There are days once I wrestle to get something completed. I believed this was an issue everybody skilled, however then I met Brent King, aka Mifune Werx. Brent is the sort of man who appears capable of do in a single week what would take most individuals a month. He’s an achieved panorama architect along with his personal design agency, a martial arts teacher, a sword practitioner, builds duplicate armour and is a father as well. Brent additionally loves bikes, however not simply driving them, in his spare time (god is aware of how he has any!?) he likes to customize them too.
Asohka, which is a play on a personality’s identify from the Clone Wars sequence that his youngsters obsessed over, is a closely modified Norton Commando 850. Adorned with intricate particulars influenced by Brent’s different hobbies and coated in aluminium bodywork that is no run-of-the-mill British cafe racer.
The Norton was first acquired by a good friend of Brent’s with the intention of rebuilding it himself. “The bike had 8,759 original miles on it. It belonged to a small motorcycle dealer in Columbus, Ohio named Art Zander. ‘Big Art’ was a legend in Columbus due to his vintage Triumph and Norton collection and this particular bike had laid partially intact beside his front desk for a couple of decades.” says Brent. After the acquisition, the bike sat once more for round 10 years earlier than Brent and his mate mentioned the concept of constructing it collectively. Eventually, Brent satisfied his good friend in any other case and took possession of the bike and carte blanche of the construct.
“The engine had already been gone through and checked, everything was in excellent condition. I finished assembling the bike just enough to ride it for about a year while I decided how I wanted to customize it.”
The challenge kicked off with just a few preliminary sketches to ascertain a place to begin somewhat than a ultimate final result. Brent’s aim was to construct a “light” bike from each a weight and aesthetic viewpoint.
“There were a few things I knew I wanted to accomplish and create here. First I wanted to build an aluminium fairing that utilized the original gauges. The Second was to relocate the oil tank to open up the centre of the frame. Third was a curvy sensuous exhaust. And fourth, replace the original forks with a modern alternative.”
Step 1: The fairing and bodywork
With the acquisition of the Norton got here a hand-crafted Sprint-style aluminium gasoline tank. It completely suited Brent’s imaginative and prescient for his cafe racer so he sketched a fairing form that will complement it. “As I worked the aluminium, the fairing really designed itself on the wheel. This is the most exciting part of the build for me. Although I have a direction, I don’t know exactly where the design will end up. I get the most satisfaction out of allowing a bike to evolve organically.”
Along with shaping a one-of-a-kind fairing for the Norton, Brent determined the strengthen the construction utilizing methods he’d learnt making Japanese swords. “The brass reinforcements gave me the opportunity to explore the introduction of Japanese sword fittings into the design. The pieces were inspired by the menuki located on the katana handle, as well as other decorative fittings found on samurai armour.” The entrance fairing isn’t the one place Brent utilized Japanese-styled brass particulars. Some are ornamental like these on the tail unit whereas others are purposeful such because the determine 8 bracket that holds the exhaust suggestions in place.
Another curious addition to the Norton bodywork is the fins, or as Brent calls them, the gills that sit beneath the entrance of the tank. “I wasn’t happy with the visual gap between the tank and front faring, and the way the triple interacted with it all. I have several of Shinya Kimura’s builds on my shop wall and noticed he used a similar technique with his builds. So, I took a design queue from the Master and mocked something up in cardboard and I felt it really unified the front end, as well as added interest.” he says. Brent’s gills additionally double as helps for the entrance fairing which allowed him to scrimp on the variety of brackets required to stabilise it.
Step 2: Frame and oil tank
Prior to Brent buying the Norton its subframe had already been messed with so he had no reservations about modifying it additional. To obtain the open-frame look he was after he eliminated the oil tank and any redundant brackets that held it in place. The plastic airbox has gone too and the carb mouths match with open velocity stacks. This gave Brent the look he was after however left him with the difficulty of the place to relocate the oil tank.
“It needed the oil tank to be accessible, but I didn’t really want to see it,” he says. The resolution he discovered was to include the tank into the design of the tail unit. A brass filler on the entrance of the tail lets Brent high the tank up. Behind it sits a finned panel which aids in cooling the oil because it passes by means of the unit. The oil is delivered to the engine and again utilizing braided traces. Brent then constructed a customized brake gentle meeting that completes the rear finish’s asymmetrical look.
To end the body Brent reached out to his cousin who owns a steel plating enterprise in Cleveland and he chrome-plated the complete construction.
Step 3: The exhaust
On a typical Norton Commando cafe racer you’d discover upswept megaphone mufflers, however not on this one. Instead, Brent got down to create one thing distinctive. Instead of following a standard route down from the engine and alongside both facet of the body his system sees the two pipes assembly inside the open area within the body. They then run parallel to 1 one other earlier than sweeping again out of the body simply in entrance of the rear shock. To full the look the pipes have been slash-cut so together with trying unimaginable they’re positive to sound unimaginable too.
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Step 4: Handling
Although most of this bike is pretty interval right Brent wasn’t glad with sub-par dealing with. To rectify the difficulty he has tailored a Suzuki GSXR600 entrance finish to the Norton full with its twin brakes and wheel. Balancing issues out within the rear is a set of aftermarket piggyback shocks.
The Finishing touches
The ending touches on this Norton, that are numerous, embody a reed valve from NYC Norton that “keeps her from soiling the shop floor” and NYC Norton rear units. Brent’s spouse, who occurs to be a gun on a stitching machine, put collectively the cross-stitched brown leather-based seat, tank straps and knee pads. Brent handstitched the leather-based covers on the brake and clutch traces himself and he used brass screws to repair most of the brass elaborations in place. Of all of the trick particulars it’s the first cowl that’s the icing on the cake.
“It was a result of a ‘blink’ moment I had when I walked past the bike,” says Brent. “I had a vision of ‘The Great Wave off Kanagawa’ by the Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai. I have several prints of it and actually used it for the logo of my dojo several years ago.”
The strategy of incorporating the well-known art work onto the first cowl started with a sharpie sketch. Brent then sat on the concept for months, mulling it over whereas he labored on the remainder of the bike. Although he’d tried his hand at carving sword fittings and already made the brass particulars for the bike, he was not sure he may do the enduring portray justice. Then, proper on the finish of the construct, simply earlier than taking the bike to the 2023 Mama Tried Show, he bit the bullet and received to it. As a backup, he’d bought a spare main cowl, however it was by no means wanted. Check out the photograph under and I’m positive you’ll agree he nailed it.
“I had huge aspirations for this bike and the day I brought it home in pieces, I literally thought, ‘this motorcycle will teach me more about myself than all the bikes I’ve worked on’. Every build teaches me more about design, fabrication, patience, discipline, and the drive to finish. Someday my fabrication skills will catch up with my designs,” says Brent. From the place we’re standing his fab expertise are fairly darn spectacular.
MIFUNE WERX
Photography by Jay Thurston
Source: www.returnofthecaferacers.com