Speed Shop Design LLC

Does this make my ass look big?

2012-01-29T18:03:00.000-08:00

After a bunch more welding, grinding, and sanding today I finally got the swing arm and rear tire on the Ducati for the first time ever. Now I can start working on the tail piece and tank!

I've had enough!

2012-01-16T19:43:00.000-08:00

I am tired of being secretive about my current Ducati build. The teacher instinct in me wants to share and let people see and learn. It's no fun designing and building in a vacuum which is what I feel these top secret builds become... A sucking vertex your stuck in all by yourself! This being said I welcome all input and advise you guys may have... Continuing to learn is key to me and my creative process so please critique.

So for the past month solid I have been cutting, bending, welding, grinding, and then welding and grinding some more to fabricate the front end of the Ducati. I enjoyed designing and building the girder fork on the Beezerker so much that I decided I wanted to try my luck at it again but this time put all I learned previously into the design of this fork.

The Ducati is a fat tired bobber cafe sort of a bike and being that the front tire is a 160 I needed a design that was going to stand up to such a menacing tire.

What you see here is the product of more hours than I care to recall right now. Today was the first time I ever put the front end on the bike and I have to admit I could not be more excited.

This bike will have no paint on it what so ever so my metal work has to be top notch which I am discovering is easier said than done!

It's actually hard to go home for the night now because all I want to do is finish this thing and ride it :)

Sitting Pretty

2012-01-02T10:53:00.000-08:00

I have been making slow but steady progress on both the Ducati project as well as the Triton project. Put the Triton together as a roller for the first time last week and I have to say I am really pleased with it's stance.

Thank you Seattle!!!

2011-12-19T10:34:00.000-08:00

The Beezerker and I had a wonderful week end at the Ultimate Builder Competition. We walked away with the Peoples Choice award as well as First Place in the Freestyle category.... It was a kick as week end!!!!

So much to be thankful for!

2011-11-23T17:08:00.000-08:00

Dropping Out!

2011-11-17T19:03:00.000-08:00

A while back I drew up and had my friend Casey from Velvet Oven machine up some swing arm parts for the Ducati. At the time I had no idea what the axle adjusters were going to look like but today it came to me in a vision. Okay, maybe it was more like a drawing than a vision but regardless I figured it out. It takes some nerve to take beautifully machined parts like Casey made and throw them on the mill for some free hand machining.

I am really happy with the way things are turning out!

Speed Shop Design on Facebook

2011-11-17T14:21:00.001-08:00

I have decided to create a separate page for Speed Shop Design on Facebook. I recently noticed that my personal page reached over 1000 friends, most of which I don't know. I want my personal page to be that, personal, so I am asking those that want to be my friend because of Speed Shop Design to like Speed Shop Design the Facebook page. Hope this is not too much of an inconvenience.
Sincerely,
The Management ;)

Finally!!!

2011-11-14T16:35:00.000-08:00

Got the Ducati frame fully welded this week end :)

Route 120 into Nikko, Japan, fall 2011

2011-11-09T10:37:00.001-08:00

Japan, my amazing journey:

2011-10-20T10:33:00.001-07:00

I have been back in the states for a few days now after spending nearly three weeks in Japan. My friend Glen and I spent 14 days in Tokyo and 5 days on rented motorcycles touring the mountainous countryside.

This trip was a life altering one for me for so many reasons... Reasons I will touch on in the following posts.

Besides taking hundreds of photos with our point and shoots and phones we also had a Go-Pro camera mounted during our six hours of motorcycle riding each day. The Go-Pro was programmed to take a photo every 30 seconds so needless to say I have thousands of photo's of our journey.

I have barely scratched the surface of all the photo editing necessary and plan to spend the next week or so going through them all, posting online albums and posting on this blog.

Japan is an amazing country for so many reasons. If you have never been I strongly recommend it, you will be changed. For those who have been but never outside of a major city like Tokyo I strongly recommend you get on a motorcycle and head into the country. The roads are simply amazing, the view is breathtaking, the people so friendly, the ryokan and onsen so relaxing.

During our stay we met many amazing people from motorcycle builders to psychedelic painters to major industrial designers, all were so accommodating and friendly it simply blew our minds!

I will cover the highlights of our trip in more detail with future posts but till then here is a snippet as well as a huge thank you to all that we had the pleasure of meeting and hanging out with.

Chris

The sound of crickets...

2011-09-19T13:23:00.000-07:00

That's pretty much all you have heard on this blog for a while but let me assure you that lots and lots is happening!

The Triton and the 900ss projects are moving along well and looking more and more like motorcycles every day. Also working on a line of motorcycle components as well as some new details for the Slayer espresso machine.

I will have much more to talk about in a little bit but for now I must leave you with this little bit:

Not a Bro Party, it's a Brough Party!

