time to work on your steed or even get to ride it.

Exhaust Systems update

The time is flying her in Southern California, I am so busy right now, mostly with exhausts and making other parts for our beloved Machines, etc and I really appreciate you supporting me in these times that we are in right now.Volume is a little quiet but just wanted to say hello to ALL you out there.

Corona Diaries- The year of the Mask

Well, here we are, the weekend is almost upon us, things are still bad when it comes to Covid-19, this is a crazy time for us all, but- We have to live life and try and work the best that we can with what we have these days, and I hear from many Customers of their way to get through some of the lockdown and boredom, by working on their own projects in their Garage, barn, Shed or back yard.

I must admit, working with a mask on is hard, but lucky for me, I dont have people coming to my workshop to ask about parts, most will call, text or email about the issues they have with their ride.

I sure hope we find an antidote for this as I do miss riding with people and having a chinwag in person about pretty much anything two wheel related these days, but I shall continue to write a few blogs as I go along in life and share what I get up to in the garage.

I receive many orders in the day time and night, I think people sometimes believe that I work 24-7, and if I could, then I would, but I need my rest too, but, I do try my best at getting your parts to you as fast as I can but- due to this Virus, many places that I use are either closed or part time, so that holds me up in ceramic coating or steel supply etc.

So, if you can bare with me until this gets a little more manageable, I will en-devour to get your parts out of the door in a somewhat timely manner.

Be safe out there and hopefully we can get this Virus beat and all go riding like we love to, so- stay safe, stay positive and stay in the garage Wrenching.

Thank you so much for supporting me in this tough times we are experiencing in life.

Peace and Grease

Carpy

 

 

Love what I do here in my Garage

Been doing this for close to 20 years now here in Southern California, always fun and challenging to say the least- I have lost count of the thousands of orders I have managed to be lucky enough to generate, through you people, I am stoked that you enjoy my blogs and my parts, as well as builds and my reply to emails when you are stuck with your bike.

I continue to push the proverbial envelope in this great and very competitive market that has now emerged in the two wheeled lifestyle, and its great to receive word from well known companies that let me know that I in some way have inspired them not to give up and keep trying.

I am trying to make more parts and stay tuned to my website as as soon as they are ready i shall do a quick Blog to show you have they fit and look etc and then put on the website to make available to you right away.

Thanks for all the great emails and texts etc, I am busy with a number of things, from Vapor Honing parts, to polishing and chroming, as well as making new parts, drilling hubs and working on my Vintage Hot rod too, never a dull life here in La Mirada thats for sure. Thank you again and as we enter into the 243rd year of this Great Country- I wish you all the very best and look forward to helping you any time.  Have a super week everyone.

 

The Vesco Brat Bike Honda CB750 SOHC Rebuild Report

Well, the weather has been fighting me this month, worse Month since 1962 for the amount of H2O we have received and again today as we head to the end of February, we have more Rain coming down this week, so I need to try and use my time wisely and get as much done on this machine as I can.  Lets start off with the Triple Tree on this bike, as I wanted to change the Cable Tach and Speedometer and make something more Custom.

So, have a look above and you will see that I have started to make a start on the fabrication on the triple tree, first off I ground off the Original Factory outer tabs that housed the stock gauges, then I hand cut an Aluminum Holder out of a small sheet of Aluminum and made sure that it would be able to fit the stock location tabs that the Ignition switch used to fit into, and it looks great, if you look to the right, I already made a start on the Speedometer Bucket.

Not an easy task this but a block of 6061 T6 Aluminum was chucked up on the Lathe and turned down to the size I need for the Speedometer to sit snug and tight in the housing, also reliever three areas for the set up to really fit snug as a bug with no rattling about.

I wanted to incorporate fins into the casing as the front forks have this look as well as a few other features on the bike to make the whole concept flow and I am quite a big believer in that, I also need to grind a little more on the top triple tree and then smooth and polish to give the whole set up a look of chrome, no easy task too.

 

Now I am happy as its all Polished and the GPS Gauge set up looks really Custom, I machined Three 7/64 locator holes to allow the gauge to Clock right in the Location I wanted and have to say I am super stoked at how this now looks on the polished Triple Tree.

The bike I am creating is a 1974 Model Honda CB750 But I am using a later upper and lower tree to allow me to have the small tab brackets in the center and glad I went this route.

I wanted to create something that is different from the norm and I do enjoy what I call ” Newstalgia “, New parts with a feel of Old, and I believe I have created that with this.

