GOLD COAST CHOPPER'S PROJECT PREVIEW.

145 cubes, 330mm tyre, it is all happening at Gold Coast Choppers and this is only one of many bikes being built at the moment. To find out more go to the Gold Coast Choppers website and check out the news section.

10 QUESTIONS FOR RICK

These questions are from a magazine article that is coming out soon. Here's a glimpse into Rick's motorcycling background.

NAME: RICHARD WEMYSS
BUSINESS: TWIN TECH MOTOR CYCLES /GOLD COAST CHOPPERS

Q1
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE FORM OF MOTORCYCLING?

NO REAL FAVOURITES AS SUCH, I ENJOY ALL TYPES OF BIKES AND RIDING IN GENERAL WEATHER IT BE CRUISING THE BACK ROADS ON MY HARLEY, PADDOCK BASHING ON A TRAIL BIKE OR WATCHING MOTO GP.

Q2
WHAT STARTED YOU OFF IN A LIFE OF MOTORCYCLING?

GROWING UP ON THE FARM THERE WERE ALWAYS DIRT BIKES AROUND THAT WE WOULD BEAT OURSELVES UP ON, IT JUST WENT FROM THERE, IN THE BLOOD I SUPPOSE.

Q3
WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST BIKE?
THE FIRST BIKE I RODE WAS A HONDA CT 70; I WAS ABOUT 7 yrs old AT THE TIME... THAT WAS FOLLOWED BY A SERIES OF DIRT BIKES, JAP ROAD BIKES, A DUCATI AND MY FIRST HARLEY WAS A 1980 FXEF FATBOB THAT I BROUGHT SECOND HAND IN 1981

Q4
WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT BIKE?

MY CURRENT ROAD BIKE IS A 2003 DYNA WIDE GLIDE. IT WAS A CUSTOMERS BIKE THAT WE AT THE
SHOP HAD PREVIOUSLY DONE A BIT OF WORK TO, NOTHING OVER THE TOP, JUST IMPROVED MECHANICALS SUSPENSION AND BRAKES, A GOOD BIKE TOO DO THE MILES ON... AND OF COURSE THERE'S THE ALIEN FOR SHOWING OFF ON.

Q5
WHAT IS YOUR MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT ON A BIKE?

MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT, THAT'S A HARD ONE , THERE'S SO MANY BOTH GOOD AND BAD BUT ONE THAT DOES COME TO MIND WAS A EASTER TRIP DOWN THE SNOWY MOUNTAINS HWY, GETTING CAUGHT UP IN A UNSEASONABLE BLIZZARD, ABOUT - 15 DEGREES , SNOWING AND NOT BEING PREPARED FOR IT . EVENTUALLY GETTING INTO TUMUT WHICH IS AT THE BOTTOM OF TALBINGO MOUNTAIN ONLY TO BE ASKED AT THE SERVO " WHERE THE HELL DID YOU COME FROM THE ROADS BEEN CLOSED ALL DAY (NO WONDER THERE WAS NO BLOODY TRAFFIC)

Q6
WHAT WOULD BE YOUR DREAM RIDE?
DREAM RIDE?.... I WILL GET AROUND TO BUILDING IT ONE DAY.

Q7
WHO DO YOU CONSIDER TO BE AN INSPIRATION IN THE INDUSTRY?

INSPIRATIONAL? THERE'S BIT OF BRILLIANCE ALL OVER THE PLACE FROM SPORTING GUYS LIKE MICK DOONAN AND BARRY SHEENE, SCOTTY COX FOR HIS IMAGINATION AND CRAFTSMANSHIP, NEIL BOLAN FROM ECC FOR HIS DEDICATION TO THE INDUSTRY IN OZ, THERE'S SOME INTERESTING STUFF HAPPENING IN EUROPE WHILE A LOT OF THE AMERICAN STUFF HAS A BLAND KIND OF SAMENESS TO IT THE ORANGE COUNTY KIND OF STUFF IS JUST CRAP BUT I DO LIKE THE WORK OF ROLAND SAND'S WHO HAS BEEN DOING SOME INTERESTING STUFF FOR A WHILE NOW. HE DOES SEEM TO HAVE A FOCUS ON THINGS THAT YOU CAN ACTUALLY USE, THAT’S IMPORTANT TO ME, BUT ALSO SOME OF THE EVERY DAY GUYS THAT YOU MEET ON THE ROAD OR THROUGH THE SHOP, BLOKES WITH DISABILITIES THAT WOULD HAVE FINISHED MOST OTHERS ARE STILL OUT THERE RIDING AND GETTING ON WITH LIFE
Q8
IN YOUR OPINION, WHAT'S A CHOPPER ?

