Thursday, November 21, 2013

Sweet RD in Deus' Boundless Enthusiasm Bike Build Off



Really nice 1972 Yamaha RD200 entrant by American Eric Christie in Deus Ex Machina's Boundless Enthusiasm Bike Build Off. Took 14th place - should have been higher, IMHO. Here's the writeup:
My bike in words; This little smile factory started out as an impulse craigslist score (I'm sure none of you can relate to that statement ;) sometime around July. The very first day I had it I took all the junk off of it and took about 5 inches out of the rear loop. At that point I sat back and conjured up a plan for a cool little bike, something fun and simple that looked pretty stock but not. A mild custom if you will. My style is to build things that are clean and flowing. I feel that a great custom is something that leaves you wondering just what was modified. After a quick day dream I decided screw it I'm just going to part it out. It was then that I got a call from my brother and he said hell no that little baby is mine and I want you to build it how you see it. "Cool!" The meager budget was set and then I hurt my back. Full of enthusiasm and no ability to stand and walk I dreamed some more. Fast forward to early September and the bike was still Sitting doing nothing I stumbled upon an Instagram post while amongst the throne of all good thoughts and a light bulb kinda sizzled a bit. Could I really pull this off. After a few hell yeahs and what are you waiting for's from my Wife, brother, Dad and friends and it was on registration had happened and there was no turning back. Since this bike will be built for my brother as his daily ride up in S.F. A short trip north of here in Santa Cruz, and armed with a pocket full of "let's do this" I was off to build a clean little street ripper capable of tearing the sidewalk off the San Francisco streets and looking dapper at the same time. I started by taking off anything that wasn't a cool yamaha rd200 and added back only what was completely necessary yet with a vision of cleanliness and style. The vintage bates headlight was sucked in and dropped down by a custom handmade set of ears with just the right proportions. A tail section handmade from flat steel the frame was smoothed out semi moulded and cleaned up for a handsome look. The stock gas tank was removed of years of abuse and gave it a nice skin tightening before being blocked out and straightened to an acceptable state. A vintage electrovoice microphone volunteered as a perfectly proportionate taillight. A lot of time cleaning polishing reconditioning painting and elbow grease using and we were getting close. A new set of spokes went well with the cleaned and polished original wheels and hubs. The paint? Well it had to be gold and white. Just had to be. So I read and studied every thing I could about painting and with the help of a great pal we came up with my first real paint job and although I learned a lot the hard way I am pretty happy with it. During the whirlwind of coating this bike in a candy like finish my great pal with slight help from me attempted his first tuck and roll job. Came out pretty good and it topped off that tail section just right. Down to the mad dash of a finish and my Dad stopped over to lend a hand with the wiring and clean it up to his liking. It was Friday afternoon before the event, a push of the starter button and it lit off and screamed like every good two stroke should. I quickly loaded up the trailer and set off for a weekend I won't soon forget. I want to thank first of all my family, friends and amazing Wife for keeping my head up for this whole build. I really couldn't have done it without them. Second the team at Deus and all the great people we met at this event. I feel like part of the family and made new friends I hope to stay in touch with. So here is my 1972 Yamaha rd200. Enjoy!

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