Hi from the UK - INDIAN Board Tracker tribute, my first build
- Thread starter PeteMcP
- Start date
Thanks Rick.
Next job on the list is to progress the 'bambooing' of the frame. Just need to finish-up rolling to shape the last of the brass rings needed for the seatpost. I've also decided to aim for a convincing look by binding where the bike's frame tubes meet. Took inspiration from one of our ivory-painted bamboo dining chairs you can see posed behind the bike in the latest pic. These have the joints bound with over-painted leather strips. So on Tuesday I found a crafter on eBay selling custom dyed 5mm wide leather strips and opted for 'antiqued blue' colour. Should be here today or tomorrow.
Next job on the list is to progress the 'bambooing' of the frame. Just need to finish-up rolling to shape the last of the brass rings needed for the seatpost. I've also decided to aim for a convincing look by binding where the bike's frame tubes meet. Took inspiration from one of our ivory-painted bamboo dining chairs you can see posed behind the bike in the latest pic. These have the joints bound with over-painted leather strips. So on Tuesday I found a crafter on eBay selling custom dyed 5mm wide leather strips and opted for 'antiqued blue' colour. Should be here today or tomorrow.
The OLDSTER frame by bike builders TSP in Italy has long been on my wish list of favourites, but they haven't turned out a batch of these for quite a while. I look regularly on their website without any news of when - or if - they'll do another run. For my money, this low slung frame is one of the best looking ever. Just never seen one for sale. Till now!!!!
Received 3 metres of the antique blue dyed leather thong strip in today's mail. Set to work immediately, binding the frame joints on Blue Bamboo. Thought 3m of the stuff would be more than enough to do the job but it was only sufficient for binding 2 of the four joints that needed doing. Oh well, I ordered another 3 metres from the same crafter in Liverpool who shipped quickly. Thought I'd share a few pics showing how cool these bindings look once wound in place. Couldn't be happier how this extra detail turned out.
Decided against purchasing the Oldster bike for sale on UK eBay. Bargain, but seller is a total a-hole who I refuse to hand my money to. Contacted him via eBay's message system yesterday, saying I was interested but wondered whether or not I would be able to obtain any quotes from the online Shiply courier service I use concerning collection/delivery of the bike during the current pandemic lockdown. Asked if he would be ok about possible slow collection of the bike. He responded, in capitals, saying "NO POSTAGE".
So I responded saying I didn't ask him to post the bike, just wanted to know if there was any delay with a Shiply haulier picking up the bike, was he OK with that. He replied again, saying "no courier would take a bike 9ft long. And anyway my offer was rubbish". (I hadn't even made an offer or bid on his Oldster yet?!)
I responded saying; "What did he know? A Shiply courier just delivered a bike that size to me recently no problem. I didn't make you an offer yet, but given your attitude, I'll save my money. Smartass jerk"
One of his purchasers had left negative feedback saying - "Probably the rudest man on Earth" - so at least they got that right!
So I responded saying I didn't ask him to post the bike, just wanted to know if there was any delay with a Shiply haulier picking up the bike, was he OK with that. He replied again, saying "no courier would take a bike 9ft long. And anyway my offer was rubbish". (I hadn't even made an offer or bid on his Oldster yet?!)
I responded saying; "What did he know? A Shiply courier just delivered a bike that size to me recently no problem. I didn't make you an offer yet, but given your attitude, I'll save my money. Smartass jerk"
One of his purchasers had left negative feedback saying - "Probably the rudest man on Earth" - so at least they got that right!
Pete,
Your tale about the Oldster fail is epic. I hope your BP did not max as a result.
Devil is in the details but it looks like you got him by the tail. The joint treatment is a touch of class to already beautiful bike.
Tom
Your tale about the Oldster fail is epic. I hope your BP did not max as a result.
Devil is in the details but it looks like you got him by the tail. The joint treatment is a touch of class to already beautiful bike.
