Time To Daydream Again

In the late 70's early eighties a man named Harry Maillet built the closest thing you could get to a full blown factory suberbike. If you owned a KZ you could drop it off at his shop Performance Works, and after a wait, they would build you a fire breathing example of what a superbike should be. A couple of the bike rags of the day did a profile of his work and those bikes have stayed in my head ever since. I can’t even put into words how bad I wanted one of his works of art. Being a financially challenged young man at the time, the closest I could come to riding one of these beasts was in my dreams. I could afford the bike,not the hop up. Performance Works MkII

I don’t know what became of Harry and Performance Works, there is very little information to be found out there about the fate of either. But there has been a trend lately not unlike the resto- mods in the world of classic cars. Where a builder takes a vintage car and festoons it with modern running gear. So you wind up with the best of both worlds, vintage looks, with totally modern performance and reliability. There are quite a few builders out there now doing this with bikes. From the garage builder to the full service custom shop. Sanctuary Z1

Out of the pack (at least in my mind) comes a Japanese shop called Sanctuary RCN (Real Complete Machine) Not since the superbike specials of Harry Maillet has a builders bikes reached into my chest and ripped out my heart like Sanctuary’s bikes have. To those of you familiar with this blog and who know me, know that I’m a real sucker for naked bikes. And KZ’s GS’s and CB’s of the late seventies and early eighties hit all my pleasure centers. While Performance works utilized cutting edge technology of the time, Sanctuary takes the period bikes and while keeping the spirit of the original, lavishes them with the latest brakes, suspensions, and hand fabbed bits and pieces. Sanctuary MkII

These bikes, they have my tongue hanging out and beads of perspiration forming on my forehead like the originals did thirty years ago. While I’m in a better position financially, I have kids in college and retirement looming. So I find myself in the same place I was in way back in 1980. If I want one these beautiful sportsters, I’m going to have to build it myself. With my XS500 project not even close to half done, it looks like I will have to wait a while longer. I guess it’s back to daydreaming for me. Sanctuary CB1100

Till Next Time.................................