8/11/2014 The Time Traveller’s Shop | Clive http://www.cliveworld.com/feature/the-time-travellers-shop/ 1/7 GET MORE CLIVE | TWITTER FACEBOOK SUBSCRIBE TO OU HOME FRONTLINES CULTURE THE ARMORY PEOPLE STYLE PLACES & DRINKS Posted 5 March 2014 at 05:21PM by Sim. “I’ve always loved vintage bikes from young. During my schooling days, I would always see people in my kampung astride their Nortons and Triumphs. So I promised myself that one day, I must own one too,” – Ku Zen Ku Zen Tuan Ismail is not a mechanic. The 46year old Kelantan native sees himself as more of an artist – one that builds roadworthy sculptures with the skill and finesse that’s unrivalled in Malaysia. Ku Zen is a builder of vintage motorbikes; he explains how classic twowheelers have always been his thing since his teenage year. “I’ve always loved vintage bikes from young. During my schooling days, I The Time Traveller’s Shop
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“I’ve always loved vintage bikes from young. During my schooling days, I would always seepeople in my kampung astride their Nortons and Triumphs. So I promised myself that one day,I must own one too,” – Ku Zen
Ku Zen Tuan Ismail is not a mechanic. The 46year old Kelantan native sees himself as more of an artist –one that builds roadworthy sculptures with the skill and finesse that’s unrivalled in Malaysia.
Ku Zen is a builder of vintage motorbikes; he explains how classic twowheelers have always been histhing since his teenage year. “I’ve always loved vintage bikes from young. During my schooling days, I
thing since his teenage year. “I’ve always loved vintage bikes from young. During my schooling days, Iwould always see people in my kampung astride their Nortons and Triumphs. So I promised myself thatone day, I must own one too,” he recalls with a faint smile forming on his face.
The rest, as they say, is history as this interior designer by training started his foray into the world ofvintage motorbikes with a BSA B31 bike. “It’s a military motorbike but converted with a civilian trim,” herecalls. “In the beginning, I really didn’t know how to maintain or repair my bikes. So I just bought andused this bike daily till it broke down. Then I would send the broken down bike to a workshop, and theregoes a month’s wages!”
“I bit the bullet and bravely took apart my motorbike’s engine, as well as other parts andstarted tinkering with them at that point.” – Ku Zen
This obviously took a toll on Ku Zen’s expenses so he finally decided to learn how to fix his ownmotorbike. “I bit the bullet and bravely took apart my motorbike’s engine, as well as other parts andstarted tinkering with them at that point. If there’s something that stumped me, I’d call my friends withsimilar bikes. Unlike now, there was no Internet back then so we only had magazines for furtherreference. A lot of my money went into purchasing magazines, that’s for sure! After a while, you won’t besatisfied with just one motorbike either. So, I started collecting and buying different motorbikes and youstart to learn about which models are rare, which ones are special and such, and you also develop apersonal preference.”
With all that said, Ku Zen reveals that he prefers continental makes as opposed to ones from the Japanesebrands. “The Japanese have a few good models, like the Yamaha XS650s or the Yamaha SR500, butJapanese bikes have no soul. They are made for commercial use and the mass market, to transport youfrom point A to point B. As for the Americans and British bike builders, however, now they place a verykeen aesthetic value on every one of their machines from their workmanship. You can actually imaginethese bikes as horses rather than just mere twowheeled vehicles!”
Make no mistake, restoring bikes that are probably older that anyone reading this is no walk in the park!But Ku Zen goes on to say that for him at least, all the toil is all for a very interesting hobby, rather thanjust a way to make money. “When you talk about stuff like this, which is known as the ‘kustom kulture’, itplaces more emphasis on the artistic side of what the people involved in the culture do. That’s why whilesome builders seek out clients and build according to their wants and needs, I build a bike according to myown style and if someone is interested in purchasing the said bike, I will sell it to them.”
“From my travels to Yogyakarta and Japan, I see that the culture there is different than ours.Over there, the pockets of enthusiasts are thick and they are really willing to spend on aparticular project.” – Ku Zen
Having built more than 10 bikes already, each taking more than a year to complete, the wizened bikebuilder explained that when you build a bike, you’re going in without a blueprint so you need to visualisewhat you want in your head and then apply it to the bike you’re building. He said that although thecustom culture scene seems relatively new in Malaysia, it has always been around, just not heavilypromoted.
“From my travels to Yogyakarta and Japan, I see that the culture there is different than ours. Over there,the pockets of enthusiasts are thick and they are really willing to spend on a particular project. Over here,there are a lot of people interested in vintage bikes, but not many that are willing to fork out,” reveals KuZen.
“However, the efforts of a few people are beginning to change the scene. “The organisers for Art ofSpeed (an annual vintage vehicle festival that brings together collectors, builders and enthusiast where KuZen’s Harley Davidson won the ‘Best Show’ in 2013) for instance have a great showcase to bring peopletogether and share their knowledge. The public are also able to see what goes on in this world andpromote it.”
“A lot of them ride vintage choppers and bobbers, but most of them are perhaps just poseurs.”– Ku Zen
Ku Zen also revealed that locally, most of those involved in the vintage bike business are mainly puristswho try hard to keep every rebuilt bike’s originality. “They want original tanks and parts – I think I maybe the only one who’s not a complete purist.”
He goes on to say that nowadays, many young people are jumping onto the vintage wagon as well: “A lotof them ride vintage choppers and bobbers, but most of them are perhaps just poseurs. They can ride andeverything but once it breaks down, they just send it in for repair. They don’t know their bikes intimately,have absolutely no character and just want to look cool or ‘rugged’. Some even sport fake or offtherackpatches on their jackets without knowing what they stand for!”
Ku Zen goes on to say that the younger generation who are into vintage bikes, and custom culture ingeneral, perhaps have too little passion to learn about bike repair and building, and that patience andperseverance is the name of the game. “Perfection takes time, these kids will eventually learn about that!Because they really don’t have no choice since to get into this game properly, you have to learn and repairtheir own bikes.”
“Not all vintage bikes and engines are expensive as it all depends on a particular range ormodel.” – Ku Zen
Bottom line, Ku Zen feels that those interested in getting into vintage bikes should first identify what bikesuits them. “Choose a model you like and start learning about the engine, how the ignition works and allthe basics. Most of the parts are out of production though, so it will become a neverending quest. Forinstance, I’d search for a blown engine selling for cheap on the ‘Net, I’d order it and attempt to fix it. Andof course, not all vintage bikes and engines are expensive as it all depends on a particular range or model.”
You can find more info and also contact Ku Zen at [email protected] or look him up on facebookat www.facebook.com/ChopperMinistry or even follow on Instagram at @chopperministry
TEXT SIM WIE BOONIMAGE ASYRAF LEE/ WWW.ASYRAFLEE.COMART DIRECTION CELESTE GOH
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