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Home-built motorcycle.


Boffin

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As I finish work at lunch time on Fridays, I do the weekly grocery shopping on the way home. This afternoon, on leaving the store I saw what at first glance looked like a vintage bike. A slightly less cursory look revealed ot to be a home-build special. I only had my camera-phone with me so the pictures aren't great but here they are:

 

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The engine has a fabricated crankcase with old side-valve cylinders. The gearbox looks like an old AMC unit or possibly Norton. The forks look like Norton and the frame is a hard-tail something-or-other.

 

I waited for the chap to come out and asked him what it was made from - his answer was "anything that I can fit in to make it work". The bike is officially a 1985 vintage!

 

He did not seem interested in talking about it and flicked a switch on the headlight, gave a lazy prod on the starter and the engine sprang into life with a soft, even note. He rode off accompanied by an occasional spit and splutter. He seemed really content with life.

 

Andy

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Wow, looks great. Dang hard to find a dealer on a Sunday though...

 

I guess this guy does NOT need a dealer....

 

 

He is the dealer. :grin:

Get to see one every now and then running the gamut from very nice to what was he thinking. :dopeslap:

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John Ranalletta

Several years ago, a web or magazine article featured an English fellow who would take a hacksaw to a couple of bike motors, weld them together to make working hybrids. As I recall, he worked out of his less than well equipped garage, not a fully equipped machine shop.

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I know of at least one MOT station that would turn a blind eye to the belt guards etc. Where do you think the local 'bike clubs' get theirs from. FWIW, it had a valid VEL.

 

Andy

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Kudos to someone like that. He is the type of mechanic I can only wish I could be. I'll bet he can make almost anything out of nothing if he had to.

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It, being the UK, I wonder how hard it was to register. A friend of mine built one in Denmark, but never registered it as he said that a lab of sorts would be needed to run tests to see if it was road worthy.

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It, being the UK, I wonder how hard it was to register. A friend of mine built one in Denmark, but never registered it as he said that a lab of sorts would be needed to run tests to see if it was road worthy.

 

It is quite easy to register one-off builds here. You need what is called a "Single Vehicle type-approval". The department of transport has a doccument that details the safety and build requirements for the builer to follow, They then take the vehicle to an approved vehicle inspectorate site where it is checked for compliance (for a fee of course) - if all is OK you get your type approval and can then register the vehicle in the normal way.

 

Andy

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