These are two highly modified pics of what the existing restoration - customization project will look like in the end...and what an end it will be...almost all of the bike will be done back towards the original look of what came direct from the Italian factory, though there will be some minor changes to harkin back to the customized bikes that peppered the day of the "60's cafe racer" (see Mick Walker's book of the same name)...

Ted Kouhlaris from "Sport Cycle" fame is managing the project as a whole and is doing the wheel rebuilds, the engine rebuild (a +0.20mm over piston and bore), the casing revitalization, stripping of the frame down to bare essentials, and helping me to source odds and ends...Savannah Powdercoat will be powder coating the entire frame, swing arm, front fender, tank, speedo and tach housings as well as triple clamps in an Italian racing red color...

and to the [main] custom part...I have been working with the sculptor extraordinaire ~ Kevin Conlon ~ to build the rear seat cowl shape...we have completed the cardboard model, from which Kevin has made a wood armature that has foam and soon to be modeling clay added from which I will then sculpt the remaining shape...once completed in the clay, we will make a positive plastic/glass fibre mold, and from this mold we will make a negative mold...the negative mold (which will be minus the area for the leather and foam padding on the seat) I hope to be able to send to Benjie (from BCR fame) and have him sculpt me a metal seat cowl in exacting proportions...we will then use Ted's leather seat guy to do the leather pieces to complete the set...

and presto, we will have the first of two Aermacchi's completed...the second will have a single right side pipe and larger headlamp bucket and a few more odds and ends...

loverly really when I stand back and gawk at it all, because for now, this is a bucket of parts.