Prize Winners

It's taken me this long to resurface after Grinderfest. I'm honestly knackered. Thanks againt to everyone who took part and everyone who turned up to support ther Grease Monkeys. There were 5 awards from Shed 5  and Damien kindly donated vouchers for pin striping. We also had the Monkey Cup which I presented to one of the bikes that had been on this Blog throughout the 6 months of build. Every bike was different and the standard was excellent. The judging was done by the Shed 5 team using their own set of rules but the judges took the whole thing very seriously and spent a long time over the week going over each bike in detail. Some bikes really stood out but did not win an award but that doesn't mean that they didn't blow everone away. Marcel's Boxer was a prime example with engineering and imagination that was a huge hit with everyone. I talked to Dave who was judging engineering and he was looking at bikes that were running but were built with a minimum set of tools but still showed a high level of skill and determination. As far as I'm concerned all the bikes were winners.
We will be doing this again as there was a level of interest from the public that I found hard to believe. Things will change for the next one and I hope we have learned a lot this time. Anyway, here are the award winners:

The Doctor Whaky Award (People's Chioce)  and The Hairy Brush Award (Best Custom Paint) - Lance's Phantom309.

The Golden Spanner Award (The Technical/Engineering Excellence Award) - Jody's Yam

The Graffiti Award (Highest Artistic Merit) - Matt's Saint

The Chief Kakapo Award (Grand Champion) - Andrew's XS

The Monkey Cup (Grinderfest Champion)

Thank You.

Hey. I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who has got involved in Grinderfest. The response has been awesome and I am truly blown away. I know that the organisation is still a bit shaky and I still don’t know what will be happening this week but Saturday was a blast for me. It was great to see all the different styles of bikes from Dave’s very cool Puch Maxi right through to Daye’s Armageddon CX. There were loads of people looking at the bikes and hopefully getting inspired to get out in their sheds and make something. It was great to catch up with people I hadn’t seen for a while and very nice to see that everybody was getting on so well. It really does look good for summer and seeing some cool metal out on the streets and for interesting people to get a chance to hang out and talk bikes. No attitudes and no pressure.

There will always be some people who just don’t get it. The biggest crowd at the end of the afternoon was round the store bought chopper (just like on TV). It was a nice bike but the only thing that I could see that was garage built were the little bits of bent tin that were holding on the indicators. Same for the Thruxton, which was a lovely bike. Hell, I’ve even got one, but getting a professional paint job and a few high end catalogue parts was exactly what we were trying not to promote.

Have to give a big shout out to Kim and Doug at Shed 5 for all their outstanding efforts. Kim ran around making sure that everyone was happy and organised. Doug, despite having what looks like food poisoning from his recent trip to the Islands, was having a blast when the excellent band were playing on Sunday afternoon. I missed out on that as I had been promising my son a trip to a rugby world cup match for months.

Anyway, thanks again to everyone. Try and get there at least for our party on Thursday night and for the prise giving on Saturday afternoon, when I’m hoping for more bikes that couldn’t make it for the week turning up for a final Carpark show.

Irish

Sporty Monday

Had a call from Shed 5 to let me know that they are having problems getting the word out about Sportster Night next Monday. So, if you have a Sporty or know someone who has, bring it along to Shed 5 on Monday night.
Kim also wanted to remind everyone that there are Grease Monkey specific parties on the first Saturday night and the Thursday night, as well as the prize giving on the last Saturday afternoon. Apparently teh biggest party is on the Thursday so I'll definitely be there. Spread the word..........

Show bookings

Around 20 bikes now registered with Kim at Shed Five so it's all looking good. A couple of surprise bikes that I hadn't seen before and there's a few more that I know about that will be entered this week. So, if you are still waiting to get that late entry in you'd better send those pictures in to Kim@shedfive.co.nz as soon as you can.

Flea's VN - Entry

Flea's official entry is now winging its way to Kim at Shed Five to book its place on the show floor.

this is fleabag she started life as a 1995 vn800 i got it stock apart from the zbars.so i ripped of all the plastic.mounted a jawa tank,solo seat,made some brass footpegs from some old hollow thread,removed all the switchs ,made the aircleaner from an old ceiling fan .hid the battery in the saddlebag,hid the electrics in the toolbag behind the seat,mounted a model a tailight(i have been through a lot of tailights made a few to cause i wanted something different but ended up with the model a just because i like it)used an old 1930s ford spare wheel cover for the rear guard.and a lot more shit i can't remember.hopeing to build an exhaust before grinderfest.as always building this bike has been a blast.
cheers
flea

ps
here is still a lot i want to do to this bike but if i get to carried away i won't make grinderfest so i am trieing very hard to have some control.

Marcel's Completed Entry

Still waiting for those entry pictures so we can sort out the floor spaces with Shed 5 but this is one that I am really looking forward to seeing. Over to Marcel...

It all started off with a email sent to me by a mate Harry over in Aussie with an attachment  pic of a concept Subaru powered bike, it had all the ingredients that I liked, single sided swing arms, centre steer hub and turbos. With the email came the challenge that one off us needed to build something as insane as this............and so it begins.

To see if it was even achievable, I grabbed some old road tyres off Tez and a motor from Des at Scrapit, placed them, stood back, grabbed a beer, thought for awhile, and said yes this is doable.......we’re away

I started off with the centre steer hub design and manufacture, and then moved under the motor with the suspension and on to the rear hub and swing arm with most things falling into place with the help of available parts from Andy at sweetstreet motorcycle parts.

We are a way off yet but when finish plan on doing a bike trip down around the south island.

Final - Final Dates

Click on the image for a full size view

So, after lots of time and a few more logistical issues we now have a FINAL date for the show. As you can see, its now a week of events and parties with the support of the lovely people at the Shed 5 Speed Shop in Wellesley Street, Auckland. See the events calendar below.

Click on the image for a full size view

There will be events every day and night throughout the Festival with the custom bikes on display all week at Shed 5. The awards and wrap party for Grinderfest itself will be on Saturday 1st October. Bikes that can't make it for the whole week will still be eligible for additional prizes if they are there for the final day.

Click on the image for a full size view

To help us organise space and work out just who will be there we need you to complete a quick registration process. Basically, email me before and after pictures of the project and a picture of the builder(s) in the place where the bike was built and then just confirm that the bike can be at Shed 5 for the week. We'll get back to you to sort out the load in. Remember, everyone who is accepted gets an automatic award from Shed 5.

For the people that can only get their bikes there on the final day, please drop me an email and a picture anyway and you will be eligible for the additional prizes from El Boneshaker, Damien Kurth and Grease Monkeys on that day.

Get those entries in and get ready top party.

Irish