Hot this weekend that’s for sure in Southern California

Hot weather is still here and will continue for a couple of weeks I think, but 112 and 114 is a little too hot to be in the shed this weekend, plus I have stuff to do in our Garden with my Girl. so I have been out doing that, but tomorrow I have to fit some throttle cables to that K6 and tidy a few things up before I offer it for sale, its a great bike for the money with so many New parts.

I have many projects to get into later on, another 16 bikes to sort out but its fun doing it and doing it at home in my own time and do what ever I want to do, I love that feeling and always have a smile when I go in the Barn.  I love all machines and have a few different bikes to build but the platform I have loved is the inline four, always cool to see people on them.

Hope that some of you get time to get out on your machines this Summer, before it gets colder further North, lucky for me, we can ride most of the year round, I ride every single day and never tire of it to be honest.

I’m still busy with my parts and builds and more to come later but just wanted to say howdy and do a quick Blog as its been a while, but always check my daily emails and texts.

Have a great weekend and thank you for all your orders, I am here to help, next year is 25 years in business and its going to be exciting as ever.

 

 

The Old Koppa Kafe was a fun Custom to create in my Garage.

No idea where the time has gone to be honest, but I always loved creating this machine, just because it has so many great Original parts on it that really did make people turn heads.

So I started off with a bunch of parts and already had the idea of how I wanted this, as the KOPPA KART was a famous Barris Kustom Truck that I had loved as a teenager and wanted to have some Copper Influence on this Motorcycle, but I had to do a ton of preparation to the Honda Duplex cradle frame to make sure all looks good when painted.

 

There was a lot of hand sanding and grinding of old Factory welds to try and make this Chassis as smooth as I possibly could, but also, I cut the neck and added a couple more degree’s to the rake, not too noticeable but I didn’t want it too aggressive, and I think this came out perfect for what I was looking for.

Also made up a Hoop and welded that to the frame, nobody was doing this back then and wanted it to finish of the seat that I was going to fit to it, and welded a bracket at the rear so I could attach the seat cowl and make it sturdy. But the most work that really needed some attentions was how was I going to extend the stock gas tank 5 inches, as I wanted a much longer fuel tank and thought that I may as well use some of my old spare gas tanks to cut up and make the change.

This is no easy task but, I was fortunate to have a bunch of K series Petrol tanks laying about in my garage rafters and thought the best way was to keep the front end and extend the tank backwards using sections from a couple of old gas tanks.

You can see the section cut and of course had the gas tank media blasted to get all the paint off so at least there was clean metal to work with, this will also have hammered knee inserts to give it that touch of Nostalgia of TT racing days and I was glad that I did go this route in the end.

You may not notice the stretch but its way past the original mounting bracket on the frame, you may also notice that I cut the rear exhaust and passenger peg supports down, this was to clean the lines up and allow for the lower part to become a bracket that my Italian rear Sets could attach too, I also braces gusseted the frame under where the gas tank sits just to give the frame a little more rigidity.

Here is the cross bracing that I did and used the pieces I cut off the bike, so it all got re used into this creation and I had not seen anyone do this before too so another added attraction I guess?

 

Putting this machine together in the garage was pure fun, I really did love the way the old girl was being revamped and as you can see, I did a lot of detail as at the end of the day, I was building bikes for a living now and this would be a great business card bike. many cool Parts and I used a pair of 18 inch Aluminum rims that were for a CB750 Automatic, of course I used to rear rims and then polished them to a chrome finish to give it a little more Bling.

So many hours were put into this and it became quite a challenge at times, but kept pushing on, I had to retap most of the thread holes as metalflake gets everywhere when you paint it and not use a booth, but I kept being persistent and it paid off, I used stainless Allen head Bolts through out the bike too, not cheap at almost a dollar per piece but makes the bike for sure.

Hand polished all the Aluminum and it took me forever to find an intake Plenum, I had one but it just would not fit, found out it was a Suzuki one, so thought to my self, ” Where the hell am I going to locate one of these Plenums for a SOHC?”  Then I got an email from a guy in Sweden who had a Suzuki and was Supercharging his but, his Plenum didnt fit and he thought his may be for a Honda.  So we traded and sure enough, when I tried to fit the Swedish one, it fitted like a glove. What were the chances of finding another eh?

What a piece of art it is too, so happy to be able to fit this to the machine and another tick off the list of things that needed to be accomplished to get the bike to the standard that I was after.

Just look how cool this Copper Metalflake looks, we used 3 pounds of the stuff to get the required depth that i was thinking of and a ton of clear coat was used to smooth it all out, but that Polished Aluminum offsets the Copper really well , what do you think?

I really was happy at the way the bike sat and looked and bit by bit I would get things accomplished, then I would push it onto the driveway to see how it looked in natural light.

I had Machined the front Lower forks and rebuilt them with New uppers, springs and this was a neat and unusual look as I had never seen anyone machine lower forks on a 750 before.

When I had these on the bike at Shows, people would ask about the forks and send me theirs to rebuild and give it that Custom look, it sure added some Custom touches as I painted the grooves Copper to go with the rest of the bike.