2011-08-17T15:46:00.001-07:00

http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Got a nice invite from Paul d'Orleans of The Vintagent for the upcoming Brough Superior party in LA. Unfortunately I will not be able to make it but those who can should definitely check it out.

Cheers

Triton sitting up!

2011-07-11T22:33:00.000-07:00

I know it doesn't look like much but there is lots of thought and work involved to get her to this point.

Frame shortened 2.5"
swing arm lengthened 3"
steerer tube shortened 5/8"
forks to be shortened almost 4"

Special #6.2

2011-07-06T11:05:00.000-07:00

I have been working on so revisions to trusty old Special #6 the past couple of weeks. It all started with a new battery box and now I am building an entirely new seat. This seat is all aluminum as opposed to the original which is all stainless. I wanted a back to it as well as a bit of a cafe racer hump so here you can see me mocking up the panels with the seat travel fully compressed.

I have a few ideas on how I will do the upholstery but the trick will be designing something I can fabricate myself.

This project is a good warm up to all the sheet metal work I'll be doing on the Triton project soon!

Melt Down!!!

2011-06-21T14:54:00.000-07:00

I purchased a couple of Lithium Phosphate batteries a little while back and recently put one in Special #6. At first I was impressed by how small it was but then almost immediately unimpressed by how quickly it melted down while trying to start the 1000cc Sporty for the first time. After a week of emails trying to ask the maker of the batteries questions as to why this may have happened I have given up waiting for any customer service. Needless to say I will not be buying any more batteries from these people... Beware of www.carbon-speed.com!

So after about thirteen hours and a bit of stainless steel I have a new battery box to hold a standard size sealed battery as well as a tool roll. The four little belt loops are exactly that, belt loops to hold two small leather belts I will make soon.

Hear the roar of the Beezerker!

2011-06-03T08:25:00.000-07:00

The week before the Quail was a busy one. I flew to Vegas, rented a van, and picked the bike up at the showroom within the Cosmo. After driving through the night I arrived in San Francisco at HOBO SF, formerly Hollywood Bobbers. For two days Bruce and I detailed the bike, re-torqued the motor, changed the needle and oil in the carb, reset the timing and got her running perfectly. She was running okay before but now she sounds like she is truly going berserk!!!

Hear the roar of the Beezerker here!

The Beezerker in Cycle World

2011-06-01T10:42:00.000-07:00

On news stands now!

Page One

Page Two

An Amazing Day!

2011-05-18T14:37:00.001-07:00

more to come soon....

Holy Stoppers Batman!!!

2011-05-05T17:17:00.000-07:00

I got a nice care package from Beringer Brakes today and I could not be more excited!

It contained all the brake components for the Triton project. Here is just a peek at the 12.5" iron front rotors... Can you say "stoppies"? :)

The Little Bits

2011-05-01T21:58:00.000-07:00

I know it has been far too long since I posted but good things are happening and happening so fast I can barely keep track! I am not complaining but I am looking forward to things slowing down a bit after I am back from Quail.

This time last month I traveled down to Portland Oregon with a couple of my good buddies for a week end of great food, cold whiskey, dancing ladies, and lots of rusty little car bits.

The Portland Antique swap meet is a feast for the eyes and I love sifting through table after table of rusty little bits to find gems like these:

From the great little selection I scored I will use this as the headlight of the Ducati and the red lens as the tail light. I have no idea what this light is off of but it looks to be from the 1920's or so. I found a nice little 50watt haligen bulb that poped right into it without modifications. Happy times!!!! :)

What does it say!?

2011-04-01T11:58:00.000-07:00

The Beezerker in Robb Report.... RUSSIA!

Like a glove!

2011-03-28T18:15:00.000-07:00

The fit that is!

I totally cheated!

2011-03-16T22:24:00.000-07:00

Yup, you heard me, I cheated!

I am a firm believer that a successful craftsman needs to be able to utilize the tools at hand.

To create my wheeled designs I have been utilizing simple machining and fabrication processes and never any CNC machining. Well that has all changed now!

I have a background in computer design and my day time design job relies heavily on hand sketching and computer drawing in both 2D and 3D. My moonlighting design jobs typically utilize lots of 3D modeling and rapid prototyping processes to help realize the functionality of a design.

Because I seem to spend way too much time in front of a computer I have always welcomed the challenge and physicality of creating pieces with my two hands. I never seem to realize a design that I can not make with my hands. Most times this is just fine but lately I am visualizing more and more details that I find nearly impossible to do freehand.

Being a believer in a craftsman needing to master his tools I see a computer to be no different than a pencil and that there is a time and place for everything. With my current build, the Ducati, I happened upon the perfect element to utilize CNC machining.

A dry clutch Ducati requires a cush-drive and the rear hub I am using had none so what did I do, I designed one. Working around available polyurethane cush-drive bushings I created a 3D AutoCAD drawing that not only hid the cush-drive bushings but spaced the sprocket for perfect chain alignment.

