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My niece is a wedding planner / events organiser. I have no idea how much she makes but it's apparent people are happy to spend a few extra dollars to ensure the day goes smoothly or it looks good in New Idea / Women's Weekly.
So I've been a bit quiet lately on here... Besides all that wedding prep (it all went like a fairytale btw), this is why....
So my mate Stas randomly decides to get a super motard as one of his mates sent him a link to a cheap one. I started riding his around and was hooked. Started buying gear, got my L's with the intention of borrowing his. Nek 2 weeks, found and bought one lol. A Husqvarna SMR510- a leaner legal 500cc 115kg. Even though I lost my job and was still looking, and dug deeeeep in to my savings Only a cool $5k... Should be well worth it though. Also, a job came TO ME with an old mate, so I'm now working between three bike stores . It came with a nice sticker kit, floating Brembro's, and Marzocchi Shivers stock.
Mine and my buddies
So I hope to start racing some time and get some of this happening
Its been half a year since my last updates. The moto thing really took me over. I still lurrrrve the Skoda though, and it's still my daily transport. And you've still been seeing it at meets here and there.
I've made a few major changes, but lets start with a small mod.
This came about as I will be using the car for my business, servicing bikes while mobile (more on this in the coming months, very exciting!) so I need the light in case I get caught on a job in low light, car parks, or in the non-daylight savings time evenings. The other reason is it makes it heaps easier to load the moto's in the trailer or use it when camping!
I bought the 50cm led strips from ebay at a cost of $17 for the two. Then used a $2 switch from JayCar, linking them both to the 12v cigarette light circuit in boot. The job took me about an hour and a half including removing the neccessary trims, cutting and heat shrinking wires, and cutting and bending custom metal mounts.
It makes quite a massive amount of light. You never want to look directly at them. Im hoping it wont startle drivers, but I also want to be seen. The top bit of the hatch will mask half the light going towards a passing driver..
The two pictures above were taken at 8pm at night, and are completely unedited, shooting at only 3.5 aperture. You can see the wall where the hatch cuts off the light. Not bad!
Now its just Skodaddle, with a fresh new set of shoes, rubbers, and some fancy yet boss looking Yakima roof racks.
I'm really loving this new look, and everyone else seems to as well. The wheels with two good tires came up cheap when I wasn't expecting them, and I liked them enough.
Even though I didn't want to go 19" because handling can be poor, theres less give when going over rocky tracks, and tires are expensive, I thought I'd give them a go! On another note, the brakes look even smaller
The rear tires are okay-ish! For the front's I went with the Kuhmo KU31's. I was almost going to buy some KU39's to try but I found these ones mega cheap on ebay, at a wheel shop close-by with only a few hundred k's put on them. They go quite well.
I found a Thule crossbar set on eBay on bids, and actually convinced the guy to sell them to me on the day for $80. Good buy!
I bought the Yakima racks direct for wholesale. Perks of the bike industry! They do look good, and very solid. I like that there are essentially four bars holding the bike, rather than one on the Thule's offering; should be much more confident on harsh driving. Im also glad to go for something that isn't on every farking car like the Thule's!!!
Another thing to be noted is that ONLY in the pic below I have the THULE crossbars mounted. They are nicer and shorter. The other rack is some universal crap that had bad locks and was way too wide.... you might have noticed!
I like it! Might steal your boot light idea. I go fishing from time to time, the light would be a massive blessing! I'm thinking stealth install with a switch somewhere in the boot...
I like it! Might steal your boot light idea. I go fishing from time to time, the light would be a massive blessing! I'm thinking stealth install with a switch somewhere in the boot...
It only looks like that as I dont have the rear panel on the hatch. Bloody clips dont line up its so hard to get back on
My mobile bicycle servicing business is LIVE Exciting times. Info can be found on the website in my signature!
So I'm trying to get the car a little more ready with an 2x2m awning. $129 on eBay. Its a little fiddly to open and close with one person, but I got better at it. Only about 90-120 seconds to open or close.
First I had it mounted on the end of the racks like this
Since they are designed for high 4wd's it was kinda low. I ended up fixing on some 350mm fence hinges to the rack to achieve a bunch of things.
