Sunday, March 25, 2007

Cooking up a motorycle: Or a guide to Building a Bike in your apartment kitchen.

From supernaturale.com

"It's tough being a grease monkey in New York City. I dream of a garage, a good space where I can keep my tools and spread out my oily motorcycle parts. My friend Andrew Anderson, a Scottish New Yorker, does not let space constraints dictate his passion for British motorcycles. He spent a good 6 months building a 1955 Triton in his three floor walk-up in Brooklyn.

Any advice for an aspiring apartment-bike-builder?
"Grinding, buffing, painting, polishing and wrenching is a messy business. You want to be able to contain the airborne dust as much as possible so a separate room is a big help.
Be very methodical about taking things apart and keeping all the related bits in the same box or bag. Become friends with someone who knows much more about bikes than you do."
And what else?
"Never wash your hands with citrus based cleaner if you are sitting in the bath."
Apparently hand cleaner can have a pretty strong reaction on the rest of your body, especially your most sensitive areas. What about the neighbors? Andrew didn't get any complaints, even when he started up the bike in his kitchen. But, you should probably take that into account if you want to start your own project."

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Ha, man I know how ya feel, can't believe you pulled it off. Very nice "ton". And how did ya get it back down the stairs?

Jim in Brooklyn