I do know I could have machined this part on the rotary table by hand but I wanted a more flowing and sculptural part that closely matched the original Ducati part. Careful measuring, drawing, and incredibly accurate machining created a perfect part.

Casey, thank you for giving me the opportunity to see this piece come to life. It all went together flawlessly! I couldn't be happier!!!!

Knobbed for my pleasure!

2011-03-06T19:04:00.000-08:00

Soon things are going to get pretty exciting with the Ducati build.

Buchanan's has working on my wheels which should be heading back up this way some time in the coming week. My hub and rim combo really threw them for a loop but after some head scratching and a few phone calls they were able to couple them together to create a pretty unique pair of wheels.

I have never built a bike with the type of tires I chose this time around. I chuckle when I think about it because these wheels and tires are pretty much the opposite end of the spectrum from what I did on the Beezerker.

It's all linked...

2011-02-06T19:58:00.000-08:00

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I am building all the technical parts for the Ducati girder fork and today I put in some long hours machining chunks of mild steel into the top and bottom links. All the milling is 100% manual and my arms are feeling it after a long day like today.

The Beezerker links are aluminum and took about one quarter the time these took me to make. I chose steel this time around because I am using bushings and bearings along with some precision ground shafts in such a way that I will have infinite adjust-ability in the tension of all the moving parts. Since this bike is going to be a daily driver ease of serviceability is a major design factor.

She gets around!

2011-02-02T14:54:00.000-08:00

The Beezerker has been getting loads of press and the requests for images and interviews is non stop.

Designing and building a motorcycle like the Beezerker, where art and design is just as important a focus as making it a functioning and street-able motorcycle, has really broadened it's audience.

I feel very fortunate to be able to push my art to this next level for it has truly changed the rest of my life in a very good way.

Step #4

2011-01-19T13:09:00.000-08:00

Try to keep things moving!

This step has proved to be most difficult these past few weeks. Besides having a nagging cold and a day job to keep happy I have been dealing with major issues trying to source the hubs for this build. I still don't have them in my hands which is making me start to stress my completion date.

Rolled, coped, and tacked in some more tubes today.

Out for the count!

2011-01-09T18:48:00.001-08:00

Here is Sophie demonstrating how I have been feeling the past few weeks. I have had a nasty cold on and off for what seems to be almost a month now. After another mellow week end of wearing pajamas all day, watching movies, and eating spicy noodles I think I am nearly back to normal. I am crossing my fingers I can make up for lost time in the shop and get back on track by the end of the month.

Step #3

2011-01-02T19:47:00.000-08:00

... Get fabricating!!!

Started the frame this week after a bunch of sketching. Here you can see the down tube getting mitered for the head tube.

The frame is going to have a lugged look to it and should be pretty darn stiff even given the fact it has a single top and down tube.

I am still on the fence as to how much of this top secret AMD build I will be posting but I am feeling like I don't really care who see's the details right now.

The carbs are there as a place holder... still not sure if I will be running 41mm flat slides or some round slides. What do you think?

More than you may care to know about me:

2010-12-31T12:42:00.000-08:00

Over the past few weeks or so Trent and I have been passing emails back and forth as well as a few phone calls in an attempt to put together a nice and somewhat informative interview. I can't say I made it easy for him given my mindless yet nostalgic ramblings at times. All said I think Trent put together a pretty fun interview. Thank you Trent, it was a pleasure!!!

. Link to: BikerMetric on Speed Shop Design... and bad hair!

Step #2

2010-12-26T20:53:00.001-08:00

Set up your jig:

Merry Christmas Everyone!

2010-12-24T22:48:00.001-08:00

... okay, now go wash the vomit out of your mouth :P

Choppers are Dead!

2010-12-24T15:16:00.000-08:00

...or so they say ;)

Vegas Baby!!!

2010-12-14T19:06:00.000-08:00

This past Friday I flew down to Vegas to set the Beezerker up at a new mens lifestyle store named Stitched inside the all new Cosmopolitan Hotel.

The bike is on display and consignment with a couple of bikes you may recognize.

This little KTM is pretty awesome!

Window side on the strip:

The grand opening of the hotel and the store is Dec. 15th with a New Years eve party to trump all Vegas parties.

I see you!

2010-11-28T20:15:00.000-08:00

I have been busy going through and crossing things off a punch list of little things I wanted to tweak on the Beezerker. The biggest item was getting rid of the capacitor and replacing it with a small custom lithium-ion battery I had made. Now the halogen bulb lights up nice and bright!

Japan, Spring, Day 8

2010-11-22T16:56:00.001-08:00

Step #1

2010-11-21T19:39:00.000-08:00

Find yourself a motor:

Geeking Out!

2010-11-14T20:27:00.000-08:00

I had a breakfast of champions yesterday...

Then off to the Sci-Fi museum where I saw the Battlestar Galactica exhibit.
Yes, I am a total geek and proud of it!

Sometimes Smaller is Better!

