Working Smart And Looking Cool Doing It!

Here at Demeanour Customs, we know that style and efficient engineering are very important to our customers, so we ingrain this concept into everything we do. We want to work smart, and look good while we do it! That’s why over the last couple of weeks we’ve spent our spare time revamping our workshop, to get it into the condition needed so we can take on your projects and custom motorcycle parts even faster and better than before.

We’ve been exceptionally busy during lock-down, so we decided it was time to source a CNC Lathe, that could help us tackle your projects faster than before. While we still plan on using our manual Lathe for those projects that need a bit of hand-crafted engineering know-how, our new CNC Lathe will allow us to produce some of custom motorcycle products faster than before. We’ll be using our new CNC Lathe to turn the aluminium for our custom-designed Leather Handlebar Grips- meaning you can expect a quicker turnaround in the future!

As we had to move some of the old machines around to make room for our new one, we decided that now would be the perfect time to make some improvements to the workshop floor! The workshop has often expanded rapidly as we’ve grown over the past 10 years, so the floor has sometimes been a bit neglected. As we aim to build style and efficiency into everything we do, we decided this needed to apply to our working space as well.

We’ve completely repainted our concrete floor with a heavy-duty floor paint, and added in designated walkways to all of our most used machinery. This not only adds the wow-factor we always aim for at Demeanour Customs, but has also improved our efficiency! The new workshop floor is now easier to keep clean and clear of dust and debris- less time cleaning means we have more time to tackle your projects and custom motorcycle parts!

Now that we’ve got our new CNC Lathe in place, and the floor as been given a bit of TLC, we’re ready to take on more of your custom motorcycle parts and projects, with increased capacity, efficiency, and of course, style!

Check out the video to see the final result.

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If you’ve got a project in mind and would like to find out how we can help you achieve it, get in touch!

See How We Make Our Custom Handlebar Grips

Have you had a look at the leather handlebar grips in our shop yet? Although they might look simple, our custom grips go through a lot of different stages before they are ready to be fitted onto your motorcycle! If you’ve ever wondered exactly how we do this, then you’ve come to the right place! We’ll be revealing our secrets and showing you just how much work goes into engineering each set!

Read about the process of making our custom handlebar grips

Turning the metal base

The first stage of making our leather handlebar grips is expertly turning the high-quality aluminium on our manual lathe. We’ve been engineering our handlebar grips like this for years, so it’s safe to say we know exactly what needs to be done to create a strong product with no flaws. By turning the aluminium on a manual lathe, we can easily make handlebar grips for both 1” and 7/8” handlebars!

Cutting the leather

We only purchase high-quality British leather to ensure that our grips are hardy enough to withstand years of riding. As we use natural untreated leather, no sheet is exactly the same, and therefore every set of grips we create is completely unique. We use a fly press to hand cut the sheets of leather into perfect rings. As we hand stamp each ring, the process can take hours of labour, but once the rings have been cut, we’re ready to begin constructing our handlebar grips. 

Hand-constructing the grips

Each set of grips is made up of around 120 individual rings, which are glued by hand to the metal shafts. We use a water-activated glue to firmly hold the rings to the shaft and each other. When all the rings have been attached, they are pressed down and secured in place with a metal end piece. As each leather ring is slightly different, each grip will have a different pattern, and we often have great fun seeing what kind of patterns we can create using different coloured leathers. 

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Trimming, Dying & Dubbing

The final stage of the process involving a bit of machining and a bit of handcrafting know-how! Using a manual mill, we gradually take off the top layer of the leather, to reveal an even smooth texture underneath. Once we have removed the outer layer, we apply a dye and dubbing to each set to protect the leather and allow the leather to age naturally without distortion. 

Ready to purchase

After hours and hours of engineering and hand construction, our leather handlebar grips are ready for purchase! We sell our handlebar grips with two variations of finishes, either polished satin aluminium or black cerakoted so you’re able to pick a style that suits your motorcycles aesthetic! We would never sell a product that our head engineer, Paul, would not be happy to have on any of this motorcycles, so you can be certain you’re going to end up with a unique, high quality, hand-crafted product!

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