| Author | Message | ||
     Ezblast |
Latest news from Mac! Dear EZ(edited) We're a little behind (a cunning but chivalrous reference to The Glamorous Assistant's posterior) but we're making progress. Here's a sense of how it's going; Those clever folk at Caerbont Automotive Instruments over the border in Wales are busy making a unique speedo' for the 'Spud' prototype. We've made them scratch their heads a bit asking for something which is a bit tricky but which is what we really want and fits with the integrity of Mac's design. Mr Parker's buried deep in his workshop at the seaside (Bournemouth is on the south coast and although it is full of tourists, old people and snooker players, it is officially the 'happiest place to live in the UK') Simon's been burning the midnight oil making the prototype tank and we'll put some photos up on the blog shortly to give you a sense of how it's shaping-up (pardon the pun). Things are spinning along nicely in north London too at E.T. Martin, with the prototype headlamps due shortly for fitting and testing. We're trying a couple of different shapes and sizes which you'll see on the blog soon and can, as always, please tell us what you think. We're fairly sure now that we can produce kits as well as complete Mac motorbikes. It makes sense for us to sell kits to America and Canada which can be 'reunited' with plentiful Buell Blast motors, and there are distinct savings to be made for our fans 'across the pond'. We will be looking for bona fide distributors and builders in the US and Canada who share our philosophy, want to become 'Mac-approved' and who would like to offer our kits for customers to either assemble themselves or offer an assembly service for those who want a complete bike built to their own specification. For our fans elsewhere around the world, we'll be able to build complete bikes here in England and ship them to you directly or send complete kits for final assembly by a Mac-approved workshop in your own country. Prices will reflect your assembly choice, preferred final specification and shipping cost, all of which will be clear when we start talking to you about your order. We opened our news by declaring that we're a little behind but we should explain more why that's the case. We hope you've got the sense from our updates and blog that we're trying as hard as we can to get things made here in England but it's hard-going at times. British manufacturing has lost a lot of ground in our lifetime and finding the skills we need and a 'can-do' attitude has been tricky. Some can do what we want but don't really want to, some have just lost the skills and some are close to 'hanging-up-their-boots' (an old English expression for when a sportsman decided to retire) and only work if they feel like it. We've done a lot of miles tracking these businesses down to help us and now think we have a good crew around us. We'd really like to thank you here for your patience and continued support, it doesn't go unnoticed. Please don't stop telling us what you think, we're always open to hear your thoughts and suggestions, we read them all and many of your comments have sharpened our thinking. Please bear with us; we're itching to ride the 'Spud' as much as you are... More soon, we promise. With our best wishes Miss Tracey Price aka. The Glamorous Assistant and the Chaps at Mac Mac Motorcycles Worcester England <http://www.mac-motorcycles.com/> www.mac-motorcycles.com <mailto:info@mac-motorcycles.com> info@mac-motorcycles.com To see photographs of the first ever Mac Spud prototype please go to: < <http://blog.mac-motorcycles.com/> http://blog.mac-motorcycles.com/> Sounds cool so far! EZ | ||
| Ezblast |
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| Hybridmomentspass |
holy. crap. thats going to be sick! Im guessing oil in frame? Doesnt look like it'd hold much gas (lots of drag bike do gas there, but they are only going for a burnout and 1/4 mile). Very cool EZ | ||
| Greg_e |
I like the Pea Shooter and the Roarer best. This may fly in the face of simplicity, but my brother recently found an add on FI system that is cheap and might be able to work on a Blast. It was designed for small displacement singles but they have a kit for the Ninja 250 which might be forced to work for a Blast motor (about the same horsepower). (Message edited by Greg_E on June 05, 2011) | ||
| Gunut75 |
Yes, I wan't one........ | ||
| Court |
Looks fun . . .when can they be bought? | ||
| Ezblast |
LOL - I'll ask. EZ | ||
| Ezblast |
I'd say they are 3 to 6 months away by their blog, but I'll bug for some specific time frame. All they can do is ignore - lol EZ | ||
| Cityxslicker |
the pea shooter, little taller bars, a belly pan, lighten the front..... and knobbies perfect little high gas killing commuter ! | ||
| Ezblast |
Tanks hand made -  Nice - a little over 2 gal it looks - EZ | ||
| Greg_e |
Not very much fuel, but I guess for a design like this what can you expect. What stock parts besides the engine are required? It looks like Forks and triples are needed, but what else? Too bad the most commonly wrecked item is the forks so buying a wreck might not be an option. | ||
| Hybridmomentspass |
greg - Im no Blast expert, ARE those the stock forks? They look beefy, but I guess next to a small motor a lot of things would look better. I see your point about wrecked bike, usually having front damage/forks. But you could probably source some jap bike forks for really cheap if needed. EZ - please post up more pics as you get them, really cool thread! | ||
| Hootowl |
I think the only Buell (tm) part is the engine and the engine mounts. From what I understand, the kit comes with everything but the engine, including the forks. They were not able to make a deal with HD to supply Blast! engines, they looked at other engine manufacturers, and decided that a buyer sourced Blast! engine was viable. My data is probably quite a bit out of date, or at least wildly inaccurate. They've been working on this for a while now. Don't know what the problem is building a bike from scratch, the Elves did it in a year  | ||
| Court |
