Re: ** WELCOME NEWBIES to DTT**
Hey everyone!
I'm from sunny Australia.. but recently not-so-sunny LOL ;D Please excuse my absence. I originally joined in November, but since then I have been caught up in bad health... and when I'm well, attempting to build 2 custom bikes. I have been riding for approximately 12 years now, and in that time I have worked for my local Honda shop as wrench monkey and worked as a parts interpretor for a custom chopper parts wholesaler. I am an amateur builder and an even more amateur mechanic. My technical duties at Honda consisted of doing services and detailing.. and mostly a lot of bike transport/deliveries. Everything I know now has been self taught, or by talking to the people that know. The last year has seen my workshop set-up underneath my house, and although I'm still acquiring equipment, I'm equipped enough to build most of what I can dream.
Although I have owned and rebuilt every bike I've ever had, including a GPZ500S and a 1996 CBR900RR Fireblade, it wasn't until last year that I built my first cafe` racer. When I think about it.. I've ridden almost everything modern... but after riding Ducati Monsters and CBR1000's.. amd even $60,000 choppers, I finally came full circle. At 30 years of age, I realised that the real riding begins when you strip away all that modern junk... ABS... EFI... blah blah... Take an old bike.. strip away anything that isn't needed to make it handle or ride good.. and what you have is a time machine... well, that and a bare-bones reminder of what it is to actually ride. Real riding. Just you, the twisty mountain roads.. and a basic piece of machinery that stops, goes and sounds freaking awesome. The Cafe` Racer. I was hooked.
In May last year, I completed my first Cafe build. It was a ground up rebuild... a 1981 Yamaha XS250. By the time it was finished, it looked nothing like the ugly duckling Yamaha made. It was svelt, fast, and loud.. and had all the right bits
in fact, I shall post pics as soon as some nice person explains how I do that.. as i'm learning to navigate here still. I don't know how to add photos to my profile... *scratches head*
In the meantime, I've completed a custom rigid SR185 Exciter which I built specifically for the Deus Ex Mechina "budget biker build-off" in November last year. It cost me a total of $600 8) Since then, I have chopped it in half and am in the process of mating it with an SR250 rear frame section. It will be a proper cafe rcaer when finished.. instead of the 3-week thrown together mess it was for the build-off
Again, will post pics if I can figure out how :-\ Also, I am currently rebuilding and customizing another XS250, and have recently acquired a 1976 XS750 Triple which will eventually end up under the knife.. or should I say, reciprocating saw? LOL
It's great to be here and to see so many people with a passion for the old gear getting together. I will be looking to start a cafe racer social club here in SE QLD.. so for any riders in Queensland... say hi please! Cheers! I look forward to meeting some of you soon