1. It doesn't sit at the side looked retarded
2. It sits in the middle so the 11kg doesn't trying and weigh the car over the edge of a cliff
3. It gets me the extra head height so it actually does the job properly
4. Rain will land on top of the car, not go straight through the doors to the seats lol
Result (notice the temporary marketing magnets before I get the car wrapped):
My mobile bicycle servicing business is LIVE Exciting times. Info can be found on the website in my signature!
So I'm trying to get the car a little more ready with an 2x2m awning. $129 on eBay. Its a little fiddly to open and close with one person, but I got better at it. Only about 90-120 seconds to open or close.
First I had it mounted on the end of the racks like this
Since they are designed for high 4wd's it was kinda low. I ended up fixing on some 350mm fence hinges to the rack to achieve a bunch of things.
1. It doesn't sit at the side looked retarded
2. It sits in the middle so the 11kg doesn't trying and weigh the car over the edge of a cliff
3. It gets me the extra head height so it actually does the job properly
4. Rain will land on top of the car, not go straight through the doors to the seats lol
Result (notice the temporary marketing magnets before I get the car wrapped):
Hi guys,
I'm selling the drawers setup that I made for my business. I only used it for a month before deciding that I needed a toolbox setup instead. Its essentially as new, if you call it that since it is custom made. Would suit a tradesman etc, fairly heavy duty.
-It has a locking mechanism on the front that is easy to grip with the fingers and is spring loaded. It unlocks both drawers at once and stops them opening in transit.
-The drawers have a gap underneath them to the floor of 16cm, which is the depth from the opening to the floor of my Octavia. This means you can store things underneath by lifting up the front of the drawers 30 degrees. It is designed like an arrow at the back to allow this, and to make it easier to pivot! Means you can also store things underneath out of view. You could fit gas struts to it if you wanted to.
-Has lots of holes cut out underneath to greatly reduce weight while retaining stiffness. It does however need to be braced to the car at each side. This doesn't mean actually attached to the car, just making contact with the wheel wells so it doesnt bend back and forth on corners when fully loaded!
Dimensions:
Width 975mm
Depth at top 725mm
Depth to arrow point 972mm
Depth at bottom 870mm
Height 420mm
Height from floor to bottom of drawers 160mm
-Cost of making it was:
$60 for the 12mm and 16mm mdf
$20 for the hard wearing soft rubber on the top
$56 for the 4 drawer sliders
$10 spray paint
Assorted screws
About 10-12 hours hacking away
Asking price $150 FIRM, so pretty much just covering the cost of making it.
So tonight I finished a couple of quick little 'convenience' mods that I've had in mind since forever. I cannot believe I waited for this long and how quick they were to do, with these little lights sitting in the draw for months...
So the first one is something I've wanted to do for about two years - since half way through owning my previous car... I finally did it tonight after fighting the mental block, and it took me an hour.... See I've always found it, 'not difficult' but not timely to reverse park in the dark at night. My crewman had a very tall rear and even after 50mm lowering the tail lights were still so high so no light made it to the curb. My Octy has the problem that the windows are so tinted I can hardly see through the mirror to the curb :p .
So the solution was these $2 screw type lights from AliExpress! These are round and have a thread behind them with a locking collar so you can mount them inside a panel. I ran them from the rear bumper near the wheel, up through the one way exit-air vent, up the the rear light panel, and ta-da! Heaps easier to see that curb, take less time parking, less 'guessing', and less gutter rash!
Ocky straps everywhere!!! Handy to hold stuff out of the way instead of removing them :p
Where I soldered on to the reverse light so it only comes on when in reverse
See where I ran the wire through the circuit board and the air vent?
Neat little inconspicuous circle. I could have gone lower with it, but I wanted it clear of mud
Decent output! This is with the car jacked up and wheels off the ground... And the curb non-existant. It will seem brighter ones those two factors are opposite
I will also get a nicer picture tomorrow night with the dslr of how it looks like through the tint and mirror inside the car.
Only a cool $5k... 
Should be well worth it though. Also, a job came TO ME with an old mate, so I'm now working between three bike stores 
. It came with a nice sticker kit, floating Brembro's, and Marzocchi Shivers stock.
Exciting times. Info can be found on the website in my signature!
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