May 28, 2014

TC Bros. Featured Customer Ride - Thane Walton

TC Bros. Customer Rides – a series dedicated to the fabrication ingenuity and creativity of our customers and featuring their rides they've shared with us.

Sent to us from Thane Walton of Peace River, Alberta, Canada.

What boy doesn’t grow up wanting a motorbike? Raised on a farm near Deadwood, Alberta, Canada (population about 40 people on a good day!), I was always around motors and machines. When I was 14 year old, my grandmother died and left each grandkid $1000. My cousin and I each bought a 1979 Honda XL100 for $1015. (As wife is typing this, she asks “But don’t you have to be 16 to drive?” and Thane answers “Not when you live 35 miles from civilization!”) We drove those bikes all over the countryside. We had some pretty mean races and rack ups and we loved every mile we put on those bikes.

I’ve wanted a bobber bike for a long time and looked at hundreds on the net over the course of a couple of years. It was one of those tire-kicking-internet-surfing-evenings that I saw an ad on kijiji for Lucid Kustoms [www.lucidkustoms.com] to custom build bikes. I emailed Lucid, sent them some money and they got the build started. My wife wasn’t too happy I’d sent money based on a kijiji ad with no contract, no references and no paperwork.

I thought of my old 1979 Honda when the builders started on the 1979 Yamaha XS650 for my custom build.

I had a pretty specific vision for this bike. I wanted a hardtail bobber… chrome-spoked rims, chrome straight pipes, no front brake and the bottom of the gas tank parallel with the top of the motor. In fact, Lucid had to redo the tank to make it match my vision. The seat color ended up being hard to pick. Lucid first put a weathered tan seat… wasn’t right… then an ox blood red seat. We both decided it still wasn’t right and went for a simple black leather solo seat. I live 500 miles from where the bike was being built. Seeing pictures over the email during the build, isn’t the same as seeing it in person…you have to really trust the builders.

I live in one of the most picturesque valleys in Northern Alberta – the Peace River valley. Shaftesbury Trail runs for 18 miles along the Peace River and it’s my favourite ride. It’s a popular ride for bikers and we see many motorbikes enjoying it on any given evening or weekend in the summer.

Lucid Kustoms did a fantastic job! They got the look I wanted. They listened to me and paid attention to the fine details… down to their custom name for my bike “inThane in the membrane.”

Mid-life crisis custom build – CHECK!

TC Bros. parts used:

Yamaha XS650 Weld On Hardtail Frame,
Electronics Tank (fake oil tank),
Yamaha XS650 Forward Controls Kit,
Kickstand,
Rear fender,
2 Gal “Wassel” Peanut Bobber Tank.

~ Thane and Gayle Walton

On behalf of TC Bros. Nation… Thank you, Thane and Gayle!!!

~ Tyler and Tim

Photos: © Paul Van Elsberg – www.Paulparrazzi.com

Bike built by TC Bros. Dealer: Lucid Kustoms. www.lucidkustoms.com

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

>>> PLEASE SHARE YOUR RIDE WITH US!!!

Send us an email to sales@tcbroschoppers.com with some GREAT pics of your masterpiece. [NOTE: >>> the higher the image resolution, the better your bike will look! – ideally, 300ppi] Thx.

Please include:

1. Your name, hometown and email address.

2. Make, model, year - technical details and specs.

3. What TC Bros. parts you used.

4. Any and all personal notes about yourself and the build that you feel will add to the enjoyment and experience. Where you grew up, who introduced you to and how you got into motos, your first bike, your inspirations, your favorite ride in your neck of the woods and why… interesting personal thoughts and feelings you experienced during the build, etc., etc. - Essentially a slice of your world. You get the idea… have fun with it!!!

“Engineered for Freedom.”™

Tyler and Tim Cobb | The TC Brothers

www.tcbros.com

Build the “Bike of Your Dreams” with affordable, high-quality chopper, bobber and café racer parts | Free Shipping on USA orders over $100!