Topic: If you want a bashed in tank cafe racer this is for you....

[azuredesign]

Bash your tank in first!!

FWIW: I've spoken with Carpy too and he was completely straight ahead, I liked the guy and respect what he's doing.

[andy750]

Dont worry Kevin, we dont discriminate here. We dont bash anyone but as Mike mentioned we give constructive criticism OR our own personal opinions. Last time I checked we didnt all have the same opinion. So if you put your bike online and someone dosent like your "vision" then Im sure they will let you know.

Its got nothing to do with doing it for a living or following your passion or whatever. I really dont know where you are getting this idea from? Look at ANY of the other threads on this Forum, people putting their bike projects up for view - not everyone is going to say nice things about it because not everyone feels the same way as the builder. Thats life. Carpy couldnt care less since hes living his dream doing his thing and thats his buiness. Does that mean we always have to say how wonderful he is? No of course not......No one is saying anything bad about him personally.  So he puts a bike up that some of us feel is a overpriced, poorly done or whatever...so what? Why are you getting so upset? We are all doing the same thing. Some more successfuly than others.

Take it easy and that goes for the rest of the you that seem to think saying something not so positive is "bashing" or "being disrespectful" - its not, its just the nature of exhibiting something in public. You tell me how it can be different?

cheers
Andy

 

[Andoo]

This is not a show bike, he states that, and it’s priced accordingly... He is not trying to sell a show bike.

Some of you guys sure like to put down what you can't do.

Objective criticism....as long as it IS that is part of free speech. I've bought Tshirts from Carpy back in the day....no problem. He is well known now ( Green Day bike, Cycle World etc) and more power to him. I stand by my comment about the drilled holes....a 5 year old could do that. I'd challenge Carpy to build a bike like mine (obviously and especially the engine part). I do think the price was high.

I have seen his show bikes in person and I have seen pictures of your bike. Astatically your bike dos not even compare. I know you do good work on an engineering standpoint, but it definitely lacks eye appeal. and that is my opinion.

[MRieck]

This is not a show bike, he states that, and it’s priced accordingly... He is not trying to sell a show bike.

Some of you guys sure like to put down what you can't do.

Objective criticism....as long as it IS that is part of free speech. I've bought Tshirts from Carpy back in the day....no problem. He is well known now ( Green Day bike, Cycle World etc) and more power to him. I stand by my comment about the drilled holes....a 5 year old could do that. I'd challenge Carpy to build a bike like mine (obviously and especially the engine part). I do think the price was high.

I have seen his show bikes in person and I have seen pictures of your bike. Astatically your bike dos not even compare. I know you do good work on an engineering standpoint, but it definitely lacks eye appeal. and that is my opinion.

Fair enough. I left off the wink at the end of my statement. We'll see next Japanese Bike Day what other people think. Once again....no put downs on Carpy on my part.....just those covers could have been executed much better. Apparently I'm not the only one who feels that way either.

[del105]

This is not a show bike, he states that, and it’s priced accordingly... He is not trying to sell a show bike.

Some of you guys sure like to put down what you can't do.

Objective criticism....as long as it IS that is part of free speech. I've bought Tshirts from Carpy back in the day....no problem. He is well known now ( Green Day bike, Cycle World etc) and more power to him. I stand by my comment about the drilled holes....a 5 year old could do that. I'd challenge Carpy to build a bike like mine (obviously and especially the engine part). I do think the price was high.

I have seen his show bikes in person and I have seen pictures of your bike. Astatically your bike dos not even compare. I know you do good work on an engineering standpoint, but it definitely lacks eye appeal. and that is my opinion.

I wouldn't classify this bike as aethetically pleasing. If I was a pro builder I'd be hesitant to put my name on something like that and I think thats the sticking point of a lot of these comments.

[754]

I thought it was posted that he inherited the bike?

Perhaps he gets requests for lower priced bikes and decided to  put one out at a lower price..??

[Jinxracing]

I wouldn't classify this bike as aethetically pleasing. If I was a pro builder I'd be hesitant to put my name on something like that and I think thats the sticking point of a lot of these comments.

Bingo! That's the reason why his work is being judged a bit more harshly than the average Joe's; we EXPECT Carpy to build better bikes than that one.

Hey, I do pretty shoddy work myself.  I've been known to turn a part for a buck or two.  Why don't you guys bang on me a while?
Is it because I don't build bikes for a living?  Is it because I am unknown?  Is it because I haven't won any shows or been in any rags?  Heck, I've never even been to a Green day concert!
So come on guys, rip me a bit , will ya?