2010-10-30T20:12:00.000-07:00

Over the past couple of weeks I have been working on the Triton frame. Lots of cutting and grinding to remove all the engine mounts and tabs as well as all the cross members.

I never really liked how unit engined Triton's look with all that space around the engine, not to mention the ridiculously large alloy plates used to couple frame and engine.

Before:

So I had this crazy idea to cut 2.5" out of the frame to tighten up the front triangle as well as allow me to lengthen the swing arm while maintaining the perfect wheelbase.

After:

I am very, very happy with how the proportions look now!

roundy round...

2010-10-24T20:59:00.000-07:00

Spent some time working on the Triton today. The fork is an old school leading link design and I want more torsional rigidity out of the front axle so it can act as the bridge to keep the leading links aligned perfectly and kept from moving independently.

First step was digging out the old Sportster wheel I had laying around remove the stock bearings. Then I cut out the hub so I could chuck it up on the lathe to fit these suckers:

The bearings have a 2"OD and a 1"ID. Once the hub was out and on the lathe I bored out the through bore of the casting to accept the much larger bearing spacer.

Next step was to remove the existing flanges that held the dust seals

and face the brake mounting surface in preparation to re-bore the bearing seats.

Once the bearing seats were carved in I decided I wanted to sculpt the hub flanges a little. Gave them a little more of a bicycle hub look by rounding out the flanges. Not sure if you are even going to see these behind the duel discs but it is in the details, right?

Special #6 is looking for a new home...

2010-10-19T19:03:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately it is time for her to move on. I recently upgraded her with a new lithium ion battery and a new aluminum battery box that not only holds the battery but now there is room for some tools... something I always wanted to add to the bike. I will miss her but I need to get moving on next years AMD World Champion ;)

Special #6 on Ebay

Bruce and Brandon

2010-10-17T17:59:00.000-07:00

Went to visit Bruce and Brandon Lee and wish them well. They are missed!

Finally we have shirts!

2010-10-09T16:24:00.000-07:00

I apologize for this taking so long but we finally have t-shirts. Our first order was totally screwed up and printed incorrectly but the second batch came out great. We ended up using a couple more colors than we first expected so there are some choices. The options are:

Medium in Light Grey only
Large in Light Grey, Sand, and Light Blue
X Large in Sand and Light Blue

For those who wanted shirts please let me know your preference. The cost is $18.00 with shipping for the first shirt, $15.00 each after that.

Please send me an email to reserve your shirt and receive my paypal info.

I will contact those that have already emailed me to confirm your order.

Thanks for your patience everyone!

Chris

the Beezerker captured

2010-10-09T09:52:00.000-07:00

I know I have lots to catch up on for the past few months have been busy and my posts spotty at best. A month or so ago I rented a crazy big studio space and my friend Ron shot some absolutely beautiful images of the bike. We are planning on selling a
limited number of prints on the web site if people are interested.

Link to Ron's work

Side View

Front View

Rear View

It's nice when people find your work inspirational!

2010-09-07T10:44:00.001-07:00

http://www.waboo.org

Chris on the hot seat at AMD :)

2010-08-24T23:07:00.000-07:00

I just realized this video is on line now. While at AMD I was interviewed by the AMD crew about the Beezerker. I hate being in front of the camera like that because my mind goes absolutely blank. After all was said and done I realized I forgot to talk about some of the coolest features of the bike like the exhaust in the frame and the mechanical disc brake... oh well!? I think they made a nice little video.

Beezerker T-shirts in the works

2010-08-22T19:38:00.000-07:00

It's been just over a week since we got back from Sturgis. Life is starting to get back to some resemblance of normal. Finally taking some time to work on little projects that took a back seat to getting the bike done. I had all the best intentions of getting some Beezerker t-shirts made before AMD but that just didn't happen. Normally I burn screens and print them on the kitchen table. This time around I will have someone else make them so I can focus on other Speed Shop projects. I drew this a while ago and thought it would make a cool shirt. Not sure what the final color selection will be but it will be basic one color printing on a solid color T. If anyone wants a shirt I'll sell them for cost plus shipping, probably between 10-15 bucks depending on the number I order. Just let me know size and quantity... I'll place my order in a couple of weeks.

No longer an AMD newbie!

2010-08-12T19:58:00.000-07:00

After driving through the night we are back in Seattle safe and sound.

It was an amazing time and I met so many wonderful people from around the world.

We did really well and are very happy to bring home some big ass trophies.

The Beezerker won 2nd place in the Metric World Championship and 5th in the over all Freestyle World Championship. Even Special #6 had a great response and finished 14th in the Freestyle World Championship.