WHAT'S A CHOPPER? IT'S ANY THING YOU WANT IT TO BE, EVERY ONE'S GOT A DIFFERENT OPINION ON WHAT IT SHOULD BE BUT TO DEFINE IT YOU WOULD NEED RULES, CHOPPERS ARE ABOUT BREAKING THE RULES.

Q9
WHAT'S NEXT ON THE CHOPPING LIST?

NEXT ON THE CHOPPING LIST? WELL WE HAVE A FEW THINGS UNDERWAY IN THE SHOP THAT SHOULD BE INTERESTING AND I'VE BEEN PLAYING WITH A FEW THINGS FOR OUR NEXT PROMOTIONAL BIKE THAT I'M SURE WILL SURPRISE A FEW PEOPLE, CANT SAY TOO MUCH ABOUT IT BUT LET'S JUST SAY IT’S NOT FOLLOWING ANY OF THE CURRENT TRENDS YOU SEE AROUND.

Q10
IF YOU HAD A MOTTO, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

DEFINATELY DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME, ALWAYS DO IT THE BEST YOU CAN, AND DON'T BE AFRAID TO DO IT DIFFERENTLY!

07 GOLD COAST BIKE WEEK

Despite the boys not having a new show chopper built this year they still picked up a couple of trophys with FLAME and ALIEN doing the honours. ALIEN ended up in the Top 5 choppers again. Considering the bike made Top 5 choppers in last years show this was quite an achievement to be in again two years in a row. Especially in todays chopper shows where competition is so fierce and last years bikes are usually judged “out of fashion” when they reach one year old. All in all, a very satisfying result.
Rick did just finish building a budget type spec chopper on the Saturday morning which is for sale in the used bikes section. The bike presented itself very nicely at the show and is very competitively priced. The price of this bike is on road as well.
There was also a strong representative of TwinTech customers showing their bikes in all different categories of the bike show as well which is always good to see.
A steady stream of enquires at the TwinTech stand kept everyone busy, clearly showing there is still a very keen interest in customizing Harleys.
There are more Bike Week pics in the "Photo" section on the website.
We hope to see you all again at next years Bike Week....
The TwinTech Team.

Shop Ride Report

It was a good turn out for the Twintech shop ride on Sunday (8/7/07) considering the cold weather. Roscoe organised the ride and Brian did a great job leading it up. The ride took us out through Upper Coomera to Jacobs Well stopping at the Gem Hotel. Then onto Tamborine to Canungra for lunch where the prizes were drawn and a few of the guys won some great T shirts.
Rick and the boys are asking for some suggestions on your favourite ride, keeping it between a 4-5 hour ride. We might be able to base the destination around your suggestions for the next shop ride. If you would like to send an email in with your favourite ride email it to twintec@bigpond.net.au and we will see what we can organise. Also, if you would like to receive our newsletter email your name in and we will add you to our emailing list.
The guys from Twintech would like to thank everyone who went on the ride for their participation and hope to see you all on the next ride.

240 Wide Tyre Kit

With the 200 tyre being the norm on most late model Softails now the majority of guys are looking for something a bit different when customizing their bikes. Performance Machine have come up with the answer with the 240 Phatail kit which we have recently fitted to a customers bike. The 240 tyre certainly transforms the bike into a tough looking machine with plenty of presence. To see more pics on this click on the "Gold Coast Choppers" website and see the story on "Deuces Wild".
If you are interested in a Phatail Kit give us a call and we can give you the info you need on this setup...

ALIEN Featured in Street Machine Choppers Mag

ALIEN is still creating a lot of interest in the custom Harley and Chopper mags. Street Machine Choppers is the latest magazine to pick up on the ALIEN story. This article includes some more great pics and another view point on the creation of ALIEN.

