de Bolex are still relatively new on the scene, but from their 1st build to this; their 4th, each one has been superbly thought out and put together. Their talents are greater than just bike building though; they even tell their own story well, so enough from me, here’s the low down on the bike, the build and the owner straight from de Bolex themselves…. see you at the end.
“So you’ve invested your hard earn cash into some nice wheels to get from A to B and to and from the 9 to 5 grind but the luxury of the leather seats, air con and cd player some how doesn’t fulfill your needs. This was Alex before he became the very proud owner of the deBolex Mk4.”
“A week spent in Biarritz resulted in a bet between 2 mates to tick a few things off that ever increasing bucket list; Learn to play the saxophone, bite the bullet and get that tattoo, and finally get a bike license.
So 6 months later, 4 sax lessons down, 2 tattoo’s and a bike license in the wallet – fair to say Alex won the bet. With his shiny new license and the summer in the not too far distance Alex didn’t think twice about putting his once treasured car up for sale to fund his dream of owning a custom motorcycle.”
“Being a good friend of Calum the founder of deBolex has meant that Alex has seen first hand the deBolex builds from concept to reality and now he wanted his turn. He had a clear vision of what he liked so they sat down and created first sketches of what is now the Mk4. It was here that it became clear that the bike was going to harp back to a more classic era.
The bike needed to be reliable so the later Cb750f2n was to be the donor. To achieve that classic look we started with fitting an early, sleeker, cb750 tank, this was no simple task and modifications had to be made to the bottom of the tank for it to fit over the frame and to give the right lines between the tank and seat.”
“We gave the tank some extra shape by adding some knee scallops, the fuel cap was then relocated to allow for the classic leather tank strap to run through the middle. The rear cowling has been hand beaten from aluminum, with added scallops to match the fuel tank, this cowling is then removable to reveal the pillion seat – a must for chucking a little somebody on the back!
Why the Number 7? Besides being a nod back to a motor racing legend, it is also Alex’s Birthday. This enabled us to give the bike that additional classic race appeal, but also houses an aluminum storage box which is opened via a key catch, this encloses a nice space for any small luggage.”
“Sucking the air in comes through 4 stainless trumpets and is then exhausted through 2, 2 into 1 polished stainless pipes with reverse cone mega’s. A classic smiths speedo keeps Alex’s speed in check while the recessed moto gadget led’s indicate the appropriate warning lights.
Lighting up the front is finished with the yellow lens and peak to keep to the classic appeal, the rear light housing was turned up and recessed into the rear tube and the indicators were kept small and subtle.”
“The classic brown leather was to be a feature throughout the bike; grips were wrapped and finished off with an aluminum bar end. Des our in house trimmer then took charge of trimming the seat in a diamond stitch pattern with the tank strap to match.
Alex was keen on the black on black finish, so we just highlighted the shaped features through the bike with a classic white pin striping.”
“We had a mad rush to get the bike completed (or so it felt!) for the bike shed event, but Alex was itching to get riding soon after, and its fair to say he is getting good use out of it, he totaled up over 3000 miles in just 4 weeks, riding come rain or shine.”
I’m sure you will agree that de Bolex have once again created a lovely bike, and for the 4th consecutive time. To see their past work check out their bikeshed page and visit them on Facebook and check out their website. Thanks for sharing this beauty guys, we look forward to seeing the MK5
via The Bike Shed