Finding someone to drill the correct hole on the stator cover, turned out to be a pain in the arse, I had one so called shop in another state have a go and messed it all up, so I did it my self and under cut the hole then used a drum sander to keep adjusting until the oil seal fitted tightly, and there you go, job done.

I had an Old Drouin Supercharger that was once going to go in an old chopper/drag bike and after I got all the parts I knew what bike I was going to build.  Now, the Motor I had was a fully Blue Printed motor, costing 7000 Dollars many years ago and this was perfect for the bike and thats how this came about.

I had a local company water Jet a bracket out of 7075 Aluminum and gave them a paper template, this worked out and treat and bolted right up to the SOHC motor with exact clearances, I simply Polished the bracket once everything was test fitted and you can see the Crank Pulley at the bottom fitted perfectly too.

All fitted and this Mechanical Washing machine looked Bloody awesome all hanging out of the engine on the Left hand side, it is Belt driven too so pretty quiet to be honest with a neat Polished Aluminum Belt cover for added coolness.

Yeah, it was an intricate bit of Kit to begin with but loved looking at this Motorcycle I looked at it as a piece of art and used as many pieces from a 1969-1978 Honda as possible.

I hand Hammered the knee Inserts using a Tear Drop Hammer from Eastwood Supply and this came out so nice with the Copper paint and boy did it shine when the Sun hit it too.

There is a lot of work here and those who have tried to Polish their Hubs will know what I am talking about, I also added a Double Chain and Sprocket set up as there was a lot of Torque here in that engine, I couldn’t locate one for the longest, but Azusa Chain helped me as this was for an Old Lathe and converted it to the bike and worked really well, ran a slightly wider sprocket carrier for the offset to be right.

I also fitted an Old Lockart Oil Cooler to the bike as it will run 15% cooler with that fitted and as the Oil Filter Housing has some broken fins, I cut them off and polished the body and it looked pretty good to be honest. I ran Braided Aircraft lines to the cooler too some Dash 12’s.

That’s an Original Lockhart Cooling Radiator too, I made a thick Aluminum Bracket to mount it to the Horn bracket and then polished it to look like chrome, it worked really well too.

That tank turned out so well, I used Por15 to seal it before painting and then pressure tested it at a Radiator shop, C.F.R was for Cafe Racer but in the style of the old H.R.D Motorcycles of years gone by.

This was My first attempt at making a Fiberglass front fender, since then I have sold over 500 of these to Customers all over the world, its 22 inches and has a bead all the way around it.

Cant get enough at looking at that, even today, it was a tough Motorcycle with loads of interesting parts and so Glad that I jumped in and had a go at creating this machine, there wasn’t many Café bikes at all about, so many people used to comment on what sort of bike it was and I think i was lucky enough to inspire a few people to have a go their selves and create their own unique ride.

 

My First attempt at a Custom Gauge, using an original one, I wanted to put BOOM at 140 MPH, got many comments on that and it was a great discussion point at shows etc.

I fitted an Original Series One Yoshimura exhaust of which was the pattern for all the systems I make today, I used a CB750 Connecting Rod for the license Plate holder, I later swapped the plate to the other side as the exhaust gases would tarnish the chrome lol. They are New Old Stock FOX shocks too and they really did give the ride height that I wanted on 18 Inch rims.

 

Allen bolts all through out the build and I did my drilling style on the sprocket cover just the break up some of the glow of the polishing, I have made many of these covers and sold to customers too over the years.

Rear Hub gets the same treatment and that’s an Original Dresda Boxed Swing arm that I chromed and boy does it look sharp on the bike, it really does accent that rear end.

I used Cow Hyde to upholster the Custom seat and used Gel foam for a comfortable ride and its a nice riding position with that 5 inch stretched gas tank.

Everything I feel on this Motorcycle Flows well, its such a warm color too, I hope that you liked just some of it as I know that you understand how much effort goes into creating a machine such as this.

Time has moved on and this bike now resides somewhere in Australia and hope the owner is having fun with that Custom built CB750 HONDA.

I took this bike to many shows all over the USA and had many great conversations with like minded people.

I think this was Seattle show but ALL the shows were super fun and made so many friends and acquittances etc. it’s a healthy industry now and I am still making many parts for these super fun inline four motorcycles.

I used a headlight from an Old DeSoto Automobile as I think it fitted in between the fork ears really well, I hand drilled the front Rotor using my drill press, I even made the bike stand.

One of the last photos before the bike made her way to the other side of the world but am proud to say I created that Monolith of a Café Racer.

As you can see, on the Right side of the bike, I fitted an old 1974 ARD Magneto, that too is Belt driven and gave the bike its Status Quo, she sure does sit well on the Tarmac too.

I used a Pontiac Taillight for the rear on My Custom Rocket Four seat assembly and I still sell them to this day and send all over the Globe.

Thank you for reading my Blog today, I just wanted to show you a bike that I really did have fun creating and love seeing what you lot are putting together. Below is a before and after shot.

Have fun with what ever you are creating and if I can help, you can call, email or even text me, I am always here to advise Thanks again and keep on building and Riding.