I really like the look, the Gauge is 4 inches and the bucket is 5 ” and a strong solid appearence, I think it blends in well with the style of bike I am building.

So just a final clean up and then I need to pick the lower tree up from the Chrome shop, this should really set the whole top end off on the bike and glad I took the extra mile.

I will Clean up once more and add some polished Handlebar clamps that I make and she will be all ready for when I start to bolt all this together again, so in a week or two I can start to assemble the frame, it is still at the painters but not for long and thats going to be Silver Flake, should be a good contrast to the rest of the bike.

 

Thanks for reading my blog today and hope I have inspired you to get into the Shed, garage or lock up and have a go with your ride?

 

INDIAN SCOUT CAFE RACER MOTORCYCLE

 

Today I thought I would add one of the finalists in the Wrench build off, this fella below PJ Grakausas is one of the finalists and the Indian Cafe Racer he created is a real nice piece of work and needed to be shared, some of the images are credited to Return of the Cafe Racers, Hot Bike, Silidrome and Pintrest.

Up until now most of the manufacturer build offs we’ve seen have been between professional workshops or dealerships. With ‘The Wrench – Scout Bobber Build Off’ Indian motorcycles have taken more of a grassroots approach. Recognising the importance of the ‘backyard builder’ Indian invited custom enthusiasts to submit concepts of how they’d like to customise a Scout Bobber. From the 100+ submissions received a panel of judges including Roland Sands and Jason Paul Michaels selected 12 semi-finalists. Then through a public vote, 3 winners were given a 2018 Indian Scout Bobber and a $10,000 USD budget. Ohio based safety inspector PJ Grakauskas was one of the 3 chosen builders and this is his fully faired ‘Scout Cafe Racer’.

12 weeks after they were handed the bikes all 3 ‘Wrench’ contestant builds were unveiled at the 2018 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Seeing a cafe racer styled bike at an event that’s traditionally cruiser and chopper focused instantly piqued my interest so I reached out to PJ to learn a bit more about his project.

Hi PJ, Why don’t we start with a bit about your history with building custom bikes.

I don’t build bikes full time, it’s just an expensive hobby for me. I grew up surrounded by motorcycles my whole life, but mainly racing off-road. When I started building custom bikes it was to spend more time with my dad. I took parts and bikes from our barn and used them to make unique motorcycles I wanted to ride.

What was the process leading up to being selected as one of the top 3 builders?

It started with entering the contest. We had to submit design concepts, essays, and previous build experience. I drew up my ideas and had my friend Cory of Moto Mesa Designs tweak it and turn it into a gorgeous digital rendering. From there it went to public vote. After I was awarded as one of the top three I went to Bair’s Powersports (our local Indian dealership) and picked the bike up.

Do you have any prior history or experience with modifying Indian motorcycles?

I don’t have much history with them prior to this build. But I do know THEIR history. I’m honoured to be able to build a bike with such a rich heritage.

Did you expect the bike to get a good response at Sturgis?

I really didn’t. Sturgis isn’t known for cafe racers or sports bikes. The crowd is very v-twin oriented. So I was happy to get a great response and all the pats on the back. Having my peers at Michael Lichter’s Passion Built Show give me praise was also a nice surprise.

Anyone who has ridden an Indian Scout will appreciate just how much work was required to create PJ’s Scout Cafe Racer. What’s most impressive though is that the bulk of this build took place in a small workspace out the back of his home. The most obvious modifications are, of course, those to the bodywork. The full fairing is a custom-made fibreglass unit that PJ designed and was finished by Kacey Elkins of Krossover Customs. PJ tasked Raw Iron Choppers with cutting and welding knee dents into the stock fuel tank while he built his own tail section and had the seat covered by Ginger at New Church Moto.

Getting the Scout sitting right was an integral part of PJs cafe racer transformation. To do this he installed a set of ’07 GSXR forks using Cognito Moto 50mm offset triple trees. To level out the frame, he also fit a pair of 12-inch Ohlins shocks. Spoked wheels were high on the list of must-have items so he fit a pair of 18 inch Sun rims. The front is laced to the GSXR hub while the rear is fixed to an aftermarket hub by Indian. Woodcraft clip-ons wearing Avon grips set up an aggressive riding position and the stock footpegs have been relocated for comfort. Pj completed his handling modifications with Pirelli Sport Demon rubber and a full brake upgrade using gold anodised parts from Beringer.