I will post images once I have a chance to download them but now it's time to sleep ;)

Until then check it out here:

http://www.amdchampionship.com/

A long but wonderful week end

2010-07-21T21:48:00.000-07:00

It was a long road trip week end with a total of about 2500 miles covered and two days of motorcycles, great people, good food, and wonderful times. As I mentioned the show was as successful as we could have hoped for but what was most exciting for Lynn and I was being able to tour Chabott and Falcon and then go out to dinner with Shinya, Ayu, Ian, and Amaryllis for a little pre-birthday celebration. Yah, I turn forty on Friday and I am looking forward to having a nice quiet night out with my sweet heart Lynn after having such a crazy past week end. In a few weeks, after AMD, I think we are going to be able to relax a bit more and have a nice gathering with friends and family.

I am surprised how quickly news of the Beezerker spread on the net. I have even seen a number of write ups over seas. I knew this bike was going to push the boundaries of motorcycle design but I did not expect such extremes. Those that appreciate it and get it really dig it but those that don't agree with my creation hate it with a passion. I am finding it all very exciting!

This year at Long Beach

2010-07-20T21:57:00.000-07:00

Lynn and I are back safe and sound from Long Beach and I am happy to say we did what we set out to do, win best of show. We had a great trip, a bit too hot and a bit long at times but well worth it. I'll spend some time sharing details with you later but right now it's time to get my PJ's on and head to bed, we are exhausted!

Beware the "Beezerker"

2010-07-16T01:33:00.000-07:00

It's been 11 months in the works and it's finally ready to rear its head. I present to you the "Beezerker"

What you looking at is a 1965 BSA A65 motor, fully rebuilt. I designed and built everything else. Some of the interesting details are; the headers that enter into the frame under the motor and then exit out the very back under the tail light, the down tube is the oil tank, fabricated sheet metal girder fork, twist clutch, cast stainless steel grips from my Schwinn mag scrambler, aluminum tank and tail, killer leather seat with real tuck and roll by my friend Attila, SU carb, mechanical rear disc brake. As usual with me all the parts are free-style machined out of aluminum or stainless steel.

Lynn and I are heading to Long Beach bright and early in the morning for the LA Calendar show.... we are shooting for best of show this year!

I'll talk more about all the little things but I need to get some shut eye ;)

Thanks for all your patiance, I hope it was worth the wait. Chris

The Little Bits

2010-07-05T22:25:00.000-07:00

Lots and lots of little bits! I have been wet sanding and buffing paint for what seams like forever and now I get to put the Beezerker together. Still probably have close to 100 hours of sanding and hand polishing on the tank and tail piece before we head down to Cali for the Long Beach show.

The old Yam is for sale!

2010-06-24T13:12:00.000-07:00

I just got the heads up from the current owner of the XS650 I build years ago that it's on the chopping block.

Please pass the word!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_rdc=1&item=280525197027&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fshop.ebay.com%3A80%2F%3F_from%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dp3907.m570.l1313%26_nkw%3D280525197027%26_sacat%3DSee-All-Categories%26_fvi%3D1&viewitem=

A body of work!

2010-05-31T21:59:00.000-07:00

Today I finished the fabrication of the body work and I am so relieved! This is the first time I have ever made anything out of aluminum sheet metal and I have to say it was a bit of a challenge. I did something a little unusual in that I kept most of the edges really sharp. I like the stealthy look of it and it will really compliment the sheet metal fork as well. Originally I intended to make the seat and tank one piece all welded together but after experiencing how much stresses will cause some welded areas to crack I decided it would be best to fasten them together. The vertical seam matches a detail on the fork which will help pull it all together.

Special #6 in El Diablo Magazine

2010-05-20T11:42:00.000-07:00

Check out page 245

http://www.eldiablomagazine.com/mag/09/index.html

I'm liking it!

2010-05-15T21:14:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago while my brother was in town I dragged him into the shop to help me mock up the Beezerker for the final time before I tore it down to rebuild the motor. It was the most complete I had ever seen the bike and was the first time I got to sit on it and make "brum, brum" sounds while my brother took some pictures. I'm really looking forward to seeing how it stacks up to the big boys at AMD this August.

Aluminum is your friend!

2010-04-26T22:22:00.000-07:00

For the past couple of weeks I have been beating aluminum into submission and having a blast. I have never made a complete body from aluminum... come to think of it, I've never fabricated a tank from aluminum. What you see here still has a ways to go and will look pretty different when I'm done. Along with the body work I have been filling short windows of time with smaller projects like a velocity stack and an extension to the engine case to what I am calling the chain guard. The case stopped abruptly and it just didn't flow into the frame and now it looks much better.

Down Time

2010-04-22T22:46:00.000-07:00

It's much needed and there is little that I enjoy more than walking the kids down to the beach when we get home from a long day in the shop. Here is little Sophie down at Alki beach last night... we got there just in time to catch the sun set.

Back on track

2010-04-14T22:18:00.000-07:00

After being gone on vacation for two weeks I was very excited to get back in the shop. Here is a shot of one of the stainless headers I built just before I left for Tokyo. The other image is of the shift arm and linkage in the works. The peg will mount where that socket head is. All pieces are stainless steel.

