RHLferrari_interview

Q: Before we get into your current activities, Rob, how about telling us when you started messing around with the bicycle form?

A: Unknowingly, I think my first bike kustomizing experience was with a ratty looking tricycle when I was about four years old...I remember it being a dull green, so something had to be done! I started putting stickers one it and by the end of the summer it was fully covered in stickers, no more green paint! Ended up having the coolest trike in the neighbourhood!

In the early eighties, like most young kids, I started playing around with whatever bikes I could get my hands on. At first we would just cut up some fork ends and wedge them on the fork of the bike with a hammer, of course we had the banana seat, so wheelies were easy to do. We quickly learned that the fork needed to be welded after poppin' a few wheelies and abruptly coming to a stop after the fork came undone! I guess that was lesson #1....

I also messed around with some BMX stuff in the 1980s. The BMX thing hadn't started yet where I lived, so one day I was at a book store with my dad and I just happened to see this BMX magazine on the shelf... "Those bikes look neat", I said to myself, so I asked my dad if he would buy me the mag. After looking at these bikes for a while, I decided that I wanted one. Keep in mind that I couldn't buy one because they weren't on the market yet in my area. So, I decided to build my own BMX bike from scratch- handlebars with the cross bar, number plates, knobby tires- the works. I got all the parts ready and my dad welded up the frame for me. About a year later the factory BMX bikes started showing up in the local bike shops!

One big thing, I believe, was being around my dad so much at the shop when I was young, he always did some kustom work on cars like, chopping tops, channeling bodies over frames, engine swaps, etc. I guess that gave me the push to do cool stuff! Now I'm trying to do the same with my kids. It's in the blood, I guess!

Q: Your Blue Chopper joined the BR&K Gallery in our last issue. It's a very sophisticated design, which usually means that it wasn't your first project. How many projects led up to that one?

A: My super blue chopper wasn't really the first bicycle project that I've done. I probably built 10 or 15 bikes as a teenager, in various degrees of complexity. Later on I got involved with street machines. I built a pro street 1955 Chevy Bel Air. I fabbed up a full round tube chassis, narrowed differential, strut front end, and set it up for a big block Chevypretty sweet ride!!! Looking back, it was a good way to learn because I tried all sorts of different things, some worked and some didn't, but that's how you gain experience, I believe. I wish I'd had resources like BR&K to get info on bikes at the time; it probably would have made the learning curve a little quicker!!!

The blue chopper was, however, the first bike project I did having all the skills needed to complete the whole process of building a kustom bike (design, fabrication, welding, paint finish, assembly etc). For the last ten years or so I've been working for a fitness equipment company designing and developing prototypes for weight training equipment; so I've acquired good experience with all the design elements, product development, fabrication and production processes- all of which I can apply to building cool kustom bikes.

Q: Your Blue Chopper is very impressive, both in concept and execution, being considerably different from most one-off choppers in its design. The way that split top tube suggests a tank without looking like a tank is a very subtle piece of frame artistry.

.Your latest, the Ferrari F1 bike has really blown away a lot of "seen everything" hardcore bike builders, again because of its concept and execution. The car theme gains it extra points with our crowd, as well.

Unlike most hardcore bicycle people, we in the BR&K crowd actually like cars, at least in theory. You obviously fall into that category as well, as we've just heard. Going from a background as a hot rodder to building a car-inspired bike is still something of a leap, even among our crowd. What inspired you to tackle this one?

Q: I've always been drawn into the flowing body lines of the 1950's era cars. Each component seamlessly blends into one another on these cars. The same can be said with today's formula one racing cars. They are so fluid-looking that they look fast even when they are just sitting there.

Along with kustom bicycles I'm an avid enthusiast of both of these forms of cars so it was natural for me to build a bike combining both worlds. One of my main criteria when I designed the Ferrari F1 bike was, even though it was heavily influenced by an F1 car, it still had to look like a chopper bicycle and not a car with two wheels missing.

