Flying solo: Foundry?s Guzzi 1100 Sport street tracker
Building custom motorcycles is a changing profession these days. The lathe in the corner is oft replaced by a CAD workstation wired up to a 3D printer. The simple website has probably become a full-blown store selling custom parts, not just tees and caps printed up by a mate. And one of the partners in the operation is more likely to be a marketer than a mechanic.
But there?s still a place for the guy who works by himself, on an industrial estate in a small town. As long as he?s got skills?and Tom Simpson has them in abundance.
?Foundry is indeed a solo gig,? he tells us. ?Just me here six days a week, trying to build the best bikes I can.?
?Foundry? is an apt name for his shop in West Sussex, England: Tom was a blacksmith before moving into bike building full time, around eight years ago. Which means he?s one of those increasingly rare folk who are supremely comfortable with casting and shaping raw metal.
This Moto Guzzi street tracker was commissioned after a client wanted to buy a V65 tracker Tom had just completed. But that bike had just been sold, so Tom had a dig around the back of his storeroom, and hauled out the remains of a ?very scruffy? 1996 1100 Sport?the last and fastest of the carbureted Guzzis.
?I purchased it years ago for its fuel tank, intending to turn it into a café racer for my own use,? Tom reveals. ?Best laid plans and all that!?
After many coffees and sketches, Tom and his client agreed on a design direction and start date. ?I won?t say ho...
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