Tom
Pete,
I had deal with a chap who sounded like one of this lads relations. After trying to politely get around his nasty remarks I finally told him that I looked forward to hearing from him when he removed his head from it's resting place in his rectal cavity as he reloaded his brain. I also mentioned that I was interested in whether his ears automatically folded flat in the withdrawal process or did he just suffer the pain of removal.
It seemed he took great umbrage to this and his was reply was priceless. He implied that there was absolutely no chance I was going to Heaven although if he knew where I lived he'd stop by and help me prepare for the trip just in case he was wrong about this.
eBay tells you where the seller lives as far as the city and state/province at least it shows up in the ad here in Canada. I looked up his city and found a restaurant and emailed him back a couple of days later and told him I'd meet him there at a given time.
I never heard back from him. I was surprised that eBay let it go through their message board but they did.
Steve.
I had deal with a chap who sounded like one of this lads relations. After trying to politely get around his nasty remarks I finally told him that I looked forward to hearing from him when he removed his head from it's resting place in his rectal cavity as he reloaded his brain. I also mentioned that I was interested in whether his ears automatically folded flat in the withdrawal process or did he just suffer the pain of removal.
It seemed he took great umbrage to this and his was reply was priceless. He implied that there was absolutely no chance I was going to Heaven although if he knew where I lived he'd stop by and help me prepare for the trip just in case he was wrong about this.
eBay tells you where the seller lives as far as the city and state/province at least it shows up in the ad here in Canada. I looked up his city and found a restaurant and emailed him back a couple of days later and told him I'd meet him there at a given time.
I never heard back from him. I was surprised that eBay let it go through their message board but they did.
Steve.
Just pulled the trigger on a great bargain located at a Florida dealers.
'03 Kawasaki Drifter 800, 1 owner trade-in, 2800mls,
Best offer accepted with no haggling. Presently organizing shipping to the UK - although goodness knows how long that will be due to the weird times we're currently living in. Not in any hurry. Just pleased to have finally tracked so nice an example down.
Absolute minter of a bike, sporting a nice set of aftermarket pipes (Vance & Hines I reckon) which sound way better than the stock muffler. Owned the 1500 version of one these Drifters for a year back in '08. Most comfortable bike I ever rode. Sold it to purchase the Guzzi LeMans I used as the donor drivetrain on my replica Morgan Three Wheeler project.
Following a short production run, Kawasaki had to stop making these Drifters - basically Indian Chief copies (only way more reliable) - after being served with a cease & desist order from the owners of the Indian brand name.
Good Drifters are becoming hard to find now. This one's spent it's life in an air conditioned Florida garage and never seen a salty road. Showing less than 3k on the clock, this has to be up there with the best of 'em. Definitely one to take a punt with an sit on awhile. And to put my own stamp on it. Better than money in the bank.
'03 Kawasaki Drifter 800, 1 owner trade-in, 2800mls,
Best offer accepted with no haggling. Presently organizing shipping to the UK - although goodness knows how long that will be due to the weird times we're currently living in. Not in any hurry. Just pleased to have finally tracked so nice an example down.
Absolute minter of a bike, sporting a nice set of aftermarket pipes (Vance & Hines I reckon) which sound way better than the stock muffler. Owned the 1500 version of one these Drifters for a year back in '08. Most comfortable bike I ever rode. Sold it to purchase the Guzzi LeMans I used as the donor drivetrain on my replica Morgan Three Wheeler project.
Following a short production run, Kawasaki had to stop making these Drifters - basically Indian Chief copies (only way more reliable) - after being served with a cease & desist order from the owners of the Indian brand name.
Good Drifters are becoming hard to find now. This one's spent it's life in an air conditioned Florida garage and never seen a salty road. Showing less than 3k on the clock, this has to be up there with the best of 'em. Definitely one to take a punt with an sit on awhile. And to put my own stamp on it. Better than money in the bank.
Yeah Pete these are great bikes and classic styling is right. Yours is pretty in red!