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New Parts and New projects this year

Hey Everyone

Hope that you are all well and trying to continue doing what you enjoy- This Pandemic is a royal Pain in the proverbial arse, but we have to stay strong and continue masking up, keeping your distance and soon after we all get the Jab, hopefully we can get to some sort of even Keel and enjoy the freedoms that we once all took for granted.

Things will be changing a little with me as I shall be having a steel barn built to keep me close to home, I can make prototype parts and start to create some more motorcycles for Customers and of course my own, I have a few ideas for many things and here I can do all that and much more.  I shall be offering more exhaust systems, that are all made right here in California, none of the China crap will be here and hope that you can pass the word so we can keep our money in the USA as so much money goes to China, but none from me- I tell ya that for free.

 

I love what I do, I really enjoy making new parts, I also enjoy the many emails and texts that i receive every day, if I can help someone out of their dilemma, even if it does not involve using my parts etc, I am still happy as someone now has got their machine on the tarmac.

Have fun with what you do, its an awesome hobby of ours and everybody wants to help each other out, I get a lot of calls right now as people are of course at home locked down in some cases, so, as to not get bored, people are creating their own style machines and there are some great creative minds working overtime as I type this Blog today.

So get into them Garages, Sheds or back rooms and have fun wrenching, I am here to help anytime, be it phone, Email or text, sure look forward to hearing from you, stay safe and get wrenching.

 

Built a set of Custom forks for a Customer, thought I would share.

Many people have sent me their forks over the years to rebuild, polish or just hop up a bit as they get tired after 40 years of taking punishment from all road surfaces over time.

As the photo shows above, this is the old set that I am going to be working with, I strip these down, clean up and then what I do is machine some cool looking ribs into the stanchions to have that Custom look and then magnaflux it to make sure all is ok.  Once that is done I polish the lowers and then get brand new fork tubes made for the uppers.

I like to use as much Genuine HONDA parts as I possibly can and these will look so clean when everything is put back together and then you fit to your inline four machine.

As you may be able to see, I have New Hard Chromes fork tubes fitted and I have just put the OEM Honda Fork seal in place, here is the trick that I use to fit these seals, also- Remember, make sure the lettering faces upwards not down.

I use a piece of UPVC tubing that I bought from Home depot for about $2.00, this slides down the tubing and sits snug on the seal, but it fits inside the aluminum stanchion perfectly.

I simply tap the Plastic tubing with a Rubber Mallet until the seal bottoms out on the shoulder and there you go, no press needed and no damage at all, I have been doing this method for over 20 years now and never ever have I had a fork that has leaked by using this tubing.

I use some Harbor Freight Circlip pliers to snap the Original 2 hole clip back into the recess inside the fork leg, you will feel it seat when you let the pressure off the pliers.

I use as much genuine Factory parts where ever possible, and in this case I use New old stock Dampner Bolt and Copper crush washer, just to make sure all is new and fits as it is supposed to.

I use genuine Honda Dust caps to make sure all the crap stays away from the forks, then- Just to add some super cool Custom finishing, I like the way these complete that Custom styling on the front end.

See what I mean? Its a nice Custom finished look that really does not cost a lot of money and it is chrome, no plastic crap.

I have always used ATF for forks, the old Pro Racers mechanics used it and I still do today, I also used stainless washers on top of the springs to set the pre-load.

That’s is how much I pour into rebuilt forks and people ask me “How do you know how much to pour in”?

This is one of my Bibles that I use on things like fluids, point gap, timing and the like, always served me well.

I also make sure that ALL the threaded holes are chased through with a tap, this makes sure that the refit goes smoothly and you dont scratch the lovely polishing I have done.

I make sure that I hand polish the lower clamps and use stainless nuts and lock washers, this set up is really a thing of beauty and I am so stoked when I complete a set for a customer, a lot of work and time, but boy is it worth it and changes the look of the front end.

A great looking set of Lowers that will turn heads where ever you go, not a five minute job and not made in China either, all done from right here in California.

These are now ready to ship out to the Customer, so he can easily fit them in to his triple tree’s.

Just take a look at them, what a cool set up these are and all New hardware, Hope that you enjoyed this blog about that what I do with the good old inline fours.

Let me know if I can help you with your Honda, I have been doing it here in California for 20 years and never tire of it, it is a passion of mine that I hope shows in my work?

Thanks for taking your time to read my Blog and hope it may of inspired you to work on your machine?

Worked on rebuilding the Vesco Bike front Forks today

Well, pushed hard today as Rain is forecast for later on this afternoon and needed to start and b rebuild the old front forks for the Vesco bike, as they had seen better days over the last 40 years and it is now time to make them stand out in the crowd as I am trying to get this bike done in time for the OG show in march.

I am super stoked to have got these done and, as I put these away in the garage, the rain started to fall, so great timing on my behalf and feel pretty accomplished today.

Had to fit New Fork seals, and lucky for me I had a spare New set that I could use for these Machines fork lowers and I always fit with the Numbers facing up on Honda’s.

 

I also use a piece of UPVC tube to act as a drift and tap the seal in bit by bit, its an easy way of fitting seals and many people do this if they do not have a press handy.

