[Nibile]

I haven't done much as of late, mainly because there's nothing left to modify except the engine, and I don't want to touch that. 70 bhp are more than enough for my riding likes and skills, plus, it's a bike that draws quite a lot of attention from policemen, so having a stock engine is a strong point in my favour when I get stopped...

[Nibile]

The only thing I've done is to have the swingarm "repaired". The guy who made it made it too narrow on the left side (fucking idiot it's his fucking job) and so the chain had eaten through the metal. I took it to the guy who made my new subframe and he slimmed the part, reinforcing it with from the inside. Now it's more or less perfect.

[DAVETHOMAS90]

I haven't done much as of late, mainly because there's nothing left to modify except the engine, and I don't want to touch that. 70 bhp are more than enough for my riding likes and skills, plus, it's a bike that draws quite a lot of attention from policemen, so having a stock engine is a strong point in my favour when I get stopped...

I think you're probably right there Lore, about 70bhp being sufficient. More likely to focus on skills than speed, too 

Whether it affects how you're dealt with "when"! you get stopped, is a different matter. I was only ever stopped once on my motorbike (KR1-S ~60bhp?).
It was nice of the officer to comment that I "clearly new how to handle my machine". I thought there was then going to be some sort of "Biker Bro Bearhug", but instead got a 2 month ban for doing 90 in a 60  Ooops!

[Nibile]

A couple of pics from last Sunday.
motina 1 by Nibile, on Flickr

motina 2 by Nibile, on Flickr

[Duma]

glorious

[Nibile]

Indeed.

[SamT]

 

[DAVETHOMAS90]

Wow. That does indeed look glorious.

The bike looks the dog's too 
 

Just going to get mine out!

[Falling Down]

That’s absolutely mint Nibs 

[Nibile]

Cheers guys!
 

[User deactivated.]

Someone talk me into or out of getting a project bike. I've never worked on motorbikes before but I am generally OK with tools and happy to take my time and learn. Will this be a bigger money pit than its worth? I would probably be looking at a motocross or enduro bike

[Nibile]

A project bike is the coolest thing ever, especially if you can do the job by yourself. I don't think a motocross/enduro bike make good projects though, but I don't know which kind of project you have in mind.

Having said that, a project bike will eat out your heart, mind and wallet.
You will lie awake at night obsessing over metal shapes, lines, brakes, components and everything in between.
It will not run.
It will break.
Nothing will turn out as drawn on paper.
It will never be finished.
If it will be finished, it will never been truly finished.
You will regret it.
Your pals will take the piss out of you.
You'll find yourself thinking about all the brand new motorcycles you could have bought will all the money you spent on it.

Then one day, after a lot of time and tribulations, at a parking lot a girl will approach you saying: "Is that yours? It's wonderful, congratulations." and life will be good again.

Disclaimer: all the above may or may not have occurred to the author.

[User deactivated.]

My vague line of thinking was to buy a non running ktm 2 stroke, beaten up and a few years old, but still a relatively modern platform that could perform well when sorted. My naive expectation was that I could completely strip it down and spend 6 months rebuilding it with YouTube as my guide and end up with a good performing bike for a couple grand less than a good one would have cost, and had some fun building it along the way.

I guess I'll wait a few years until I have a bit more disposable income and then go the tried and tested route of building a cafe racer or something with a bit more soul than a dirt bike!

[Yossarian]

I think there are some people doing quite cool stuff with weird and wonderful dirt bikes.

I saw this (https://www.returnofthecaferacers.com/movie-motorcycle/mad-max-fury-road-motorcycles/) a while back about the bikes they used in Fury Road.

And I was looking at this earlier which I thought was really nice - https://mythmotor.com

Max Hazan did a crazy KTM https://www.bikeexif.com/supercharged-ktm-motorcycle-hazan-motorworks

And this Walt Siegl is pretty cool too https://www.bikeexif.com/ktm-450

I had a similar idea to yours, but using something like an XR600R or a DR350. I might well reboot this plan when my midlife crisis really takes off later this year.

[Nibile]

I think there are some people doing quite cool stuff with weird and wonderful dirt bikes.

