Biker Build Off P-51

[Nathan]

FWIW, OCC is not in update NY. It's just an hour above NYC. 3 hours from my house almost due east.

[cooper9411]

The real talent on that show is Rick from O.C.C. and Vinnie from PJD. Rick has awesome fabricating skills and Vinnie has the mechanical skills,hmmmmm, maybe those two should have their own show

[ZRX61]

I did mention to a couple of people that it was actually a "P51 shaped coffin" & not the genuine article...

[brucev]

JDK,
At a guess, the non turbo equipped, Ba$tard Lightnings built for and rejected by, the RAF?

Is that the aircraft that used exhaust routed through the wing leading edge for deicing purposes?

[The Inspector]

Watch for them the next time 'A Guy Named Joe' is on TCM

[JDK]

JDK,
At a guess, the non turbo equipped, Ba$tard Lightnings built for and rejected by, the RAF?

Nope! We are looking at obscure, but it did enter service.

I don't think Bruce and I are thinking of the same aircraft, but I'm not sure!

[The Inspector]

Must be Soviet then-

[andyman64]

as a life long MOTORCYCLIST i,m glad that other bunch have tagged themselves with the term BIKER! i also can,t believe this site would give that bunch of talentless creeps any time on here. i completely get the correlation between bikes and planes as i love both. but the number one thing that i love about both is the beauty that comes from designing something with only function and efficiency of task in mind not fashion or does it look cool!as colin chapmin once said "no washers getting a free ride on one of my race cars" the questy for light weight perfect aero dynamics balance and power to weight is the same with race bikes as it is with aircraft design. oh and we consider saftey wire an art form and not just a task as well!

[sdennison]

Having learned my fabricating skills from Indy cars of the early 70's when guys filled stainless tubing with sand in order to bend the exhaust without kinking the tubing, how to use a brake, how to form aluminum, etc., my enjoyment in these shows is the fabrication, not the hyper drama.

I wish there could be an aircraft fabrication show but that takes way too much time and would only be interesting to knuckleheads like us.

My thought for a biker show would be where each of three builders are given an equally equipped workshop. Tubing and raw materials, English wheels. manual lathes, Bridgeport vertical mills, box pan brakes, etc. Crate motors, and all the fasteners and support bits necessary. The each have one week to design and create a bike around the "Chairman's" theme. Then the celebrity judges (magazine folks, Willie G.-types etc.) evaluate the design, use of materials, fabrication skills etc. Also, the judges need to ride each bike for evaluation of the application. The winner gets a prize of some sort.

The only allowed outsourcing may be paint work. Wheels may need to be provided based on the build theme but the focus is on the design and the builders skills.

Might be cool...

[sdennison]

as a life long MOTORCYCLIST i,m glad that other bunch have tagged themselves with the term BIKER! i also can,t believe this site would give that bunch of talentless creeps any time on here. i completely get the correlation between bikes and planes as i love both. but the number one thing that i love about both is the beauty that comes from designing something with only function and efficiency of task in mind not fashion or does it look cool!as colin chapmin once said "no washers getting a free ride on one of my race cars" the questy for light weight perfect aero dynamics balance and power to weight is the same with race bikes as it is with aircraft design. oh and we consider saftey wire an art form and not just a task as well!

I do have right hand and left hand Robinson twisters....

[The Inspector]

Been on two wheels for over 40 years and prefer, and try to address others as 'rider', 'motorcyclist' sounds too snooty BMW and 'biker' sounds too outlaw Harley hard a$$
And I think why we watch IS for the fabrication after all, aren't we involved in rescue and repair and modificaton on aircraft and not selling washing machines? so we're (at least I am) attracted to 'how'd he do that?' more and 'yer Mommas a mattressback!!' less.

[JDK]

Must be Soviet then-

No, and not such an easy out...

[Dwhart24]

I finally got to watch it last night. I only saw the build episode and not the results show. I wish JR's group would have talked more about how they got their ideas from the T-51. I thought JR's bike looked pretty cool. Of course it's nothing but a show bike. Not sure what Senior and his guys were thinking from the beginning. Their contraption, IMO, was far from what a "bike" should look like or is defined as. Jesse on the other hand, appears to have more skills than any of those other guys. Doing the old school black smith building and watching him do it in that garage gave me a lot of more respect for him and his bike. Just my 2 cents.

[cooper9411]

Have respect for his work, not the person.

[Dwhart24]

Have respect for his work, not the person.

Agreed. I should have phrased that differently. "Respect for his building skills."