I fitted the New Rubber fork Caps onto the top of the Lower fork leg and then slid down my Custom Chrome outer cover over the top of that, just to finish it off a little more Classic.

Now its all dressed up and I am really happy with the end result, these forks now look so different now that they are machines and polished to a Chrome finish.

I love the look and the finish and its the devil in the Detail that I am into and these certainly have a really cool look to them, rather than just stock ones.

I have always machines these fins into the forks so that the whole bike flows from the front to the rear and I get many comments on my fork set ups, which is great to hear from other builders.

Still more to do to the bike but other than adding about 7 ounces of Automatic Transmission Fluid into each tube, but another tick off the long list of things that I must try and complete.

A seriously cool bit of kit for the bike and glad that I took today and spent some time getting these right on the money, they sure look great and finished just in time before the Rain arrived.

So, these will now be bagged up and put away until I start on the rebuild of the frame, the frame is now at the paint shop and getting ready for some serious Metalflake Silver.

 

Time to head inside now but wanted to share how much I have managed to get completed today and hope that you enjoyed what I have created for the Vesco Honda Brat Bike.

 

New Year already here but lots to do and enjoy what I do for a living

Well, it is 2019 and that sure came up fast, it is amazing how fast time flies by when you are having fun, I have been having fun at what I do for coming up for 19 years and still going strong today, having a strong work ethic is something that is instilled in my blood, all my family have worked hard all their lives and back in the UK you have to work as hard as you can as there is always someone there to fill your shoes.

So, as we now turn into 2019 I have a few ideas for bikes builds parts and other things that kind of turn my dial, I have always been into Motorcycles my whole life but also many other cool things like Hot Rods and Classic cars etc, many of you share the same interests too, be it WW2 fighter Aircraft, Pin up art, pinstripe work or then very cool 1940’s Chris Craft wooden built Speed Boats etc.

I want to thank YOU all for visiting my website over all these years, its great to have such a strong following, and I enjoy answering your emails and enquirers about the parts you need for your machines, or the troubles that you are actually having with them, a problem shared is a problem halved, and its so gratifying to receive an email from a Customer who was a little stuck with their project and my advise and parts got them back into the direction they were originally aiming for.

 

It’s hard wearing so many hats at times as I am sure you lot do to, I answer emails, phone calls, and people pop in from time to time with their machines for me to look at, I send out quotes, I pack and fill orders and send them to the post office too, as well as trying to keep up with the times with how our building scene is going.

It’s super strong now and growing stronger all the time, I am amazed at the transformation of how Motorcycles have emerged and the Custom scene I believe now is the strongest it has ever been. Right now I have been thinking of tearing my Vesco Brat bike apart and painting the frame and motor etc as its a great bike but not finished, I just put it together to see if it would run, it then turns out to run pretty good, so I may strip down to the frame a custom paint it, and all of a sudden I get a letter in the mail, Whamo! I am invited for the 2019 OG Moto Custom Motorcycle show as a builder, so now the Honda will get taken apart and made to look pretty darn cool.

I was really stoked to be asked by Jay La Rossa to be another Custom Builder, LA’s Premier Custom Motorcycle show for sure.

So the Old Vesco Bike will get a fresh coat of paint on the frame rims and a few other bits and pieces, as many people wanted to come and have a look at this simple but brutus looking Brat bike and I am looking forward to showing it in March on the 23rd in LA, Sure hope some of you can make it?

I have been doing this many years, to be honest, over 40 years now and still learning, I am amazed and shocked sometimes at what people have turned out and at best, just from their shed or garage, which goes to prove, you do not need to have a big factory type building to produced a unique and eye popping Motorcycle project that shows class, design, aspiration and of course ingenuity.

Many times I have stopped at shows and looked at a Motorcycle that just amazes me, I love seeing other designs and it is always a great pleasure to strike up a conversation with like minded folk and find out what makes them tick too, we are a funny bunch but we all stick together in a way.

Also, I am a strong believer in bringing on the younger builders, their creative flair is just overflowing and you can literally see their excitement and creativity flow in the project that they have up on their table.

This year I hope to visit a few shows and see how people are, what their twist is on the Custom Motorcycle building fraternity is and where is it going, I mean, the wheel was invented so long ago but it is still being manipulated with and transformed every single day somewhere in the world. March will be fun at thew OG show and love chatting to you all.

I have no idea where the bike building styling is going to go, I know that soon we shall see many new Alternative machines making a big impact, like ” Alternative Power ” I see that Harley Davidson has already started to get into the Electric Motor industry, something I am not a fan of but understand from an environmental situation, as long as the motorcycle doesn’t loose its generic shape and sound, I mean, a quiet motor, where is the fun in that?

Who knows where it is going and many more bring out great designs and some way out there, like in the far rejoins of Russia etc.

But what ever you are trying to build, just have fun, so many people get all fired up that someone is building this and someone is making that, just embrace it, we are all bike builders and there really is no need for the crazy shit that I have seen happen at some places, my passion is motorcycles and always will be, there are tons of brilliant builders out there and I enjoy meeting all of them.