No cafe racer build is complete without at least a little additional horsepower, and PJ’s Scout Cafe Racer is no exception. The bike now runs a DynoJet Power Commander tuned to get the most out of a Zipper’s intake, custom 2-into-1 exhaust and Supertrapp alloy muffler. Those with a keen eye will also notice a change from belt to chain, another modification done to achieve a classic bike aesthetic. The choice of chain colour was to tie in with the stunning black and gold paint scheme laid by Krossover Customs.

A great mid sized machine with plenty of guts in the right hand and something I would love to ride myself, nice to see lines that flow and motors that Go, this is an affordable bike that will last many moons for sure and I hope that I get to see it at some point around the circuit of shows etc.

Make sure that you give this fella a thumbs up when you see this machine as he really hit the proverbial nail right on the noggin with this bike and its a great piece to look at.

There are so many great bikes being built and you think that you have seen pretty much all that can be done but, this is proof of the pudding right here that it is not.

I am sure this is comfortable on long rides and, even more fun when you get into the twisties, love to sling my leg over and see what the power transfer is like.

Still, the only flaw that I can see is, after all that work, nobody puts any time into making a side stand that touches the ground, I have made many of these as having to carry a chunk of steel or aluminum with you all the time is not fun.

The Gas tank is another story, it really looks so Nostalgic and just loved the lines that the Gloss Black gives it, a well put together motorcycle thats for certain.

You cannot go wrong with Ohlins suspension,this will soak up the deviations in the tarmac like a New Coupe De Ville.

I like the way the rear sets are mounted and the whole bike flows with that full fairing set up, the swing arm is sturdy enough to take on any road that you take this bad boy onto.

Beringer make sure that you get plenty of stopping power, their products are up there with the best, I should know, as I am a dealer for their products and this looks really cool.

Hope that some of you out there, get to see this Indian Cafe Racer, its a good put together machine that needs to be seen and heard for sure, below are the renderings that got PJ started.

Out of the 100 or so submissions, 12 semi-finalists were showcased online for a fan vote to determine the final three finalists. These three builders got a full paid trip to Minneapolis for an unveiling party of their customized Scout Bobbers at Sturgis.

 

Race Of Gentlemen Tomorrow

Well, tomorrow we load our bags up and head to New Jersey, stopping of in Philadelphia to pick the car up, we head to Wilwood to watch TROG the Race Of Gentlemen, on the beach, just like they did in the 30-thru 60’s, this is a great event and looking forward to it.

Been a long time since I have been to the New Jersey, I think it was way back in 1990 when I met Lance Sorchik of jersey Suede fame and have been itching to head back out to the East side of the states ever since, I have never been to Wildwood and this will be an adventure for Jennifer and me, be great if we could both get early Hand shift Bikes later, we have the Post War model A Roadster but to have the 2 Old racers will be fun too, albeit we both have a Triumph each already. A fun weekend about to start for us and hope we get to meet some of you folk too.

Hope to see some of you there?

Jennifer and I are really looking forward to spectating this year, people come from all over the US to race their Hot Rods and Motorcycles, Flag Start, just like back in the day, what great fun.

I live for Hot Rods and Motorcycles and many like minded folk will be attending, it will be an epic meet and hope to take as many cool photos to share with you lot as I can.

See if you can make it to NEW JERSEY, head to Wilwood, you will smell the Gasoline right away.

Many people will be attending, there will be a party atmosphere and great evening entertainment too.

The weather will be warm, the surf will be crashing in the back ground and watching Hot Rods racing Hot Rods and Motorcycles will be so eventful this weekend.

So, hope you can make it out there, if you can, look out for us and say hi, be great to meet like minded people who share the Nostalgic lifestyle that we live.

Hopefully we can do this on our side of the country one day again as it is such a blast.
Watch these cool 3 stage videos of how Pro BMXer Heath Pinter builds his 8/29 Model A Flathead Powered Roadster and takes to Trog 2017.

How cool watching Girls race their machines and whooping the guys.

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All sorts of great looking rides, all different and, thats what I love about Hot Rods.

Three Windows, 5 Windows, Roadsters, Tudors, sedans, Modifieds, Belly tankers lake styles, they will have it all, Flatheads, Bangers you name it.

Just healthy fun taking your ride along the sand in 1/8th mile sprint and see how you do.

So, stay tuned on my website as when I get back I shall Blog all about it, you can also see what I am up to on my Facebook, Carpys Cafe Racers or Carpys Garage and on instagram Carpys garage and will try and live stream a little if I have a signal.

All the fun of the fair in NJ, beach and surf one side and fairgrounds on the other.

Even the Choppers came up from Burbank to make this event.

