Once upon a time, when I was 8, my family went to the National Zoo which opened in 1963. Although I already understood then the purpose of animal camouflage, standing in front of the zebra, I wondered how it's stripes helped to against but even she could not give a convincing answer.
My family moved on to the next pen but I was also mesmerized by it's radical beauty. I remembered asking my teacher
At 17, on day, I (rode a Yamaha RX 100) happened to pass by a workshop and saw a hardtail Triumph T100 being serviced. I asked and got permission to sit on it and was so impressed by it's riding position: relax and up-right: no back shoulder fatigue, legs stretched forward: relaxed if riding and feet: firmly planted safely on the ground when stationary, Thus, I confirmed if I ever bought a motorcycle it will definitely be a hardtail bobber. It was only 350 yet this Triumph roared. The owner clarified they are hard to come by, he found his only by chance while searching for car spareparts at a junkyard. I thought if I ever realize it, it will be custom painted with zebra stripes for my fascination of zebra stripes. But dreams only remained dream as the reality of life made it impossible when I started to work: CKD hardtail bobbers were not assembled in Malaysia and an imported version was expensively out of the question.
Decades passed. One night in 2014 after Tarawih prayer I walked home very tired and in the middle of it, raised my arms and asked Allah if possible, get me a motorbike and make it more convenient for me to go to mosque. I didn't know my wish was going to be accepted soon. The week before I pensioned at 60 in 2015, I told to my staff of my intent to buy a Vespa Primavera as it will be convenient to go to mosque but most were against it because they said it didn't suit my charisma and suggested I get at least, a second hand cruiser/sportsbike. So I surfed the internet and suddenly out popped on the screen a Regal Raptor @ Momos Bobber 350 which looked exactly like those I used to see at the back of DC comics when I was young. To my surprise, it was already CKD in Malaysia in 2014 and retailed under RM18,000 within reach because I was to receive a RM20,000 golden handshake in lieu of holiday request rejected in priority of job task accumulated since I first started working.
In 2015, a day after I pensioned, I immediately visited a seller in Shah Alam and behold there she was - a Premium version: all black, standard with fishtail pipes. It was called a factory custom motorbike and was very well built, in fact I found out later the hardtail frame won first prize in the EURO3 hardtail specification. Not bad! There was hardly any further custom work needed. In real life, she looked outstandingly old school product and ozze a rebellious character. The seller was enthusiastic of getting rid of it because for 6 mths, there were no takers. It was the only one there and he offered to absorb the GST 10%tax (RM1,000). I wish but couldn't test ride as the service lane in front of the shop was busy with traffic so I just asked to start the engine. The seller did and I was blown away by the thumpy, loud exhaust note even JPJ approved! He clarified it was due to the long exhaust pipe and fishtail design. We were there less than 10 mins then I stunned him when I confirmed I'd take it and pay by cash. He was more than delighted and interviewed my background as most of his clients usually took a loan. I told hm my golden handshake was enough to cover the on-the-road price. I clarified I had long desired a hardtail bobber so this was a dream come true!
The bobber was to be ready for collection in a week. That gave me enough time to search for an airbrush painter, coincidentally, one was located in my neighbourhood. He was busy yet agreed to do the job but asked me to come up with the artwork as he didn't know how to draw the stripe pattern. I surfed the internet again and used the Burchell zebra as my base, I felt has the most beautiful stripes. I also still remembered at 37, I took my toddler to the zoo but also to visually estimate the average width of a stripe actually its neck. That was holistic planning. This was about 2" at the neck with the widest 3" at the rear so my bobber will reflect that ... one day.
The bobber was sent to the painter's workshop and I gave him the digital artwork requiring him to enlarge and ensure stripes 2" wide to stand out from a distance.The painter fabricated stripe stickers and I was given a free hand to stick them one by one on the bobber according to my specifications. Then I found sticking flat design stickers onto convex base resulted in overlapping stripes at certain areas so I had to alter the design of the stripes live on the motorcycle. That was not too difficult, just needed more time. Later, I left the painter to complete the airbrush job and insisted there must be no hump/ridge between black and white paint plus the clear lacquer job must be showroom quality. The painter said not an issue but he couldn't be rushed. Agreed!
At the same time, I bought a Bell Custom 500 helmet and asked him to spray matching zebra stripes. However, the task of sticking stickers on a helmet's very convex base was too difficult to do. Thus, the black helmet was sprayed white and I drew the stripes free-hand on one side leaving the painter to replicate the other side by inverting stickers based on the side I drew which incidentally went all the way to the sun-shade! I actually wanted asymmetrical stripes as on live zebras but my painter refused fearing it will tarnish his reputation for causing careless error so I accepted symmetrical stripes.
I had a design concept: the area within the triangular frame will be black meaning the false oil tank was left black. Front stripes were designed to pierce the air. Tank stripes were based on a zebra's neck and I wanted at least 5 clear stripes. A unique stripe pattern near the shocks and frame was based on one similar where legs meet zebra abdomen. Other stripes will converge to that unique stripe pattern. The painter asked who I drew on the tank but I told him there were none. He told me look again. It was not until I refocused that I saw the clear image of a spirit of an African warrior with war paint. It was unintentional so I said that's the Spirit of the Iron Zebra, the name I gave tof my bobber. The stripes on the helmet were designed to flow with the wind where I purposely created a central hub at the top to balance out the width of the helmet stripes. Finally the Iron Zebra was born.
A month later, the bobber was vandalised outside a secondary school where the end section had it's central spine cracked and parts of the rear fender scratched 100 times with what looked like a padlock. I had it resprayed, the end section replaced but the rear section was again vandalized when parked by a closeby mosque. It didn't take a fool to suspect the vandalist was a schoolboy from that secondary school. The rear section was a right-off, dismantled, side lights indicators refitted to other points and a side licence plate-cum-brake light holder fitted as I couldn't afford another replacement. The front side light indicators were shifted to a similar level with the rear side lights indicators. The painter smiled, said it now gave the bobber a more rebellious character, looking closer to the classic hardtail bobber. After a while, the exhaust pipe system was painted with black heat resistant paint as showroom scratches were too obvious. The Iron Zebra is now complete and requires no more custom work.
Unlike riders who see their motorcycle merely as a vehicle to ride, I also appreciate my bobber as an industrial arts sculpture so enjoy admiring it under the balcony as I sip my evening tea. I told people the bobber is really a reflection of me so if you want to know more about me, interpret the Iron Zebra.
The only mod done was an upgrade from 0.75mm to 1.0mm spark plug cables and a power cable from engine block to rectifier. That made better response.
I ride with a heavy duty Wild One biker jacket. It was originally sold for RM1500 2 yrs ago before I bought the bobber and being the last unit, the seller offered RM850. I haggled for a cash discount and eventually got it for RM550. He said it was a good buy but suggested I use a leather conditioner as it was very dry. The remainder of my golden handshake went to a pair of leather boots and gloves. Dusty urban air makes me ride with a zebra face mask/balaclava and that adds to the mystique of the Iron Zebra rider.
The Iron Zebra looks is radical and rare as it gets, not custom to impress but to realize a schoolboy's dream that perservered across decades. Truly the Iron Zebra and me are uniquely different ... A one-of-a-kind.
