The bike pictured above was built in my workshop and finished in December 2008.

I have decided to tell the true story of this bike’s birth because too many erroneous versions  are being spread all over the media and internet by dishonest and  wrongly informed people.

Why not disclose the truth earlier ?

I was asked not to do so by one of the two persons that handed the project to me. Now, it is time for me to speak freely about my work.

You will not see here pictures of the parts bearing the brand’s logos and name, for evident copyright reasons .

But if you are interested in bike building and aspects of human nature, please read on.

Some of you may remember the last Legend Of The Motorcycle Concours d’Elegance, in Half Moon Bay California  May 2008.

I had the chance to bring there for the exhibition my  « Norton Ala’verda » which I had finished building a few weeks before.

The event was magnificent in spite of the coldish weather, and the success of my Norton was so big that my heart could not have felt warmer by any means.

Two friends came along on this trip, and while helping me out with the bike, really enjoyed the event and took hundreds of pictures of the beautiful motorcycles exhibited there.

These two friends, Vincent Prat and Frank Charriaut. also had in common a « secret » project : a customised motorcycle for Chanel .

Frank was involved professionally with the brand, and Vincent his closest friend has been a long time bike enthusiast and connoisseur.

They were looking for someone with some bike building experience to convert their dream into reality.

When they handed the project to me to initiate the actual building, some of the major stylistic decisions had already been taken by Vincent Prat and Frank Charriaut.

-The bike would be based on a « Triton » (Norton Featherbed frame and 750 Triumph Bonneville engine).

-The general appearance would be slim and low,(modern japanese custom trends), the main colour would be black.

- The tyres would be of the « cocker » model.

The two designers provided me with this document to start working :

The wheels had to be black rimmed , so I polished a pair of alloy flanged rims and sent them to the anodizing company , and just sanded and polished a tiny edge on the flange when they came back, just to « catch the light ». Then I laced them with polished stainless spokes on the hubs.

The  hubs I made from a period Yamaha at the front and a modified Triumph Bonneville at the rear.

At this stage it was decided that the bike would no longer have a front brake so I machined and polished two special covers , one for each side of the front hub.

The rear wheel was a more conventional work.

The bike had to retain some braking device. Again I searched in my « magic boxes » and got out a vintage looking calliper that I adapted to a home machined Triumph disc via a specially made calliper plate.

The stainless screen bushing was again proposed and adopted to lighten this part.

At this stage I had to imagine something to remedy  the absence of a front brake lever.

Magic boxes again, this time at my friend’s junk yard, and back with a special cable operated master cylinder  that I adapted to the rear braking system, and hid somewhere under the gearbox.

The front forks had to be altered to this new state of simplicity, which I did on the lathe and also with some rubbing of my finger tips…

The nude and nimble appearance of the new forks gave me the idea of giving a richer or more precious look to the upper front legs.

So I designed and machined these « delicate » fork leg collars, which I duplicated in a slightly different shape at the top of the fork tubes, and on the upper yoke’s centre nut.

Position and style of the rearsets were adopted just as I had made them.

Levers were hand formed from stock ball end castings, same for gear shift pedal.

At this stage it was necessary to start the work on the  side panels too so that the bike could appear completely « dressed » before the final touches.

The panels go around one of the triangle tubes.  I also carved them from multiplyer pieces of plywood.

The complete set of wooden parts was then submitted to Vincent and Frank’s approval. They were both enchanted and … me too.

After long hours of sanding and detailing the 4 wooden forms, I could hand them to Thierry Verdoux (Poly moulages 31), who does the fiberglass work for me since I developped a kind of allergy to Styrene, the main solvant of fiberglass resin.

The tank mold was a complex one to make : it had to be a multi-part one to take in account the inserts for the leather straps fixtures on the sides of the tank.

The idea of these leather straps was my personal hommage to the brand’s designers, and also an artefact to « dress » the gas tank, like a minimal dress on a nude body.

I made a wedged form oil tank that fits exactly between the side panels on rubber cushions.

I copied my cardboard prototype in aluminium sheet and handed the ready to weld tank to my friend Patrice, a professional and very high level talented welder.

It was about time now to do the engine overhaul.

I had it in pieces previously and had time to get all the necessary parts to rebuild it as new.

This rebuild started with handing the black paint work of the engine parts to the painter.

Then I rebuilt the engine to standard specs ,only a TR7 monocarb head was prefered to the stock twin carb item.

