Deus ex Machina Bike Build-off 2010
Sunday, November 28, 2010 
Summer is most definitely here in Sydney. I spent a few hours yesterday at Deus checking out the entrants in their 2010 bike building comp, and shit a brick it was hot. Like 35 degrees Celsius hot - or about 500 degrees Fahrenheit for all our non-metric readers. Bad news for my sweat glands, but good news for the photos as most people there were more interested in cooling off in the shadows than getting up-close and personal with the machinery.
The honors were taken by a sweet little Honda twin from Melbourne (see below). I gotta admit, when I first saw it, it kind of stumped me; especially those modern wheels against that retro tank. But looking at the shots now, I realised that I was simply being schooled by a master bike builder. I was learned real good. I also managed to make a few new acquaintances, all of which had put together some amazing bikes for the show. If the planets align in the correct astrological fashion you'll be seeing more of them in future posts of this here Pipeburn blog. Until then, I hope you enjoy the snaps.
The day's winner (both people's choice & best bike) - Nick Eterovic's "Much Much Go" Honda twin from Melbourne.
More of the winner. Note the 'do on the tank artwork
Reader Comments (29)
It’s been a long time since I thought of Comstars as “modern”..!
Me too - Comstars are from the late '70s very early '80s. Bald front tire???
If he drove that along my neighbourhood with the open exhausts I'd have to shoot him.
The minimalist look of the pipes is nice but face it, we will all be banned if we make stupid amounts of noise. There are whole towns in Canada that simply ban ALL motorcycles on the town limits because they have been such a noise nuisance in the past that the locals refuse ALL of them.
No turn signals, no headlight, no gauges, no front fender for that "rocks in your teeth" experience. Sorry, doesn't work for me.
I really don't get it
Ken —
All the bikes were fired up and had to run for 30 seconds to be valid for entry. The winning bike was loud, but not excessively loud. It certainly wasn't the loudest bike in the competition, and I've heard Harleys on the street that were louder.
Chris
event looks like a blast, nice pics too..
Another shot of the winner form the official Deus photographer here.
I'm not sure about you guys and yr "street legal" concerns. In my books that's a damn nice bike - in fact the lack of clutter just makes it look better to me. Each to his own, I guess...
Ken,
What are these Canadian towns that ban bikes? That's illegal I believe! I've never heard anything of the sort.
As for the contest winner, it's a nice clean exercise in styling, and praticality clearly is of no concern. That's what we have V-Stroms for. I'll take one of each.
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Very sweet build (except the bald tire, which I'm assuming is part of the "much much go" theme?)
The wheels look to be off a CB750 dohc.
Any idea where guys are finding these ultra skinny shocks?
Gene, they look like "Monza Slimline" shocks available for about $75 a set at www.mikesxs.net.
I didn't know the Honda 750 had Comstocks. I believe the CBX1000 did tho.
Stock Comstars for that bike. I have one just like it in the garage (albeit more 'stock' than this one) '82 CB450T. There were multiple versions of the Comstar range, this style- 18"rear/19" front... A 'reverse' style spoke in both 18" and 16" rears/19" front, and of course, the Bal D'Or version that is 6-spoke. They came on everything from 400 twins, up to CB750 Hondamatics, and CB900's Gold Wings, Silver Wings and CBX's had them as options.
Andrew, the street legal concerns are thus: if you can't legally ride it, what's the point? I'll admit it's a good looking bike even if it's not really to my tastes (boo comstars), but what would you do with it? Trailer it to shows, win a prize here and there? At that point it's a sculpture, not a functional motorcycle.
i happen to live by some nice mountain trails, maybe the owner of this bike does too? the bald front tire tells me someone didn't meet his deadline and threw on what was laying around. (i've done it,...he he )
@Charles Yeah - I do see your point and I do think it's a valid one for road riders like you and me, but then going by those rules would mean that pretty much every professional racing bike in the last 30 years would fall into the "sculpture" category.
I think it's fair to say that bikes like Stoner's Moto GP Desmo Ducati et al are necessarily at the pinacle of functionality - they have to be to win races.
In the end I'm not going to discount bikes if they don't have a roadworthy certificate; show me something that rocks my world and it really doesn't matter if it has machine guns and a jet engine strapped to it. I'm still gonna dig it and want to read more about it...
:)
I was there too and it was cool. Too bad you didn't include the pic of the farmyard Ducati!
The bikes look hot - like the weather!!
Currently snowing here in England.. and the gritters are out putting salt on the roads so won't be out on my Harley until it rains first (to wash the salt away)
you lucky sods in Oz..
@SporsterMike You may be beating our arses in the cricket, but I'm happy to report that we're free to ride in most parts of the country 365 days a year. In fact, in many ways winter (in Sydney, at least) is a little more pleasant due to the lack of heat trying to melt you inside yr leathers. I seriously can't imagine what it must be like to not be able to ride for a large chunk of the year. Must drive you all crazy...
@ Ken: Fenders, signals, gauges? Thats extra weight, I ride a stripped down cafe everyday and have never missed my fenders, gauges, turn sinals, and still have all my teeth! Ken you should by a bagger, or maybe a car?
To be fair the bike ought to be judged against the goal of the competition – to build the coolest bike, with the least amount of $$$. It’s all too easy to build a sweet bike with piles of cash but this bike was purchased and completed for a grand total of about $750 AUD. The bike had to look the part and idle, that’s it. When you take that into account, this bike is amazing. For all those who don’t agree, see you at Deus in 12 months since you can do so much better.
Here's that latest Deus post showing all the bikes that entered the comp - Farmyard Ducati included.
@ Adam: Could not agree more, its about "put up or shut up". I wish their was somthing like this where I live.
In the lead up to this event there were all sorts of naysayers claiming that they could build a cool bike for $12, but where were the woulda coulda shoulda's on the day? Sitting at home bolstering their egos on the interwebs while playing with their ding-a-lings.
Ken, are you really saying that you'd be prepared to take someone's life because they momentarily disturbed the soundscape of your home? Grow up man.
Guys - let's try and keep it friendly, yeah?
I'm looking forward to next year's build off already - I reckon the competition will be fierce.
I've got half a mind to throw together a Pipeburn entry. An Unimaginary Garage entry, if you will. Maybe we could make it a group effort? There's an idea...
A build off dinner party - everybody brings a plate of parts.
Perhaps two classes should be offered Registered and Feral. I like restoring things that can be ridden and enjoyed on the road without costing me bundles in fines and Id like to see other peoples examples but laws shouldn't get in the way of making great looking hard bikes. It makes it difficult if you want to enter something rideable on the street at a restricted price if your up against people stripping off everything. Generally the more working parts you have the higher the cost especially if your bringing and old bike back from the dead.
Andrew your site rocks!
what seat is that on the "much much go" motorcycle?