I chose this project with the express purpose of learning some new processes or ideas about things I haven’t done before. I have built two other bikes back in the 1970’s but were simple builds and mostly bolt together projects. The design of those bikes was the most important part. For this project I chose a bike that basically has no accessory parts to buy. If I had chosen a Harley Davidson, there are 500 companies making thousands of ‘aftermarket’ parts, then the project gets pretty easy as far as selecting parts to make up the bike. So my choice meant I would need to design and build almost everything myself. That was the over riding rule I set out for myself. Sometimes things would seem to go well but after other parts were built and added, there could be conflicts that couldn’t be resolved. Then it was back to the drawing board. All in all, most things worked out and I learned new things that are now part of the skills I can say I own. Some things had to be redone and others performed well. Many new concepts were learned and remembered and better yet, give rise to whole new directions yet to be realized. When you work within your capabilities and comfort zone, you only get to perfect a few things you already know. When you go where no one has gone before, or at least, you haven’t gone before, you either learn things or you give up. If you never give up, you can’t fail. Only a small number of people at the show this past weekend really understood the bike for what it is, but that’s Ok. The few that saw what I accomplished was enough. By the way, most of the ladies really liked the paint job I did. California colours. Very different than most bikes. Maybe my ‘art’ bike could go in the Guggenheim.