Bargains to be had at this time for those who've got cash. Too many people living on pay check to payday, with deep financial obligations. Things went upside down in a hurry.
Rick C.
Bargains to be had at this time for those who've got cash. Too many people living on pay check to payday, with deep financial obligations. Things went upside down in a hurry.
Rick C.
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Thanks guys. Yeah, these Drifters are handsome bikes for sure. Although they do fall into the love 'em or hate 'em category. All that matters is I loved 'em the minute I clapped eyes on 'em. Actually prefer the 800's faux rigid look frame to the 1500's which have visible shocks.
Already paid the bill for this one but it may end up sitting Stateside for a good while yet. Seller agreed to my terms of storing the bike FOC till shipping can be undertaken. I agreed to pay to help his cash flow stay right side up. The discount negotiated should hopefully offset the shipping cost. Bike is listed on uShip - but so far, quotes from hauliers/shippers are non existent. Unsurprising given the present circumstances.
Already paid the bill for this one but it may end up sitting Stateside for a good while yet. Seller agreed to my terms of storing the bike FOC till shipping can be undertaken. I agreed to pay to help his cash flow stay right side up. The discount negotiated should hopefully offset the shipping cost. Bike is listed on uShip - but so far, quotes from hauliers/shippers are non existent. Unsurprising given the present circumstances.
Pete I totally agree with your preference of the 800. Sans visible shocks it's so clean backside with no vertical lines to break the sweeping flow of the classic sheet metal and pipes rearward.
I hope the stateside people are capable of crating and expediting the bike for international shipping transactions. It's a beauty & I'd hate to see it needlessly damaged in transit. Have you been able to secure nearby storage for it once it arrives?
Rick C.
I hope the stateside people are capable of crating and expediting the bike for international shipping transactions. It's a beauty & I'd hate to see it needlessly damaged in transit. Have you been able to secure nearby storage for it once it arrives?
Rick C.
There's room in the spare bedroom here for one more scoot - the Drifter will reside there till I can score a garage. In fact I like the look of these so much it'll probably take centre spot in the lounge just so I can admire it. To be honest, we've lived here for just over a year and for most of that time we've shared our lounge with one bike or another. Can't imagine the place without a bike 'art installation' to gaze at. It's kind of like when you take the tree down after Christmas and the place looks bare without it.
Spoke with the US seller of the Drifter before doing the deal and asked about whether or not the bike would require crating for export. His listing shows a world map peppered with dots indicating the hoards of countries he's exported bikes to - and he told me all but two bikes were shipped uncrated. Never had any problems. Guidelines for customers on the uShip website say bikes must be runners, with 1/4-1/2 a tank of gas. Needn't be crated.
Yesterday I visited the website of a UK re-seller of large capacity cruisers regularly imported from the US. Fantastic website full of details to make buyers confident. Impressive range of top quality bikes. Loads of positive testimonials from satisfied customers. One section of the site shows a container-load of bikes being safely strapped down for shipment. None of them crated. Might just contact him and ask if I could maybe pay towards including my Drifter in one of his containerized shipments. Worth a try. But I suspect the stagnating shipping scenario is being experienced by him too right now. I don't have a deadline to aim for with this. It ships when it ships.
Spoke with the US seller of the Drifter before doing the deal and asked about whether or not the bike would require crating for export. His listing shows a world map peppered with dots indicating the hoards of countries he's exported bikes to - and he told me all but two bikes were shipped uncrated. Never had any problems. Guidelines for customers on the uShip website say bikes must be runners, with 1/4-1/2 a tank of gas. Needn't be crated.
Yesterday I visited the website of a UK re-seller of large capacity cruisers regularly imported from the US. Fantastic website full of details to make buyers confident. Impressive range of top quality bikes. Loads of positive testimonials from satisfied customers. One section of the site shows a container-load of bikes being safely strapped down for shipment. None of them crated. Might just contact him and ask if I could maybe pay towards including my Drifter in one of his containerized shipments. Worth a try. But I suspect the stagnating shipping scenario is being experienced by him too right now. I don't have a deadline to aim for with this. It ships when it ships.