So, stay tuned and when I get back I will add photos that I took and let you know how it went on the East Side of the Country.

 

Outliers Guild Moto Show LA’s Coolest Custom Motorcycle Event

At last, LA has their very own Custom Motorcycle show, situated in Down Town Los Angeles in the Art district, this show not only offers a unique peek into the 2 wheeled lives, but also the Architectural wonder that has remained in this part of the city for many years.

The Outlier’s Guild Motorcycle Show, also referred to as The OG Moto Show, has brought a unique motorcycle experience to Southern California.  The event will gather over a hundred of the top custom builders from across the country and thousands of motorcycle enthusiasts together in a unique setting.  An all-star roster of builders will be participating including: Alchemy Motorcycles, Carpy, Cerberus Motorcycles, Chabott Engineering, Chopper Design, Duane Ballard, Eastern Fabrication, Iron Cobra, Jeff Wolf, JSK Moto, Kickstart Garage, Kiyo’s Garage, Max Hazan Motorwork, Monnom Customs, Moto Chop Shop, Sean Burley, Sosa Metalworks, Speed Merchant, Steady Garage, Steve Cabellero, Suicide Machine Co., Twin Line, Woolie of Deus ex Machina, Zach Siglow and Zanutto Engineering.

Additionally, the event will feature a one-of-a-kind OG Moto Market with vendors, food trucks, coffee, and live entertainment.  Performing during the event weekend include the Woolly Bandits, an LA-based punk garage band lead by Christa Collins and the Powerflex 5 featuring skateboarding legend Steve Alba on guitar, tattoo artist Corey Miller on drums, and Bobby Abarca on bass.

New to this year’s show will be the OG Moto Gallery, an exhibit of motorcycle-inspired art, photography, and a collection of vintage motorcycles.  The gallery will feature work from artists and photographers from around the world including an exhibit by the renown artist, Ornamental Conifer, titled “Reliable Souls,” presented by Vans.  Other featured artists include: Steve Cabellero, OVMD, Tomas Pajdlhauser, Robert Schlueter, Ben Giese, Maryia Bulka, Jasper Wong, Blue, Carter Asmann, Tyler Cornelius, Andrew Ritter, Bombshell Deluxe, and more. Participating photographers include: Norman Reedus, Estevan Oriol, Willie T, Dylan Gordon, Matt Jones, and Laurent Nivalle.  Additionally, the Motodoffo Collection presented by Doffo Winery, an impressive array of twenty classic and vintage motorcycles will be on display within the art gallery.  The OG Moto art gallery will be open on select dates after the event with the schedule to be announced on the OG Moto website.

The OG Moto Show is supported by: The House of Machine, Alpinestars, Bell, Flexfit, Meguiar’s, Moto Doffo, Rev’it, Rizoma, Roland Sands Design, Royal Enfield, Vans, and WD-40.

About the Outlier’s Guild Custom Motorcycle Show

The Outlier’s Guild Motorcycle Show is a motorcycle event that celebrates vintage, modern classic, and full custom motorcycles.  Founded by Jay LaRossa of Lossa Engineering, Stan Chen, John Pangilinan, and Ralph Holguin of RMD Garage with the goal to produce a unique motorcycle experience for enthusiasts.  The event will feature art, photography, music and a diverse and impressive collection of motorcycles on display.

Blog by Steve Carpy Carpenter:

When I pulled into Anderson street just off the freeway in Down Town LA, I knew this would be a very cool venue to have this event, the old buildings had more character than the back streets of Jack the Rippers area in London, I loved the old mixed with a little bit of new. Graffiti seems to be the norm here instead of street signs but- is part of the Down – Town culture, that has molded this part of California, as an artistic explosion of self expressionism.

The old Deco buildings that line this area is only muffled by the odd sounds of construction and sometimes the mild mechanical click of a 35mm Camera, as this area is a Photographers Paradise for fashion and craft.

Beow Jay LaRoss, Photo Credit- Rahoul . LA Motorcyclist.com

 

I pull into the side street and into the back of the show buildings, emblazed on them are huge renderings of cool art, some people and some just out of this world art that will make you stop and raise an eyebrow or two, a brilliant venue for such a show and I was super stoked to be one of the lucky guys to be invited as a builder. Jay LaRossa has been a builder and Creator for many years, he was one of the first guys that actually came up to me and said hello some 18 years ago at a show in Costa Mesa. A solid guy much respected in our two wheeled industry and creates some wicked machines, and to be invited here is really quite an honor to be honest.

