Started building in Feb 09 w/ my bro in-law
“My bike build was all about “Cheap ~ Cheap ~ Cheap” but more importantly, I didn’t want it to end up looking all jacked up and unbalanced. Here’s what I put together:
Finally settled on the TC bros hardtail (black). The lines were fine, the 3″ extension was good for me being over 6ft tall and most importantly, the price was right. I ordered a Mooneyes headlight cover (I’ve got an extra one if anyone is interested) which fit perfectly into the stock 7″ headlight ring. Next is the very early ironhead sportster tank (no paint). Picked it up on ebay for 37 bucks.
The guy listed it as “custom tank -unknown.” I worked for years at a MC scrap yard. As soon as I saw the externat petcock threads, I knew exactly what it was from. Frame is a 73 but the front end is an 81 w/ fork gators.
The rear fender is actually the stock 81 front fender remounted. Rear wheel was pulled from an early TX or XS-1 (can’t exactly remember) Either way, it’s an 18″ with a few bum spokes but overall cheap and sexy. I pulled the stock 2-2 magaphone exhaust of my 81 donor bike and hacked it down into a real poor mans example of drag pipes. from there, I just had to wrap them in heat tape. (I love that smell). Everything stands on a pair of the retro firestone tires. The only thing unseen is my ignition wiring which is all ran internally.
I have a few changes in ind which include my poor mans inverted levers as well as the possibility of clamp on bars instead of the euro drags I’m currently running.
Started building in Feb 09 w/ my bro in-law (he has a great garage with every tool known to man). Wh cut, grinded, measured, welded, and drank every evening for the next 8 weeks. Finally, we rolled out something resembling a motorcicle. With some paint, a tank, seat and some new tires… we could see it. Then I finished up the wiring and spent some time tuning. The celebratory first ride was perfect. Lets be honest… it’s a Yamaha ~ would you really expect anything less?
I’m really fascinated by this youthful garage builder culture which pops up all over the world. Everywhere I look, it seems that some of the most fun, smart, technical, and adventurous guys are all sort of pooling their creativity into fast bikes, websites, magazines, blogs, and product lines. Like everything, these sort of cultural uprisings always come in cycles (no pun intended).
over and out ~
Brian Durk – representing midwest “psycho freak garage genius culture”
Check out these useful videos Brian sent in.