Lots of experience in a category is key to best results in shipping and quality personnel doing their job well at each step is the biggest factor to safe delivery. I've shipped a lot of large, heavy & fragile items palletized , lightly covered and strapped by way of container with mostly great results. Crated was more expensive yet damage issues about the same.
I also keep bikes in the house and have for the last thirty years or so, normal is one under assembly, and two or three as decorative conversation pieces. I'm doing so interior work and have moved these out during this work. Nothing comes in the house with fuel in it but I may make and exception with the e-bikes.
I like anticipation for which a certain amount of patience is required. Anxiety during shipment however is a factor I'd prefer to be of short duration.
It's a treasure and a pleasure so worth any small bother.
Rick C.
I also keep bikes in the house and have for the last thirty years or so, normal is one under assembly, and two or three as decorative conversation pieces. I'm doing so interior work and have moved these out during this work. Nothing comes in the house with fuel in it but I may make and exception with the e-bikes.
I like anticipation for which a certain amount of patience is required. Anxiety during shipment however is a factor I'd prefer to be of short duration.
It's a treasure and a pleasure so worth any small bother.
Rick C.
I well recall the nervous excitement and anticipation felt during the time I was importing my '41 Buick Special Sedanette from Canada. My shipper kept me informed via email every step of the car's journey from Toronto to Halifax via rail, then overseas to Liverpool on board the Atlantic Conveyor. I was told the car was strapped to the open deck rather than containerized - so I panicked a bit when I viewed the ship's progress online and saw it sailing through a hurricane. No worries, the car arrived safely without any damage whatsoever and with a fine overall coating of sea salt dulling the otherwise shiny original paint. Being an ex-California car, probably the most (or only) salt it had ever seen during its life. Hosed it down and polished it up a treat soon as it rolled off the delivery truck. The personal importation process is not difficult. I'd recommend it to anyone.
Enjoyed the '41 for a while. Sold it. Moved on to the next project. Buick is now part of a private Scottish motor museum collection.
Enjoyed the '41 for a while. Sold it. Moved on to the next project. Buick is now part of a private Scottish motor museum collection.
My Dad preferred & owned new Buick Specials in '49,'53 & '55 the last a "hardtop" tu-tone, white over black with red interior. It featured a nail head V-8 and three on the tree transmission. Yards of chrome. My Dad always referred to the cars as mother's and the pickups were his, but he took great pride in the cars always two doors, V-8 (when available) & manual transmissions. Mother was well into her seventies before her first automatic, but that a two door Lincoln Continental Mark V. She was a superb driver and not at all afraid to get on the gas, and never put a scratch or ding into a motor vehicle.
Your '53 brings back great memories cars were such a big deal during the fifties and sixties and made a very real difference in our daily lives. What you drove provided great insight into who you were or preferred others to believe you were. Many egos thrived in those shallow waters.
Pete your Special's a beauty that's thankfully being preserved and presented for many to enjoy.
Rick C.
Your '53 brings back great memories cars were such a big deal during the fifties and sixties and made a very real difference in our daily lives. What you drove provided great insight into who you were or preferred others to believe you were. Many egos thrived in those shallow waters.
Pete your Special's a beauty that's thankfully being preserved and presented for many to enjoy.
Rick C.
LOVELY PARTS PILE ADDITION.
After an almost two week marathon, today I finally scored a nice set of girder forks. Been after a set for what seems like forever, but every auction I've bid in, they go for silly money. For example, a set of Webb girder forks for a Velocette KSS sold today for 3900 quid. That's stupid money, I know, but even a tenth of that is way beyond my budget for an old set of sprung girders to use on a motorized bike build.