With over 100 machines of builders Motorcycles and so much cool Art that is displayed in the next room, this is a must attend show, the vendors were so friendly and actually spent time showing you what their passion is, the bands Rocked on and there was a totally euphoric feeling in this building, as if everybody was one, I mean- there is no racial undertones in our industry, we are all cut from the same cloth and have a similar interest in many things, if only the rest of the world would be on an even keel like us eh?

The quality of the motorcycles here were so cool, some fascinating concepts, some bloody mind boggling engineering and the artistic talents were let loose on some of these motorbikes of which I had to pick my Jaw up from the concrete.

So, to add my bike here and on a platform was indeed a very cool feeling, I was so surprised at how many people knew who I was and I had many questions about my parts and the bike I created- The Harlequin Honda.

It was like a Family reunion for me in a way and this show had so much to offer for people, I mean, there was something for everyone, be it Custom, Cafe Racer. Brat, Tracker. Chopper, Bobber, Classic etc, there was a cool vibe the entire time that Jennifer and I was there and I am not sure how many times we walked around this arena, there was always something that caught your eye.

The vendors were a blast and everyone was approachable, also what I liked is, nobody tried to force a product on you, they were there to enjoy the event too and the relaxed atmosphere made this event such a hit, we loved it all.

I even scored some cool Moto wear too, there was so much cool stuff that I was glad in a way that I didn’t have my Credit Card with me, else I would be in trouble in the first 5 minutes of the vendor area,Tobacco Motor-wear Company has real quality wear and the shirts are a much better cut of cloth that many I see in expensive retailers, nice to support small business such as all and a great venue to show your wares.

 

Jennifer and Gigi hanging out at the show, it was awesome to catch up with people and just have a chinwag for a while, met some great friends and look forward to next year.

I love the Diversity of Machines that were on Display, this was inside in the art area with many other Motorcycles, I love this old Crosser, brings on memories of hurting Kidneys and arm pump when I was a kid in the UK in the 1970’s.

Even something for the Jetsons fans, this Scooter was pretty darn cool and worth a tidy penny these days.

The Kriedler was a cool bike to be seen around town on when I was growing up, I had a Suzuki AP50 but these were out of my price Range, Belgium created some cool machines back then.

This Anvil Honda has had a lot of fabrication, I loved everything about this machine, would of liked to have chatted to the builder, well done mate.

Like I said, something for everyone, steam bent wooden fairing was a neat trick on this Honda, you can see my Machine sat next to it, a great set of Motorcycles for sure.

I loved this build, simplistic, albeit not much chance of seeing at night with that light but other than that a very cool and well created Bobber, Killer Paint.

Barry Weis of Storage Wars fame had his Dustin Bin fairing machine on Display, so much work gone into this, I went back to it many times just to drool over the Aluminum.

A thing of Beauty and would of loved to hear this Motor run with then pipes on, Great job Barry.

Hutch Blew me away with this Beemer, what a great build, you cant see any electrical wires and a Brave man to creat a bike in white too, this was just a masterful piece of creativity and I bow to you, this South African builder is based at Yoshi’s and is a super nice fella.

Check this out, so much Aluminum work, some very gifted people at this show and everywhere I looked I could see some fun and clever engineering.

This Italian 350 Steed was tough, I would of loved to have slung my leg over it, I loved the color scheme and the rear tail Cowl, very nice piece to look at here at the show.

Skate Icon “Steve Caballero had this Classic Honda Tracker, Steve has a huge skill set with machines as well as art, loved looking at this, made me think of my Brother in England.

Buddy of mines BMW, actually the one next to it is his wifes, very cool Toasters.

Craigs super neat CB750 he created, his company is Kickstart garage up there in Redding, super nice guy who I have met a few times, and loved his Creation, Killer Color.

Plenty of Honda bikes here and all so different, looks like Dustin Kotts style, clean and lean, loved it.

Kev from Moto Chop shops Thruxton has a full fairing now in place, fun machine with that 60’s Rockers styling, Great job mate.

Scott and Owner Kev Stanley from Moto Chop shop, show their chops and chinwag with many, super guys and all have a passion for two wheeled machines.

Dustin Kott has been building many years and it shows it here, clean, smooth and flowing, very nice cafe style Motorcycle and color combo.

 

 

Now thats some killer alloy work, I loved this fairing, tank and seat combination, many hours with a torch and a hammer and English wheel, Loved the Lester Mags too.

I was really into this Suzuki, a lot of cool lines, I really liked the fat attack and the stance is right on the money, fender and fairing matched well, brilliant job my friend.