Ahah Yoss you must be kidding there! You mentioned some of the most famous customizers in the world! If Liam is nearly as good as to have them as an inspiration, he should do it for a living!
On a side note, I love Hazan's work, but I think that bikes should be first rideable things, and only secondly objects of art. His work is simply amazing, his shapes perfect, but you'll not be able to ride those bikes anywhere, at least the most part of them. I find this is a big factor.
As for Siegl, again excellent work, but I think that he's found a formula that he's applying to every bike. Take the seat unit, for instance, all his Leggero models share the same seat, and possibly fuel tank, and that's something I don't like. I would not spend a fortune to customize my bike to find another similar at a traffic light.
Again I have the deepest admiration for their skills.

With regards to Liam's project, to quote Gennady Golovkin: "Man, are you serious?"
A non-running 2 stroke?
It will be a nightmare. My 2 stroke needed three different professional mechanics to start running properly, and the one who finally fixed it is a former KTM mechanic in motocross European class.
I don't want to sound too negative, I'm only playing the devil's advocate here, because I know how frustrating it is to look at an unfinished bike with no clue on what to do.
Much better to find a nice donor and start your apprenticeship on something easier to customize, bearing in mind that the only way to save money is to not customize it. On the market our bikes will never be worth the money we put into them.
I think this link is quite useful.

https://www.returnofthecaferacers.com/building-a-cafe-racer/10-mistakes/
In any case, keep us up to date!

[Yossarian]

I kind of agree about MH actually - he's a sculptor stuck in a motorcycle customiser's body...

I realise that you're the greasy-handed man Lore and we're just some punters looking at pictures of cool stuff thinking that they'd be fun to have in the garage.

This is the parking lot girl that I think we're all hoping to meet btw...

[Nibile]

I kind of agree about MH actually - he's a sculptor stuck in a motorcycle customiser's body...

I realise that you're the greasy-handed man Lore and we're just some punters looking at pictures of cool stuff thinking that they'd be fun to have in the garage.

This is the parking lot girl that I think we're all hoping to meet btw...

Yoss you're too kind really.
I'm just another punter who'd love to have one of those bikes in the garage, plus, I'm only good at stripping bikes down, unfortunately not at rebuilding...
But a few weeks ago, on a rainy Sunday I cut and shaped an aluminum rear fender, that I will never mount... I would love to be able to shape metal and weld. Not to talk about electronic stuff... I only know that electricity is a mistery.
Now I'm cutting my teeth with fiberglass, I'm reshaping my seat unit to use it as a mold for an aluminum one, hopefully.
Being really OCD I obsess over shapes and proportions, and it's not easy for me to find a bike that perfectly suit my likes, even the most stunning ones, like the Norton Domiracer or the MV Superveloce 800.
I could talk about them for hours.

As for the parking lot girl, she looks indeed perfect. 

[Nibile]

PS. your drawings are really really cool.

[Yossarian]

I know these BMWs have been a bit done to death, but I always liked this one...

I really like bikes where there's some space around bits, and it looks like things have been removed / made more pure, rather than adding "personal flourishes" like horrible steampunk-inspired headlamps converted from watering cans, etc.

[Nibile]

Yes, absolutely. Those BMW are a bit common right now but that's because they make good donor bikes. Especially with the half fairing and endurance look.
People tend to forget that for cafe racers "less is more" is the key.
Most projects are far too overkilled for my likes. You should keep things minimal.

[Nibile]

You should keep things minimal.

Like, a sweater, some tape, tin foil helmet, and 150 mph.
Bonkers.

[Yossarian]

That's hardcore. These guys are just down the road from me. Weird and wonderful mixture of stuff they do. This is not exactly my cup of tea, but I appreciate the work that went into it...

[Nibile]

I'm currently addicted to this channel.
Mesmerizing stuff.
https://www.youtube.com/user/shiroh73/videos

[Yossarian]

I'll watch those tonight.

I really liked the Greasy Hands Preachers. I've not seen Oil in the Blood yet.

This is quite good...

[Nibile]

Nice video! Now I want to go for a ride.