There are some good points in the article like the author saying "Over recent years, one of the common features of trophy-winning choppers has been a look that suggest they're utterly unrideable" which is so very true. I am sure we have all seen these types of bikes at shows. More suprising, some of these win trophys?. He then goes on to say "Richard's gone out on a limb here and built a bike that doesn't look like an instrument of torture". Which again, is spot on the money. Rick has always built choppers to look cool and to win trophys at shows and after the show you can ride it home.

Make sure you check out the article in Issue 02 of Street Machine Choppers. It is a great read.

More Trophies For Gold Coast Choppers

Rick and the boys from Gold Coast Choppers picked up another two trophies at the Brisbane Hot Rod Show. One trophy for "Top Street Custom" and another for "Top Paint".

TWIN TECH Newsletter

Would you like to keep up to date with all the latest news from Twin Tech Motorcycles? Info such as the latest mods for your bike for go or show, the next shop ride or Motorbike/Chopper show.
Just copy and paste this email address: info@twintechmotorcycles.com.au with your name or go to the "Contacts" link and send a email in and we will add you to the list.

SHOP Ride TOP Ride

47 bikes and approx 65 people turned up for the Twin Tech Motorcycles shop ride. Geoff led the ride and took us over Beechmont onto Canungra and to Beaudesert.. We stopped at the Veresdale Hotel out the other side of Beaudesert for a few refreshments which were greatly appreciated considering the heat of the day. Onto Beenleigh and headed for Southport down the expressway. Jimmy and his crew put on a great feed at a local park down the road from the shop with everyone enjoying the shade and a couple of cold drinks before heading home. The food and drinks were all supplied by Twin Tech, making sure every dollar of the $470 collected went to Carefight Rescue.
It sure was a great day out and for a good cause as well.
The guys from Twin Tech would like to thank everyone who went on the ride for their support and hope to see you all on the next ride.

New Design T Shirts

Twin Tech Motorcycles and Gold Coast Choppers have some new T shirt designs.
It is good to wear a T Shirt that makes a statement about the shop that looks after you and your bike rather then wear some other Chopper T shirt for just a fashion statement.
At only $20 each they are great value.

Custom Pipes for Custom Bikes

Just a reminder that the guys at Twin Tech cater for all types of custom exhaust pipes. Ross fabricated this pipe for a customer's 124 cube S&S powered Dyna.

The guys fitted the engine to the bike 18 months ago and the owner thought it deserved a radical pipe that suited the bikes other features. Those that know Ross say radical should be Ross's second name so he was well and truely suited to the job.

The pipe is pictured on Ross's old "Bobber" and the wrap will be changed to black (of cause). There are larger pictures in the Photo Section as well.

“ALIEN” featured in the Ozbike Magazine.

The latest Ozbike Magazine (issue 301) has Rick with the “ALIEN” chopper as its main feature. There are some great pics of the bike along with the rundown of the build of Alien written by Rick (Rick has the article in the Gold Coast Choppers website as well). There is also a centre page lift out of “ALIEN”, which is a bonus.

Rick and Twin Tech Motorcycles aren’t strangers to articles in bike mags. The numerous custom Harleys the boys have built have shown up in different custom bike mags over many years. Since Rick has developed Gold Coast Choppers and has showcased “Alien”, “Flame” and “Chopr” at different shows over the last couple of years he is getting the exposure he deserves. The local industry is standing up and taking notice of these world class choppers that Rick continues to build.

Personally, I can’t wait to see the next machine Rick creates. “How do you build something better than Alien?” I asked myself….but then I asked the same question about Flame??

For more pics from the Ozbike article check out the "Photo" section.

ALIEN No1 at the Australian Motorcycle Expo

Alien and Flame took out the 2 major trophies at the Australian Motorcycle Expo at Brisbane. Alien won Best Chopper of the Show and Flame won best Engineered.

I was speaking to a number of people in the industry after the event and they say and I must agree that Alien is rightly placed as Australia’s “Number 1” chopper after winning first prize at the show.

