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Old 10-09-2009, 09:38 AM   #1 (permalink)
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Hello From Montana

Hello all,

My name is Dave and I live in Bozeman MT. I currently drive a Birkin S3 Seven (for sale in classifieds) and it's my second Lotus of sorts. Before the Birkin I drove a 1966 Lotus Cortina and it was a wonderful car. I sold it to fund the purchase of a quicker car and shopped for an Elise at that time but I was not in the position to afford one at that time. I ended up with the Birkin and it's been a huge amount of fun. But alas I feel I need something more practical and I've always lusted after an Elise so I'm back in the market. I hope that by spring I'll be in one.

I became hooked on Lotus cars when I was very young as my father was a race mechanic who worked the big races at Watkins Glen. He loved the philosophy of the Lotus and passed that to me. He died when I was still young but I'll never forget the sight of the Lotus' flying down the straights and not having to slow in the corners the way the other cars needed to. I can see it like it was yesterday. So now I drive on the street and autocross some in the Birkin and like to think my father would approve.

I'm a custom bicycle framebuilder and run my own one man business. I build custom road, cross and track frames, made to measure, for folks all over the world. If any of you are cyclist you might have fun looking at my work. My site is Kirk Frameworks Custom Bicycles .

Anyway - I've taken enough of your time. Thanks for reading and for providing such a cool forum.

Dave Kirk
Bozeman MT
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Old 10-09-2009, 10:50 AM   #2 (permalink)
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cool, welcome to the forum, Dave!

Hope you get that Elise.

Ara
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Old 10-09-2009, 10:58 AM   #3 (permalink)
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I TiG'd my own road bike in the spring with the bike-frame building class at Stanford, and so I have a full appreciation of how hard they are to make. Your bikes look fantastic! 157 is stunning.

Attached are pictures of my first attempt (turns out huge, super thin, crazy-shaped down tubes don't straighten very well) and my final product.
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Old 10-09-2009, 11:12 AM   #4 (permalink)
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Welcome from Idaho!
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Now with added all natural smoky goodness!
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Old 10-09-2009, 11:30 AM   #5 (permalink)
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Thanks for the warm welcome.

Yo kwancho - cold setting an aero downtube is a bitch eh? I wish I could say that's never happened to me. Round tubes are so much more forgiving.

Here's a frame I finished up yesterday. It's headed for the paint shop today and then off to Washington DC to it's new home. I've attached a few rough shop photos of the unpainted frame.

Now for me to find that Elise..................


Dave
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Old 10-09-2009, 11:54 AM   #6 (permalink)
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Welcome Dave - hell if I had your expertise and abilities I would just build my own custom Atom type vehicle from scratch !
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Old 10-09-2009, 11:56 AM   #7 (permalink)
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That bottom bracket is absolutely money. All the little things I brazed onto the frame ended up being much more difficult than I thought they would be. Major
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Old 12-03-2009, 07:33 AM   #8 (permalink)
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Hello Again,

I'm pleased to say I finally have my Elise. Of course it arrived right as real winter weather arrived here so it's spent most days in the garage but it's good to have it so I can go over everything and change all the fluids and nut & bolt the entire suspension.

Now if winter here didn't last until May.........

Hoping for a warm dry period soon. It was -1* this morning with snow on most of the roads. A good day to drive the MINI with snow tires.

Thanks again,

dave
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Old 12-03-2009, 08:31 AM   #9 (permalink)
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Congrats and enjoy!
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Old 12-03-2009, 08:52 AM   #10 (permalink)
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congratz on the car!!
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Old 12-04-2009, 08:23 AM   #11 (permalink)
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** save ~10 lbs gain 1 hp ** EQ: Y=(190*X) / (1984-X) where Y is (HP) and X is (lbs)

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'08 Acura TSX 6-speed

support WTC 2!
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Old 12-04-2009, 09:14 AM   #12 (permalink)
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Welcome Dave, clean car. I like your work, my wife was in the Cuban national cycling team back in the early '90s and once in a while she will hint at me that she wants to get two bikes so we can go riding every day, maybe in the future....
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Old 12-04-2009, 11:54 AM   #13 (permalink)
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Lots of snow in Bozeman... no snow here in Missoula yet... but let's meet up in the spring and cruise.
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Old 12-07-2009, 08:21 PM   #14 (permalink)
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Hey you guys in Montana; what a surprise!!! Who would have known that anyone out there would own an Elise! I'm in Los Angeles, but own a home in Livingston, MT. I was qualified as crazy when I bought my Elise (just 2 weeks ago.) I traded my FJCruiser for it. I know... The FJ was THE perfect Montana car and this one is... well not so Montana. But I got hooked at a very early age and I had to have one. I know that I'll get stones and pebbles if I drive it up there but I just drove it from Atlanta where I bought it to Los Angeles. I got one nice chip on the radiator cover. That panel can easily be fixed. I can't wait to meet you guys. But in the meantime, don't hesitate to private me so that we can stay in touch.
That orange one sure stands out in the snow!
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