Friday 15 February 2008

Design Variations - Alternate Concepts

I thought it might be a good idea to post more of my early designs. Each drawing not only explores a different look but also what I could achieve with a different budget. For instance, in these drawings I have retained the factory exhaust so that I could divert funds to buy a fairing, or pay for a paint job, or have a seat custom upholstered... who knows, I might yet change my mind and build one of these...

NYC Checkered Cab
This is one of my earliest drawings and dates back to December 2006. The paint job is a not-so-subtle play with a hot rod tradition of painting a car's firewall in a checker pattern, and when blended with a yellow paint scheme you get a checker cab. This design focussed on paint and not parts - nearly everything is stock with the exception of the side covers below the seat, the 'eyebrow' over the headlight, ribbed engine side cover and the stock tank gets black rubber kneepads. I think it looks silly, but it was worth a try!


Indy Racer
This drawing was also completed in December 2006 and is the only other design that I've considered in any seriousness as an alternative to my all silver/metallic scheme. The design is based on a 1954 Kurtis Kraft driven by Johnnie Parsons at the Indianapolis 500. This concept features stock exhaust (with exhaust tape) and the original gauges but otherwise introduces many of the custom parts that the silver design does.

Sunday 10 February 2008

Really, it all started here...

I have not given any time to the 'build' over the last few weeks but I don't want this stopping me from updating this blog! That's why I'm stepping back in time to make mention of where the Candy Rocket Specials really started.

This was the first project, a 1969 Honda CB175 K3. I purchased the bike about eight years ago and even though the bike was not running, and required some serious mechanical repair, it does still carry its original Candy Blue/Green paint. How could I not name her Candy?
Candy

The only modification is the replacement of the handlebars which now have a one inch rise instead of the original four inches. All damaged or lost parts on the bike where replaced with new-old-stock factory parts. The intention from the very beginning was to modify the bike and turn it into a nimble little cafe racer but it became to precious and I ended up restoring her instead.