Build Your Own *l$%#y Custom

[Count Steer]

If I was spending a spare £4K I'd get all 3 of my project bikes painted, but I do think paint is a waste of money on track bikes.

The 'prize' is £40k (4000 Soapy tenners) so a lick of paint shouldn't break the bank.

I was expecting all sorts of exotica but so far, I think, only Weeksy has mentioned a specific custom shop. I'd quite like to take something like a BSA Rocket 3 and 'modernise' it without changing the general look too much. Dunno about specifics - Triumph triple engine, new shocks, forks, brakes maybe but I'm sure the right custom people could work a little magic. (Mainly because I used to list after one but now would probably think 'doesn't go/stop/handle'.

[Bigjawa]

Dunno about nobody making a good go at Supermonos.
Tiggcraft and Over Racing had a few good attempts if I remember right.

Not as a factory road bike though, you could buy that Ducati one but If memory is right, it cost as much as a 916?

MuZ tried with the Skorpion, and it was a nice bike, but let down by that 660 XTZ motor.

[KungFooBob]

Bimota BB1 was a factory road going Supermono.

[Bigjawa]

Bimota BB1 was a factory road going Supermono.

But only 375 were ever sold, and firmly into the exotica category.

[KungFooBob]

When I was in my 20s the local bike shop in Doncaster had one in for years, I bet it was still unsold when they went under.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

£40K changes things.

Engine - 2 stroke inline 4 made from two Athena Banshee top ends, 3 stroker YPVS/Banshee cranks, machined from billet crankcases, probably use GSXR1100 clutch and gearbox. This would give you 860 cc. Lectron carbs, because I like them.

That'll be a quarter of the budget gone.

Another £10K on Harris Magnum 4 frame, swing arm, linkages and fuel tank.

£2K in forks, £1K on rear shock, £3K on wheels, £2K on brakes, plus £2K for wiring and road going gear.

Leaves you £10K as a contingency find - which will be spent.

[weeksy]

£40K changes things.

Engine - 2 stroke inline 4 made from two Athena Banshee top ends, 3 stroker YPVS/Banshee cranks, machined from billet crankcases, probably use GSXR1100 clutch and gearbox. This would give you 860 cc. Lectron carbs, because I like them.

That'll be a quarter of the budget gone.

Another £10K on Harris Magnum 4 frame, swing arm, linkages and fuel tank.

£2K in forks, £1K on rear shock, £3K on wheels, £2K on brakes, plus £2K for wiring and road going gear.

Leaves you £10K as a contingency find - which will be spent.

Lol sounds like a wanky pile of shit you'd see in Street fighter magazine in 1995

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

You know me too well.

[demographic]

Got to be pointed out that most of the wanky customs made from 70s Hondas/whatever and butchered by Superhero bearded hipsters who junk all the practical parts have at one point been a stalled project in some over worked and underholidayed dads shed.

Kind of need one for the other.

[Count Steer]

£40K changes things.

Engine - 2 stroke inline 4 made from two Athena Banshee top ends, 3 stroker YPVS/Banshee cranks, machined from billet crankcases, probably use GSXR1100 clutch and gearbox. This would give you 860 cc. Lectron carbs, because I like them.

That'll be a quarter of the budget gone.

Another £10K on Harris Magnum 4 frame, swing arm, linkages and fuel tank.

£2K in forks, £1K on rear shock, £3K on wheels, £2K on brakes, plus £2K for wiring and road going gear.

Leaves you £10K as a contingency find - which will be spent.

Lol sounds like a wanky pile of shit you'd see in Street fighter magazine in 1995

Isn't that the point of a real custom though? Make something that you want even if no-one else does. At the end of the day, there's only one exactly like it and it's yours (for ever probably 'cos nobody would buy it off you Even if they did they'd probably change stuff to suit their own vision). Which raises the question - does buying an off-the-shelf custom from a custom shop really count if you've had no input to it?

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

A mate has 3 Bimotas, they're all not as good as a 20 year old R1.

If you're building a special you have to have an end goal in mind, and if you think your going to build a bike that's better to ride than a new similar production bike, you're going to be disappointed.

The only reasons I can see for building a special is to either be different or to improve on how a bike looks

So with that in mind, my special would be brand new CB1000R made to look like Freddie Spencer's 1982 AMA Superbike

[demographic]

Not as a factory road bike though, you could buy that Ducati one but If memory is right, it cost as much as a 916?

MuZ tried with the Skorpion, and it was a nice bike, but let down by that 660 XTZ motor.

Fair comment with that. No real factory ones but buyers seem obsessed with with capacity and BHP so its always going to be a niche market.

