Bobbers
Do you know where the Woevre region is? The Woevre is located just southeast of Verdun in northeastern France. Few tourists ever go there, most of them just rushing through on the motorway to Paris. Off the main traffic routes life is somewhat slower, which appeals to people like Bruno “Bubu” Lallement. He is a friend of Jean-Claude Passetemps, founder and owner of the custom shop, School Bar Atelier, in Mecrin, France, and both are dedicated members of Get a Rigid, a club which organizes one of the coolest European Old School swap meets and builds hot Old School customs. If a motorcycle club calls itself Get a Rigid, you gotta expect something special. How about a two-wheeled hot rod tractor?
In the motorcycle off-season, there’s not much to do along the Maas River other than watch the water flow north, but there’s plenty of time to create insane motorcycles. Most of the crazy ideas of what a custom motorcycle should be started at the Get a Rigid clubhouse in Mecrin, especially during the long winter nights. Thus, most parts of the Comet were fabricated at School Bar Atelier. For example, the floorboards were made from used rear sprockets and a stock primary cover was cut out to allow the chain primary drive to be modified to a belt. The 80” Evolution engine was upgraded with Delkron cases, a Dellorto carb, and a Crane HI-4 ignition. When I asked what the power output of his bike was, Bubu said, “Who gives a damn?”
West of the Rhine River, customizing is not taken that seriously, a fact of which Bubu’s Purple Comet is visual proof. This fun bike is a real hot rod on two wheels. It’s completely overpowered with a rolling chassis that appears to have been welded in an early Forties forge and put together with used parts that were taken from the shelves of the School Bar Atelier’s vintage collection. Despite the fact that the bike has all the charm of an ancient tractor, it’s Bubu’s personal interpretation of a two-wheeled hot rod. Fortunately, he has another, equally extreme, rigid ride for his every day use, although I don’t know if that’s actually better or not.
If anything, the Purple Comet does lack a bit of sensible street performance, safety, and suspension. The front wheel could have been taken from one of those carts you sometimes see at French open air markets – or was it taken from one of those “fast” 25cc German motorized bicycles called Mofas? Come to think of it, even the slowest mopeds have brakes on both wheels. This option was turned down as an unnecessary luxury on Comet. Now it’s not at all unusual for a custom frame to have no rear suspension, but Bubu designed his own rigid front end to match. He really takes their club motto, Get a Rigid, to heart, apparently. Only the tires’ air pressure delivers anything resembling suspension on the rough country roads. Some form of minimal comfort is provided by the two springs under the single seat saddle. How does it ride? “A man’s got to have challenges,” said Bubu. “That’s rock ‘n’ roll!”
So how did this bike come about in the first place? “If you don’t have the cash for a V8 hot rod, a V2 motorcycle can do the job as well,” said Bubu. Comet’s hand shift and foot clutch would be quite a challenge for today’s mollycoddled motorcyclist in my opinion. Now, add the effect of the two hot exhaust pipes noisily blowing spent gas directly into a would-be rider’s face into the mix and that makes it near impossible to concentrate on shifting. Obviously, riding the Purple Comet is a full-time adventure that never gives Bubu a moment’s peace. It has the riding comfort of an oxcart combined with the thrust of a 19th century steam engine. Even the worst coaches of the old French kings had some kind of suspension for comfort, but rarely more than six horsepower. No suspension, minimal braking, hand shifter and foot clutch, V-twin torque, and a steady diet of exhaust fumes would seem to be a formula for disaster for anyone except Bubu, who thinks this is the way a hot rod motorcycle should be. “We have fun with the bikes and the build-up in particular – which is one of the main reasons for living, isn’t it?” said Bubu. He also organized the wedding of his friend Jean-Claude, rolling out in front of the wedding procession on the Purple Comet as the official wedding party escort.