2010-04-12T20:45:00.000-07:00

2010-04-12T20:42:00.000-07:00

2010-04-12T20:37:00.000-07:00

2010-04-12T20:33:00.000-07:00

It was a trip of a life time!

2010-04-12T20:15:00.000-07:00

We got back from two weeks in Japan and we had such a blast. We stayed a few days in Tokyo after which we picked up our rented BMW GS650 with GPS and we were on our way for five nights and hundreds and hundreds of kilometers along the coast and around Mt. Fuji after which we took an eight hour bicycle tour and stayed four more nights in Tokyo. We took over a thousand pictures, here are a few of just day one. We stayed just south-east of Ueno Park and our first day was the first day of the Sakura Festival so we walked all around the park and then to the museum for a little quiet time. It's hard to just pick a hand full of images to sum up such an amazing day ;)

Japan bound!!!

2010-03-25T13:27:00.000-07:00

Lynn and I are sitting on the airplane waiting to depart Seattle for Tokyo and I have to say I am so excited I am totally freaking out!!!!!

Thank you to Troy, Ayu, Shinya, Dan, and Ken for all the guidance and suggestions to make this trip a life changing one.

One week in Tokyo and one week on a motorcycle touring the coast and countryside.

We look forward to making many new friends along the way :)

Overly complicated never looked so simple

2010-03-02T22:21:00.000-08:00

Tonight I finally got the rear brake on the BSA put together. What your looking at is a mechanical sprotor. I designed the rear caliper around a simple mechanical brake you find on industrial machines. The way it will work is the left rear set control will actuate it via a wedge which pushes up between the two adjustable ball bearings, pushing the arms open and the brake pads together. The brake arms are aluminum and most everything else is stainless. I still need to rivet the brake shoe material to the backing plates.

Vancouver 2010

2010-03-02T21:58:00.000-08:00

It's been a very busy couple of weeks. My mom flew in from Cape Cod and we all drove up to the Vancouver Olympics for a couple of days. My second cousin is on the USA woman's hockey team. We got to see their third game which was against Finland. We kicked their butts and it was a great game to watch. Came back to Seattle and had a wonderful rest of the week with my mom... I miss you mom!

I got pegged :p

2010-02-17T21:08:00.000-08:00

The other day I spent way too much time on the mill making these pegs for my rear-sets. More of what I like to call freestyle machining. I always have a general idea in my mind but as I whittle away I let it evolve. I feel that it just makes a better part in the long run. Reacting to lines and proportions as they change is a very exciting way to see something materialize. These started life as 4 1/2" long pieces of 1 1/2" diameter 6061 T6 rod. I plan to do a fair amount of hand finishing and then maybe a bead blasting and spot polishing for final finish... we will see.

Filler....

2010-02-12T23:02:00.000-08:00

Next week I will be buying the aluminum for the one piece tail piece and fuel tank for the BSA. To get under way with it's fabrication I need to turn a few parts such as oil filler, gas cap, and the petcock bung. Today I was able to pump out the gas cap and it's bug and I am really happy with it. It's over sized in that it is 3.75" in diameter but very thin. It will fit the top of the tank perfectly. I can't wait to get the sheet metal underway!

East Coast vs. West Coast

2010-01-30T11:03:00.000-08:00

It's been ten years since I packed up and moved here from the Boston area, more specifically, Cape Cod. East vs. West is a constant battle that plays out in my head. I love so many things about both places but with my roots in New England it's hard to resist the urge to move back. I know I can do my design and build thing anywhere... so, traveling to shows will be more involved if we are on the East Coast. Both my parents are retired and both are cancer survivors, a fact that reminds me that we are not invincible and our time here is limited. How much time do we have? How much time will we have together? I want to spend more time with them before I know the answer to those questions. This picture is from a trip to Cape Cod I took two years ago to visit my parents. It just reminds me of home.

Christmas comes late...

2010-01-21T19:36:00.000-08:00

or early depending on how you look at it. I scored this carburetor on Ebay for twenty dollars and it is in mint condition. I have a mock up carb on the BSA now and was dreading having to rebuild it because it's in bad shape. This is an original carb that was rebuilt years and years ago and sat on a shelf till I found it on Ebay. All I need to do to dial it in for the BSA is alter the float bowl angle! I'm very happy!!!

More is Less!?

2010-01-19T20:36:00.000-08:00

Well in this case it's proving to be so. I am loosing track of the hours I have spent bending, cutting, tapering, welding, and grinding of various tubing profiles to achieve the cleanest lines possible on this build. The killer is if someone doesn't understand tubing and the limited profiles available all this work is lost. Oh well, this bike certainly won't be appreciated nor liked by all and that's just fine with me!

Pretty Colors

2010-01-10T19:48:00.000-08:00

Today I worked nine hours on the BSA and had so little to show for my efforts at the end of it. Oh well, they say slow and steady wins the race, eh?

