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Got an email from an architect on the other side of the world last week. Eric said he’d seen The Brat on BikeEXIF recently and was checking out our blog and noticed that we have a project about to start called “Rusty”.
It just so happens that Eric has just recently purchased a bike he affectionately calls “Rusty”, a ‘74 CB450 made by Holiday Customs in Portland Oregon. Over to Eric…
“I affectionately named the bike Rusty, due partly to its original paint scheme, but also the copious amounts of rust still present on the bike when I bought it. The builders in Portland seem to be going for a very rough, grungy look, and I kind of liked it.”
Eric has always been into all things two wheels and bought his first Motorbike 12 years ago. What was it I hear you ask? Oh, only a Ducati 916!
“I owned a bunch of Italian beauties over the years, then eventually moved towards Japanese track machines. I picked up dirt biking about 5 years ago and have been hooked. I also ventured into supermotos, but crashed in my first race and tore my ACL. That led to a bunch of down time which eventually led to me purchasing Rusty.”
“The bikes kept getting faster and faster, but I started longing for a slower, funner, naked bike of some sort to ride on the street at more reasonable speeds. I’d owned a Monster, but wanted something even more unique. I’d been collecting images of café racers for the past few years. I loved the pure, shiny café racers, but also loved the fat tired, all matte-finish bikes. I didn’t even know the term Brat existed at that point.”
“While recovering from my surgery, and having some cash on hand from selling my dirt bike, I decided I was ready to buy a café racer. After several weeks of Craigslist and ebay shopping, I stumbled upon “Rusty”. I was blown away. The second I saw it I knew it was exactly what I wanted. More unique and interesting than a café bike; the proportions were perfect to me.”
“I LOVE rusty. I ride him more than all my other bikes.”
If this photo was taken today, you wouldn’t see the bike as it’d be under four feet of snow. Not much riding of Rusty going on at the moment.
When I first saw pics of Eric’s “Rusty” I loved it. It put a smile on my face straight away. The first word I used to describe it was “honest”. It’s a no bullshit bike that just wants you to ride it. The best kind in my opinion.
….psssst, wanna get a sneak peak at his next bike?
“I completely re-wired rusty, and have done a ton of maintenance. Then I got brave and started my own project bike. Inspired by the guys at Classified Moto, I started a Virago 750 project. I have been working on it in my spare time for the past 4 months. Here’s a little photo of it: it’s about 70% done.”
It would be easy to say “Oh yeh, but he’s an architect, he should know how to build a good looking bike” but then an architect designed this didn’t they?
