Kommunal Kustom Build, Week 5

Choppin’ frames & choosin’ wheels…

Are we behind? Are we in front? Are we on target? Above all, are we having a good time?? A slight tension hung in the air this week about whether our two Kommmunal Builds were lagging behind, so we all got together in a big group hug and prayed to the Moto Gods for zero unexpected roadblocks and a smooth journey to two immaculately finished bikes. Yeah, right! The main point of this project is getting a bunch of keen DIY’ers together to wrench our ideas into life, up-skill, share knowledge and ride home feeling the buzz of hanging with a like-minded crew. Will the finished bikes be absolutely faultless? When has a custom ever been absolutely faultless! Will the finished bikes be racing up the Black Spur on the stroke of Week 11? Why stress about that now?

Both teams had a quick catch up around the workbench to check-in, set their intentions for the night and recalibrate their priorities for the next few sessions. We may not all be mechanical wizards but we’re sure as hell a pragmatic bunch. Rick and Jon lifted spirits further by reminding the teams that right after our first session we threw a second bike into the mix, meaning double the amount of design work, double the amount of checking parts and it was only last week that we really got our hands dirty. So, we’re all good? Yep, we’re all good!

Steph got busy on the grinder de-tabbing the adv scrambler frame before chopping the seat hoop off, to make way for a proposed single-seat-into-luggage-rack design and the flat trackers were taking votes on what wheels to run with. All in all, another evening well spent at Kommune; roll on Week 6, whatever unexpected hairpins (or busted carbies!) it throws up. Next time we’ll also dig a bit deeper into the history of Desert Sleds and Flat Trackers. 

As always, big thanks to the legend @Jake Simkin for the images and if you’re keen to learn more about our Kommune Konnections program funded by the DGR and Movember, check this page.

Written by Tom Ansell