Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Weight Watcher

Eric Runyon of Choppershotz brings us Santiago Chopper’s “Weight Watcher”, a stunning ‘96 Moto Guzzi V1100 Daytona.  This bike is a visual knock out, the carbon fiber contrasting wonderfully with the bare metal, and the red highlights add interest to the overall composition.  The icing on the cake is the pipewrap, adding a bit of roughness to the design. 
G06LR G14LR
 G09LR SC02LR
  See the full gallery here.
  Visit Choppershotz.

Happy Halloween

la-befana

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Suzuki Tempter

  Garage Project Motorcycles is featuring this Suzuki Tempter (remember that bike?) today, and she's a looker, especially when you consider what she started out as.  Gives me hope for GG-1!



  While I would have picked a muffler a little longer and a rear tire without the whitewall, the rest is just about perfect.  Simple and well thought out, another great bike to inspire people!

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Ducati Brat

  Saw this on Rocket Garage today, and she's just gorgeous.  Very minimalistic, with great color choices.  While they have been overused to death, the Firestone Deluxe Champions still look great on this bike.  Not much info available, so I can't say much more, but I like!


Wednesday, October 24, 2012

First Ride

  Today the 'Zook to work today, her first real ride since I've had her.  She handled great, although the bar-end mirror worked it's way out on the way home and is lost, bummer.   I've decided to name her GG-1, for Goodhal Garage design 1.



You can see some of the modifications completed already.  Here's a short list...
  • Clip-on handlebars
  • Bobbed front fender
  • New footpegs
  • No passenger footpegs
  • New turn signals
  • Seat grab-bar thingy removed
  New mufflers are on the list, as well as pod air filters so I can remove the airbox.  I'll have to fab up some kind of seat, and figure out what to do with the battery and electronic components that are hiding behind the side panels.  She's getting there, slowly, but it felt damn good to ride!

Saturday, October 20, 2012

It Begins Again

It's all Top Gun's fault...

  I've caught the bug again.  Way back in 1991 I chose to become a motorcyclist.  I had been watching the movie Top Gun on VHS that year, and seeing Maverick cruise around on his Kawasaki Ninja 900 struck a chord in me.  The September issue of Car & Driver helped also, with a short article titled The Two-Wheel Alternative.

  By April of '92 everything came together, and a leftover '89 Ninja 250 was in the garage.  After a year on the mini-Ninja, she was traded in for another leftover model, a '90 Kawasaki Zephyr 550.  That bike was a major motivator to move from Cleveland, Ohio to Nashville, Tennessee.  The weather is much nicer, and allows for a longer riding season.  I took that Zephyr all over Tennessee, riding with a Rider Magazine club called the Tennessee  Motorcycle RidersBy '98 the bike was just sitting, a combination of financial and life decisions leading to a shift in priorities, and a little while later she was sold.  Thus ended my two-wheeled adventure, until now...

  The opportunity recently came to purchase a running bike for cheap, and I took it.  She's ugly, a 1981 Suzuki GS250T commuter bike, but she's all mine.  The previous owner was no genius when it came to wiring, and I've spent the last couple of weeks ironing out all his "modifications".


I've always liked naked bikes, especially the cafe racer style, and I hope to transform the 'Zook into something along those lines. There's a lot to do, and new parts have been arriving for the job, so stay tuned for some progress. There's a lot of builders out there that I'm taking my inspiration from.


  It's been fourteen years since I've ridden, so I took a MSF course to refresh myself on the basics.  I can't wait to ride!
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