[Bustaspoke]

With 40K to play with I'd have something similar to this,not sure about the luggage though...

And a street legal tribute to this,I love the style of the Lawson FZ

What suspension for the FZ? Got to be RWU,maybe R6 forks?
I'd spend what money's left over on appropriate attire plus a Euro trip around the alps & a trip to wheels & waves with the Enfield.
The Lawson rep would be my annual Classic TT steed.

[Mr. Dazzle]

40k isn't enough to build the custom I'd like...in fact, I started a thread about it 'cause someone else has already built it

viewtopic.php?t=4097

However that's not really in the spirit of the thread is it? We're talking about old fashioned technologies and inferior solutions here aren't we?

In that vein, I'd have to build something where the component parts look good to me.

So.....Ducati 916 frame and swingarm, probably gun metal grey. Try and work out how to get a big air cooled V twin in there to replace the water cooled engine. I would say underseat hidden radiator but I doubt you could make it look good.

Bikini fairing type thing.

Retain an undertank airbox like the Ducati superbikes have, no pod filters please.

Big fat USD forks and radial brakes, obviously

Carbon wheels with the weave showing.

Metallic green. Just cause the idea of a dark metallic green ducati naked appeals to me.

Not Öhlins...to yellow and gold. Or maybe Öhlins with new power coating on the spring

[the_priest]

I am slowly getting mine to a standard where I want it to be. Some small tasteful mods, some stuff I will see if it works or not. Right now it is on the battery tender and waiting for some clear weather and dry roads. I need to give it a wash and detail at some point, but that is waiting me getting some proper paint for the plastics that I will be sorting out in the New Year.

It is so nice to have something to tinker on that is easy enough to work on, simple enough to improve and maintain, but ticks boxes on riding experience and grin factor.

[Bigjawa]

£40K changes things.

Engine - 2 stroke inline 4 made from two Athena Banshee top ends, 3 stroker YPVS/Banshee cranks, machined from billet crankcases, probably use GSXR1100 clutch and gearbox. This would give you 860 cc. Lectron carbs, because I like them.

That'll be a quarter of the budget gone.

Another £10K on Harris Magnum 4 frame, swing arm, linkages and fuel tank.

£2K in forks, £1K on rear shock, £3K on wheels, £2K on brakes, plus £2K for wiring and road going gear.

Leaves you £10K as a contingency find - which will be spent.

Why would you want a 5 speed box?

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

£40K changes things.

Engine - 2 stroke inline 4 made from two Athena Banshee top ends, 3 stroker YPVS/Banshee cranks, machined from billet crankcases, probably use GSXR1100 clutch and gearbox. This would give you 860 cc. Lectron carbs, because I like them.

That'll be a quarter of the budget gone.

Another £10K on Harris Magnum 4 frame, swing arm, linkages and fuel tank.

£2K in forks, £1K on rear shock, £3K on wheels, £2K on brakes, plus £2K for wiring and road going gear.

Leaves you £10K as a contingency find - which will be spent.

Why would you want a 5 speed box?

Because the wider gears are stronger.

[Count Steer]

With 40K to play with I'd have something similar to this,not sure about the luggage though...

And a street legal tribute to this,I love the style of the Lawson FZ

What suspension for the FZ? Got to be RWU,maybe R6 forks?
I'd spend what money's left over on appropriate attire plus a Euro trip around the alps & a trip to wheels & waves with the Enfield.
The Lawson rep would be my annual Classic TT steed.

Has that Enfield got four wheels or are there two parked v close together?

Most of you have been quite parsimonious.

The winner is.....unclear.

[mangocrazy]

A little over 30 years ago I built (or rather had built) a 'special' that was ostensibly designed for my 5ft 2 ins girlfriend to ride. Light weight (c. 130 kg.) and low seat height were the main aims. Motive power was to be provided by a YPVS 350 motor, and chassis was a bespoke box section Hejira creation (Derek Chittenden being the main man). Cycle parts were to be light, strong and funky. However as we split up before the bike was finished, the design brief took a major swerve towrds the track day/racer on the road side of the street. Here's one of the few digital photos I have of the bike in its later incarnation:

Hejira_04.jpg (51.97 KiB) Viewed 91 times

If I was doing it again, and with the benefit of 30 years hindsight, I'd have the full carbon chassis instead of box section steel, top spec USD forks, suspension and twin discs, carbon wheels in lieu of the Astralites, and a 430cc Banshee motor with all the trick bits instead of a mildly breathed on YPVS. I'd also give it a paint job befitting its awesomeness rather than just the default black.

And I'd probably still have over £10k to spare...