One of my accomplishments was welding up and tacking on the rear motor mount.

I enjoyed welding today... surprised it came out as well as it did considering how much coffee I drank this morning ;)

Coming to a head.

2010-01-07T21:17:00.000-08:00

Head tube fitment to the BSA's downtube.

Striking Oil!

2010-01-05T20:58:00.000-08:00

It's been a very busy couple of weeks here at Speed Shop. Between all the family gatherings and holiday celebrations and the eating I have been busy at work on the BSA. What you see here is the down tube which just happens to be the oil tank. When you see the entire bike as a whole it will make lots more sense but until then here are some details:

Happy New Year everyone!

Staying the course!

2009-12-22T18:35:00.000-08:00

It may not look it from my lack of posts but things are moving along well with the BSA. I have the wheels back from Buchanans and they look awesome! Tires are mounted and I am really happy with my tire, rim, and hub combo.

A while back I purchased some 1" x 2" race-track oval tubing to use in the frame construction of the BSA. A couple of weeks ago I made some 1" diameter rolling dies and rolled a length of the tube the hard way. After determining the lengths needed for the chainstays I chopped up the arc I created and then began to taper them down like a bicycle chainstay. I was able to cut out curved pieces of pie from the flat sides. After dressing the weld area I tacked then fully tig welded each of the tapers up.

After all this work I was only about half done because now I needed to bend them in towards each other to wrap around the front of the tire. This was done by bending a piece of 1" tube which I split and welded in 1" flat bar to make my bends. After much more welding and hand finishing I think they came out pretty nice, I'm really happy with them.

Oh, forgot to mention what I did about three weeks ago... I brazed stainless steel axle slide plates to both sides of each drop out. It took so much heat to flow the silver, it was a big pain in the butt. I ended up having to use some fire bricks to make an open top furnace to get things hot enough to braze and get full coverage.

I'm really wracking up the hours on this build. Between the cainstays and drop outs I have about 40 hours :P

Tire mounting magic!

2009-12-17T22:32:00.000-08:00

My BSA project utilizes clincher rims and tires which I had no experience with until today. I found this a couple of weeks ago and tonight I was amazed how well it worked.

Tire Mounting MAGIC!

Being framed

2009-11-29T20:56:00.000-08:00

Finally after countless hours building the girder fork I have started on the frame. A portion of the frame is made of stainless with the majority in mild steel. Where the two materials meet I wanted to treat it like you would a lug on a bicycle frame so I coped the steel and press fit the stainless into it after which I ran a little tig bead around. I love the zen like moments that tig welding creates... I love the focus!

Rita says:

2009-11-26T13:03:00.000-08:00

Have a Happy Turkey Day!!!

Model A

2009-11-24T11:37:00.000-08:00

Built between 2001 and 2005 by Speed Shop Design this 1931 Model A Ford is now owned by a gentleman named Tim in Tacoma, WA. Tim laid down a sick black paint job that simply makes the car look amazing. Like any true hot rod the car seems to constantly evolve to improve reliability, performance, and style. I love seeing this car around at all the local gatherings.

More Hot Bike

2009-11-18T13:14:00.000-08:00

Hot Bike

2009-11-17T12:05:00.000-08:00

Go get your copy of the January 2010 issue of Hot Bike on the news stand today. Not only did Special #6 get a five page feature but it also made the cover!

Too many ideas!

2009-11-16T18:33:00.000-08:00

I feel like I will never get around to all of them so I sketch them real quick in my sketch book in hopes that some of them make it into future projects. In this drawing I particularly like the idea of making a sprung sissy bar/banana type seat that hides the spring under the tail piece.

One of these days! ;)

one part Triumph + one part Norton =

2009-11-07T17:04:00.000-08:00

"TRITON"

Over the past few months my dad and I have been talking allot about the bike I am designing for him. I had been playing with the idea of making a frame from scratch but with the BSA project being so labor intensive I was a little worried that doing so would take forever for him to get his bike made. So... after lots of thought I figured the best frame I could buy would be a feather bed and low and behold I was able to score this 1965 slimline feather bed frame. I like the slimline frames over the wide because I feel the waist will lend it's self to a more sculptural tank and tail piece. I want to make a roller of the parts asap so I can start the sheet metal work. This thing is going to be kick ass!

Parts is parts...

2009-11-06T17:45:00.000-08:00

... well not really. Last week I spent allot of time on the lathe, mill, and the belt sander making more components for the BSA project. This bike is about 95% one off components, pretty much the only thing I'm not fabricating is the engine. What your looking at here are a couple of top plates for the girder fork as well as some front axle pockets. I also machined some stainless exhaust couplers for the unique 2 into 1 system the bike will have. The other pieces are aluminum and something I am not going to talk about... you will just have to wait and see the finished bike to understand what they are ;)

Hopefully next week I start welding some frame components together but I'm not so sure, I still have a shopping list of parts to machine about a mile long.

