Organization in the garage is almost done. I painted the top portion of the plywood wall to white to reflect light a little better and I wanted to put the site’s logo on it. If only I had a projector, this would be much easier.
First I measured out how big I want the logo to be, which is 36 inches in width. Then I drew a grid over the logo in proportion to the size that I want. Since this is a logo and I wanted to be more accurate, I have a pretty dense grid system. 1 inch per grid. If you are transferring an illustration into a wall mural, you could use a bigger grid system and more freehand.
Next, I replicate the lines of my grid onto the wall where I want the logo to be using a level to make sure everything is nice and straight.
Now do your best to copy the drawing into their respective grid. I made a sketch first before painting to help prevent mishaps. (And as you can see I clearly had a few mishaps.)
And final paint over.
I’m going to be honest. Even though a big chunk of this blog is about motorcycles and DIY, I don’t know jack about motorcycle mechanics. BUT. I’m hoping to change that. And the best way to learn a skill, is to put that skill to practical use.
Enter the Motoped.
What’s great about this is, years ago I went through a bicycle craze. I love riding. I taught myself how to assemble a bicycle. I love tuning and working on my bikes. And since the Motoped is 50% bicycle, I’m already half done in the knowledge department. Now I just need to learn about motorcycles. The engine, the carburetor, ignition wiring, and other goodies.
I searched high and low for other people’s Motoped builds online, however most builds I found are based off Motoped’s stock build. Other very nice custom builds I couldn’t seem to find a build thread for. (If anyone knows of any build threads, please feel free to share.) Since this is a blog primarily dedicated to DIY, I will try to document the build as best as I can. Hopefully if someone else goes searching the internet in the future for build ideas and knowledge, this whole journey could be of some help.
CONCEPT
A real important part of any custom builds. What is it going to look like? I spent some time making a mediocre mock up sketch in Photoshop. It’s not clean, it’s not professional. But it gets the idea across on what I’m going after.
I want a flat tracker look. I also really like the look of Radical Ducati’s 9 1/2 build. I want to somehow merge the look between the two.
Doing this also brings up potential problems early, like probably need the subframe (bracket under the seat) to be cut and re-welded to a different angle and a custom tank. Or maybe I can find a tank that will work.
Little back story on the name Louvel for anyone who cares. From French origins, the name Louvel is “young wolf.” All my motorcycles have wolf names. That’s due to the nerd in me. Since this will be a small city riding/commuting moped (I’m thinking 50cc), a small young kiddish wolf seems appropriate.
Back to more serious things, I made a parts list in Google Spreadsheets with prices and links. I will get parts as more money becomes available to me. Stay tuned.
I decided to go check out the BKLYN DESIGNS happening this weekend with some friends. Definitely a few inspiring pieces to be seen from some talented designers.
CHAKI skateboards.
Various household items made in iron by Aizara.
Sculptural light by Otis and Otis.
Reclaimed wood samples from Mark Jupiter work space.
I finally got around to installing the shop light. Mayhaps this marks the grand beginning. The start of a journey. The blank canvas to which anything you imagine is possible. Ok, that’s enough. It’s a dump.
All I can say is hopefully it will be presentable in time for a spring opening.