I loved the smooth lines on this what I call a Battle Star Galactica machine, this cool Yamaha was tidy and I would of loved to have ridden it, check out the stainless exhaust system.

Jennifer and Mark Baker, Both in the 59 Club Orange County section, have a natter about this great show, loved the Barry Sheen shirt, I had mine on too, well, we are Both Brits remember.

More 59 ers from Orange county Steve and Tiff hang out, Steve’s a Model for Stag magazine. LOL.

Few more lads from the Orange County 59 ers, CJ on the right organised the ride to the show, Dennis in the middle was game too. As well as the bloke on the left and I have forgotten his name but will add as soon as my Brain gets back into gear.

A slew of Machines that all caught my eye outside at the rear of the building, over 100 bikes on Display there alone and all very cool and unique to them selves.

Yes, I would ride any of these, plenty for all to see and enjoy and what a relaxed and fun environment this show was.

Some well put together machines here, be it Cafe Racer, Brat, Tracker, Custom etc, these were all great bikes and we really did enjoy taking all these builds in .

Deus doing their bit, great company of which I used to go and see in Kings Cross in Sydney when I lived there in 1997.

How could you not love this Drag bike, its a crapshoot alright, awesome stuff.

Above: How about that, Plexi covers, I loved this Motorcycle and it should of been up on a stand so people could see all the engineering involved on this Rocket!

I have always dug Scramblers, even as a kid, so to see new versions cropping up here and there is always a treat for me, all of them are individual and this is a cool ride.

Another Tough Yamaha and has the right look and stance, and that fork brace will make sure there is no wobble at the front end, great achievement mate.

Everyone that looked at the Motorcycles and art that was on display at this unique event, all seemed to be happy, thats a great thing to see and I sure hope that we have many more shows in this guise.

I loved this Bultaco, not sure if Originally it was a Sherpa T or a Persang, but I loved this transformation , could be an original TSS motor too, but I loved the sound of these Spanish 2 strokes and what a machine, so clean lines, well done mate.

It is always refreshing to see two wheeled machines taken to another level, this has had a lot of work to get how it is today and I spent a little time looking at the complexity of this particular build, kudos to you for your time and patience.

I liked everything about this Tracker, smooth flowing lines and loved the headlight shield, I would ride that bike all the time and so nice to see it at the OG show here in LA.

A very good mate of mine Mel Bain, Actor, School teacher and Motorcycle aficionado, super cool to meet up and see him and his lovely wife at the show, he enjoyed the outlier guild show immensely.

Bikes outside and all over the place in Down Town LA and was great to see some of them parked up for the show.

The weather was super nice as well, which meant for enjoyable riding for everybody that visited the show here, we walked about quite a lot before heading back, there were bands playing that we wanted to see.

Christa Collins of the Woolly Bandits played in the evening, Christa was a child star at Disney and had a song Minnie And Me and was super stoked to see that she drifted to my Harlequin Honda, all that Dazzle must of caught her eye. #pilgrim imagery

Music, Motorcycles, Oh My , what a great Combination. #pilgrimimagery

Just made the whole event even more cooler for me, a great photo by #Pilgrim Imagery

Looking forward to the show next year, well done Jay Larossa for getting this together.

My Old School Metalflake looked pretty cool in the lights of the warehouse as Christa belted out a few tunes, using the Harlequin Honda as a Prop, cheers Girl. #Pilgrimimagery

Hope some of you managed to see some of the bands playing, they were great and the whole event had a great vibe all the time.

So, with that, I will finish up with a really good mate of mine, I first met Skratch in 2000, we are all into Motorcycles, Hot Rods, Pinstriping and Nostalgic stuff like Drags, Custom Builds and just so many things, so nice to catch up with him.#Skratchsgarage #Bellhelmets

He has been laying Pin lines for many moon’s, as well as lettering etc, he does a lot for Bell helmets too, a very cool Hot Rod and Kustom builder too, a super all around talented guy that I have had the pleasure of being mates with.

Skratch, doing what he loves and he can lay down pin lines with speed if needed, a very talented and approachable geezer.

So, with that, I shall bid you all a find farewell, this was a brilliant show, thanks again to @jaylarossa for putting together LA’s coolest Custom Motorcycle show, bringing us all together as a cohesive lifestyle of 2 wheeled aficionados. Until the next time, many thanks for reading my Blog, it took a while to download and get this on my website but hope you found something interesting.

Promote small businesses in the Custom world, we all need you.