While Rick is happy with the recent results he was very disappointed in the decision of the major sponsor and promoter of the Chopper Show (Live to Ride Magazine) to pull out when they did. You would have thought it would have been good advertising and promotion for their magazine and the industry in general. “They handled the whole thing very badly right from the start,” said Rick. “With minimal promotion for the event advertised and deadlines for entries that didn't apply or were abandoned, perhaps due to a lack of entries. Incorrect dates on their entry and conditions forms gave a general impression that no one knew what was going on. I believe they did attend the Melbourne or Sydney show but obviously Brisbane isn't considered as important as the southern capitals”.
Otherwise the show was a huge event, massive crowds and displays by most of the major manufactures of bikes and products. Except for Harley Davidson!? What's going on there?

A big well done to the boys again at Gold Coast Choppers / Twin Tech Motorcycles for another outstanding result.

Softail Standard not so Standard

Written by Rod

Over the last few years my bike has seen a fair few changes, some have been good, some down right bad. The bad ones were mainly from listening to guys that never thought further than the “Motor Co” square. Not that there is anything wrong with that but when I think of a custom Harley, I think of a bike that stands out from the pack, rather then one that blends into a mass of factory chrome and other factory accessories.

This latest customization has to be the best by far, the 200 tyre and paint job. The other mod that really impressed me 18 months ago was the 95 cube kit and the flowed “Rocket Heads” designed by Rick. Coupled with a 42mm Mikuni carby made all the difference in the power and torque gain. Back to the 200 tyre, I know what some of you might be saying, why don’t you buy a ’06 Standard with the 200 tyre already fitted? It comes back to a bike standing out from the pack thing again. I wanted something that the guard and wheel looked like it is a feature of the bike, not just another 200 tyre Softail Standard with an over sized factory guard.

I knew roughly what I wanted as far as a rear guard and wheels went but Rick gave me advice on both in the end. Rick also recommended using the LED rear tail light and indicators all combined in one unit as well. Roscoe set the 18”x 5.5” PM wheel and 200 Metzler tyre up in the standard swing arm after Rick machined the rear belt pulley down on the lathe to fit the 20mm belt. Rick then did the work on the rear guard, recessing the light fixture and profiling the guard. He also had to modify the struts for the guard as well. Rick had a Milwaukee Iron front guard that he was going to use on “Alien” but changed to another style so needless to say I jumped at getting that guard on my bike.

Rick organized to have the bike’s tin ware spray painted by Craig from Custom Spray Painting Concepts from the Sunshine Coast and Perry from Mallet Custom Art did the Artwork. Those boys really know their business.

By the way, the bike handles well with the 200 tyre. A slight change to my riding technique and I can honestly say it feels much more stable and positive in the back end under hard acceleration out of a 2nd or third gear corner.

There are a few good used Softail Standards getting around now at a reasonable price. This type of bike is a great base for a custom bike. Drop in and have a chat to Rick and the boys for some ideas. They will be more than happy to help.

Needless to say I couldn’t be happier with the results of my bike. A big thanks to Rick, Ross, Geoff, Perry and Craig.

There are more pics in the Gold Coast Choppers website as well....

GOLD COAST CHOPPERS new Website

Due to the public's renewed interest in choppers, combined with the success Gold Coast Choppers has had over the years, we thought it was time to establish a separate website for Gold Coast Choppers.

Check out the menu on the left side of the page and click on Gold Coast Choppers and it will redirect you to the site.

"Best Smoke" for the Roscoe Bloke

Roscoe won the “Best Smoke” trophy in the burn out comp at the Gold Coast Bike Week recently on the Twin Tech Racing Buell. He had people ducking for cover, sheltering their eyes from flying rubber and some even reaching for their ventilators. The only thing that stopped him was when his tyre popped. When a couple of guys were passing the Twin Tech tent later on where Ross had the Buell parked out the front, one guy asked him what happened to the tyre mate?... Ross replied “I got a hole in it and it let all the smoke out”. What a character.

I hope I am still enjoying bikes like Roscoe when I get to his age….Good effort mate!

Award for Excellence to Twin Tech

Twin Tech Motorcycles received the AMI Award for Excellence in the Motorcycle Industry recently. The award is for Best Bike Shop repairs and service up to 3 mechanics.

Well done boys....

Position Vacant - Mechanic

Must be able to work unsupervised, capable of consistant quality work and have a good attitude.

Contact Rick for more details..

