We’re on a roll now!

A couple parts arrived yesterday that I’d been anticipating for quite some time now.  And by “a couple” I mean two… the front wheel and the rear wheel.  These bad boys were custom made by the fine folks over at Black Bike Wheels specifically for this build.  Now don’t let anyone tell you that good ol’ fashion hand made American parts are a dying breed, cause the fellas at Black Bike are single handedly putting that rumor to bed.  Okay, that may be a bit overstated but the fact of the matter is that these wheels are built with an amazing amount of craftsmanship.  So much so that Black Bike actually stands behind every aspect of their work with a lifetime guarantee on everything from the powder coat to the truing of the spokes.  Long story short, these beauties were worth every shiny little penny I saved up for ‘em!  Thanks to Brian and the crew at Black Bike Wheels for hookin’ me up with these beautiful black jewels.

The specs:

Front - 21" x 2.15" 40-spoke wheel (gloss black p/c steel rim, spokes & single flange aluminum hub, Timken 3/4" sealed bearings)

Rear - 16" x 3.5" 40-spoke wheel (gloss black p/c steel rim, spokes & dual flange aluminum hub, TImken 3/4" sealed bearings)

In the beginning...

Every story has to start somewhere, and this one happens to start around Christmas ’07.  It was themad dash rush to purchase a frame on the cheap during the only frame sale West Coast Choppers ever had and probably ever will.  I’d been doing my research and made the decision to fork over the cash to pick up one of these beauties as an early Christmas present to myself.  Fast-forward a few months and there it was, sitting at my doorstep, packing tape shinning in the Arizona sun.  Unfortunately, one look at the welds and I quickly surmised that they had been pumping these things out of the shop so quickly that quality control was something left to be desired.  Hoping that customer service would prevail, I contacted the shop to get their take on things.  Several days of phone calls and multiple emails later and it was agreed upon that they would repair the frame with no out of pocket cost to me.  The very next day I sent my frame back and all was right with the world.  That is until some greedy little UPS guy got his grubby little hands on it… UPS would label the frame as “Lost/Stolen”.  All was NOT right with the world.

After weeks of hassle and undue stress (all brought on by the wonderful world of Brown), and after a few more phone calls and emails to the shop, the decision was made to handcraft an entire new frame from scratch.  Fast-forward again, 6 months later… and after much anticipation and nail biting (thanks UPS) my new frame arrived once again, packing tape shining in the Arizona sun.
 
Morale of the story: say what you will about West Coast Choppers… good, bad or indifferent, but they really went out of their way and made every effort to make things right for me.  Customer service doesn’t get much better than that.
 

All was once again right with the world!

The science behind moto-ology

moto-ology [mō'·tō-ŏl'·ə·jē]:

The moto-ology blog was started in an effort to chronicle the process of building a bike from the ground up.  The aim is to not only show the occasional in depth "how-to" tech article, but also to show the entire process from start to finish.  Every step, every product, every piece of the puzzle will be showcased in an effort to provide actual helpful instruction in a sea of otherwise confusing information.

The Inspiration

Before any good project can begin there needs to be an idea, and before any good idea can flourish there must be inspiration.  Many of you that know me know that the design idea of the bike has undergone many changes even before the first part was purchased.  Since the beginning of all of this I've been fortunate to come across several sources of inspiration.  Most of which have shaped the very idea of what the bike will ultimately evolve into.

The Idea

The idea is simple...

Build a kick ass, stripped down, no frills, balls out, old school motorcycle (bar hopper, bobber, chopper, lane splitter... whatever you wanna call it) from the ground up and chronicle the entire process from ordering parts to mock up to fit and finish to turning the key for the first time.  All this will of course be supplemented with the occasional comic relief... hopefully.

I appreciate you stopping by to check things out.  I'll do my best to keep things updated often.