If this inspires you to get in your Garage or shed and create, then I have achieved another smile in the 2 wheel industry, thanks once more for reading.

 

Little 250 Brat from Oversea’s

Well, here today I wanted to Blog about these couple of Argentinians who have created a little 250 trail bike and transformed it into a little Brat machine to Blap around on.

Funny thing is, I have started to collect a few parts to create my own little bike, mine is a 250 but it is a YAMAHA but none the less- I have a little Dual sports bike thats going to get something similar done to change the look and handling of the bike.

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Now, if you are not into Brat bikes, thats OK, no need to look any further, some people do not like the balloon tires, shortened frame and Low styling, its a Personal choice, me? I love it, anything thats Motorcycle related is cool, but I also like to show what people have been creating, its a refreshing look and to see people really getting into building Custom Motorcycles is the fresh air that we need in this industry, the little 250 below is a prime example of what the trend for the better word is right now, you may not like it all but I am sure there are some bits you will think, “Hey thats pretty Cool”.

 

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Now, these Two fella’s “Antonio Lupiañez and Salvador Alasino of Vida Bandida motorcycles are a couple of Argentinian Industrial designers and, in their spare time, they play about with Motorcycles.

So, their Motorcycle of choice was an old Honda 250 cc trail bike. ” The Tornado”  And if memory serves me correctly, the original Tornado was an XR250 Honda, as I could tell by the fins on the side of the engine cover on the right hand side.

With a wapping 23 HP, you are not going to win too many races at the traffic lights, but the look of this machine is very cool, a little port work and a larger Carb would help this big time but none the less, a tasty little Brat has been made by reconfiguring parts and changing parts of the chassis to suit its change from a Mono shock to a Twin shock, something I am contemplating on the XT250 I am slowly collecting bits for.

The front end had the forks machined and re sprung and removed a huge 170 mm if material to get the stance that they were looking for, Jeez, by the look of the travel on the fork now, I dont think i’d even ride off a cerb in a hurry, but they wanted a low slung bike and thats what they got. albeit you will most probably need a bottle of Advil by the time you got to your destination.

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As you can see by the photo, not much travel in them forks but it does look a menacing machine, with its small Sportster headlight with a Copper Bezel, it shows a little Nostalgia on the front end, the guy made up a set of Clip ons and to fill the upper tubes up they made steel covers to Fatten the top end up, you can see that the triple trees have been cleaned and polished and the fork tubes pulled up through the trees for an even lower stance.

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The Arse end got the cutting treatment and with the rear Triangle sub-frame dis-guarded and a new angle duplex style sub rail replaced, they then sent about and made a short hoop and fabricated a seat to fill that void, then upholstered in the early Tuck n Roll design with 2 inches of high density foam to look after your Butt grapes. Also notice the short short short rear fender, enough to stop the dirt from flicking up and leaving a trail of debris on the back of your favorite jacket. A flash light lens and a machined tube with Brass accents were machined and there you go.

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The stock exhaust system was ugly and needed a custom set up, so a stainless steel Blunderbuss style system was Tig welded up and flows quite freely around the frame and breathes better due to a K&N filter.

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The engine had some of the side cases  removed and polished to a high luster, but the engine is stock, the oil cooler was moved out of the way to the right of the frame and catches more air too cool the little motor a little more easily. A good move I think and wonder how many start to do this on their builds?

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A set of Sportster rear shocks now reside each side of the swing arm, and I prefer twin shocks bikes as thats my era. Although there does not seem to be too much travel there , and with my fat arse on it that rear fender would be scraping like a knife on a lathe.

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But on a fun scale, this is off the clock, what a great little bike and unique to many, I really like it and am sure some of you will too, don’t hate on it as this had a lot of work and well done for thinking outside the box of bikes made into Cafe and Brats, I love this. I bet is a blast to run around town on.

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Smaller Harley Gas tank looks like it should of been there from the factory, the guys cut the old fittings off and welded new ears on and fitted it, so the tank was sat level and of course the electrics can now hide out of the way under that steel Petrol unit. 16 Inch rims have the Big wall square tires shoehorned on but I have always liked Balloon tires, so good job.

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Like I said, I am hoarding a few parts to work on my 250 Yamaha XT later and was stoked to see someone have a go with a Honda, this is a new sub Culture that I like, I mean, anything to do with Customizing a motorcycle is great in my eyes.

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I have also seen a subtle change on their machine as they have redesigned their seat as it is now Black with Diamond stitching, I started Diamond stitching about 10 years ago on my machines and still do today as I love that 1960’s Custom look to it.

