This is getting exhausting.

Please pardon the pun, but it is time for Peter Herrington of Meerkat Mufflers to do his thing. For the sake of this story I am going to jump around back and forth and side to side. This may give you a little insight into how my mind works.

Waaaay back at this start of all of this silliness I made a call to Mr Meerkat Mufflers and explained what I had in mind. Peter was kind enough to come and visit (half to humour me and the other half just to shut me up). In my normal style I ran around in circles talking really fast and making no sense. Peter in his ever calm almost Zen style said. “Just calm down, we will do the pipes last”.

Fast forward two months.........

The bike is done, (I skipped over the really boring bits like wiring and stuff) and off to Meerkat I go. This time Peter isn’t so “Zen” he is rather animated he loves it, he really loves it. Peter set about spending many sleepless nights and countless hours crafting a one off work of stainless steel art or, exhaust porn, in my opinion.

 

Now for the difficult bit.

Why is it always waaaay easier to pull something apart than it is to put it back together?

Oh well, we are doing it. You wouldn’t believe it to look at it but the hardest thing so far is proving to be the custom tail lamp assembly. My previously calm as a monk friend Bruce is getting increasingly irritable. I think he may have even been heard to utter. “If you EVER come up with another idea like this I will kill you”.

Sorry Bruce, crazy ideas with little or no thought as to the process involved in their fitment is me all over. I must say the finished product is a work of tail lamp art, thank you Bruce.

 

After we have removed the front and rear guards and the tank and sent them off to the painter I suddenly come to the realisation, we have only a little bit of bike left and now would probably be a good time to start putting this thing back together.  

The “tins” (cool word for the painted bits I have seen used on American Chopper) are back from the painter. Not exactly gleaming, but the PERFECT balance between Matte black and Satin black. Yep there is a difference.

“It’s coming together” I say as I dance around the workshop like a giddy teenage school girl (not a particularly well received performance I must say). The tank and guards go back on and at precisely the right time Dave from Mongrel Motos walks in bearing the latest gift. The tank stickers in the new Motorcycle Country logo. I must say (I maybe a little biased) our new logo looks like it grew there. . .

 

  

Focus Focus Focus.

Alright, tyres are fitted, looking good.
I bully Bruce into putting a jack under the big rig so we can remove the rear shocks to establish just how low we can go. 65mm lower than standard is decided and I order custom made (yes custom made) Ikon shocks in black. A little under a decade later and they still aren’t here but I put my faith in the “system”.

By now the boys in the workshop have established that when I have a spare minute it is spent removing something that I have deemed unnecessary sooooo. To date we, and I say WE, have removed, replaced or tampered with the following.
Indicators, mirrors, hand grips, intake/air cleaner, plastic radiator cover, horn, exhaust, chain guard, strap on the seat, exhaust, helmet lock, luggage tie down points, complete taillight and indicator set up, handle bar mounts and no doubt a bunch of other stuff I have forgotten.

Don’t worry we replaced everything (necessary stuff anyway) and I will get into specifics soon.

Brendan.