The first question has to be, why rebuild a bike that looked great in the first place? Well, after the bike was finished in 2015, Patsy rode it for around two thousand miles and it was seen at numerous shows and rallies in his native Ireland. It’s no mean feat riding a bike like this around Irish roads—in Patsy’s own words, “the bike isn’t comfortable to ride and it handles like a banana behind a jet ski.” But, on the plus side, it’s never let him down and gets noticed everywhere it goes, which is compensation for the sore arse and aching back.
However, after two thousand miles and a couple of years, Ruby just didn’t feel like it was ‘out of the box new’ anymore. With the Irish round of the AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building in Dublin approaching, it was time for a refresh. I love the fact that Patsy has never lost a bit of enthusiasm for this project—if anything, he is possibly more passionate about the bike than ever.
For Patsy, it was all about having a machine “that was all bike”. He didn’t want furry dice or indicators or a speedo or, as he puts it, “all that other safety stuff”. Oh, and he certainly didn’t want a flaming dragon paint job (it’s just not what he likes). It had to be a simple yet beautiful paint scheme that was part of rather than the main feature of the bike. That vibrant red would be offset by a variety of different polished metals but with the aim of everything complementing everything else.
This story is from the Issue 252 edition of 100% Biker.
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This story is from the Issue 252 edition of 100% Biker.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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