I wish you ALL a very Happy New Year and if you need anything, I am always here, by phone 714-598-8392 by Email carpy@carpyscaferacers.com or you can even Text me if you need help. 714-598-8392

 

 

 

Vesco Honda build so far.

Well, I was lucky enough to get a call from a film Producer, they are doing a TV Commercial this weekend and needed a couple of bikes to use, so I let them take my Sportster Cafe and this Vesco Brat, as its not finished yet but pretty much altogether now.

But wanted to share a few photos of how she is right now as its getting closer to be able to ride, that will be quite exiting as it had not run since the 1980’s, I have fired her up a few times now and happy with the idle and the oil pressure, so this week I shall be able to fire her up and take the bike for a quick run around the block and see what happens.

This gas tank needs painting and I have side covers for it now, just need painting etc, thats why you can see all the electrical and the oil tank, but once it is painted and side covers fitted, the bike will look a lot better.

What then? Well not sure, depends on how the bike runs and handles to be honest, but this coming weekend, Jennifer and I will load the bike up and go to EL MIRAGE, to watch the races, meet some friends and to ride this about a bit.  Sure it will get covered in dirt and dust but, if I am to strip and rebuild this into a show bike, thats not going to matter as dirt wipes off right?

The gas tank and side covers later will be painted a Yellow color, just wanted something really different, so we shall see how that goes.

I changed the front headlight from a 7 inch to a more compact 5.75 version, and to be honest, i really like the look of this on the bike, so will be keeping that on there.

I fitted New foot pegs too, as the old ones were so bent out of shape, this will make for a fun ride, the Brat seat has soft Leather and memory foam, so another bonus there to ride on the dry lake.

I also used my Own brand of handle bars, these are the Euro-Tracker Bars I have had hand formed, then triple chromed and I do love the way they lay on the bike and give the whole machine a different look and feel for that matter.

Yes, its not a finished bike, but- you have to get a bike going to see what the issues are before pulling it all apart and throwing all your time, money and hard effort into a project.

I also pulled the old rusty rims off and had a set of Original Lester wheels that came off a CR750 Honda, the front wheel is dated 1978 and the rear is 1977, the front is a 19 inch and rear is an 18 inch set up, these are getting harder to locate these  days and wanted to use them.

I did change out the swing arm as the old one had been chromed back in the day and the elements had gotten to it and it was as rusty as the Titanic’s Crapper, but I am thinking of remaking some Boxed swing arms again and will offer them on my website when available.

I had noticed that the Kick stand on the bike was an old 70’s Chopper one and it did not sit well, you had to push the side stand all the way forward for it to stay, I looked closer and noticed that some of the frame bracket has broken off many years ago and that is why the side stand would not stand upright.

My trusty Miller Mig welder helped me out and I built up a platform again and used one of my own kickstands, and now it sits right, and am happy with the look of it now.

The shocks were pretty knackered on the bike, so i chose some aftermarket SRC piggy backs, they work fine and are Liquid Nitrogen filled and sets the stance where I want it to be honest.

My 4 into 1 I had fitted great but, this time I wanted to cut the tail pipe right back and fit the baffle just before the turn out, for a more aggressive look and I really do like the look of this system and it sounds pretty tough to say the least.

Later on when I strip the bike down, I will clean up the Lester Rims and re-paint them and add some Knobby Tires, but I am in two minds whether to change the front end for a CBR or, stick with the traditional fork set up and just rebuild the fork lowers and add New Upper tubes that will be 2 inches shorter. The front brake works and thats surprising for how many years it has been sat, its functioning but will of course totally rebuild that or fit newer brakes as I am a dealer for Beringer and may fit their set up, but all depends on funds etc.

It is all to easy to let a Custom build get away with you, financially, I have created some awesome machines for customers but, if you start to add a modified engine, you will be into $5000 in a flash just in the engine itself, these bikes are fun and fast enough, you really do not need a big cam and heavy duty head studs but if you want response, just port and polish the head and go no bigger than a 3/4 street cam.

I love the stock ignition system as they are dependable, I am not a fan of electronic ignition systems and points take very little maintenance, if you keep it simple, you disperse any issues with modified stuff, most of the time its a waste of money as many that have bigger displacements have over heating issues  or head gaskets blow and for what? 10 MPH? Just have fun with your bike, a good pipe and jetting is more than enough for many roads here, of course if you are on a race track, thats a different game all together , but just watch your budget on these machines, as it can easily get away from you and you then tally all your receipts up and have a small heart attack when you add it all up at the end of the build.

So for right now, I will run this old bugger around with a painted gas tank and covers but the rest as she is, as I want to put a few miles on her to see how the motor responds to daily life, then- when I am ready I shall pull back off the road and strip the bike and create a cool Brat bike thats fun to ride and easy on the eye.

Of course I offer these for sale, as thats what I am in business to do, its hard to let them go but I have a New Scrambler I use for riding about and it makes it a whole lot easier to let another creation go off into the sunset and then, the fun begins with another creation.

