Aaron and Tony Burke: Kustom Cruisers, Ozzie-Style
Gotta say I love the site! I caught the site about 6 months ago and it was
part of the inspiration of starting to get involved in the modification of
bikes. I have just finished my first bike, it is a "Hot Rod" dragstar. (Dragstars are the aussie equivalent of the schwinn) It is a little bit of a lowrider, but I didn't want to go overboard. However, I hope you like some really simple kustom ideas I have used.
The wheels on the bike were rusted, so instead of throwing them away or
paying for expensive rechroming I had a friend paint them in 2-pack red to
give them an old-style hot rod feel. With the whitewalls, I reckon they look pretty good. I also turned up "hub caps" so the front axles have a better finish to them. The rear sissy bar has a kustom back rest on it, just to make better use of an otherwise wasted area. The tank is made from timber, light-weight and cheap. The black sides are ABS plastic, which can be removed and changed if a different style is wanted in the future.
Also all the paint is 2-pack yellow or red ( a favour, and not cheap! ) and the flames are all custom designed stickers which were made by the same friend, it may not be paint but it still is custom work. Also all the
crusin' stickers are custom made too.
This bike was only are starter on how to screw them together ( I come from a modified car background, but it is too hard to get around my beach side suburb anymore in a car! ). The next frame now currently under construction is a 28" track frame which has been cut-down to 26". It has full custom rear-half of the frame and few other features. It will have a "woodie" feel and look to it. I will send you pictures of that when I have finished, also maybe a few pics of another frame based on a lounge-chair when I finally finish that too.
panel beating!) The Springer suspension, handlebars, tyres and guards were sourced from Loco Lowriders in Melbourne. While the NOS "rat trap" pedals and heavy duty wheels sourced from the same old bike store, that I got a lot of the parts for my bike. The front light is a 1931-32 General Motors Chevlite spotlight, the rear light is from a 1931 Chevrolet sedan. The seat was re-trimmed by a local shop, the rear crash rail was made by Tony and so was the rear luggage rack. That includes the stainless steel supports. The chain guard is also custom made, in fact almost all brackets are hand made. They may not look much, but a LOT of time is required when fabricating these parts.
Both bikes sport rear number plates bearing the phrase "Built Not Bought" showing our motto of doing as much as possible our selves. Also the bikes have a 'brand name' of "Built By Burke".
Anyway keep up the great work, I check back all the time to see what is going on, you have some truly good stuff going on here.
I have also attached a photo of my dad's (Tony Burke) bike.
His bike is a cut down track racing frame, it was sectioned through the head stock, about 50 mm (2"). The seat tube was laid back from almost vertical and new tubing down the rear dropouts were made. The tank is also
constructed from timber, however this time all the flame work was hand
