Usually at this point there have been some stories posted about the builds. As my thread contains the what, who, and how, thought I would answer the one question I haven't, the 'about me' part.
The title to the thread says 1st bike build, not 1st build, so what else?
I started building things at about 12 when I built a Seaflee from Popular Mechanics plans for my brother & myself. It wasn't fast enough, so the next build was a B Class Hydro. With my dad's 5hp Merc from the fishing boat, it would hit about 70mph. In high school extra money came from buying / fixing / reselling British sports cars. Sure beat working at the IGA, and I always a cool ragtop to drive.
By the end of High school they were exclusively E type Jags.
While I have done both minor (MGC/GT), and major restorations (Lotus +2/S130), the build bug caught me again with karting. I raced both single and dual engine karts. After the 1st season with the dual, I decided I could do better. After drawing up plans I had a frame built (4130). Like my cafe it incorporated a number of unique features. Bias adjustable disks front & rear, torsional frame adjustment, completely adjustable front end (camber, caster, ride height), and then went racing again. It's high light was 7th in the NA Championships. Was up to 3rd and pressing when a head gasket let go.
My last build before the 550 was a Lotus Super 7. It started as a '62' roller. However, upon inspection the frame was rotted, and the panels well eaten. The plan was to make a streetable Solo1 B Modified. A new frame was commissioned, but incorporating a number of changes. The front bulk head was strengthened, the frame properly triangulated, and major suspension mod's. These included making the front trully independent, and fabricating an independent rear. The rear used a Datsun 510 centre, and F Ford uprights. All the panels were remade by my self, and hand riveted in place. The only panel work outsourced were rolling the hood & cowl, and punching the louvers. The original engine was a Toyota 1600 2TG bored and stroked to 2L, al la their WRC Celica engines. This was later replaced with a dry sump Lotus TC built from used Cosworth race car parts. Those came from my vintage racing Cortina Mk2 spares pile. It was the sale of the Cortina, and the desire to get back to bikes, that were the starting point for this build. I would at this point attach a picture of the 7, but its on the other computer which is currently being serviced, later.