For a car or bike's design to be appealing to me it has to draw me into it as opposed to jump out at me. I like it when you look at a car or a bike and you don't see every detail the first time you look at it, you come back a little later and look at it again and say" Wow I missed that little detail".

I think I managed to do this, in some ways, with this bike. My hope was to have people who are not familiar with F1 racing cars look at the bike and appreciate it for what they see and for people that are F1 enthusiasts to recognize the subtle details of the F1 car that I blended into the bike.

Q: I'm looking forward to hearing about the details of this bike. But first, how about telling us how you constructed the frame and the various fairings and shrouds which give it such an interesting form?

A: The first thing I do after I've got my basic design sketched up on paper is to draw the bike full scale on a large heavy cardboard. I like to draw a full size side, top, front and rear view of the bike.

This serves a couple of purposes for me; first, it allows me to work out the actual placement of all the components of the bike before I actually cut the first piece of tubing. Second, the drawing becomes my blueprint to get all the tubing dimensions. Third, it serves as a template for checking tube-end-cut angles, bend angles, and radius shapes.

After that, it's time to start making some sparks! Once I've got all my tubing ends notched and shaped, I start laying out the frame tubes on a flat surface table. I always assemble and weld as much of the frame as I can on the surface plate while everything is clamped down, that way I'm assured the frame remains true.

When it comes to making panels, or the tank, I find it's easiest to make each section with a heavy construction-type paper. This way you can make the needed changes and adjustments without wasting any sheet metal. Once I'm happy with the look and fit, I just trace it on to the sheet metal then cut and fit the final pieces together.... just like finishing a puzzle !

A: Yes, the tank and all the fairing panels are fabricated out of 22 gauge sheet metal. To answer the second part of your question I would have to say yes to both; I've had experience in the past working on body panels on the car side of things. I had a nice little 1962 Pontiac Acadian 2-door hard top (the Canadian version of a Chevy II Nova) that was impossible to buy replacement body panels for at the time, so I made them myself.

On a car, you have to be very careful with the heat caused by the welding process on the large panels or else they will distort. So the experience I gained working on automotive body panels taught me how to control my welding to minimize heat distortion.

With this bike, the experience was somewhat different. It allowed me to use my experience from bodywork but in a much more creative way. That's what I find so appealing about anything Kustom- you are only limited by your imagination!

Q: Okay, here's a detail question for you. That thing which serves so satisfyingly as a kickstand on the bike- is that something which corresponds to an actual part of the F1 car, or is it just a very cool kickstand design?

A: I'm glad you noticed that Jim! If you look at the opening that the chain goes thru below the seat, it's shaped like the side pod engine radiator inlets on the F1 car. To direct the air flow to the radiators they use a small aero winglet called a Barge Board. I figured I could use this very specific detail of the F1 car to my advantage and incorporate it into the bike as a bicycle specific component, the kickstand.

Q: It's beautifully executed, too. I can usually visualize making almost anything I see, but that looks like an extreme bit of metal forming. How did you make it?

A: Thank you. I made a wooden hammer form of the shape I wanted, clamped a piece of 14 gauge metal to it, and hammered it into shape. There's also a hidden return spring that holds the stand in the up position that attaches to a small tab under the frame.

That's one good example of a small detail you don't notice initially that I was talking about earlier. Most people don't

realize that it's a kickstand until I actually lower it down.

.Q: Very impressive! I suppose next on my list is what appears to be a steering stabilizer/damper connecting the fork to the frame. Is that a needed functional component? Or is it just a really cool-looking bit of techno-deco? Either way, it's really nice.

A: Yes, it's functional. It actually does three things.

1. It acts as a fork damper. Yeah, even with trail angle built in the fork, it's still has 30 degrees. of rake! I couldn't help my self; it had to look racy!