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Them Forks and rear shocks function OK else they would never of been able to get across this scrub-land and three of their machines on display is very cool to see.

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Nice little shot by the lake, this Vida Bandida Tornado must of been fun to create and also not too expensive as parts are all over Ebay for these bikes.

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So, if you have a little ole Dirt bike collecting cobwebs in your garage, shed or storage yard, what a great platform to tear apart and reconfigure into something completly different from its original guise.

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I hope you enjoyed my Blog today, if you have gotten to this part of it, well, at least you have read it, I just love sharing stuff that I like and hope that you like what I have offered up, it makes the world of Motorcycling so much smaller and us more closer as a Custom Motorcycle enthusiast I applaud these 2 guys, great job.

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Go out in your shed, or round your mates house and give them a hand, building and creating these 2 wheeled machines is so much fun. Yeah I know that you dont like the Big tires but, I always have, Yeah I know they dont handle well, but for Bar hoping or round the town bike they are fun.

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Hiawatha the Bonneville that’s Sharper than a Tomahawk!

Well, you see many different style of Motorcycles around the globe that have taken a good and strong foot hold on the Cafe Racer, Brat, Bobber, Tracker, Custom look, and this is no exception.

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I obviously have been into these style bikes as a kid, when I was 12, me and my brother had a french Mobylette, Dad bought it for $20 and it had no seat, we removed the Mudguards, and headlight and fitted Dirt bike handle bars and use a skateboard deck for the seat and, a Brat was Born, and over 40 odd years later, they are still being created today.

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Dubbed the “Hiawatha” after the native Americans the platform of choice was a 2007 Bonneville, Not the last of the Mohicans but, the last of the carburetor motors as in 2008 the Fuel Injected models arrived.

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This bike was being built by the Ton up garage for a Client out in Lisbon, and a second hand 2007 Bonny was located as the Platform to create a unique Brat style machine for the Customer.

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First off was to strip parts off the machine they no longer needed, the seat was taken off and the frame rails were altered to allow for a Custom seat base to be fabricated, once that was completed, it was upholstered with memory foam and stitched in the old school style Tuck n Roll, with a grey Naugahyde material for a long lasting comfortable ride, as well as being able to take his partner on the back as and when desired.

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A set of much wider Western style Handlebars were fitted, as well as removing the old Master cylinder for the clutch and a hydraulic version fitted, this really cleans the front end up and with the smaller Speedometer and headlight, the bike has a really different stance.  Magura hydraulic master cylinder clutch and brake are a good quality set up and will help stop this machine way faster than the stock set up and with less hand pressure.

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At this part of the blog I like to point out, “Each to their own” Some people will like what they have done, some may not, its all in the eye of the beholder, I hear many complain about the big bulbous tires and small head light, its a style, like some of you like wear hoodies and Converse, so give this bike a chance.

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Many complain that it will ride so badly, well, unless you have built and ridden one, you will never know, I have built many and, although way different to modern tires, you get used to drop off in corners. This is a Custom Brat style build, not a T.T. machine, so a slower speed to take the area in, rather than a Ton Up Rocket.

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I personally love this Custom created machine from a work of art, its unique and very well thought out, I love fat tires, just look back to early 1940’s Harleys, they had fat tires, I think that these do have a certain equal proportion to the machine and sitting on 16 inch tires will sit level now.

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The engine had a little bit of tune up and then painted black, of which I like, the carbs were re-jetted as Up-swept Megaphones were fitted and the headers were wrapped for that old race track look, I like this too, many dont, like I said, “each to their own”. Also New K&N Filters were added to help these Carbs breath more easily.

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The wire harness was modified and the battery was replaced with a smaller Lithium model and hidden with the rest of the electronics under the seat, this keeps everything neat and tidy and having the Rims and hubs painted Black sets the whole motorcycle off big time.

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Suspension was sorted out with an expensive set of rear Ohlins and re-springed front end, made sure that this beast is a comfortable ride and soaks up any of the bumps on the Lisbon Tarmac.

Hand fabricated rear fender is Bobbed to make this machine look bigger and the small bates style tail light may be small but LED lighting is brighter than Einstein.

The Olive Drag green with a flattening Agent works well against the Silver Base and even though I personally am not a fan of Green, this works really well, I mean the Thruxtons  came out in BRG, and this color concept does indeed work very well against the Black of the frame, exhaust and wheels.

Thanks for looking and, if I can help locate or sell parts for you and your machine, just let me know.

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