Loud Pipes

I finished the Macbeth Bobber (no.3 ) - back in 2008 and as one of my earliest bikes I really concentrated on the looks and styling. I was particularly pleased with the long 1.75" black exhausts, with the crown tips.

 However, it soon became apparent these were exceptionally loud with a really harsh note, also I kept scratching stuff with the long crown tips.  So I cut a foot off each and added a baffle and a nice Biltwell tip.

Even after this the bike was still way too loud for casual riding around town  - offensive to put it mildly, so I have at last got around to sorting it out and had a great new 2-1 set of stainless 2.0" pipes made by P&D and added a short Supertrapp muffler.  The result - it sounds perfect, looks great and goes even better.

Biketoberfest 2011

Just back in the UK from a great weekend at Daytona Beach for the Biketoberfest.  This is a huge event (in European terms) with over 100,000 bikes in the area, and centres around Main Street, with lots of bars and shops, Destination Daytona, which is a huge shopping complex for all things V-Twin and then various other smaller locations around the area. For me the high points were the old school customs at Willies Tropical Tattoo, and just the sheer vibrance and atmosphere in Main Street - I made a quick video of my very slow ride up Main Street.

There are plenty of sites to see and if you are resident then the opportunity to bring your bike here and get it fixed up on site with all sorts of new products while you wait is amazing.  Here are a few shots I took which appealed to me.

Cyril Huze Post

The Cyril Huze Blog has been going 5 years now and has become the worlds leading source of info on the custom motorcycle scene and pretty much bikes in general - to celebrate he has changed the name to Cyril Huze Post!  I am pleased to say I have been a regular follower since day 1 , and I am pleased to have had 2 bikes featured on his blog.  Cyril's Graffiti bike has for along time been my favourite custom bike, and I have picked up styling cues from his work.

I was checking out his Blog the other day and saw a post about Biketoberfest in Daytona which made me think, weather is turning here in the UK, flights and hotels are cheap, lets go - so next Weds I am off to sunny Florida and will post about what I see!

BMW R80 - No.8

This project has been quite a while in the making but we now have a rolling chasis ready to add some fenders and a tank and all the little details that will make this bike special.  The pictures show the old tank sat on top of the frame, this is going to be sectioned to reduce the bulk and stretched to smooth it into the seat.

2 Videos

Made a quick video of a ride through my home town of Tunbridge Wells today - which is just full of traffic.  I also found some old footage of Monument Valley taken in June this year - with no traffic - a nice contrast.