GABY

I know you know Gaby, our crazy prep, well. You've seen it from every angle, you've appreciated its acceleration performances, its skids on the beaches of the Médoc and maybe you've even met it on one of our stands! But it's time for me to tell you its real story, the juicy details of its construction and the anecdotes of its customization!

The Project

At the beginning, there was a meeting (during an aperitif as is often the case!) one evening in October 2017 in Bordeaux to celebrate the anniversary of the motorcycle garage Chez Poirot. Camille and I are always up for a beer with friends! And indeed a lot of people were there! We started chatting with Flo from SteelBike Concept. He does custom motorcycles, engine preparations, crazy exhausts, drag racing and rather funny techno evenings, that's what we understand! A rather astonishing character and quite far from our world... for the moment! We tell him about Eudoxie who is still only at her first collection. He gets into the game and tells us "wouldn't it be super cool to make you a custom EUDOXIE motorcycle? Like a rock girl and badass at the same time!?" there obviously with Camille our eyes started to shine..! He quickly understood and identified the identity of the brand!

STEP 1: THE BRIEF

It could have been empty words but 10 days later we knocked on his door in Bordeaux Lac… Flo opens the door and shows us around his workshop. An office, a showroom with a few preparations, a lounge area with a tap (absolutely necessary) and behind a swing door a large workshop with lots of motorcycles and 2 bridges. This is his workshop that he has been developing since 2015.

We go (with a beer) to his office area. We already have a vague idea of the aesthetics of the bike and its budget. At first we talk about a chopper, he laughs, it's apparently out of price range... Well, the discussion resumes, I show him the bikes we like. We start to draw a robot portrait of it... it will be a street tracker... The technical definition: a scrambler with two wheels of the same size with a vintage look. The unofficial definition: a mega stylish bike!

Now that the project is starting to take shape, we're going to need a motorcycle to work on! The serious stuff is starting!

STEP 2: THE BASE

We didn't have a motorcycle in mind, just the desire to create a light, thin, feminine, easy-to-handle custom bike that was super easy to handle. So Flo made us a list of models that could meet our expectations while keeping in mind the budget, reliability, availability of wear parts and engine capacity. Camille went all out on Le Bon Coin, looking for THE rare gem... It only took her a few weeks to see the bike she had been hoping for... a 1982 HONDA 250 CUSTOM. At a dealership in central France, after a call from Flo and a few technical questions from an expert... The deal was sealed and we received it directly at the garage. Needless to say, when it was time to unpack it was Camille's eyes that were full of happiness and she was there to welcome her!

STEP 3: THE OUTLINE

So here it is, the bike is here, and it's really in its original state... It has a really old school look! The next step is to make the big formal decisions... To see things a little more clearly, I do some tests on Photoshop. We first decide on the tank, 1 spoke rim, 1 spoke rim, the rear loop that goes up (like on the old trials), the color of the frame, the main color of the bodywork... A mega cool step because ideas have no limits but you have to choose one! So it will be white, black and gold..! We agree it's time to take action. Flo starts to remove what we won't use: the mudguards, the handlebars, the mirrors, the low exhausts, the speedometer, the tank, the saddle, the wheel and the rear lights... We're starting to see things more clearly.

STEP 4: SEARCHING FOR PARTS

At the same time, and given how we have refined the car, I set off in search of the missing elements:

• To have a great rear wheel, after a few days of searching I found a nice 400GSX rim on a vintage parts website.
• For a fun handlebar we decided to put in place a BMX type handlebar with a crossbar for an 80's look.
• For a cute head we choose a nice flat headlight
• The tank comes from Flo's personal collection, it's from a 250GN
• A gold chain to match the color theme
• Footpegs, handles, indicators, side plate, speedometer, nipple tires and more!
• But also and on a more technical side Flo orders all the wearing parts to get this machine back in shape!

STEP 5: THE HEART OF THE SUBJECT

Now that we are faced with the skeleton of the motorcycle, new practical questions arise...

With this new tank where will the seat be placed?

Where will the contact with the key be?

At what level should we cut the frame to get the rear loop we like?

What will the exhaust line look like?

So many questions that we end up agreeing on, and it's going to be fun! Flo is motivated to make a free double exhaust that will end up just under the saddle... that promises to be great! According to him, the small displacement that we chose lends itself very well to it, the noise should be nice but not too much. The foot controls will also have to be moved because the rider will really have the look of a biker with bangs!

We can't wait to hear and see it!

STEP 6: SETUP

We received everything! The puzzle can begin! We put the whole bike back together, Flo adds fixing pastes for the new elements. The general appearance is starting to appear! What a beauty!

Obviously small problems appear, the center distance of the rear wheel that we changed is not the same, but each time Flo finds solutions and we have spacers machined (by my dad! Thanks Jacques!). That's also what custom is, not only aesthetics but also solving problems, adapting, creating parts so that the bike is functional. This requires real know-how in very different areas and also a well-stocked workshop! This is also when we need a saddle. Flo creates a seat base that we take to the saddler, we explain to him what we want, a single-seater, quite high with a label in the stitching. A few days later it is ready! And it's great!

STEP 7: TOTAL DISASSEMBLY

Aaaah you thought it was over!? Eeeet no! Now comes the time to finalize each part. The bike is back in a thousand pieces and be careful not to lose a single nut! It starts with painting the cycle part of the top engine and the rear rim with epoxy (a very resistant treatment which consists of putting a layer of paint and then baking the parts). Then the bodywork elements go to KolorBike for a top paint job, a black with gold glitter. I take over to add the Eudoxie touch! Hand painting on the bodywork! The front wheel will be re-spoked to be all shiny, we even add black tips for a cute little detail. A thorough cleaning of the engine and mechanical elements is necessary, we go for it with gasoline and a toothbrush, and it ends up shining! Then the center of the rear wheel must be polished, I'm the one who does it and frankly it's super tedious! Starting with raw metal, sanding it first with thick paper then finer and finer to finally get a shiny part... it took me a whole day! Flo restored the inside of the engine and his partner called 'the Blond' made us a great electrical harness. Everything seems ok... But the suspense remains, it's always a surprise until the last moment!

STEP 8: FINAL REASSEMBLY

That's it, all the elements are painted, shiny and clean! The final reassembly can begin! The tires are mounted on the rims. The engine is put back in the white frame. The double exhaust line is fixed. The tank is installed. The side plates are re-screwed..! And the final touch... The GO FAST OR DON'T GO that I paint on the side of the rear tire, it rocks! It's 2am Flo and Jérem' have just finished all the adjustments, obviously we are never too early!

Here it is, Gaby is here, in front of us and his first turns of the wheels are at the top! A noise that does not leave you indifferent and a rock look just the way we like it! See for yourself!

Since then she has become a real part of the brand, a real extension! She came with us to Lyon Salon, At Wheels&Waves, At Cafe Racer Festival but also during our photoshoots or for contests like the God Bike Build Off..! So a big thank you to Flo for his desire, his expertise and his motivation! He was able to bring us his mechanical knowledge by understanding our aesthetics! A great collaboration that makes us want to do it again!

 

 

To see a little more behind the scenes and the different stages, go to the story on the front page of our instagram page !

Photo credits: Pierre Blondelle 😉