"Hey Leon- I have been thinking about my bike's name and what kind of art I want on the left side, and some concepts are starting to form and solidify. I plan on hashing out some more ideas tonight, and doing some sketching so I can better visualize what I want."

"One theme I am playing around with is: hearts, heartbeats (thumps), red, broken heart... It pulls together a bunch of loosely related things. First, there is a song I love called Hearts-a-Bustin by Billy Joe Shaver which is about two things simultaneously. Hearts-a-bustin' is a real flower that grows down south, and it's a beautiful red and pink blossom that breaks open so it looks like a heart bleeding. While being about the flower, the song is also about Billy Joe Shaver mourning the death of his wife in real life. So I was thinking a possible name for the bike would be "Hearts-a-Bustin". That also ties in the heartbeat like thump of the single cylinder, plus I think this bike is going to be a real heart-breaker, so if you can imagine--hearts will be a-bustin' everywhere it goes."

"I also like the heart theme because I am such a huge fan of folk art, especially Mexican folk art, and there is a long tradition of using hearts in that style of art. So both the traditional heart symbol and the flower lend themselves well to art pieces."

"Sorry this email is so long. But I have been going through my art books and reflecting on what inspires me so that this bike can be a representation of me, but also live up to the expectations we originally had for it."

"I like your note about "Grace + the Machine." Very cute! I don't know that "Shake It Out" is a name for my bike though. Save it for your next badger!"

Grace

So, the bike that started life as a 2009 Royal Enfield Bullet G-5, will now officially be known as "Hearts a-Bustin'

And now that we are all suitably inspired; I think I can safely say, this tank is going to look awesome!!

Now get to work Mark! We have our work cut out for us if we want to debut this bike at the IMS show in NYC this weekend.

Cheers,

But unlike David Byrne asking "how did I get here", here's the internet blow by blow:

With most all of the componentry removed, just about the only thing left is that one big piece in the middle. Oh, and the horn.

The obligatory making sparks while you cut shit off a motorcycle shot. It's Mid-December, with it having been unseasonably warm. A bit of a treat to be able to work outside this late in the year, and took double advantage by working from home that day.

Some of the resultant bits of motorcycle build flotsam and jetsam.

Grace wants this to be a solo bike so the passenger pegs were slated for amputation. The left bracket however also serves as the muffler hanger. But for our purposes a little over built and with a pretty knarly attempt at a bend. It had to go. Or at least get tidied up.

The tubes cut, trimmed and notched to accept the recycled bung.

I'll make no claim to being a decent welder (should probably put practicing on my list for 2012), and when you have somebody in the 'hood who can do stuff better then you and is always happy to help.... well I'm not proud. Good buddy and avid motorcyclist and racer Ty once again enlisted for a quick tig.

A decent bead, and nice color to boot. Thanks, Ty!

Grace's frame in all its detabbed, ground, sanded and reconfigured glory. Next, off to sandblasting.

It can be hard to find someone to do sandblasting these days, but conveniently enough there is a guy just across the river, but minutes away from the shop. And basically a one day turn around, and during the holiday week, no less. 

And speaking of quick turnarounds, Grace's frame back from our friends at CMF Powder Coating. Dropped it off this past Wednesday afternoon, picked it up Friday morning. Love those guys. Grace went for a Badger inspired semi-flat that just kind of goes away on the bike, not competing for attention. The finish came out really nice and I'm thinking just what she had in mind.

Well, it's New Year's Eve. Next year we'll start putting stuff back ON this motorcycle as we press ahead to have it ready for NYC on the 20th.

2011 has truly been one for the books. Best wishes to everyone for a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year.

Cheers, 

When loyal Cycle Icons patron and good friend of the Badger, Grace Stoeckle, started to make some comments about wanting to mod her bike, I couldn't have been more excited. Grace has been following the Badger project from the beginning, and was really smitten when we unveiled version 1.0. The flat tracker, version 2.0, pushed her over the edge, and talk of a build project began in ernest.

After meeting, it was determined, that despite Grace's aesthetic affection for the flat tracker, her bike would be configured more as a cafe, owing more to the road race version of the Badger. But with its own unique touches. 

After the basic build spec was arrived at, the next round of dialog involved our paint treatment, specifically the tank. Grace felt that much of the Badger's personality was derived from Badger Art Director, Mark Rounds' efforts on both bikes, 1.0 and 2.0. A meeting was set up with Mark, Grace and I to get to know one another a bit, see if we clicked, and bounce around ideas. I think we all wound up feeling that a Badger inspired bike wouldn't be the same without a Mark Rounds paint job, so I'm happy to say Mark has been commissioned to paint his third in the series of bike tanks. Based on our discussions, it will be much more purely abstract then the previous versions, inspired by the BMW "art cars" of the '70's, and Alexander Calder's work for Braniff airlines.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_Art_Car

http://www.braniffpages.com/calder/calder.html

Another exciting thing about this build. It's going to hit the show circuit. Or at least one leg of it. Look for it on the Royal Enfield stand at the Progressive Int'l Motorcycle Show, January 20-22 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in NYC. It will be a challenge to get it done in time, but we never seem to get a break in the time dept. anyway; so business as usual, I suppose.

Grace's bike as it started life, when I first sold it to her in the spring of 2009. A Royal Enfield G-5 Classic, accessorized with a solo saddle and luggage rack.

The first step, and one of my favorites; the tear down. The pile below all the crap to be pitched.

What we'll keep.

As long as the "pitch" pile is bigger then the "keep" pile, I'm happy. And confident of a good start to the project.

Cheers,