Trends in the custom bike scene come and go. Today wild Choppers with 300 rear tires are a rare sight on the custom bike show scene and the number of board track influenced machines continues to decrease as builder move towards café racer inspired builds as the late ‘50’s and early ’60 are being revisited for styling cues. However, one builder who is ahead of the game is Paul Milbourn whose latest build reinterprets the Digger builds of the ’70
PAUL Milbourn is an established privateer builder in the UK custom bike scene, but the 2014 World Championship of Custom Bike Building was his first international event. While initially unsure about entering his bike – Nut Cracker – in the show, Paul did so on the advice of Wade and Stig at English custom shop Sickboyz Customs and was rewarded with 5th place in the Freestyle class.
Like many of the Digger style bikes originally built in the ‘70s, the starting point for Paul was a Honda motor – am XL600. The initial plan was to leave it basically stock and on the bike’s first outing that was the case. Unfortunately, the cylinder head cracked and unable to find a replacement Paul had to machine the head from a 650 Honda Vigor to fit. This in turn meant a he had to then create a custom inlet manifold for the twin Amal carbs and modify the one-off stainless steel two-into-two exhausts.
Knowing that he wanted to keep the custom cut wheels as clean as possible, Paul then turned his attention to the bike’s transmission where he created a one-off trans brake. He reworked the gearbox casing in order to mount a BMW rotor which is gripped by a six-piston Harris Billet caliper.
The goose necked frame that holds the Honda drivetrain began life as two sheets of 5mm stainless steel, out of which Paul cut the outline he wanted. These pieces were then joined together by a section of 2mm stainless that runs along the center. With the bare frame in place, he then made up the swingarm section for the rear. Using a similar method. The detail work on the stainless panels that adorn the bike was all done by hand. He then turned his metal working skill to crafting the twin mild steel gas tanks that run along either side of the frame’s backbone and the mild steel oil tank underneath the seat.
The seat itself on Nut Cracker is almost impossible to see because it has been made from white leather with red stitching by Zac to match the paint on the frame that was applied by Dave Gunby.
More of Paul’s metal working skills can be seen at the front of the bike, where he fabricated the entire Springer fork and handlebar combination. The front legs of the Springer are each made up of six stainless steel bars braced together at intervals along their length. A similar multiple thin tube design is used for the handlebars too, which finish in one-off grips that include a hidden throttle and hidden twist clutch. The shock at the front of the bike is currently a coil over an oil damper, but Paul is working on an electromagnetic shock of his own design to replace it.
The 21x3in wheel at the front of the bike was cut from a solid blank to Paul’s design by Wynn Engineering who gave the 16x5in rear wheel the same treatment and it’s the only machining work on the bike that Paul didn’t do himself. Both wheels are shod with Avon Speed Master tires.
Having finished the build of Nut Cracker, which was intended to be a bike for his wife, Paul took it to a small UK shows where it took top honors and that led to him being persuaded to enter the European Championship and his fifth place finish in the Freestyle class.
PAUL MILBOURN CUSTOMS
Bognor Regis, West Sussex, UK
Tel: +44 (0)1243 554962
jonnyeighthammers@tiscali.co.uk