750 ss barrel fin repair.

The barrels for the ss are in pretty good shape except this fin, located in the best spot possible. I have an old guzzi barrel that I use as a donor for fins like this.

Thats it tucked in under the head...see what i mean its in a good spot. Bead blast and it will be done.

front fender for the shovel.

I'm preparing to give my shovel a makeover. Its without a doubt the ugliest bike i've ever owned and its long overdue, but i just wanted it to prove itself to me over a year before i did too much to it.

It did. Its a fantastic bike, and i almost grew to like its ugliness. I had a spare early front end for it so i've just finished rebuilding it, only thing left is to get the brake back from machining and fit it up. i had an old 19inch pirelli that i had been saving for years... about 15 years actually. still feeling good so we will see if it stays for more than a week. Fitted it up to a acront alloy rim with stainless spokes.

I had picked out a chrome fender for the back off an old ducati so to match i found this CB250 front fender that im going to fit. I spent a couple of hours on it this morning planishing and filing dents so all i have to do is extend the bracket to fit and send away for chroming. I know i'm gonna love this front end. 

damiens pantah

..is staying in the shed for a bit while he's on vacation. 600ccs of desmo lovliness through the bush at lunchtime today in perfect autumn weather. i'll take some really good shots of it over the weekend and post them up.

pretty close on the mark 3 now....

\

still waiting for the instruments to turn up......6 weeks to replace a bezel and a glass and zero the odo,..lets see what the bill is.

so need to make a alloy dash that shouldn't take long and last bits of wiring and start up.....and then a whole bunch of shakedown stuff for sure.

i ended up not cutting back and polishing the paint, the finish off the gun is good enough for the time being, i'll let it harden over a couple of months while im sorting the niggly things and then i will do it.

Mikes WL in GKM ....

... very thankful to Guy for featuring another bike from the shed here.....mikes bike is in issue 32 and the story is a perfect representation of how it went down.....you the man mike.

so many good features in this issue....
including my melbourne maltese man justin zahra's trump... good to meet you kuda, see you guys soon.....

always loved brads ZON blog....hes got a great eye for the good stuff...

go get a subscription HERE.....GO SON...

Mark III paintwork.....

.....has been taking up some time in the last couple of days....i struggled a bit with the work yesterday, had a couple of stupid mishaps, scratched the tank, and generally got fed-up with painting outside...when we eventually finish our house and move out of the shed ill have a space for painting, but for the rest of this year its outside in the elements....

i chose some pretty conservative colours for this bike. silver, mercedes anthracite and black. This bike has all the running gear from a mark 3 but all the bodywork that came with my mark1 when i got it....so its a bitsa, and i didn't want to try and make it look like a replica but rather a tasteful custom, hence the conservative paintwork. i got some good clear coats on today, so its looking good. I'll leave it for a few days, block it back and hit the final coats of clear before final assembly.

tail section of Mark V Le Mans.

...is mostly done now. I have to construct a couple of front mounting points, although the idea of retaining a simple leather strap across the seat as per the original holds some appeal.

...the front section needs to be cut down but i want to show my upholsterer tomorrow what im intending to do so he can lead the way....

...im happy with the convex depression i put in the centre to match the imola tank and the small radiuses and angles worked pretty well in connecting it visually with the tank.

now you see it now you dont.

cleaned up for the first time in about 9 years last week.....just for a minute, cant do without my beard, no one takes me seriously.

Tail section of MarkV...

.... got some good time today on the tail section of the Mark V le mans...i've been trying to get it to sit right with the tank that we I have for the bike, an alloy imola ducati tank. I've taken a few of the details, the depression to the rear section, the radiused corners and the overall lines and tried to let that inform the tail. I had a basic shape in mind and drew a side profile keeping in mind the frame rails, mounting points and how i wanted the seat foam and cover to appear in the finished product. Then I cut the two side sections and annealed them in preparation for bending. I bent them and then mounted them to the frame rails. Once mounted I cut a cardboard section and did a greasy finger rub of its shape. I cut it and you can see how it fits above.

 I tacked it together, and once I had that done i removed the section from the bike and set to it with the hammer and various dollies to really get the joints flush.

I finish welded it along each length.

Next I got stuck into it with the course file. This is my favourite part...You can feel every imperfection when doing it this way.....much better than any electrical tool i think.....its also a shitload slower, allows you the time to correct any wrongdoing...no second chances with grinders.

Once filed up on one side i set to it with 120 grit on a block plane...

I will have a go at the otherside tomorrow.

Mark 3 Guzzi....

....finally got the bodywork prepared for the mark 3 le mans...so, what i've done with this bike is basically use all the leftover gear off the mark 1 i built a few years ago. Even though its a III, its was a bitsa when I got it so I stuck with that and decided i'd build a guzzi that looked kind of standard but make many subtle changes along the way.

Everything on this bike is tweaked just a bit. The front end is different, a later model marzocchi front end....i went with a ducati ss fibreglass front fender to match.....i've cut down the original mark I fairing and cleaned up the lines a touch. I've prepared the seat to be reupholstered and exposed the tank a bit more by removing the front section of the seat....i'm happy with the profile of it now.

I spent maybe too long getting the bodywork prepped, but I always find that the fibreglass sections need so much work,,,,much more than say, the steel tank, that once blasted looked great and only needed the slightest bit of filler. I had a NOS Ducati Darmah chrome fender for the rear but decided against it at the last minute and used the original but cut it down quite a bit, hope i can find a taillight that will work well with it.

I've chosen a nice colour for this one, Mercedes Anthracite, (pre1960), matched with black. All being well with the weather i'll paint next week......yep...i still paint outside.

Mark 3 and Mark 5

its all guzzi stuff this week....stuck into the alloy work on the Mark 5...lets see if i can make it look a bit better than it did when it left the factory. I tried a norvil commando seat on it just to see how the seating position works but am hoping to get the alloy tacked together by the end of this weekend.

My mark 3 is almost done, i had all my bodywork left over from my mark 1 a couple years ago so its getting put to use. found a new old stock ducati darmah rear guard that will work nice too.

new bars for rogers shovel

.... took a set of my standard stainless bars and widened them to fit rogers springer ....took some time to get it right with the file but they look great all finished....hope you like them mate.

I probably wouldn't do that again....id just get some more rolled up wider by my dude.

If your after a set in my standard configuration i still have a few sets left, give me a shout if your interested. 1 inch stainless, and if your like me and prefer a 7/8ths throttle and grip i can step it down for you.... email me at machineshed@bigpond.com

These are the prototypes i made and fitted to my pan....they are the same shape as these exactly.

Just got my latest GKM

Issue 31 in the mail today....Love the new format, paper and really everything about it Guy. Well done mate, love it.

go HERE and get a subscription and support blokes doing the shit we love.