Once the engine finished, I assembled the whole bike with all the  available components, most of them still « in the white ».

Only the engine was replaced by a « dirty » other one for this next step

I brought the bike to the painter and welder for them to make the exhaust pipes, the heat shield on them, and the black paint work on frame , gas tank, seat, side panels, fork legs and triple trees.

Frank chose a flaked shining black for the frame and the specific Chanel inscriptions and logos.

The rest was to be shining black.

In the meantime I designed and made some other specific parts such as exhaust collars, licence plate carrier, front head lamp fixture.

The gas tank cap was to bear a strong brand identity, and an engraved logo.

Vincent suggested that I take my inspiration from a famous Chanel watch and sent me pictures of the watch and his design idea for the cap.

So I worked from that and made this billet alloy cap.

While the engine was taken apart to pieces in my spare time, I started working on the actual body parts, the real  « costume » of the motorcycle.

My only guide line and also my boundery was the initial profile drawing I got from Vincent  at the beginning.

A very slim gas tank indeed, and a minimalist rear part.

My first worry at that stage was to solve the following problem :

How to fill the triangle at the rear part of the frame together with the big empty space behind the carbs.

These volumes ought to be filled to go with the relative fullness of  the engine and  its plates at  the bottom, and also to compensate the extreme slimness of the tank and seat.

I discussed the subject with Vincent and he came out with the idea of « going round the frame tubes » side panels.

Not an easy solution, but an opportunity for me to imagine flowing forms in this traditionally open and « practical » area.

The oil tank would have to be set in between, and protruding from the side panels towards the carbs.

That  problem being theoretically solved, the shaping of tank and seat could begin.

I like wooden forms, and having a 30 years violin making experience, carving wood is a friendly task to me.

I prefer wood , in this case plywood, to artificial clay, because I always keep control on symetry, thanks to the fine lines in plywood.

Also the wooden master form is perfect for making a mold.

The disadvantage is that you must be sure of the shape you are aiming at. No way back permitted !

The process of this work was long and very challenging.

Converting a pencil line on a piece of paper into a well balanced set of 3D real items can  provoque serious headaches !!!

I have my own way for doing that (thanks to violin making), and my concern was to continuously balance the volume and shape of  both tank and seat.

The two wooden forms were altered little by little, and checked on the frame regularly from all directions to make sure the lines and proportions « flowed in » the way I imagined.

I was interested by the challenge, though conscious of the added difficulties brought by the very tight imposed specifications and of course by the « haute couture » final destination.

My work started by housing the “unit Bonneville” engine in the very spacious Featherbed frame, if possible with originality  and « fill- this- empty- space- if- you- can » concern.

This imposed to design specific engine plates, which I did in several styles, each proposition being submitted to Vincent Prat and Frank Charriaut. ‘s comments and verdict.

Final general approval was reached with this set of engine plates.

Of course they had to be visually lightened, being quite large in surface to help « fill the hole ».

My  last contribution was to propose one large hole in each plate, filled both sides with my « proprietary » stainless screen bushing technique.

For the triple trees, I picked a set of Guzzi ‘s in one of my drawers, and I filed, shaped  and polished them until they looked like the flowing forms I had in my head.

Then I machined them to the Yamaha tubes and Norton steering column specifications.

At this stage I was ready to cut  almost 3 inches off the fork tubes length, in accordance with  the « low style » requirement.

Frank. insisted that they should stay that long, and protruding that long too…

Vincent worked out the inside graphics of the rev counter on his computer, also following the Chanel watch inspiration.

All these specific parts were handed to an engraver for a perfect execution.

Back from paint work, I re-assembled the bike again, and started on the electrical, oil lines, gas lines, all that is required to make the bike fire and run at any time.

Fortunately the bike started first kick and the fonctional validation was soon done.

Good job, because it was time to dismantle the bike again !

In fact Vincent and Frank wanted the professional photoshoot urgently done, but divided in 2 sessions :one for the bike in pieces, one for the complete assembled bike.

The first one was scheduled on the coming Tuesday, the second on the following Saturday.

Long days and short nights for me in between…

The building of the bike was over and so was the challenge for me.

In conclusion it was an interesting experience.

It was the first time I was part of a project involving 3 persons. It is said that 3 is far more complex and difficult than 2 : I confirm this saying.

Do I regret something in the end ?

YES ! I should have shortened the fork tubes in the first place, without asking…