I Built a Motorcycle and I Think You Should Too…Here’s Why

I have no history with motorcycles, hardly any of my friends ride and my Dad even forbid I touch one when I was growing up — so it is odd that out of nowhere I decided to buy one and completely rebuild it from the ground up…or is it?

Tear down!

Projects, regardless of the outcome, all have a similar origin, to fulfil a need. My need came from a place of unfulfillment, lack of creation and an environment that wasn’t challenging to me anymore so building a motorcycle seemed like a really good idea. How I was going to do this was the easiest part, thanks to Kustom Kommune. I joined the community motorcycle workshop in Melbourne through their crowdfunding campaign in 2017, the success of this funding saw Kustom Kommune 2.0 come alive in the industrial area of Abbotsford and the space opened ready for me to take the plunge. Naturally taking on a project like this would build hard skills in mechanical areas, but I came away having grown personally as well.

Community, community, community

Imagine walking into an unknown environment with no real welcome, you have no idea the inner workings of the place, you’ve never met anyone before, you don’t know who you should talk too and you don’t want to look like an idiot by asking questions — sounds like Day 1 of a new job right?

Now imagine walking into an unknown environment where straight away you’re welcomed personally, someone hi-5s you, another person asks if you want a coffee, you say no so they give you a beer instead, someone else is making macaroni cheese so they offer you a plate and then you get a tour of the space and they talk you through how everything works. Your shoulders drop, your breathing becomes relaxed, you feel safe, you’re now a member.

The community aspect of this project is, without a doubt, the most important part. The amount of skills that I have learnt by being open to absorbing knowledge in the space is unparalleled and working alongside other members, volunteers and the founder allows each of us to help wherever needed. Often I’d come to a point with this build where my motivation would drop due to not knowing how to do something, but the community was always there to get me back on track. The importance of being part of and having a community around you in life is as important as the air we breathe. Without these support mechanisms, we stifle ourselves, in knowledge, values, friendship, and purpose.

Engine back in, custom tail hoop welded in and new tank on

Imposter syndrome squashed

The amount of self-doubt that comes with a project like this was huge. I walked in day 1 with a motorcycle frame and didn’t even know how to hold an angle grinder. But by being vulnerable, accepting the unknown and embracing that this was not a world I was familiar with allowed me to build friendships with the crew and ask for help when I needed it. Through my time on this project, I gathered evidence that I could do these things, that this build wasn’t created based on luck, it was based on gaining skills and putting these into practice and ultimately getting shit done.

Working out the new wiring loom with @nobody_canna_kossen

Patience

The art of dealing with problems without frustration is ongoing throughout our lives. Whether experiencing frustration at budget calculations, stakeholders that don’t want to play ball or challenging in-laws, patience is bitter, but having it is sweet and this project helped cultivate patience without me even acknowledging it was going on.

• Each time in the workshop I left with a huge amount of gratitude toward those who had helped me
• I understood what was making me feel rushed in the project — the money being spent storing my bike each month
• I would get to a part in the build where I would have to remove a rubber seal or o-ring, these tiny, extremely important parts were often so degraded that I’d need to order new ones before moving forward — I had no choice but to wait for the postman to arrive
• Every day in the space I faced feeling uncomfortable with my level of skill but was able to break through this by leaning on the community.

Gratitude, understanding, having to wait and being uncomfortable — going through these each day ultimately built my level of patience

Carb sync & tune thanks to @maloo285

I came away from this 2 and a half years experience understanding that it’s not actually about building a product — in this case, a motorcycle — it’s all about the journey and the community you build along the way.

Thank you‘s:
@kustomkommune
@nobody_canna_kossen
@maloo285