With all the parts delivered JM Customs began work in October last year and set about putting the bits together so see what was needed. Every original part was available and there would be a lot of parts reused, renewed and many others set aside. Overall the bike was in good shape, running - although a little rough - and in need of a good clean up before the cutting and grinding would begin.
James told us ‘it was a great build and it went pretty well but it was very challenging to make the modern parts work with the old. Add to that a lot of machining and making parts for the bike made it a time consuming project. Whilst meshing the new technology with the old we were keen to make sure that the vintage look was maintained. The Flying Scotsman theme was perfect for the project, the idea and reason for building the bike.
‘With a fairly fluid brief we were able to have a lot of fun with the build and actually over-engineered it beyond what others might do bringing it all together in the end. We are exceptionally happy with the build. It’s a really clean bike, has great lines and looks like it could have just rolled off the factory production line. With so many hand crafted parts there isn’t anything out there like it.’
There’s a lot of new technology on the bike now from front to rear and some traditional styling touches thrown in to capture the culture and essence of the theme.
From front to back the custom touches are almost endless, some are very obvious like the new front end with the K7 GSXR 750 USD forks but others are more subtle like the machined spacers for the front discs, hand made mudguards and mounting brackets, the steering stops and the leather fasteners with brass closures used instead of the dreaded plastic cable ties.