Sporty gets chopped by Roscoe - Part 4

Well, I am happy to tell you the build has progressed well and I am very tired and worn out doing this project in my spare time, of which I have very little. Speaking of little. Little Ross is happy too that it is finally coming together, as he is sick of my whinging and having to buy me food and cappuccinos, beer and cokes.

We had our share of arguing and fighting over what looks good and what doesn't but unfortunately for little Ross I am the builder and he is just the owner and financier. So what I want goes! Ha ha ha !! If only that was true. As I write this little Ross is painting his own tank, guards and frame. This means it will be on the road in about 3 weeks and ready to be thrashed around at bike week. I can't wait to thrash it too as by then I will have my precious license back. I will try to hang on to it for a while this time.

Twin Tech Race results by Roscoe

Winter Nationals 06. A great weekend loomed up on us all very quickly; I guess we weren't the only ones running out of time to get things ready. Billy's bike was being dyno’d to set-up the new 48mm Mikuni and also to run-up the brute force belt drives (a very sexy looking piece of equipment). This was of course the day before Fridays qualifying sessions.

My two charges, the Buell and the Busa were ready for action. Friday morning raining on the Gold Coast as Rod and I left for Willowbank, the forecast was for clearing later in the day. The weather improved as we neared our destination but it was still grey and bleak but no rain! First run on the Busa, a 10.1 @ 138 mph, second run 10.091 2 142 mph, wow that high 9 sec run is just around the corner.

The Buell performed flawlessly as usual, my faithful friend that it is, low maintenance ever reliable, the only thing I did before the meet was hook-up the air shifter again, so those 11.6’s are back. Billy's first run Friday was loaded with great expectations , all that work and money spent was unfortunately no help because as soon as the clutch was dumped at 3000 rpm the ' 91 stock 5 speed went bang and the bike went nowhere except pushed back to the pits . A quick check confirmed the worst! your tranny is f * c # ^ d , What exactly we don't know, so that makes it hard to organise parts, back to the workshop and make a decision with the Boss and that was that for Billy.

As it happened Billy missed nothing but a cold wind and lots of rain on Saturday. Nobody got to do anything but turn-up and wait for the shit weather to continue. We were all wondering how a whole days racing would be carried over to Sunday? Well our qualifying on Friday was our qualifying for the elimination rounds, so we were short changed 2 more qual sessions. So when is it our turn well after the big boys in group 1 of course. The day was fine but there was a bitterly cold wind blowing straight up the track, great a head wind will make it hard for dial-ins. I made it into the third round of eliminations on the Busa and broke -out by 0.018 of a second. The ever reliable Buell misfired all the way down the track and only just made it to the end of the track, then of course ran sweet and was back to its wheel standing itself up the return road, what's up with that bike????????

It was another long day and I still had the flu which I had been enjoying for about 5 weeks and went home about 8.00 pm apparently the modbike final was run at about 11.00 pm and the screamin eagle final was about 1.00 am Monday morning!!!!!

Our next round is 22nd July, I am not sure if Billy will be there or me for that matter, lots going on at work with bike week looming!

Remember guys “Go Hard or Go Home” but only on the drag strip. Cheers now from Roscoe.

Billy Box Blows Badly at Winter Nats

Billy’s gearbox came out second best at the Willowbank Winter National Drags. After a lengthy period on the dyno with Steve from Powerhouse Dyno Tuning the 48mm Mikuni carb Rick fitted was well tuned in for the Nats. Along with the heavy duty belt drive primary and new clutch that Rick fitted as well it promised to be a good race meeting for Billy’s Softail but his tranny didn’t think the same unfortunately.

After a big bang off the line in his first run the 15 year old transmission in Billy’s softy just said no more to the huge power and torque output from the S&S engine and stripped teeth off a numerous amount of gears. As Roscoe said it was only a matter of time before she would let go. “After all that has been done to the engine it is only the old tranny and the belt drive that is still vulnerable”.

The boys at Twin Tech ordered in a TB5 Baker Torque Box. The Baker tranny can handle up to 250 ft lb of torque. So it sounds like it should be up to the job.

Twin Tech’s Racing slogan is “Go Hard or Go Home”. Billy, the poor little bugger went hard and still went home. Good luck next meeting mate.