So, its a Sunday and I have taken a couple of photos and blogged on here today, she is looking pretty fun now and YES of course if someone wanted to Purchase this machine from me as is I would probably sell it, as I love create machines from junkers that have not run for years, but I shall still add more bits and pieces to this machine until I am ready to tear it all apart once more.

This Vesco Brat has a really cool ride stance and I am glad I took a chance and grabbed this inline four, its a fun ride and more to come too.

Hope you enjoyed my Blog today and of course I put the build up on my face book too. steve richard carpenter or carpys cafe racers or carpys garage you can look at any of them pages too.

Thanks for reading and have fun with your project.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The California Motorcycle show at Santa Anita

Well, Cinco De Mayo is upon us, where many people are still sleeping, we were up finishing packing the Van up with 2 Motorcycles and our Vendor Booth, we then headed out to Santa Anita Race track, where we set about unloading the van, Jennifer sorted the vendor booth out whilst I puffed and panted , walking the Motorcycles into the park, as you well know, Horses are not happy with Thundering loud megaphones and Million Dollar horses at that, so we had to walk everything into the Race Track area.

I Registered my Harlequin Honda and maneuvered that beast into the infield, where upon I parked it and spent the next hour, sweating my gonads off, trying to clean the dust off that had accumulated from our garage since the last show we were at. Not an easy task as the needle on the Thermometer was at 97 degree’s, I was melting.

But, once all set up, I went and sat in our Vendor Booth with Jennifer and tried to stay out of the heat, and the Eazy Up helped big time on this Kentucky Derby day event and was happy that we had some sort of cover over us.

Many people arrived all dressed up to the Nines in their Horsey attire, a big deal here and everybody seemed to enjoy the Motorcycles that was on Display at the event.

I spoke to many Customers of mine as they made sure to come and at least say hello, we sold our Moto Caps and Vintage Grips, whilst Jenn was selling her Moto Scented Wax melts, that seem really popular.

Plenty of cool Motorcycles on Display at the event and it was nice to see so many different styles of machines turn up on this Hot Day in May. Loved the Tracker.

Jay La Rossa had his Triumph Tracker there, and it looked pretty tough I tell ya.I hung out with him for a while, always great to chew the fat with like minded bike builders.I loved the Step side with the Two Trumpys in the back, these were top class built Custom Motorcycle, with the paint flowing from the trucks roof to one of the bikes was a neat touch.

Just have a look at some of the detail on these bikes, I loved them both and hope to see more of these on the road, I never see them ridden though these days.

BSA was well represented and would of taken any of these Classic steeds, from the Tracker at the front and the DB at the back, all bloody awesome to see.

The traditional 750 Commando is such a timeless taste of Real Ton up machines from back in the day. Always great to stop for a second and take it all in at these events.

I loved these Trench diggers, rode a few as a teenager and they scared the hell out of me, in a good way, love the twin shocker Dirt bikes, my era to be honest.

The good old CB750 SOHC unit has been put into everything you can imaging, this is a buddies of mine and a lot of work gone into creating the 750 Scrambler.

I dont think many people will appreciate the time and effort to get this old 530 Pound machine to look like it can handle the whoops and Burms of California’s MX tracks.

 

The good old 400 4 Super Sport Honda, its been Cafed and Raced for so many years, that people really forget how fast and fun they are to ride.  A great Powerhouse !

I would sure love to sling my leg over this AHRMA machine, reminds me of the old JPS Bikes of the day when British tracks had these and (Forgive the pun) were the Dominator.

A great Racing bike that is built so well and I am certain would holds it own and more on the race track, love the stainless exhaust headers and short reverse cone megaphones.

New meets old, a colorful array of machines and background to be honest, other than the heat, this was a really great looking part of the Race Track as its part of the infield.

I would really love to own this Honda Flat tracker, I bet its fun getting in the corners on the track and would have a blast on it and its nice to see its still being used.

Like I said, there was plenty to see for everyone, many different era’s of Motorcycles were on Display on the infield and around the race track, making it an eye candy store of the 2 wheeled variety and I was admiring them all.

This Honda Scrambler was cleaner than any cats arse, it was a super machine, nothing I didnt like about it, just gaze your peepers on this Classic machine from the Land of the Rising Sun.

Baking was not the word, it was so bloody hot I was hoping a bunch of Horses would belt by to cause a little air flow and cool us down, Summer came early here for sure.

Love seeing the old Honda’s as these were more available back home in the UK in the 1970’s when we were kids and for about 25 Quid you could pick one of these up, pull the mudguards off and headlight and go and blast along the Forrest fire roads, such fun back then and great to see them still around today.

The worldwide distributor of Hodakas was PABATCO, for Pacific Basin Trading Company. Its headquarters were in the rural town of Athena Oregon.  PABATCO designed and engineered a majority of the motorcycles, and Hodaka in Japan was responsible for the engine and manufacture and assembly. Pabatco was owned by Shell Oil Company from 1965 to 1978. The name Hodaka comes from a mountain near the factory and means “To grow taller”.

I have owned 6 of these over the years, anybody could learn to ride on the 175, and it was a superb platform for many styles of bike, loved seeing this example and being used too.

