Tables – Well it is done, Shrek has been reborn. Everyone on this site seems to become totally addicted to these bikes and I ‘ve gotta say I am no different….”My name is Tables and I am addicted”. There I said it, what a relief. After many, many late nights of not seeing my wife or kids, grinding, cutting and banging away in the garage for the last 9 months I can now say that I have completed my first build.
I have felt like Doctor Frankenstein, tinkering away in the corner, making funny little bits, spending a ridiculous number of hours on some part that only I know even exists, and loving every minute of it.
It has been a massive learning curve for me, starting with only an idea I built everything on this bike, except the frame. I taught myself to weld, paint, airbrush, polish, lace wheels, electricals, spin aluminium up on the lathe, everything.
When I started I went to the scrap metal yard and paid about $15 for a bin full of little bits of rusty crap I found on the ground, this was to become all my forward controls, brake linkages, brackets, mounts, linkages etc.
This build has been an international melding pot also with parts scrounged at swap meets and from mates from Yamaha, Harley, Kawasaki, Jawa, Triumph, Suzuki, Honda, and unknown others going into the mix. While every nut, bolt, washer bearing, spring on this bike is new or rebuilt. I’ve now got some new ideas in mind, and even before I was finished I made some changes, but that’s cool. I had a sissy bar at first but got rid of it….actually it broke. After every ride I have to tighten everything back up, but that’s cool too.
I’ve got 8 bikes in my garage, with my main ride (up until I build this one) being a Harley, but one ride and I am already considering selling the Hog. Last weekend I went for a blast to my local haunt, a Café called ‘Pie in the Sky’, which is on a road loved by all riders in Sydney fondly called the ‘Old Road’. While there were about 40 or 50 bikes there worth 10’s of thousands of dollars my like hack was the centre of attention, especially when after one kick and she roared into life through the open pies. I could barely get outta the place through the crowd.
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The grin on my face was from ear to ear all the way home. I have a couple of great mates that have been a huge help with this bike, Tony and Mark who help me get the bike home and then get it running before pulling it to pieces. Gaz for letting me use everything in his legendary workshop and for lending me anything I wanted, and Jay who owns a bike wreckers and workshop. His first words to me were “bring your truck and fill it up with anything you want…pay me sometime”. No words can say how cool these brothers are!
Thanks for the cool site Ted.
Tables
