Sunday, August 16, 2009
A Bike is Born
Motorcycles are a part of me, just like cooking, without these elements in my life I would be incomplete.
I have always loved Harleys even as a child my greatest achievement was a first in art for a painting of a Hells Angel on a chopper when I was 12 years old.
The teenage years were populated with scooters and motorcycles but my shelves were filling up with copies of Easyriders.
Finally in 1995 I bought a Harley Davidson low rider custom.
Then decided to customize it, two years later it was finished but those two years were unusual that I was riding a Yamaha 125. The bike was taken apart and completely rebuilt
With different everything.
Finally getting back on the road there were problems in life and with the bike,
Which left with a difficult decision should I sell it?
Fate had its way my job came to an end and a mechanical problem on the bike left me in a poor financial position with a biking holiday looming, so I sold it to a BMW dealer for a new bike and some change.
After riding BMW`s for 12 years, I missed something individual again.
Being bombarded by biker build off American chopper and various custom shows and magazines the passion was reignited.
This time I would get someone else to do the work as I lacked the necessary skills to produce what I wanted.
I have always been someone to swim in the opposite direction to everybody else,
And I hated the big rear wheel stretched out look which now proliferates.
What I wanted was something classic in the hope that it will remain classic and not find itself a cliché.
Just by reading a English motorcycle paper one day, center page was an article about Fred Bertand of Krugger Motorcycles.
News that he would be appearing at the Goodwood festival of speed, had me emailing straight away with a picture of the style I wanted.
We met and talked at Goodwood and a deal was struck.
Now all I had to do was wait three months was the build time but I had indicated to Fred I did not need the bike for a year as I needed to raise the money, I also suggested that the bike could be used for promotion of his business and in competition, I never expected what happened next.
Fred called me and told me that he had been chosen by S&S Cycle to enter there 50th anniversary build off and therefore I would be able to have an S&S anniversary Panhead engine one of only ten built with a special serial number.
And the bike would compete in America in July 2008, also it would appear first at the Custom Chrome show in maintz .
Fred’s reputation started to grow and in October 2007 he won the artistry in Iron in las Vegas.
On his return the bike started to evolve before my eyes weekly photo updates kept me enthralled for the months to come.
Halfway through the project I visited Fred at his workshop in Belgium to see the bike.
The attention to detail and the engineering brilliance directed towards the suspension system knocked me sideways. Seeing the bike in bare metal gave me a chance too have an uncompromising look at the intimate details of the bike.
February 2008 soon arrived and the bike was finished painted and ready for the European bike show I held my breath for news and Fred managed a fifth place against stiff competition.
In July the bike was shipped to America to compete in the S&S build off.
There was video and information Available on the web but I could not find any results,
All I could find was a Picture of Fred on a stage looking very pleased with him-self
It turned out that he had won the Panhead class against some of the best builders in the world.
He was entered into the AMD World championships in Sturgis at the beginning of August and finished 13th in the competition.
So having started this project 12 months ago I never even dreamed of having a bike of this caliber, My choice of builder was just perfect I could not be happier and the bike was delivered early January. this bike is for riding it has had its moment of fame and now it will get used for what it was built for.
I have always loved Harleys even as a child my greatest achievement was a first in art for a painting of a Hells Angel on a chopper when I was 12 years old.
The teenage years were populated with scooters and motorcycles but my shelves were filling up with copies of Easyriders.
Finally in 1995 I bought a Harley Davidson low rider custom.
Then decided to customize it, two years later it was finished but those two years were unusual that I was riding a Yamaha 125. The bike was taken apart and completely rebuilt
With different everything.
Finally getting back on the road there were problems in life and with the bike,
Which left with a difficult decision should I sell it?
Fate had its way my job came to an end and a mechanical problem on the bike left me in a poor financial position with a biking holiday looming, so I sold it to a BMW dealer for a new bike and some change.
After riding BMW`s for 12 years, I missed something individual again.
Being bombarded by biker build off American chopper and various custom shows and magazines the passion was reignited.
This time I would get someone else to do the work as I lacked the necessary skills to produce what I wanted.
I have always been someone to swim in the opposite direction to everybody else,
And I hated the big rear wheel stretched out look which now proliferates.
What I wanted was something classic in the hope that it will remain classic and not find itself a cliché.
Just by reading a English motorcycle paper one day, center page was an article about Fred Bertand of Krugger Motorcycles.
News that he would be appearing at the Goodwood festival of speed, had me emailing straight away with a picture of the style I wanted.
We met and talked at Goodwood and a deal was struck.
Now all I had to do was wait three months was the build time but I had indicated to Fred I did not need the bike for a year as I needed to raise the money, I also suggested that the bike could be used for promotion of his business and in competition, I never expected what happened next.
Fred called me and told me that he had been chosen by S&S Cycle to enter there 50th anniversary build off and therefore I would be able to have an S&S anniversary Panhead engine one of only ten built with a special serial number.
And the bike would compete in America in July 2008, also it would appear first at the Custom Chrome show in maintz .
Fred’s reputation started to grow and in October 2007 he won the artistry in Iron in las Vegas.
On his return the bike started to evolve before my eyes weekly photo updates kept me enthralled for the months to come.
Halfway through the project I visited Fred at his workshop in Belgium to see the bike.
The attention to detail and the engineering brilliance directed towards the suspension system knocked me sideways. Seeing the bike in bare metal gave me a chance too have an uncompromising look at the intimate details of the bike.
February 2008 soon arrived and the bike was finished painted and ready for the European bike show I held my breath for news and Fred managed a fifth place against stiff competition.
In July the bike was shipped to America to compete in the S&S build off.
There was video and information Available on the web but I could not find any results,
All I could find was a Picture of Fred on a stage looking very pleased with him-self
It turned out that he had won the Panhead class against some of the best builders in the world.
He was entered into the AMD World championships in Sturgis at the beginning of August and finished 13th in the competition.
So having started this project 12 months ago I never even dreamed of having a bike of this caliber, My choice of builder was just perfect I could not be happier and the bike was delivered early January. this bike is for riding it has had its moment of fame and now it will get used for what it was built for.
