Project TELOS completed!

2 years.

That's what it took to materialize in reality what started as a glimmer of my imagination. Project Telos was going to be my first build and at the same time a bike that could showcase many of the nice parts I have in my shop. Telos was supposed to become a clean and straightforward cafe racer, an honest and purposeful thumper.
I was completely absorbed by my idea and had no doubt whatsoever that one day I would realize it. Armed with the strong conviction that I was meant to build this bike, I soon developed a design and a parts list.
That was the easy part.

Photoshop is so last century...

At that time I already had an SR400 here in Thailand, so I didn't really need another one here. My idea was to find an SR500 in Germany, import it in Italy and then customize it there. Of course, building a bike in Italy might be a problem if you live almost 9.000km away in Thailand. Not so,...if you have good friends, and I'm lucky enough to say that I do. In addition, having a direct link to the best manufacturers in Thailand is also quite handy.

Dominik Tress (from TeileTress) in Germany was recruited to acquire the bike, while Thomas Branca and his wrenching friends agreed to take it upon themselves to put everything together. My part was to provide all the funds and ship the chosen parts from Thailand to Italy, including the beautiful custom made aluminium tank, the seat cowl and side covers, an exquisite aluminium swingarm and racing rearsets, as well as countless shiny bits and pieces. A fairing was also planned but later dismissed in favour of a more 'essentially naked' design.

The plan was soon set in motion. In January 2013 a suitable donor bike was found (1990 SR500)  and brought to Italy. Whoever had the chance to build your own bike, will surely know that however easy it might appear, there are always pitfalls and unforeseen obstacles luring behind every bolt. Project Telos had its fair share of them, but the Italian wrenchheads dealt with them swiftly and often creatively.

The word 'Telos' comes from the Greek τέλος for "end", "purpose", or "goal". I find it remarkable that Telos is now the result of a variety of people from 3 different countries, all working together with one common goal. Nomen est omen!

PS: Telos will be put up for sale shortly. If you want to be first in line, please write to info@omegaracer.com.

My Precious! - Handcrafted SR Ring

I got my greasy hands on a (very) limited edition of cool SR rings and thought I'd share them with my friends.
If you're like me and you already have the t-shirts, the belt buckle, the 1:12 plastic model kit, the 1:10 die cast model, the clock, the painting, the key ring and and and......here's a great addition to your collection!

One size fits them all: 18mm diameter to be precise.

Get yours quickly here: >>>My Precious<<<

Sunmaster 14 - part 3 or Here we go again....

If you've followed the start of my project bike called Sunmaster 14 on a Yamaha SR400 base, you'll know that it hasn't been an easy one. I've been dramatically let down TWICE by the powdercoating shop, who not only fucked up (excuse the language) the job twice, but actually stripped all the threads present on the frame. Some I fixed, others will be fixed as I go along with the build. I even bought a Tap and Die set....

Well, the frame has been sitting for a couple of weeks, as I was too busy to work on it and guess what....
the color is breaking loose once again. There's no other option as to get it done again. This time however, I will select the shop veeery carefully. Already got a few leads to professional shops in Bangkok, Pattaya and Chiang Mai.

Pictures from the 2015 MotorShow in Bangkok

What better way to start the picture gallery than a nice KTM Superduke 1290?

BMW RnineT by Roland Sands and Blitz

                                      

 Guess the bike! ;-)

 Yamaha SR400, what else?

With just under 40.000Baht, Suzuki offers this new little allrounder GD110, which lends itself to cool customizations. In fact, they only showed the customized versions and had no original bike on show.
I like the idea of such a small bargain bike. Years ago there were the Kawasaki GTO and Honda JX and can still be seen today being the work horses for all kinds of trades here in Thailand.

 My favourite GD incarnation...

 The future of scooting?

Of course, the Scrambler was one of the most admired bikes.

A few details...

I've been a bit worried about the touring ability of the Scrambler. The sales rep however assured me there were already official Ducati panniers (or saddlebags) available and more aftermarket accessories will follow soon. She showed me the frame under the seat where the support brackets will be mounted.

That's a HD I wouldn't be embarrassed to ride...

Stallions bikes proved to be very popular with the younger generations who can't afford a new SR400, but still like to ride a classic looking bike, open to endless modifications.

Bangkok custom shop "ZEUS"....does that remind you of something?!