The UK eBay seller of the forks I purchased originally listed a bunch of old 'barn find' motorcycle parts a couple of weeks ago and back then these forks were offered attached to a very nice loop frame which was pictured minus the upper legs of the rear triangle. Would have bid on the lot but didn't think collection within the seller's four day time frame was possible. Well, the auction ran its course and the eventual buyer won it for several hundred quid, a lot more than I would have been prepared to pay anyway.
Several days later, low and behold, the listing reappeared on eBay as a Buy It Now for 270 quid item. Presumably the original auction winner was a no show. After the listing had ran for a few days, I contacted the seller via eBay's messaging system asking if he was prepared to sell the forks separately. I pointed out he was also listing another set of forks with postage declared at 20 quid, and that for me, postal delivery was a better option than collection from Bedford during the covid lockdown travel restrictions. Never received any response. Then a day later, the fork/frame listing ended abruptly, stating there was an error in the listing. Two days later, the forks and frame were listed as separate Buy It Now items - at 250 quid and 99 quid respectively. Recontacted the seller, saying the combined listing was obviously a better option and still hadn't sold. So I made him my best offer for the forks - as long as he could ship them to me for 20 quid. He replied immediately, saying he'd already received two better 'best offers' than mine and turned them down too. So I wished him good luck finding a buyer and thought that was that.
Couple of days later, yesterday, my eBay message box contained a '25% discount offer' off the forks from the seller. Said other 'watchers' had been sent the same offer. So first thing this morning, after seeing the forks were still listed for sale, I made a cheeky, even lower counter offer - including postage - saying I'd pay immediately via PayPal if we could get the deal done now.
So that's how I came to win these for a bargain price earlier today...
After an almost two week marathon, today I finally scored a nice set of girder forks. Been after a set for what seems like forever, but every auction I've bid in, they go for silly money. For example, a set of Webb girder forks for a Velocette KSS sold today for 3900 quid. That's stupid money, I know, but even a tenth of that is way beyond my budget for an old set of sprung girders to use on a motorized bike build.
The UK eBay seller of the forks I purchased originally listed a bunch of old 'barn find' motorcycle parts a couple of weeks ago and back then these forks were offered attached to a very nice loop frame which was pictured minus the upper legs of the rear triangle. Would have bid on the lot but didn't think collection within the seller's four day time frame was possible. Well, the auction ran its course and the eventual buyer won it for several hundred quid, a lot more than I would have been prepared to pay anyway.
Several days later, low and behold, the listing reappeared on eBay as a Buy It Now for 270 quid item. Presumably the original auction winner was a no show. After the listing had ran for a few days, I contacted the seller via eBay's messaging system asking if he was prepared to sell the forks separately. I pointed out he was also listing another set of forks with postage declared at 20 quid, and that for me, postal delivery was a better option than collection from Bedford during the covid lockdown travel restrictions. Never received any response. Then a day later, the fork/frame listing ended abruptly, stating there was an error in the listing. Two days later, the forks and frame were listed as separate Buy It Now items - at 250 quid and 99 quid respectively. Recontacted the seller, saying the combined listing was obviously a better option and still hadn't sold. So I made him my best offer for the forks - as long as he could ship them to me for 20 quid. He replied immediately, saying he'd already received two better 'best offers' than mine and turned them down too. So I wished him good luck finding a buyer and thought that was that.
Couple of days later, yesterday, my eBay message box contained a '25% discount offer' off the forks from the seller. Said other 'watchers' had been sent the same offer. So first thing this morning, after seeing the forks were still listed for sale, I made a cheeky, even lower counter offer - including postage - saying I'd pay immediately via PayPal if we could get the deal done now.
So that's how I came to win these for a bargain price earlier today...
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Well done Pete. Another great adventure in snagging. I'm always on the watch for original forks for cycles and I've reason to think this an expanding buyers market for all manner or hardgoods.
Rick C.
Rick C.
Darn photo won't expand. At least I can see it.
Nice one Pete!
Tom
Nice one Pete!
Tom
That buick looks great. Those must be a fortune in the UK