De-purple

Okay so I got some Rustoleum hammered paint and wanted to try it out. I also have these purple side panels on the vstar and I hate purple. I used WD40 and a blow dryer to remove the stickers then scuffed the plastic with some 400 grit. Two layers of the hammered look good but I will probably cover it with a darker color eventually when I do a full repaint. Hard to see in the pics but the hammered does make the plastic look like metal -- I'd call it more pitted than hammered -- but that might be due to temp and humidity where I was painting. I've got to make myself a paint booth before I do the whole rig.

Much Much Go Interview

Ever since discovering Pipeburn Magazine I've been digging through the archives looking for inspiration amid the beautiful cafe customs. I've also been following links to some other great magazines, blogs and custom builders. The Cafe style really is the hot thing right now and I love the "fix what you found" mentality of taking common old UJMs and making them into custom rolling works of art.

I doubt my first venture will be as beautiful as anything on these pages, but it is great to take in such inspiration.

One of the best visual inspirations for the customization of my CB400 of course is the Much Much Go ... winner of a build-off down under and a very controversial show bike. It is stripped down, and customized with minimal cash. A low displacement Honda with Comstar wheels, white pipes and no chrome dangles the attainability of such beauty to backyard hackers with limited funds and unlimited dreams.

I really like the design and I might even go with the white pipes!

Anyway, found a great interview with the creator in Pipeburn and wanted to point to it: Check it out here: http://www.pipeburn.com/home/2010/12/7/interview-nick-much-much-go-eterovic.html

Black on White? Some Simple, Beautiful Customs

I've been looking for inspiration for the paint job on my HONDA CB400A. The folks over at Death Spray Customs have a great White on Black simple design that I'm tempted to emulate. It's a 1970 Triumph TR25 and it is rugged and clean. I've already got the black frame and will likely end up with a white or black overpaint on my exhaust system.

I also like the white pipes and clean lines on the Much Much Go as profiled at BikeEXIF. This is a cheap but beautiful custom of a similar vintage machine that won the Deus Ex Machina comptetition. What do you think?