Kevin, when the day comes when you build nice show-quality bikes that get published in magazines and then turn up with a stinker like that on eBay with your name on it, I'll happily bash your work and comment that I expect more from you. But until you call yourself a professional builder and start making bikes with your name on them I'm going to expect quite a bit less from you and judge accordingly.

[my78k]

I will freely admit that Carpy (and 99.9% of the other wrenches on this forum) are far superior in skill to me. I can do the minor things I need to on my own bike but am certainly no builder and definitely not a fabricator.

I will say though that I know a bit about business...to me this bike is not good business. I am not knocking Carpy on this though so hear me out...

To me Carpy has 2 types of bikes (as stated earlier). The first type is the gorgeous meticulous builds and the second...well they are like this bike. To me he should either steer clear of the latter (to protect his name and reputation) or at the very least figure out a way to market it as a lower end product so that no one confuses the 2.

Lots of companies do this (Canadian Tire for example has Mastercraft and Mastercraft Premium or whatever they call it). For most the regular brand is sufficient (for me atleast) but if you want the top of their line you pay for it. You know what you are getting based on the name or brand that is created.

As for this particular bike, it's ok...but only ok (just like most of my Mastercraft tools! as I am a cheap SOB and having the Premium brand won't improve my skills anyways!). I think the drilling looks like crap and should have a pattern to it at the very least. But otherwise the bike is ok...I think it would have been met with a different viewpoint if it was by a different builder (which lends credence to my branding theory) as it would have been judged in a different light. Lord knows if I had built something and it turned out like that I would have been ecstatic! But from someone like Carpy more is expected (admittedly he never asked to be judged differently but you expect more out of some people than you do out of others...)

Just my ramblings...

Dennis

[Andoo]

This is not a show bike, he states that, and it’s priced accordingly... He is not trying to sell a show bike.

Some of you guys sure like to put down what you can't do.

Objective criticism....as long as it IS that is part of free speech. I've bought Tshirts from Carpy back in the day....no problem. He is well known now ( Green Day bike, Cycle World etc) and more power to him. I stand by my comment about the drilled holes....a 5 year old could do that. I'd challenge Carpy to build a bike like mine (obviously and especially the engine part). I do think the price was high.

I have seen his show bikes in person and I have seen pictures of your bike. Astatically your bike dos not even compare. I know you do good work on an engineering standpoint, but it definitely lacks eye appeal. and that is my opinion.

I wouldn't classify this bike as aethetically pleasing. If I was a pro builder I'd be hesitant to put my name on something like that and I think thats the sticking point of a lot of these comments.

It’s not a show quality bike. It's a cheap cafe for somebody without a budget. I Think it’s neat that he is offering an alternative to a 10,000$ bike. Unlike these chopper guys who sell a gas tanks for the price of a bike. You get what you pay for and in this case you get it in spades.

I'm not a big fan of the look, but for 2,000$  the bike is a steal (I live in California were a stock DOHC 750 goes for that much)

put it into perspective is all im saying...

[Irishguy]

The guy is talented and is capable of making a great bike, but they are not all well build, frame-off customs.  Many on this forum have built just as nice or nicer bikes.

Quote from: tbone on Today at 05:47:08 PM
The bike looks like it was thrown together to make a quick buck. IMHO

+1

Um, I know that I participated in this mess with my monkey comment but come on.  What's wrong with the guy turning around a bike he got on the cheap to make some cash?  I have the upmost respect for someone who is able to make some cash while exercising their passions. 

Where in the hell in my post did I bash Carpy?!

I spoke the truth.  Here is a cliff notes version of my comments for those on the board that have poor reading comprehension: 

1.  He's a talented guy and makes some really neat bikes.
2.  Some of his bikes have too many stickers on them. 
3.  Every bike he makes may not be his best build. 
4.  Some bikes obviously do not need a full build up.
5.  Comments 3 & 4 apply to the bike in question on eBay.

I'm sure Carpy knows all of this and I have no retraction to make.  I like Carpy.  I have emailed him and spoke with him and he seems like a nice guy.  His site was my main inspiration in buying a SOHC bike in the first place.

I buy, fix up and sell old sports cars and special interest type cars regularly.  Some of them I am very proud of and some I am just happy to sell and make a little cash so I can buy more projects.  I'm sure Carpy does the same thing.  I'm sure that's all this deal is.  He has his premium line of bikes and he also has ones he just fixes up and sells for a quick buck.  No bashing him...  That's just the way it is.  More power to him.

[MRieck]

This is not a show bike, he states that, and it’s priced accordingly... He is not trying to sell a show bike.