2. It assists in centering the fork, giving it an almost neutral feel to the handle bars.

.3. It's also a fork stop, keeping the paint on the tank from getting damaged.

Q: Is that an off-the-shelf item you adapted for the purpose, or ?

A: I made the damper myself. The spring and the inner spring glide are from a mountain bike fork. I made the outer shell of the damper using mechanical tubing and reamed it to accept the spring/spring glide. I used 5/16" spherical rod end on both pivot points. It works well and it's simple, no oil or air leaks to worry about.

Q: You're obviously not leery of tackling the design and construction of components most people would prefer to just buy somewhere, assuming they existed. I think your wheels are a good example of this. How about talking about that design decision, and how you went about achieving them?

decision was made to build my own wheel set. They needed to have a racy look to go with the theme of the bike but with a bit of a chopper edge to them.

I always liked the look of a three-spoke wheel. I bought an older set of 20" steel rims with a raised rib like section on the center of the rim, these were perfect for what needed to address the lack of support between the spokes. The tapered spoke tubes that I used are actual lower tube sections off of mountain bike forks. They had just the right arch and taper for the look I was after. I reamed out some mechanical tubing to fit over the hubs in order to have a good mounting surface for the spokes. The tubing was then welded to outer edges of the hub.

I made a fixture that indexed the spokes evenly, centered and trued the rims while everything was being welded. The wheels were then left in the fixture to cool down to avoid heat distortion.

I'm really happy with the way the wheels turned out, I don't think the overall look of the bike would have worked as well with just a regular set of rims, plus I take pride in saying that I built them myself!

Q: I've seen quite a few scratch-built 3-spoke wheels in my time, but yours are undoubtedly the most pleasingly-designed of the lot. The curves and taper of the spokes make a huge difference. Those little studs or whatever you used to fill the spoke holes add a nice bit of brightwork to the rims, also.

As a designer myself, I'm curious about one of your details at the top of the fork. You've got a streamlined nacelle worked in up there, which is an ideal form to be happening at that particular location, to my taste. Seeing it in profile view, I sort of assumed that there'd be a tach or speedo in there. However, looking at it in another view, I see that you've got a Ferrari badge mounted in it.

A: I planned for the badge to be in that location to represent the badge that's located in the center of the Ferrari steering wheel.

The nacelle in question serves two roles:

A: For the F1 theme; it mimics a small cover located just in front of the steering wheel on the cockpit of the F1 car that contains an electronic device that transmits data information to the pit crew.

B: For the bicycle purpose; it serves as a cover for the fork suspension spring bolt that goes thru the front panel of the fork. It's held on by a small screw located under the panel.

Q: Thanks, I'm always interested in other people's design thought processes, and that looked like it would have an interesting rationale.

A: Sure; I always try to make each component serve multiple functions, if possible. There're a couple of other small details in the fork assembly that some Ferrari F1 purist might notice.

.Just below the nacelle on the front panel you'll notice a rectangular Ferrari badge that's embedded into the panel. That area of the panel represents the very front nose cone that the front wing attaches to on the F1 car, as it's got the same curvature just at the point where the fork tubes join the panel.

I wanted the fork suspension assembly to be concealed just like in the F1 car. People who look at the bike often don't notice that it's even got a suspension until they bend down and look under the front panel and see the spring assembly.

On the lower part of the fork, at the point where the wheel attaches, you can see another subtle little detail, there're two small winglets that represent the front wing end plates of the F1 car.

It was important to me to incorporate the details of the car in a subtle way but also to blend them in the same area that they are found on the car and still be pertinent to the bike's look and function.

Q: Like our readers, my knowledge of most of the machines we show is limited to what I can see in a photo, or what the builders tell me about them. I had a feeling that you had something going on in the way of suspension up front, but I wasn't sure because you'd worked everything together so smoothly, and it isn't obvious in the photos I've seen so far.