Flame in OZ Biker Magazine

Flame is featured in the latest Ozbiker mag (issue #295 with Flame's fuel tank pictured on the cover). There is an excellent article written by Rick who gives a good insight into the building of Flame and a brief run down on the history of Twin Tech (Gold Coast Choppers). Together with the brilliant photography there is a massive 8 page story including a centre page lift out.

So if you are after a good read check out the mag and find out exactly what goes into the building of high quality, amazing choppers.

Sporty gets chopped by Roscoe - Part 3

Well, Sporty Chop Part 3. We have triangulated the rear, braced and finished welding all the joints. Little Ross and I did a quick mock-up of what it will look like coz I wanted to see it with the front end on and check the rake as well. It looks way low and long, lots of potential for a cool chop. We then attacked the Custom Chrome alloy tank, after cutting it in half, I then reduced it’s length by 40mm, modified the back-bone to accept its roundness, held it in place and man, it is looking good so far.

I have to take a break for awhile and concentrate on Drag Bikes, mine and Billy’s. Sorry little Ross the Sporty Chop is on hold to after the Winter Nationals…

Sporty gets chopped by Roscoe - Part 2

Well, the sporty chop is progressing painfully, slow that is! We have raked the neck from a standard 30 deg to 35.5 deg. Not easy to do on sportsters as the headstock is encased in a plate that envelopes it but with shear grit and determination and a cut-off wheel it's done. We have fitted the sprockets after getting rid of the rubber band and pulleys, set-up the rear wheel and are now in the process of fabbing-up the axle plates.

The next job is to start on the rear end. Exciting stuff coming up! Keep watching this space for more…

Twin Tech's racing results by Roscoe

Well, racing last Saturday provided a mixed bag for everyone; Rod was kind enough to drive us up on Saturday morning. We arrived at 8.30am just in time to miss my first qualifier for the Hayabusa in the modified bike class. The meeting had been bought forward 2 hrs from 10.00 am to 8.00 am for a start time, great if we were told about it but however 5hit happens ( to me anyway, more on this later.

The Buell was running great, just the rider that needed tuning, 12.3's for the most part still having trouble manual shifting cleanly though. Yeah, that’s right! Still no parts for the bloody air-shifter. I had troubles learning to launch the Busa with the extended swing arm as well. Times around the 10.3's mostly. I milled up some 8.5" extension blocks then cut-up a secondhand swing arm. I modified the swing arm to double as an air tank for the air shifter (yet to be purchased). The swing arm works great; I just need to tune-in the rider again.

Screaming eagle first eliminator, who am I up against? Why it is Billy of fast Softail fame and fastest qualifier stopping beside me? What? You’re kidding? you and me? Ok time to try and psych him-out, “don’t launch to hard with that two stage rpm limiter Billy and remember the earlier wheel stand? Scary wasn't it? Don't red-light either mate!“ Well, that should do it. The temp had plummeted and it was just after the sun disappeared that we were up. Good launch on the Buell a slight wheel stand, controlled shifts head down bum-up, what’s that racket? 5hit those pipes I made for Billy are f**king loud, he is going to pass me don't look back don't button off, Yee haaaa!!! He didn't get past me, a quick look back, shit he's way back, and give him the fingers and carry-on to get the time sheet. What? How can this be? I lost, oh 5hit, 12.093 on a 12.15 dial-in Bugger! Well done Billy.

First eliminator on the Busa I am up against a full-on pro-stock looking GSXR with a 9.10 dial-in. I had dialed in a 10.15, ok good launch after an impressive burn-out, good clean shifts, I can't see him but can here him as I go thru the traps Yee – haaaa, a winner! A good reaction time and a good 60ft time resulting in a 10.23 @ 137 MPH. Ok, maybe I can do this again. Next eliminator, who am I up against? Great one of those noisy weird sounding V Rods, Hah! Wheelie bars are for learners! Well a typical last minute lane choice by the noisy V Rod team and I am pissed off and very anxious to win. A long and smoky burn-out on the Busa. At least I won that cause wouldn’t you know it a bloody red-light! Damn and blast. Oh well at least Billy is still flying the Twin Tech racing flag and guess what we had to stay till the end cause Billy was in the finals Yes !!! YOU BLOODY BEAUTY BILLY! That’s right Billy was the winner for the night, a great effort by him and his pit crewman Dave.