Some of you guys sure like to put down what you can't do.

Objective criticism....as long as it IS that is part of free speech. I've bought Tshirts from Carpy back in the day....no problem. He is well known now ( Green Day bike, Cycle World etc) and more power to him. I stand by my comment about the drilled holes....a 5 year old could do that. I'd challenge Carpy to build a bike like mine (obviously and especially the engine part). I do think the price was high.

I have seen his show bikes in person and I have seen pictures of your bike. Astatically your bike dos not even compare. I know you do good work on an engineering standpoint, but it definitely lacks eye appeal. and that is my opinion.

How about a pic of your bike.

[paulages]

This is not a show bike, he states that, and it’s priced accordingly... He is not trying to sell a show bike.

Some of you guys sure like to put down what you can't do.

Objective criticism....as long as it IS that is part of free speech. I've bought Tshirts from Carpy back in the day....no problem. He is well known now ( Green Day bike, Cycle World etc) and more power to him. I stand by my comment about the drilled holes....a 5 year old could do that. I'd challenge Carpy to build a bike like mine (obviously and especially the engine part). I do think the price was high.

I have seen his show bikes in person and I have seen pictures of your bike. Astatically your bike dos not even compare. I know you do good work on an engineering standpoint, but it definitely lacks eye appeal. and that is my opinion.

How about a pic of your bike.

don't want to get in the middle of a beef here, but i will say that it takes a lot more knowledge to do what mike did to his bike than what carpy does to his. don't get me wrong--carpy does really nice work on his full builds, but c'mon... when you kick out that many, they're not all gonna be winners. i think he's got a few that look amazing, but i could do without the over-abundance of checkers etc. on many of his bikes. but that's just my opinion. you know what they say about opinions and #$%*s...  oh yeah, and it's spelled "aesthetically."

[MRieck]

This is not a show bike, he states that, and it’s priced accordingly... He is not trying to sell a show bike.

Some of you guys sure like to put down what you can't do.

Objective criticism....as long as it IS that is part of free speech. I've bought Tshirts from Carpy back in the day....no problem. He is well known now ( Green Day bike, Cycle World etc) and more power to him. I stand by my comment about the drilled holes....a 5 year old could do that. I'd challenge Carpy to build a bike like mine (obviously and especially the engine part). I do think the price was high.

I have seen his show bikes in person and I have seen pictures of your bike. Astatically your bike dos not even compare. I know you do good work on an engineering standpoint, but it definitely lacks eye appeal. and that is my opinion.

How about a pic of your bike.

don't want to get in the middle of a beef here, but i will say that it takes a lot more knowledge to do what mike did to his bike than what carpy does to his. don't get me wrong--carpy does really nice work on his full builds, but c'mon... when you kick out that many, they're not all gonna be winners. i think he's got a few that look amazing, but i could do without the over-abundance of checkers etc. on many of his bikes. but that's just my opinion. you know what they say about opinions and #$%*s...  oh yeah, and it's spelled "aesthetically."

No beef on my part with any parties Paul.  ;)That includes Andoo, Carpy or anbody else on the board. Now my mother-in-law is a different story.........

[andy750]

Its also worth mentioning the obvious.........that looks and performance dont always go together....just because you build a pretty bike dosent mean it runs well....Ive seen Mikes bike and believe me it runs well  So whatever you think of it aesthetically you cant argue with that.....

cheers
Andy

[MRieck]

Its also worth mentioning the obvious.........that looks and performance dont always go together....just because you build a pretty bike dosent mean it runs well....Ive seen Mikes bike and believe me it runs well  So whatever you think of it aesthetically you cant argue with that.....

cheers
Andy

Andy.....you've ridden it.

[kuyarico]

This is not a show bike, he states that, and it’s priced accordingly... He is not trying to sell a show bike.

Some of you guys sure like to put down what you can't do.

Objective criticism....as long as it IS that is part of free speech. I've bought Tshirts from Carpy back in the day....no problem. He is well known now ( Green Day bike, Cycle World etc) and more power to him. I stand by my comment about the drilled holes....a 5 year old could do that. I'd challenge Carpy to build a bike like mine (obviously and especially the engine part). I do think the price was high.

I think a collaboration between you and Carpy would be sick (in a good way)!

[savannahcafe]

Um, I just want to say.........I think I could hold my own if all I had to do was build bikes. And also had an endless supply of money. Yeah, that would be really cool. Oh wait, I forgot, this is real life and I have a wife and I work for a living. Oh well. I really have no comment on the topic at hand since I didn't see the bike and I'm a firm believer in if you have nothing good to say, don't say anything. Second thought, skip everything I said, I just want the endless supply of money.