At the bike shows in Pequencourt, Mecrin, and Paris, the Purple Comet caught the eye of many visitors and nobody asked if the sprocket brake on the rear would be sufficient for the ride around the Paris Peripherique. “Living in the sparsely populated countryside has certain advantages, said Bubu. “Brakes fall into that category.” On the high plains of the Woevre, the roads are straight and long, cars are a rarity, and tractors rule. That’s the real home of the Purple Comet, may it run forever.
This bike feature originally appeared in Barnett’s Magazine issue #59, December 2007.
Builder: Jean-Claude Passetemps
School Bar Atelier
We have to admit a fascination with the owner and founder of School Bar Atelier, Jean-Claude Passetemps. Here’s an Old School guy who released his “Inner Outlaw” years ago and made it work, balancing his badass-self with his respectable businessman side. No cyborg from the Motorcycle Future, he’s passionate about old Harleys, and it’s evident by the trademark Old School bobbers and choppers he cranks out and unleashes from his School Bar Atelier (whatever that means, although we recently took a vote and decided it’s some kind of slang for “shop”). His bikes are dirty mean and take a similar badass guy to tame ‘em, no Yuppies need apply. He’s Euro-tough, and harkens back to the days when only hooligan bikers ruled the autobahn. We picture him at some point in his life glued to his seat all through the midnight showings of Girl on a Motorcycle, the 1968 cult-classic that is considered France’s Easy Rider. [Do try and get your hands on Girl on a Motorcycle, co-starring a tight-leather clad Marianne Faithful in her prime. Think Diana Rigg joining up with Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper while they take a psychedelic ride across France and Germany. Made a full year before Easy Rider, it’s an amazing 1960s-era road movie that features hip camera angles, groovy music, lots of leather suits, and a Harley Duo Glide.]
Now we’re introduced to another of his Get a Rigid SBA riding and building buddies, Bruno Lallement who prefers to be called Bubu and we can only dare anyone to do otherwise. Bubu has joined Jean-Claude in a diehard club of riding bikes with no suspension at all, just like Jean-Claude’s Hooligan featured in Barnett’s Issue #52 which has a solid springer. For more information on these two beyond the valley of tough guys, check out www.school-bar-atelier.com.
| SPECIFICATIONS | |
|---|---|
| Bike Name: | Purple Comet |
| Owner: | Bruno “Bubu” Lallement |
| Year / Make: | 2006 Rock n’ Roll |
| Fabrication/ assembly: | Bubu/School Bar Atelier |
| Build time: | Who counts the hours? |
| Engine: | 1997 80″ Evo |
| Cases: | Delkron |
| Flywheels: | Stock Evo |
| Rods: | Stock Evo |
| Pistons: | Stock Evo |
| Cylinders: | Stock Evo |
| Heads: | Evo/Bubu |
| Cam: | Stock Evo |
| Ignition: | Crane HI-4 |
| Carb: | Dellorto |
| Pipes: | Bubu/SBA |
| Air Cleaner: | Dellorto |
| Transmission: | Stock H-D |
| Primary: | stock housing modified for belt drive |
| Clutch: | Foot operated dry clutch |
| Frame: | 2006 Bubu |
| Rake: | 40-degrees |
| Forks: | Bubu rigid |
| Front Wheel: | 17″ wire-spoked |
| Rear Wheel: | H-D Fatboy disc |
| Front Tire: | 17″ Rubber-made |
| Rear Tire: | 130×16″ whitewall |
| Front Brakes: | Oh-oooh, I knew we forgot something. |
| Rear Brake: | Tolle sprocket brake |
| Fuel Tank: | Auto Moto/ Bubu |
| Oil Tank: | Choppers Paradise |
| Handlebars: | Bubu |
| Sissy Bar/struts: | Bubu |
| Headlight: | Santiago Choppers |
| Taillight: | Old style |
| Grips: | Bubu |
| Foot Controls: | Bubu |
| Electrical: | Bubu/ Jean Claude Passetemps |
| Chroming: | Geller |
| Painter: | Norbert Milotte |
| Color: | Bordeaux Matte |
| Graphics: | Aerografie |
| Seat: | Bubu |