Well that's another $ 500.00 he can spend in the shop before the Winter nationals our next meeting. Ah yes and getting back to the " shit happens from back at the start my Rodeo ute dropped a valve on the M1 coming home Saturday night just at Nerang off ramp so Rod gently nursed it home to my place. We arrived at about 12.30am Rod had to start work at 6.00 am so he wouldn't be getting much sleep.

A big thanks to Rod, thanks to Billy, Dave, Richard, Geoff and B+H Welding. Be at the Winter Nats 9-10-11 June we need your support! Until next time, cheers from Roscoe.

Sporty gets chopped by Roscoe - Part 1

When Roscoe said you better come around here and have a look at this I have something for the website I didn't know what to expect. So I walked into the workshop and saw this front wheel attached to a strange looking frame with handle bars on it. I said "what the hell is it?" Ross said it's "little Ross's bike". Well, when I finally finished laughing I asked, "what happened?" Then he started telling me the story.....To be continued by Ross.

What do you do for a project on a rainy day? How about cut up a pretty cool looking Sporty?

Do you need a good reason? Not if your name is Ross Gretrix, Ross, Little Ross or Roscoe or other aliases (Some of which are not suitable for public viewing on this website.)

On this particular rainy day he said to me, Ross Buchanan (otherwise known as Big Ross or Roscoe from Twin Tech), “I’m bored with the way my bike looks, what can I do with it? The bike had already been strutted and bobbed, but that’s to easy to do. Instead, let’s completely strip it and chop it up, you know chop all the unnecessary accessories off and throw them away. That’s just enough to get the creative juices flowing, the spanners flying, his Sportster parts disappearing into a box in the corner and the sparks flying off the angle grinder.

There was much eyebrow raising on Little Ross’s part as I cut through the frame with an angle grinder. I already had a picture in my mind of what the finished product would look like, i.e, a bit of rake, a hardtail back end, sprung solo seat and a real low ride height. Unfortunately Little Ross couldn’t see the same picture. “Trust me mate, I sort of know what I’m doing”, I tried to reassure him.

I guess the fact is that it was stripped and chopped in about 3.5 hrs didn’t give him too much time to think about it and change his mind.

We will continue to keep you all up to date on our progress as we go along. We might even let Little Ross know what’s going on if he is lucky!

Four Trophy Haul from HotBike

When I rounded the corner on my bike the street entering the Bikemania Supershow was bumper to bumper. The crowd that turned out on the Sunday was huge to say the least. Once inside the complex I managed to weave my way through the crowd to the Twin Tech / Gold Coast Choppers stand. The guys had the stand set up well with the main feature being “Chopr” one of the bikes Rick had built last year. With enquires being strong through out the two days it shows how popular custom bikes and choppers are. With the boys handing out in excess of 1,000 business cards it proves people are well aware of the attention to detail Gold Coast Choppers show in their work. As Rick says, his choppers are built to Ride as well as Show.

When the end of the day came around the presentation for the trophys began. Rick received four trophys in total. "CHOPR" received one for best detailed paint work. "FLAME" was entered in the Hotbike Australian Custom Bike Building Championship (Top Class Category) and ended up with three trophys . “Flame” started out with “Best Tin Work”, then “Best Engineered” and also one for getting in the “Top Five Finalist”, which was no easy task considering the amount of quality Choppers that were on show from all around Australia.

It was another great result for Gold Coast Choppers again. I can’t wait for Gold Coast Bike Week this year where a project Chopper the guys are working on right now will be revealed. It promises to be something very special from what detail I have been told. Also Rick and the boys have taken “Flame” and “Chopr" along to two photo shoots in Brisbane. Rick told me the Ozbike shoot for "Flame" took over four hours in a full on pro-studio with one of the country's top photographers. So keep an eye out for the articles in "Ozbike" and "Live to Ride" Magazines.

Billy's Bike has Bite!

From the moment I sat down at Rick’s desk to have a chat to Billy about his bike I could tell this man was very passionate about both his bike and drag racing. Billy first started drag racing his 91 model Softail 18 months ago and was pulling a time of 12 seconds with his standard 124 S&S engine which Twin Tech fitted for him. Billy soon got the racing bug in a bad way and had the bike modified by Twin Tech. After changing the front springs, replacing the rear suspension with solid struts to stop any wasted energy in sitting the bike down at the back on launch, a shift light and a tacho he was getting a time of 11.3 seconds. After a few runs the guys at Twin Tech fitted an air shifter to the tranny and the bike was getting 11.0 seconds down the straight.

