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Just saw this in the Free Press this morning...
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/a...xt|FRONTPAGE|s
Velocity TV to feature Essex motorcycle rebuild
ESSEX-- Custom motorcycle shop The Classic Bike Experience in Essex is set to be highlighted in three upcoming segments of the Cafe Racer show on Discovery's Velocity TV channel.
The episodes are scheduled to air tonight and Oct. 20 and 27 and will showcase The Classic Bike Experience crew restoring a Vermont barn find, a vintage 750 Norton Commando for the Hot Rod Hotel in Buchanan, N.Y., a high-end specialty shop that rents cafe racing bikes and classic cars.
Classic Bike Experience President Jack Manning said cafe racer bikes gained notoriety in the 1960s and '70s as fast, stripped-down bikes tuned for ultimate speed. Bikes were driven by counter-culture "rockers," named for their love of rock and roll music. Their goal was to reach 100 mph racing from transport cafes, built along newly constructed British highways of the era, to a predetermined spot and back to the cafe, all before a single song could play on a jukebox. This was coined as "record racing." Going 100 mph plus was referred to as "doing the ton," Manning said.
"The British bikes of the '60s and '70s were something very, very special," Manning said. "In the day, owning one of those machines meant more than just riding it. You were expected to get your hands a little dirty maintaining it. And, to this day, nothing comes close to the drop-dead good looks of these bikes. For most of us, these were the bikes of our youth to be owned or wished for. So when the Hot Rod Hotel asked us if we could deliver a couple of these cafe racer bikes to them for their clientele of British bike fans, we were more than happy to oblige."
The bike featured on the show is one that had been sitting idle and somewhat forgotten for a long time in a Vermont barn. The Classic Bike Experience crew overhauled and restored the bike, which, along with another vintage bike from Classic Bike Experience storage, now is available to rent from Hot Rod Hotel.
The three television episodes highlight the process of teaming up with Hot Rod Hotel, building the bike and road testing it.
Manning describes his Essex bike shop as a unique opportunity to have the shop's crew restore bikes or for owners to come in and work on projects in a clubhouse environment.
"We're a community of British bike lovers and offer every possible option to help you best enjoy your classic bike," Manning said. "Whether you're looking for a turnkey project where we do everything for you from start to finish, or if you'd prefer to do the work here at our shop fortified with parts as well as advice and moral support from our mechanics, we can help."
The business traces its roots to a small club of British bike mechanics, racers and aerospace engineers who loved to work on British bikes. Originally operating out of Manning's heated garage in Jericho as The Classic Bike Cooperative, the group formally transformed into a business in 2008 at its current location on 104 Center Road -- Vermont 15 -- in Essex.
More information about Cafe Racer can be found at www.caferacertv.com, and about The Classic Bike Experience at www.classicbikeexperience.com.
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