Different combination, the sohc cb750 and a Panel wagon, both very cool. Not sure who owned either buy glad it was there to be seen.

This won best of show, it was nice but still missing parts but each to their own and a nice motorcycle none the less.

Shinya bought along his CB750 with much Custom Body work that was all hand formed, Loved the front end and I believe a grimeca front brake too.

Another great Custom build that took many hours of massaging of alloy to get it the way it is, the more you look, the more detail you will notice from front forks to exhaust.

So much work going into this, removing One cylinder isn’t easy and this is one awesome Custom and love the whole concept.

Seems that Honda were really out in force on Saturday and I loved it all, one of the girls was riding this, great job.

 

Killer build, I dont usually like Green but this bike popped and a really nice BSA to be shown at Santa Anita, just looks so right.

A plethora of bikes and styles, and was glad to be a part of it on the weekend, it seemed to attract many people and raise a few eyebrows too, all great Motorcycles.

OMG thats all I can say with this Stable of Beeza’s, just awesome Historic value, real Ton Up machines.

Dustin Kott builds some bad ass machines, it was nice of him to purchase one of our Moto caps we sell and Jennifer designed.

Biltwell were there and Bill had his Harley Desert racer on show, fresh from doing thousands of miles in some pretty rough parts of the desert and, it survived.

My mates from Moto Chop were there, we are all like a big family when it comes to Motorcycles and custom created things, cool people.

British Customs were there too, showing what they do and manufacture, it had many cool vendors and we were all glad we had Eazy Ups as the weather was so hot all day long.

Thanks for coming by and saying hello, we had a fun time and hope to see you again at another show, I strive to help you in your quest for parts, service or advice, this is my Passion and my life, thanks for supporting me, it means a lot.

 

 

Totti Motori is a great builder from Italy

Roberto Totti of Bologna is one of Italy’s most prolific custom bike builders, and he’s been getting a lot of attention lately on the interwebs. One of his latest motorcycles is the 1508 Hot Rod, inspired by American custom cars from the 1960s. (The 1508 comes from the date the frame was built, 15 August.) The 750cc engine comes from a Triumph T120, with the head apparently turned 180 degrees to maintain pressure in the carburettors.

Triumph-Bonneville

 

The Bonneville T120 was Edward Turner’s last production design at Triumph (in retirement Turner designed the Triumph Bandit/BSA Fury which did not pass the prototype stage before BSA went under). The new motorcycle was conceived and developed so quickly that it was not included in the 1959 Triumph catalogue. With a 649 cc (39.6 cu in) parallel-twin (two-cylinder) engine the T120 was based on the Triumph Tiger T110 and was fitted with the Tiger’s optional twin 1 3/16 in Amal monobloc carburettors as standard, along with that model’s high-performance inlet camshaft. Launched in 1959 by Triumph as “The Best Motorcycle in the World”, the Bonneville T120 was aimed mainly at the lucrative US market where enthusiasts were demanding extra performance.

Initially produced with a pre-unit construction engine which enabled the bike to achieve 115 mph (185 km/h) without further modification, the power tended to induce high speed wobbles from the single downtube frame,so in 1963 a stiffer and more compact unit construction model was introduced, with additional bracing at the steering head and swinging arm.The steering angle was altered and improved forks were fitted a couple of years later, which, together with the increased stiffness enabled overall performance to match that of the Bonneville’s rivals.

 

In 1967 Triumph posted its most successful year in the United States with an estimated 28,000 T120s sold,.In 1968 the T120 gained a new and more reliable ignition system. From 1971, T120 models used a new frame which contained the engine oil instead of using a separate tank (this became known as the oil in frame/’OIF’ version). A five-speed gearbox finally was fully available by 1972, but competition from larger-capacity motorcycles led to the T120 being superseded by the 750 cc Bonneville T140.

Production of the 650 continued until 1973, when the workers at Triumph’s Meriden headquarters staged a sit-in until 1975. In 1974 fewer than 1000 of the 650cc assembled machines were released by the workers, with another 38 in 1975. Production of the T120 was not resumed following the sit-in, the Meriden Motorcycle Co-Operative created after the dispute concentrating upon the 750cc twins instead. In the Harry Potter Films,on was used as Rubeus Hagrid’s’s Flying Motorbike.

totti2

This sure is a classic look yet so different to many out there. Below is yet another style.

totti4

 

Looking forward to seeing more of his creations.