Sick Food :(

2009-11-06T17:15:00.000-08:00

This week the flue decided it was my turn to be sick. All I have been able to do is a few sketches here and there and no fabrication time in the shop. Last night Lynn stopped by our favorite noodle spot, Samurai Noodle, and got me the perfect comfort food :) I love my tonkatsu ramen!!! Thanks babe ;)

The Willys

2009-10-28T23:00:00.000-07:00

I started building this rod a few years ago. It is pretty unconventional because it is powered by a 1970 Datsun 240Z engine and trans.

2009-10-26T21:13:00.000-07:00

My old "Blue Balls"

Behind the scenes...

2009-10-25T10:54:00.000-07:00

at the photo shoot to finish up the web site. This is the cyclocross bike I designed and built as well as painted last year. The color is not for everyone but I like it... Pink is a Power Color!!! ;)

Special #6 on display

2009-10-24T18:28:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Scott at East Side Harley, Speed Shop Special #6 is proudly displayed with the beautiful north west (Seattle) in the background. It is for sale so if you have some cash burning a hole in your pocket go talk to Scott ;)

Winter Bike

2009-10-23T09:30:00.001-07:00

Other wise known as a rain bike here in Seattle. I had it apart for a while because I had stolen some parts from her for my cross bike. This bike is my commuter for the most part so she only gets about fifty wiles a week put on her. I built and painted her back in grad school around 1995... I wish I had more of that lace I used in the paint because I have not been able to find it since.

My nine to five

2009-10-20T12:43:00.000-07:00

My day job as designer at www.gulassaco.com gives me the opportunity to design some pretty cool pieces. Here I am adjusting a detail on a glass topped table for a photo shoot. I designed this piece a year or two ago. We collaborate with a local glass artist who makes the top for us. The three inch think glass weights about 450lbs all on it's own. The steel legs are the lightest parts because they are English wheeled 16 gage steel. I like this table lots and so do our showrooms ;)

Coming soon to your computer....

2009-10-18T22:16:00.000-07:00

My web site!

I'm pretty excited to get it finalized and fully operational. My goal is to have it completed for November 17th because that it the day that the January issue of Hot Bike comes out with a feature on Special #6. It takes so much stinking work to take all the images, edit all the images, write something clever, and get it formatted and working. I'll be so happy when it's done!

Bustin some BSA butt

2009-10-18T19:26:00.000-07:00

I have been working every spare moment on the BSA project these past couple of weeks. Lots of parts machined and cut out of sheet steel for the front end. I also have the hubs and clencher rims prepped and ready for powdercoating then off for some custom spokes.

Here are some images of the steerer tube and head tube assembly. I'm pretty close to starting the sheet metal for the front end so I am super excited!!!

I am machining lots of stuff from stainless on this bike like my last one(#6) because it allows me to not have to worry about plating effecting my tolerances plus a stainless finish never fails ;)

Mags RULE!

2009-10-18T10:18:00.000-07:00

I just love this bike. The metal finishes on it are perfect.
I can't imagine what it is like riding it with those ribbed car tires front AND rear.
Enjoy!

Lots of chips but no fish

2009-10-04T21:20:00.000-07:00

Spent the day at the mill and the lathe making components for the BSA projects girder fork.

I will whittle down the aluminum linkages some more once I am happy with how the fork works and I don't want to modify anything.

Working my nine to five at www.gulassaco.com makes it hard to spend as many hours as I would like on this project but I am working like hell when I can to have this bike done by May 2010.

Crossing my fingers!!!

and so it begins...

2009-09-27T21:36:00.001-07:00

I got a good solid week end in on my BSA build and I am so excited to see ideas I have had in my head for months now start to materialize in metal. What I have planned is not easy but it will be well worth it. I hope to have it ready for the Legend of the Motorcycle show next May, that's if I can get into the show??? I'll be posting obscure snippets from time to time because I want to keep it a surprise for the show next year, that's why this image really doesn't show you much ;)

My little co-pilot

2009-09-14T17:13:00.000-07:00

After the swap meet on Sunday I took the kids (dogs) to the shop to get some work done. This is Sophie on the way back home doing her best puppy impersonations. Little Sophie just loves to drive up front in the Jeep with me and is a constant source of amusement.

One Holy Wheel:

2009-09-14T16:04:00.001-07:00

Or should I say holey wheel ;)
I saw this at the A.B.A.T.E. swap meet yesterday and thought it looked so frackin cool... don't think I would ride it but cool none the less.

Money talks and....

2009-09-12T22:41:00.000-07:00

... and my roadster goes away :(

This past Tuesday I met a man that drove up to Seattle from NM to pick up my Datsun Roadster project. After some beers and some heavy lifting we had it in the rental truck.

I am excited to see this car go to someone who is going to finish her up and do her right.

Now I have the funds to finish a couple more bikes!!!

:)