With Thanks to Dave Mann

Should he or shouldn’t he?

Mac was considering selling the Harley this year having owned it for close to twenty years………

He  polished it up, took a few snaps for evilbay but then sat on it, fired it up and ……. well now it’s not so easy to say good bye to the old girl!

Heisenburg’s at it again , and again he’s left it to the last minute. A few days to go before the bike show and he’s decided to completely re-design the front end on his bike – and in true Alex fashion he hasn’t just opted to put a set of tele’s on it – oh no – he’s designed a totally new form of suspension involving a pivot at the base of the fork s with an internal piston pushing against an internal progressive spring set up.

Up until day break working on it, Mac and Jay popped round to drink his beer, offer advice (which he quite rightly ignored) and take the p#ss.

Mock up.

Nearly there!

After a non biker pointed out that the bars looked like a push chair – jay finally admitted that we were right and put the drag bars back on.

He went on to adorn his Suzuki with some more pin striping –

(FLF Kawasaki KH250) Love it or hate it, you have to admit it’s different!

Mac found this ‘Beauty’ under a tarpaulin laid in some ones front garden, as he’d seen nothing like it before, he had to have it.

A few years on –  and every component part has been replaced, reconditioned or newly fabricated.

A huge thank you to everyone who helped out with this one, especially with sourcing old parts and making new ones (like the fairing ‘bubble’).

Mac met a great bunch of blokes when building this bike and found out that if you look, there is a wealth of experience and knowledge right on your doorstep. The network of old school builders is out there – and they want to help!

It sounds and smells beautiful (for those who remember real two strokes).

Unfortunately she has to go to make some room in the garage – but will be on show at the bike festival next week.

Jay bought this ‘unique fixer  upper’ which (as he explained) was held together with love when first he limped it home.

The bike now resembles little of the skip job he brought home, having changed pretty much everything on the bike (the list is endless but includes a seat base made from some metal from a dubious source and a cracking ‘ace of spades’ side stand) .

I’m sorry mate but the straight bars need to go back on as everyone agrees the bars make it look like a pram! – Oh! – and stop making kids cry!!

This is Alex’s first leap of faith into the wonderful world of Custom Motorcycles.

More than ‘a little good’ on the lathe and other associated machine shop goodies he managed to get this little beauty up and running in no time. Unfortunately no one explained that it would not handle / brake / stop – like the donor GSXR – which led for some interesting ‘first ride’ experiences – not that this has stopped him riding it like a sports bike (although he has agreed not to fit the  turbo – just yet)

The bike was finished the night before last years bike festival and entered into the custom show complete with its expensive red oxide paint job and ‘smeg fridge’ chain guard. Unfortunately no one saw beyond the fancy paintwork to appreciate just how much design and creative engineering he put into this and he returned home with his ‘Trophy panniers’ empty.

(pictured is Cooperman  sorting out the electrics)

This is another great example of the Scavengers in action.

The Mad Prof took the frame (which is a royal pain as it splits in two to remove the engine), raked the front and hard tailed the rear – but with the ability to split just above the rear wheel spindle.

Mac designed the ‘Harley 45’ style suspension seat unit and Alex welded it all up (amongst other stuff).

Still loads to do on this one, mainly electrics – which having looked into, is going to cost a packet.

We got a call a few weeks back from our mate Amy asking if we could help sort out her new bike she’d bought.
Member Jay (aka Fruit shoot) took up the challenge and spent what felt like an eternity not only making it look right but more important making it safe.

Jay found the swinging arm spindle was a piece of threaded bar, the fork shrouds were made of aerosol cans, the rear sets were attached by little more than the paint and the front wheel wouldn’t turn – if you tightened up the spindle.
With the help of a few mates including our tame and talented engineer Alex Heisenburg all was made safe.

Hopefully Amy will have it on the road for the festival

Mac’s XS650 Chop.

This is what it’s all about!

Frame built by member Pete (the mad Professor), engine rebuilt by Vince,  electrics by Cooperman, interesting kick starter and foot rests by Colin (by hand – no CNC on this bike), inlet manifold made by hand to accommodate an early Amal carb – again by the prof and so on and so forth.

This is what real mates are all about!

See the finished article at this years Brackley Festival of Motorcycling