yes its one of the original alloy workmates! I also inherited that one. its as heavy as hell, unlike the pressed steel cheap ones of today. it will outlast me!
Here it is, finished... I am pleased with the look, even though it divides opinion! This will be the last full bike build for a while. This is my 12th bike build, they usually take me all winter to complete, and then I ride them over the summer. I have no doubt there will be some tinkering, and I will post the results of that, but I wont be doing another full build until September 2024. I will be doing a video on the build soon. The plan is to spend the summer as we always do, Holidays, days out, and going for rides... Then in the autumn its time to do some work on the house, new kitchen, bathroom, general renovations and decorating. The last house purge was the year I retired... 14 years ago! My wife has been very tolerant over the years!
Great work! Could you explain your thoughts to have the front mudguard two-tone? - Is the black piece a separate part?
yes its an add-on carbon piece... I did do it orange in photoshop but it didn't look right to me. same with the hugger... that looked terrible in orange!
I gave the garage a good clean out the other day, which meant getting all the bikes on the drive... I thought it worthy of a picture. I also did 80 miles on the new build, it ran very nice from the off... I did however stop a couple of times to tweak the air screw on the carbs. Its such a fun bike to ride! I also took the Guzzi out for a 20 mile ride... here's to a warm dry summer! Here are some of the builds I have done over the years, yes there is an orange and silver theme, its what I like, and with all my builds, I build them for me! I have done restorations in the past rather than custom builds and have kept these in original or period colours... One of my big regrets is not taking photos... I have very few film photoes from the pre digital age which is a shame.
Wolves fan? Love the bridge in the background with the trellis frame in the foreground, pass through Ironbridge sometimes on our return from rides to the Aberdyfi area.
nice bike's you do a superb job on your builds if the weathers a bit iffy we do the Ironbridge ride on a wednesday night ,my mate likes the pensioner special at the chippy if weathers good we go Hay-on-Wye my other mate likes the chippy there
Great builds/projects. I was about to comment on the orange colour, very reminiscent of my orange Jota, then I saw the picture of the Jota. It all makes sense now.
well this and the Guzzi build comes to an end (that's if custom builds ever do!) Have to say I am loving both bikes, they are very different to ride! The Duke is so light and nimble at 168kg wet, with the Guzzi at 200kg This will be my last build for 18 months... I normally build a bike over winter, and ride all summer, so that's the plan this year... then in September I will start work on the house... Happy wife, happy life! Hopefully I can start another build September 2024, so plenty of time to look around for anything that takes my fancy for now here is a video that covers the build...
June, the weather has been great and I really am enjoying this bike and putting a few miles on it! however, every time I looked at the under slung exhaust I felt it didn’t suit the bike… I know a lot of people liked it (some didnt...) but for me it was wrong. it was the long straight front pipe… So out came the welder and I made a new one! here it is! this feels like a hooligan of a bike The combination of the light weight, the torque delivery, the riding position, and the handling all bring out the hooligan I have had the wheel come up a few times
They say a custom build is never really finished… that’s a true statement! while the four cable throttle worked really well… it was just a little too slow for my liking, taking just more than a fist full from closed to open. Also, after buying a clutch cable from Venhill for the Guzzi and being impressed with how much lighter it made the clutch, I decided to buy some of their teflon lined conduit, and some of their flexible wire rope as opposed to cable. That has made a significant difference to the feel of the throttle, especially as I extended the liner into the adjusters and throttle housing. I also incorporated a positive stop for fully open on the throttle, save straining the cables. I always enjoy silver soldering and watching the solder flow into the gaps to make a seamless joint! I did have to buy some more sticks of solder as I was getting low… £10 a stick now! it used to be £1 last time I bought some!
had to be done! if anyone is interested I have done a blog page on spraying at home... https://jtccc.wordpress.com/projects-2/paint-spraying-at-home/
I enjoy your builds and as a MX-5 owner too albeit a 2011 model, I thoroughly enjoyed your blog too, thank you.
thanks guys... yes the MX5 is a super little car, and actually does more miles than our SLK and jeep put together!
I'm really enjoying these excellent builds. What talent, and you have got to love a orange paint job with a silver frame
A custom build is never finished.... When I first built this bike I wanted an underslung silencer, which I did make… Unfortunately the bike ran like a bag of crap with it on, due to a silly design error i made in opposing the inlets from each cylinder into the silencer.. at 1/8 throttle, it ran rough. So this is MKll design! I also wanted to put the British standard numbers on it, just in case the MOT man was in a bad mood… so I had some stencils made up and etched them on along with a Ducati logo. this is a very easy and simple process, here is a short video of how it’s done.