In my own machines, I've always got detailing and features going on that no one will normally ever see because they're concealed by fairings and shrouds. Since you seem to be very much that way yourself, I presume that you've got more things going on in this machine that also wouldn't be obvious in a photo of the finished bike. Therefore, this is an open-ended question: What else is going on here that most of us wouldn't notice?

A: Well Jim, you've done a great job pinpointing just about every detail on the bike.

The only couple of other things I could think of would the pedal crank arms and the rear sprocket.

If you look closely, you'll notice that I put a slight arch in the crank arms to match the arch of the spoke tubes in the wheels and lastly the rear sprocket on the rear wheel hub. Because I used 20"X 4.25"tire on a 1.5" wide rim, there was an interference issue between the tire and the chain. To solve this, I cut out the center section of the sprocket, splitting it in two. Then I welded a 2"diameter x 3/8" wide section of mechanical tubing between the inner and outer part of the sprocket giving the needed clearance for the chain.

Q: Those are pretty interesting details, as far as most of us are concerned. Since this is a situation theoretically faced by a lot of us, do you think you could show us a sketch of that sprocket operation?

It would be nice if you could also tell us about the seat's construction. Did you form a metal seat pan for it, or was some other solution involved?

A: The seat pan was formed after the frame section between the rear wheel and the tank was fabricated. The pan was made using a cardboard template that was traced from the profile of the frame then transferred to 16-gauge tin. I drilled three holes and welded 1/4" bolts that face down through the pan. The pan is fastened to three small tabs from under the frame, leaving the bolts out of sight for a clean look.

Q: It certainly looks comfy- in a performance-vehicle way. Are you happy with how you've realized the other aspects of the theme of this bike?

A: Before I even had the concept of this bike on paper, I knew that I wanted to first build a bike that was painted red. Secondly, it had to be automotive inspired.

Because of my passion for F1 racing the decision to go with the Ferrari F1 theme was a natural fit for the bike. After all I think it's safe to say that in general, Italian cars have always been exciting to look at, just a like choppers. So in bringing the two together, I hope to have honored the passion, class and style that Ferrari has put in their cars with the creation of this bike.

Q: You seem to have covered all those bases very well. Now how about sharing how it rides and handles. Does that fit the Ferrari pattern, as well? I'm presuming that you actually ride it.

Back when all three of my cars were Alfa Romeos, we cognoscinti had a saying which applied to Italian automobiles in general: "The driver always goes first class". Does that also apply to chopper bicycles inspired by Italian cars?

A: Oh, this machine definitely gets ridden. I ride it at least an hour per day. I've had a few people ask me if it's comfortable to ride, because it's so low. All I have to do is tell them to get on the thing and try it. Within about 10 feet of riding on it, a smile usually appears on their faces.

Just like the racing car, everything is just at the right position for riding. The seat is supportive and holds you comfortably. The bars are just at hands' reach and wrist angle. The pedals are right out there in the right spot to put the power down.

I think that the fact that the bike sits so low to the ground actually makes it feel racy. You get a true feeling of being grounded to the road as you ride on it. Because of the front fork suspension, the bike really reacts well to road irregularities.

So yeah, I guess you could say that it has a bit of a Ferrari vibe to it!

Q: Your success with this one has been a bit of an inspiration for me. Most of my bikes are vaguely car-inspired anyway. Every once in a while I build replica four-wheeled kiddy vehicles based on Bugatti GP racers from the '30s. I'm starting another one soon, for a Bugatti show next year at a gallery here in NYC. After recent exposure to this project of yours, I'm now thinking about also building a companion bike on the same theme.

Thanks for the inspiration, and for sharing this project with our readers. Do you have another project in mind yet?

A: I am currently in the process of building another chopper for the CHOPPERBICYCLE.NET bicycle forum's Bicycle Build Off 3. I can't give you any details of the bike at the moment because of the rules of this competition, but I can assure you that it will be a radical-looking piece!