The latest modification to his bike was getting the boys to fit the S&S B2 heads to the 124. They also had to make up a set of stepped headers as well. A run on the dyno proved the extra work was well worth it with the Softail putting out a huge 154 rear wheel horsepower. Billy is the only one in Queensland to beat Mark Wacker (from Morgan and Wacker the local HD dealers) in qualifying with a time of 10.6 seconds. Don’t forget this Softail is a street registered every day ride bike. As Billy says, it feels just at home shooting down the street to get a carton of milk as it does on the track. The 124 is still running the Super G carby so there is still room for more grunt with a bigger carby. As the boys say “how much power can you afford to have”.

Even though this is Twin Tech's website, this is not a case of them patting themselves on the back, as I am only writing what Billy has told me. Billy would like to thank all the boys from Twin Tech for everything they have done for him and his bike. He says without them he would in no way have made it as far as he has.

Twin Tech race to a Buell

Project bike Buell xb12r 2004 15000km.

Twin Techs performance project begins. Our aim is to do some drag racing and try and develope the Xb engine. Ross has raced before and is keen to race at Willowbank. He also holds current records for New Zealands fastest drag bike, both E T & M P H, 7.60 secs at 180mph. The bike is Hays Racings 150 cu in Nitro Harley. With 600 hp on tap he may notice a slight difference with the 95hp Buell.

Twintech are wanting to expand their skills and services and are in the process of fabricating a frame jig. This will be used to rake existing frames and build from scratch frames to suit individual requirements, the Buell running gear will eventually be carried by a Twin Tech drag frame. The goal is to have a 10 sec drag bike flying the flag at local meetings.

Twin Tech services a few Buell customers and has done some drag racing prepwork for a couple of local drag racers. Ross has owned a few Buells , a 98 S1 Lightning and 2 x 2004 XB 12 R'S. The 98 S1 was his favourite, "lots of character and a real hooligan bike" he says with a smile on his face . This coming season the project bike will be run pretty much in stock form but lots of ideas are coming forth from the team. All the boys and a number of customers are keen to get it started..

Ross is now fabricating a muffler for the bike and will be posting dyno figures in the future. It should be interesting to see what results he ends up with on the dyno. Knowing Ross's determination and knowledge it should be all GOOD!!

UPDATE: Ross gave the Buell a run on the dyno at Powerhouse Dyno Tuning Xmas eve (24/12/05) and ended up with 92hp and 85 ft/lbs torque. Not too bad considering his other Buells were fitted with full race kits and only had 93hp and 80 ft/lbs torque. So the Proto-Type muffler will have the welds cleaned up and painted after it has proven a big success in gaining power on the dyno.

Trophy Time Again

Gold Coast Choppers took away five trophys at the "Street Torque" bike show to add to their well deserved collection. At this rate, Richard and the guys are going to need a trophy cabinet or Geoff is going to run out of room to unpack his orders.

Check out the trophy collection behind the counter at Twin Tech next time you drop in. (see pics below)

Cheers, Rod.

"FLAME" Burns bright at gold coast bike week

STORY : Rod PICS: Rod

What a week of suprises the Gold Coast Bike Week provided, the main one for me was the unveiling of a chopper that Richard from Gold Coast Choppers (Twin Tech) has been working on for a number of months. The presentation coincided with the S&S ride lead by Brett Smith of S&S. The last stop of the day for the ride was at Twin Tech Motorcycles which is the home for Gold Coast Choppers , Richard's workshop / studio for building these magnificent machines.

Geoff from Twin Tech did the presentation for the new chopper named appropriately, "FLAME". He did a great job of giving the guys a run down on what work Richard had done to this remarkable chopper.

Richard, Geoff and Ross won some well deserved trophies at the Bike Week Show which was no surprise. Ross won one for a "Bobber" he had built for a mate and of course Richard won a couple with "FLAME" . Well done guys, an outstanding result for Gold Coast Choppers ........