[edbikerii]

Carpy just doesn't do "subtle".  He doesn't have any desire to be subtle.  Personally, I prefer Mike's $1M CB BECAUSE it is understated.  It is a classic SLEEPER, rather than a showboat.

I've seen Carpy's bikes at shows too.  I liked the styling at first because I thought it would attract attention to the possibilities with these underrated old SOHC4 bikes.  I think he's been pretty successful with that.  In fact, it sparked my imagination a little bit for my own projects.  In the end, I find that I'm still partial to the "put your money where your mouth is" road racing and sleeper bikes.  I have to admit that I'm more than just a little sick of checkerboards now, but hey, if that helps promote the hobby, then by all means....

This is not a show bike, he states that, and it’s priced accordingly... He is not trying to sell a show bike.

Some of you guys sure like to put down what you can't do.

Objective criticism....as long as it IS that is part of free speech. I've bought Tshirts from Carpy back in the day....no problem. He is well known now ( Green Day bike, Cycle World etc) and more power to him. I stand by my comment about the drilled holes....a 5 year old could do that. I'd challenge Carpy to build a bike like mine (obviously and especially the engine part). I do think the price was high.

I have seen his show bikes in person and I have seen pictures of your bike. Astatically your bike dos not even compare. I know you do good work on an engineering standpoint, but it definitely lacks eye appeal. and that is my opinion.

[754]

So where do you go to see a "million dollar CB 750"

 Ive seen a few 100k bikes around our area, but have yet to see a million dollar one..(none of them were Japanese bikes)..

[ekim98]

It doesn't matter how Carpy got the bike, or what he did or didn't do to it. He put his name and reputation on it when he listed it for sale. Good, bad, or indifferent all remarks are earned by him and him alone when he put his name with it. I'm sure he's been critized before and praised too, he's a big boy and will live thru it.

[Terry in Australia]

I don't much like Carpy's bikes, and never have. To me they don't look professional, but rather just EBay "parts bin specials" that have been accessorized with left over 1970's era used chopper parts, like 16 inch "Hog" back wheels, "drag pipes", etc etc. There's no engineering involved, just some shiny paint and polished alloy. We used to refer to stuff like this as "All show, and no go", back in the day.

Whether he's "living the dream" or not, (and last time I got an email from him he was still working for a living like the rest of us schmucks) he's a businessman too, and what he's selling is a cheap alternative to a custom made motorcycle. Not a particularly good one, just different.

I'd be more than happy to take Mike's "Million Dollar CB" over anything that Carpy has built so far, the difference being that Mike built his bike to suit Mike and not to turn a buck, but not surprisingly, for those of us who place engineering prowess over shiny paint, Mike's bike is a much more desirable item! Cheers, Terry.      

[MRieck]

I don't much like Carpy's bikes, and never have. To me they don't look professional, but rather just EBay "parts bin specials" that have been accessorized with left over 1970's era used chopper parts, like 16 inch "Hog" back wheels, "drag pipes", etc etc. There's no engineering involved, just some shiny paint and polished alloy. We used to refer to stuff like this as "All show, and no go", back in the day.

Whether he's "living the dream" or not, (and last time I got an email from him he was still working for a living like the rest of us schmucks) he's a businessman too, and what he's selling is a cheap alternative to a custom made motorcycle. Not a particularly good one, just different.

I'd be more than happy to take Mike's "Million Dollar CB" over anything that Carpy has built so far, the difference being that Mike built his bike to suit Mike and not to turn a buck, but not surprisingly, for those of us who place engineering prowess over shiny paint, Mike's bike is a much more desirable item! Cheers, Terry.      

Thanks Terry. BTW....the paint is shiny on my bike(s) too. The polished parts are kinda nice too.....right Sparty.

[Terry in Australia]

Quite right Mike, from the pics you sent me a couple of years back, I can see that your paint and polish is top notch too!

[paulages]

So where do you go to see a "million dollar CB 750"

 Ive seen a few 100k bikes around our area, but have yet to see a million dollar one..(none of them were Japanese bikes)..

754--that's mike's nickname for his bike... hundreds of hours and "millions" of dollars got him that 98HP sleeper.

[754]

Geez , I guess that would mean there is 2 or 3  million dollar bikes coming out of this valley..lol...

Like the guy with the cafe wheels said..he had more time in those hubs than most got in their bikes..but hey not everybody has a 250 that does an honest 130 mph plus...