Custom Touring Bike

Built in December 1982 this custom touring bike is quite rare; only 20 of these were built. This one has mounts for front and rear panniers, and mudguard eyelets.

It was built for my long time friend and photographer David R. Ball, who still owns it; it is his regular ride. David gave me a total freedom to design this one including this one of a kind paint job.


Before delivery the frame was to be a show piece for the Interbike Trade Show.

The two-tone dark and light green metallic finish called for some very intricate masking. The white striping that separates the two colors was done with automotive striping tape.

This meant I could easily make the perfect straight lines, however it did take 8 to 10 clear coats over the striping tape, with sanding in between to completely “bury” the tape for a smooth to the touch finish.

The amount of man-hours involved in doing this particular paint scheme made it impractical, and I never did another like it. However, inspired by this frame, a simplified version came over a year later on the production Fuso frames. (See picture below)

In 1983, Bicycling Magazine did a road test on my touring model. This was back in the day when Bicycling had some decent articles. You can read it here as a PDF file.