PEDRO CARNEIRO – COLIBRI

Behind the polished facade of this super tidy CG125 lies a terrifying past. It’s creation began innocently enough, a family collaboration between two young mechanical engineering students saw time and skill lavished on the early 90’s commuter hack but just as it neared completion, the little CG nearly succumbed to a cruel death. Trapped in a blazing inferno its chances seemed bleak, but against all the odds the CG refused to tap out, surviving to tell the tale of its baptism of fire…

Back to the beginning, meet Pedro Carneiro, a 21 year old mechanical engineering student from Vila Nova de Famalicão, Portugal. As we noted last week in the story of the stunning Ton-Up Garage Indira, Portugal is a hot bed of custom motorcycle talent and it seems the work of the big boys is filtering down to the young guns in their sheds. Maybe it is the glorious sunshine that helps provoke mechanical activity as the locals long for a fitting steed to take out beneath their great fiery orb.

After the death of his grandmother in February 2014 Pedro decided to commit himself to his passion, building custom motorcycles. He teamed up with younger brother and fellow mechanical engineering student Rui and set to work. This is the second bike the pair have built, but this time the machine came with an added pressure, the customer was Pedro’s godmother Liliana Carvalho who currently works in Luanda, Angola. The boys wanted to deliver a stunner for their beloved relative.

“My plan was to create a unique motorcycle, light, loud, and easy to drive. I disassembled the whole bike, cut the frame, carried out an overhaul revision; put wider tyres, custom exhaust, MX handlebar and a lot of ebay parts such as turn signals, thermal wrap, etc… The bike frame was powder coated, the minor things I painted at my home and the custom parts was painted by my cousin Costa.”

Keeping the build within the family Pedro turned to his godmother’s husband Rui Dinis to design custom logos for the tank. The ocean turquoise, cream and red pin stripe paint scheme is personalised with the addition of an origami bird design echoing the CG’s given name, Colibri or Hummingbird.

It was in April 2015, just as things were starting to warm up and the build neared completion, that the temperature truly soared. Colibri was having an overnight stay at the workshop of Pedro’s uncle to receive a carb tune and mechanical fettle when an explosion and fire threatened to raze the workshop to the ground. Despite the extensive damage to his uncle’s property Pedro’s prized Colibri made it through the blaze with little more than a stinging singe and quite a story to tell. After some repair work, an insurance wrangle and a few final touches, including the freshly upholstered brown seat, Pedro had the CG in tip top condition, unlike his Uncle’s Workshop…

Being the good nephew that he is, Pedro is already hard at work helping rebuild his uncle’s gaff whilst finishing up his degree. When that is all completed he has many other projects vying for a start date, a Yamaha XJR or Honda CX are the most likely contenders for his attention. He hopes to have a machine ready for the next Bike Shed event and we certainly look forward to seeing you there Pedro.

“I’m a very happy builder and hope that when my godmother comes back to Portugal she is going to be a happy customer!”

Not a doubt in our minds Pedro.

via The Bike Shed