Finally a build-off I can enter! OK so a few month ago I was contracted to build a bike for an old friend in Nor-Cal named Pee Wee. He's a big dude with a big budget. He wanted a very unique custom that would emulate the Frisco style choppers the Hells Angels built and rode around the San Francisco area. By the time we got into the same mindset and had ordered the necessary parts and materials I knew this bike was going to cost a small fortune. So I gave him a price just under $3K as a ballpark figure and he didn't even flinch.
I saw this as an grand opportunity to build several bikes, that I could sell at a higher profit margin, while working within the budget set forth on Pee Wee's bike build. Basically I take all the profit from one bike and turn out three more bikes I can sell for a greater profit. It's a business reinvestment. I'll then take those profits and purchase more tools and parts for the next round of bike builds. I was forced to make a larger than normal steel purchase to get a company price break and now I have enough material left over for 8 more bikes.
I try to keep up with new custom ideas within the bike and motorcycle industry from around the world. Although I have some unique and different concepts, if one looked long enough and hard enough you'd probably realize that there are NO new ideas. That being said, to some extent, everyone will take creative license from others with their own designs. I guess what I'm saying is if you look at one person's "unique" or "original" idea you will ultimately see other peoples ideas within it.
I recently saw the winning bike from the FBI-COTY in Amsterdam this last August and it has really stuck with me. Although I love the lines and the overall shape of this bike, (in my minds eye) I see areas that need improvement. I immediately started thinking of the changes I'd make if I ever built a bike like that one.
Usually I start a build or design in TurboCad. I have been using this simple CADD program for years now as a computer sketch pad. Long ago I figured out that certain stock parts like cranks, seats and shocks were being replicated in all of my drawings. So I spent one night drawing all the parts I thought might be "stock" and saved them to a file called "bike parts". Now whenever I design a new bike I just open the "bike parts" file and start dragging around the individual parts and drawing the bike as I need to. As I'm drawing a new idea a common theme or name usually presents itself and that becomes the name of the file and the new bike.
This new design just kept saying old Henry Ford to me. And that kept me thinking about my 1927 Ford Model T sedan. That is how I came up with the simple name "1927". When I look at the overall design I think of the bike old Henry would have made if he built bikes instead of cars. This is a challenge for me to pull off as I've never built a short wheelbase "proper" bike before. I want it to be just right or I won't show it. As it sits right now I have the 3/4" heim joints, the 24" Skyway wheels, the leaf spring and the steel for the frame and fork. I need to order a handful of parts and make quite a few others but I should be able to build this bike in a couple of months, no problem.
Wish me luck. later Travis
I saw this as an grand opportunity to build several bikes, that I could sell at a higher profit margin, while working within the budget set forth on Pee Wee's bike build. Basically I take all the profit from one bike and turn out three more bikes I can sell for a greater profit. It's a business reinvestment. I'll then take those profits and purchase more tools and parts for the next round of bike builds. I was forced to make a larger than normal steel purchase to get a company price break and now I have enough material left over for 8 more bikes.
I try to keep up with new custom ideas within the bike and motorcycle industry from around the world. Although I have some unique and different concepts, if one looked long enough and hard enough you'd probably realize that there are NO new ideas. That being said, to some extent, everyone will take creative license from others with their own designs. I guess what I'm saying is if you look at one person's "unique" or "original" idea you will ultimately see other peoples ideas within it.
I recently saw the winning bike from the FBI-COTY in Amsterdam this last August and it has really stuck with me. Although I love the lines and the overall shape of this bike, (in my minds eye) I see areas that need improvement. I immediately started thinking of the changes I'd make if I ever built a bike like that one.
Usually I start a build or design in TurboCad. I have been using this simple CADD program for years now as a computer sketch pad. Long ago I figured out that certain stock parts like cranks, seats and shocks were being replicated in all of my drawings. So I spent one night drawing all the parts I thought might be "stock" and saved them to a file called "bike parts". Now whenever I design a new bike I just open the "bike parts" file and start dragging around the individual parts and drawing the bike as I need to. As I'm drawing a new idea a common theme or name usually presents itself and that becomes the name of the file and the new bike.
This new design just kept saying old Henry Ford to me. And that kept me thinking about my 1927 Ford Model T sedan. That is how I came up with the simple name "1927". When I look at the overall design I think of the bike old Henry would have made if he built bikes instead of cars. This is a challenge for me to pull off as I've never built a short wheelbase "proper" bike before. I want it to be just right or I won't show it. As it sits right now I have the 3/4" heim joints, the 24" Skyway wheels, the leaf spring and the steel for the frame and fork. I need to order a handful of parts and make quite a few others but I should be able to build this bike in a couple of months, no problem.
Wish me luck. later Travis
