Tires & Wheels

The wheels are off the Concours.  Tomorrow they're off to school to have the tires off and the bearings pressed out, then it'll be over to Erin for some wheel magic at Fire Ball Coatings.  If this goes well Fire Ball are going to be my go-to for advanced paint treatments.

In the meantime I've been going over the bits and pieces, getting it cleaned up.  I suspect I might be the first person into the rear drive hub in many moons.


The Bridgestone on the front was manufactured in November, 2007 - that's eight years and two months ago!  Ipads weren't invented when this tire was made!  I'm not experienced or fussy enough to tell the difference between new and old/mismatched rubber, but I hope new tires are going to transform this bike's handling.

The rear Dunlop was manufactured in March, 2011 - four years and nine months ago.  Not as bad as the Bridgestone but having two different branded tires on the bike isn't ideal either.


Even though the Dunlop is almost five years old and I have put 10,000 miles on it (plus whatever the guy before me did), it's still got the rubber nipples on it - that's one tough tire.

Removing the rotors was a pretty straightforward process.  I aim to clean them up and maybe paint them or at least clear coat the middles before putting them back on.

I saw a TV show on current bike customizing trends and they said they had Axel Rose came in and bought a 'distressed' Harley - a new bike that is scuffed up to give it character (patina in the tongue of customizers).  I come by my patina more honestly.

The cover inside the drive side of the rear rim - pretty grimmy, but getting cleaned up.

The rubber weighted piece under this cover (and the cover itself) were in there good, it took
a fair bit of cleaning and wiggling to get the cover out.

The shaft drive with the rim off.  Doesn't look too bad.  I'll give the rear sub frame a clean and lube while everything is off.

Concours ZG1000 looking like something out of Star Wars,
and ready for a hover conversion!

Candy gold on the left looks pretty spectacular, but my old warrior is getting the plain gold.  Fire Ball Coatings has me
thinking about a project bike that I could really bling out though: power coated frame, candy coated rims... the works!

Café racer

I've been getting a handle on café racer culture recently.  A good place to start is the documentary below available on youtube:

A motorcycle phenomenon that combines DIY backyard mechanics, customization, restoration, links to British post war culture and a focus on pure two wheeling?  I'm in!  When you also factor in the old RAF inspired bike gear café racing only gets better.


What first got me thinking about it was It's Better In The Wind, a beautifully shot and music themed short art piece about friends on their classic café racers.  As a mood piece it captured a lot of the gritty romanticism in motorcycling.



Last summer I was reading Shopclass As Soulcraft, and in it Matt Crawford described motorcycling as 'a beautiful war', which captured the risk and reward beautifully.  That book is mind expanding stuff written by a guy who walked away from academia and the magical thinking of the thought economy to open his own independent bike repair shop.  It's a must read, change your life kind of book that will make you want to get your hands busy again; just the sort of thing that racer building encourages.

I've tried my hand at restoring old cars or just keeping them on the road, but that tended to be a make it work to get to work kind of situation, lots of stress in that.  This is a hands on project that may very well lapse into a piece of rolling sculpture.  Mechanics, electronics and sculpture? I'm in love with the idea!

So, I'm on the lookout for an old bike that needs to come in out of the cold for the winter, one that's looking for a new lease on life.  It can be rusty and rough, the more it needs changing the more I'll want to change.  The end result will only enhance the feeling of oneness I've already felt with the Ninja.

There are many café racer links that will catch you up online:
http://rustyknuckles.blogspot.ca/2010/03/cafe-racer-magazine.html
http://www.caferacermag.com/
http://www.caferacertv.com/
http://silodrome.com/triumph-cafe-racers/

1964: The 'leather boys' later generation rockers on modded cafe racers

Rocker style, 1950s England

One of the genesis locations for Cafe Racing culture ACE CAFE

The leather jackets, boots and gloves, the helmets and googles, RAF uniforms
were an obvious inspiration for the cafe racer look