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BIG BEAR SPRING BREAK with 59 CLUB

 

es·cap·ism
əˈskāpˌizəm/
noun
 
  1. The tendency to seek distraction and relief from unpleasant realities, especially by seeking entertainment or engaging in fun, tom foolery and total drunkenness.
    Escapisim– How often does this thought enter your cranium when you are busier than a one armed Plasterer in a war torn city?
    For me, many times- And especially at this time of year when things are flat out and even if I had 10 arms, I still could not scratch my Arse.
    So when Jennifer- my girlfriend, suggested a cool getaway would be to rent a cabin out in Big Bear Lake and spend some quality time with her and some of my 59 Club brethren, well that’s all I needed to hear to realize that this would be a brilliant time away to relax and enjoy some fun time at the lake.
    This was the Cabin we rented, enough to sleep 12 and had all the cool amenities that we would require for a fun weekend of festivities. I was so amazed at the place and something I have always wanted to do was have a weekend away at the lake and here we are.
    The place was awesome, it smelt of old timber and felt as though we were on a Nordic journey and could of easily mistaken this area for a vikings getaway camp.
    Big Wooden front door what seemed to be carved by European slaves that the Vikings captured throughout their European advancement generously welcomed us to this huge abode.
    Even Bailey – our trusty mascot loved the area and the 7000 feet elevation didn’t really affect her too much at all.
    This was a super place for the 59 Club to have as their Spring break get away and I was sure happy to be able to spend time here up in Big Bear lake in Southern California.
    On our upper deck we had a view of the lake and the boats moored opposite us and watching the boats go out all day in this super breath taking area was something to see for a land lubber like me.
    With multiple levels this place was just a super getaway, we were on the middle floor and there was Timber carved wood all over the place.
    This was at the bottom of the Garden looking at our cabin. On the top deck was tables, sun loungers and a Jacuzzi.
    You can see my Girlfriend Jennifer at the top where we all spent many an hour, eating, drinking and enjoying great music and movies.
    We also stuck our Club banner up as Andre Pine and his buddy paddy of the 59 Club San Diego made the trip up.
    Just the perfect time to relax and enjoy the surroundings, no more phone calls, emails and grinding of metal for a few days.
    We were on our way up the mountain when I grabbed this with the little camera, the temp was dropping fast as fellow Brit Mark baker starts to feel hypothermia creep in his joints, but we made good time and was fun going up the hill.
    Here we have the Three Amigo’s Thruxtons sitting patiently as we stop for a bit of a rest and take in the sights.
    Here we are on the way to Mt Baldy as we wind our Thruxtons around the twisties with Super fine weather.
    Yes, we were having fun and as we are both Brits, we slung a few slang words about that of course fall of deaf ears!
    bigbear1
    Having food, beer and relaxing as the 59 club blows off steam on a super weekend up on the lake. Below Andre and Paddy sink more beers than Submarines did ships in ww2.
    bigbear2
    Below- The Three Amigo’s give it the Thumbs up as we hit the start of the climb up the mountain to Big bear lake, little did we know the temperature would drop faster than the inside of a British railway station waiting room.
    019
    The Rim of the world, we pulled over to take a snap as this was some great winding roads and the view was breath taking, so made sure we pulled over to enjoy the views.
    020
    Big D calmly stands to get a quick rest, before we head off to higher altitudes and cooler weather, as Mark baker gets ready to jump on his steed and lead the way.
    021
    This was a great spot for a photo, and another Motorcycle rider stopped behind us and offered to take some pics for us, camaraderie is awesome up here.
    022
    Enjoying standing at 7000 above sea level as we gasp for air on the mountain and with more riding to come, a super weekend, and some unreal winding roads to encounter.
    024
    Another port of call and this time Dietrich stands next to his thoroughbred as we come down the mountain and stop right next to Big bears lake, a brilliant day for sure.
    026
    A scary sight here, the other side of the lake was a dry as a wallaby’s pouch, the drought has really taken effect up here and California needs to wake up to this real fast!
    027
       Always fun riding with these guys, sore back, wrists and headaches were a plenty but hey- you gotta earn it up here and we sure all graduated this day.
    Our Cabin was just a few miles behind us on Big Bear lake and the views were just fantastic, seeing as we all had fuel injection we never lost any power at 7000 feet above sea level.
    031
                     Such a Phenomenal area, relaxing is not even close, this really does make you sit back and make a sigh of relief from every day work.
    032
    I am sure there are bears in them there woods but they will lucky for us, still be hibernating, so no worries there as these bears certainly do still crap in the woods.
    033
                                       All tucked up to stop 30 degree wind and any bugs that want to enter your gob as you gasp for air up on the mountain.
    034
    Opposite our cabin is where you could go to the little harbor master and charter a boat to go out on the lake for the day, maybe next time we shall try that as they had a pirate ship there that takes you for a jaunt around the waters.
    035
                    Paddy and Mark Baker discuss the way to do a German Salute if you had a stump for an arm! well, it looks like it anyway from the photo!
                                                           My gorgeous Girlfriend Jennifer Smiles as she enjoys this weekend away.
    036

Here is some Video I took with my Old Go pro- not the best but here is me on the Thruxton having some fun as I ring her neck a little on these great mountain roads.

Here is one just for the lads, a little more riding around big Bear Lake, .

Below is just a couple of shots with the Go pro, still trying to figure it out but at least you get the idea of what we were doing. This was a real fun weekend that seemed to just fly by but many other rides coming up soon, so keep an eye out on the website and of course on meetup.com under carpys cafe racers.

DCIM100GOPRO DCIM100GOPRO DCIM100GOPRO DCIM100GOPRO DCIM100GOPROThanks to EVERYONE from the 59 Club who attended as it was a real Blast and look forward ti the next adventure .