I'll say it again . . once you get a REALLY good, well sorted out motorcycle . . you are 3% of the way to having a motorcycle company or being able to sell them commercially. | ||
| Hootowl |
And from the looks of things, they're only half way to that 3%. I hope they succeed. I really like what they're doing. Neat bikes. | ||
| Strokizator |
I knew I held on to that Blast for a reason. Bring it on! | ||
| Ezblast |
LOL - those are not stock forks! I don't think Harris who designed the frame would allow bad suspension pieces on the bike, since he is all about performance. Its a neat set up that is slowly coming together, and it looks like there is little corner cutting involved - all nice bits so far! EZ | ||
| Pwnzor |
LOL, that's not a computer! | ||
| Billyboy |
I've been casually following them for a few months. I love the idea of a kit, but I hate the idea of taking a perfectly good Blast apart to do it. I haven't seen many Blast motors for sale on eBay, usually full bikes. The Mac designs are really cool, though... | ||
| Greg_e |
Rats, it will be too expensive for me then. Have to go back to thinking about the Ryca. | ||
| Guell |
can i wedge a evo mill in there? it looks like it would be a hoot with a 1200cc engine in it | ||
| Ezblast |
Bill and Greg - costs yet to be determined, if I can run into 500 dollar blasts once a year without trying, I'm sure an interested party could do even better. Part hunting could actually be easy - lets wait and see what their suggested items are, then go from there. EZ | ||
| Greg_e |
I'm not concerned about the Blast cost, the kit with full suspension and wheels in such a limited run will be way over what I can afford. Especially since it will probably be hell to register in New York since it won't meet any EPA and I doubt it can be considered a custom (even those are subject to EPA on the road). | ||
| Ezblast |
I'm sure a Blast can meet epa regs - lol - EZ | ||
| Greg_e |
But not after you pull the airbox off and swap the exhaust. | ||
| Ezblast |
LOL    Least Cali has a good set of custom laws - lol EZ | ||
| Sarodude |
Although it may dilute their concept a bit, would it hurt to cut off a Blast steering neck & send it to these cats with your order? You'd be preserving the part of the frame with the VIN - presumably being able to register it as a Blast - and be able to use more Blast parts (like the whole front end) in an effort to curb costs. -Saro | ||
| Ezblast |
The magic question I ask - especially with Buells - why can't you just transfer the vin over to the other frame, like a replacement frame? EZ | ||
| Swordsman |
Very cool update! I actually just contacted them last week to see how they were coming along, but the Glamorous Assistant never responded (she's probably busy being glamorous). I bet that's a fun crew to hang with. They have the BEST updates.  I didn't know they were planning on offering kits. That's an AWESOME idea. Wonder how much they'll go for? ~SM | ||
| Greg_e |
Replacement frames must have their own VIN and come with their own title. There are ways to deal with custom/kit builds, but I do not know what those are other than what I read about kits on the NYS DMV site... Last time I checked kit cars had to be checked by a DMV certification and inspection center, they can not be resold, and a few other issues. That's why using enough of a donor frame to keep the VIN is important and why there are so many kits that are registered as a VW Beetle (VIN stamped on the tunnel under where the rear seat used to be, next to the battery). Many of the sand rail kits required the tunnel from the donor car, they would cut the vin out of the donor tunnel and weld it to the rail car frame (must be permanently attached). EPA and DOT were based on the donor vehicle model and year which back then was pretty much nothing except noise level. This points out the strengths of upgrades like the Ryca that use a slightly modified stock frame, it keeps the Suzuki VIN with the frame and makes it easier to register (assuming you keep the DOT lighting and EPA exhaust and intake  ) Lets not forget that many custom bike builders got whacked with huge fines because they were selling custom machines that did not meet EPA for a new vehicle. Why did they get whacked, because the engine and frame were new. If they had used 1945 sporty engines and frames they would have been fine, but they were building new vehicles and must therefore adhere to EPA and DOT requirements. These Mac kits will be no different and could even be stopped at customs if someone gets bent out of shape enough (any legal manufacturer in the USA can file a complaint and stop them). Using the headstock for the Blast would require finish welding which would put it back into a kit, everything sans motor is likely to be listed as a complete cycle and at least required to come with DOT lighting and mirrors and may need to pass the DVM certification process like other kit vehicles. I really like the look of two of those Mac models and would love to own one, but I doubt I could get it registered here in New York unless the importer does a lot of paper work to provide DOT and EPA type accepted vehicles. Or simply turning a blind eye at inspection time like most motorcycle shops will do. I'm sure many will make it onto the roads in the USA, and as long as that number remains small then it won't be an issue. | ||
| Sarodude |
If you chop a Harley, mod the frame, whatever, but you've still got the steering neck, the frame stays a Harley. If you bust up your Harley, there at least used to be an option to cut off your neck, send it in to Harley, and they'd send you a new frame. Not sure if they reused your old neck or what, but... What's different if your frame is chopped by you or someone else? Just saying that reusing the stock neck would seem to leave the bike a Buell Blast legally speaking. I dunno. I'm sure they've thought of this already. Only thing I've learned in life is that if I have an idea, someone else has probably already had it. -Saro | ||
| Ezblast |
Why not just stamp the old vin on the new frame? Who would know its not original? EZ |
