Parts and Pieces of the Bucky Bike

While a motorcycle is nowhere near as complicated as a car, it still has a fair amount of parts to it. Many of the pieces on this motorcycle are custom pieces. You could also call them "one-off" pieces meaning that they are made one at a time from raw materials.

a motion W and the piece of aluminum that the next one will be milled from.

That is the case with the rims for the Bucky Bike. Right down to the motion Ws that are inset onto the spokes of both front and back rims. Aluminum is the material for many of the pieces in this project. A CNC machine does the cutting and a CAD program directs the CNC machine through 3D space to do the actual cutting. The designer works in the CAD program to design the actual piece. Part of this process is generating a series of "commands" that are sent to the CNC machine which executes the commands. A CNC machine is much like a drill with a very fancy table underneath it. The cutting bit looks like a drill bit. The drill chuck moves in three dimensions according to the command it is executing. A typical command would be the 3D coordinate of the starting point, the 3D coordinate of the finishing point, and the bit size.

Bucky Bike video

the Bucky Bike - commissioned by Kwik Trip
built by: 2 Wheel Films
you're watching it in HD on Vimeo. Be sure and turn up the sound. Click on the little four way arrow to get a full screen display.

opening night at Lambeau vs. the Vikings

The Packers were kind enough to let us have a display space on Lambeau property to help Special Olympics raise money for their athletes. To be clear, Kwik Trip commissioned this bike, 2 Wheel Films is building it and transporting it to the events, and Special Olympics is providing the volunteers at the display events to help sell raffle tickets. All proceeds go to help fund Special Olympics events We have space at three games this year. The first one was opening night against the Vikings. We were in front of the Resch Center, right across from a practice field. Quite an experience! With a 6:00 CST start time, we showed up at about 2:00. The crowd was growing fast and the festivities had already started. Great people across the board. I was surprised at how many Vikings fans were there. Many of them purchased raffle tickets. I guess Vikings fans are human after all. I saw license plates from Illinois, Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan and a few from Ontario. It just goes to show how popular the Packers are. All those out-of-state plates also showed me that here in the Midwest, once you get beyond the Vikings and the Packers, especially to the west, you really need to go a long ways to find another pro team.

Special Olympics puts on an event every summer in which Special Olympics athletes can participate. The smiles this puts on faces is something special to behold. All of the proceeds from the raffle tickets that are sold against this bike will go to support the Special Olympics chapter here in Wisconsin and their efforts in putting on this annual event here in Wisconsin.

2 Wheels Meets 6 Wheels

Another great day at Camp Randall Stadium! Although, it is a bit early for many, everyone is still excited to get out and watch the Badgers! Thanks to everyone that bought a raffle ticket today! Afterwards, I wheeled Bucky's ride over to the Fire Station next door, for some pictures. No Dalmation though. I thought fire stations had to have a Dalmation??? They do have the next best thing though - this is the only station that has worked Bucky Badger into their emblem - fitting given that this station is right across the street from the main entrance to Camp Randall.

Thanks to Javier Teniente an engineer (??) on Engine #4 for sending in this picture!

Awesome Aire - painting Bucky Bike 2

There are a few changes to the service providers and manufacturers doing this year's Bucky Bike. John, from Awesome Aire in Green Bay, will be doing the paint and body work. Initially, I wanted a near identical bike to last year's. Slowly though, things are evolving away from that. Last year's bike was done in Porsche Guard's Red, a color from the Glasurit line of paints. Todd Parizo, who did the paint work last year recommended that as being the closest to Badger Red. While I agree with that, it occurred to me that there are a ton of reds out there that look a good bit like Badger Red. Especially after I got a closer look at the motion W on the Badger helmets, which to my eye is more of a purple-based cardinal than it is a red-based red. Color matching is a complex world, with no standards, especially when you go from one media to another. John does good work, so I decided to let him run with the color selection, same as I did with Todd. Todd did an awesome job with the first bike. I guess we will all have to wait and see how John does with this year's version.


Pat, the vinyl queen (that's what her card says!) at Green Bay Vinyl is another new vendor for this year's project. In order to turn out a good looking likeness of Bucky, or any other object for that matter, the painter needs what is known as a "mask". This allows one color to be applied at a time while covering up the rest of the paint. Pat is making the masks for the motion W and the Bucky Badger. John couldn't do the paint work without her masks!

Bucky meets Quaker Steak and Lube crowd

Bike night. One of Quaker Steak and Lube's finest inventions. Quaker Steak is a nation-wide chain. Every Wednesday during riding season all of their locations put on a bike night. Live music, a vendor display area, a chance for non-profit fund raising and of course food drink and motorcycles. August 20th found all of us along with Bucky Badger himself out at Quaker Steak and Lube in Middleton, on the west side of Madison, along with 500 hundred other bikes. Very impressive. A seething crush of humanity along with many tons and several million dollars worth of motorcycles. Spectacle is the word I am thinking of. Very pleasant evening. Great music, great weather, tons of great looking bikes, and we raised some money for Special Olympics as well. Being the father of daughters, one of my favorite things about bike night and about Quaker Steak and Lube is that it is a family friendly place. Lots of kids were out running around the whole time we were there with Bucky and his ride. This was a great night. Some very generous Wisconsin bike enthusiasts made for a very successful Special Olympics fundraiser!