HomeVideos

Iconic Rides | Doc Wob

Now Playing

Iconic Rides | Doc Wob

Transcript

862 segments

0:01

[Music]

0:08

[Music]

0:16

Hi and welcome to iconic rides. Every

0:19

now and then we get invited to something

0:21

special and today we are here at

0:23

something very special. We are here at

0:27

Doc Wob in the beautiful English

0:29

countryside to talk dirt bikes. Doc Wob

0:33

is owned by Rob Walters who have built

0:36

many iconic dirt bikes over the years

0:38

which have gone on to win many global

0:41

events.

0:44

Rob, thank you so much for having us

0:46

here today. So, tell me, who is Rob

0:48

Walters and where are we now?

0:51

>> Uh, we're just at home in my office.

0:52

This is where we do the podcasts. Um,

0:55

I'm just a bike mechanic

0:58

>> from Worcester. Nothing.

0:59

>> I think just a bike mechanic is a little

1:01

underplayed right there. Um, but first

1:04

I'll go into Doc Wob. Where did that

1:06

name come from?

1:07

>> Uh, it's a bit of a long and drawn out

1:08

thing. I used to do an article with Dirt

1:10

Bike Rider magazine, the big magazine in

1:12

the motocross industry. And they were

1:14

doing they wanted to do a how-to. How do

1:15

you change tires? How do you put

1:16

stickers on? How do you bleed the

1:18

brakes? And they wanted an angle on

1:19

that. So, they put me in a white coat

1:21

and a stethoscope. and my neighbors

1:23

always wobbly so they just got shortened

1:25

to do wobb. And then when I started the

1:27

business that's what everybody knew me

1:28

as.

1:29

>> That is great.

1:29

>> So it seemed silly not to use it.

1:32

>> What a great

1:33

>> but also added to that I went I was in

1:35

the states a lot working and I needed a

1:37

work visa.

1:38

>> So they had to put me on the magazine as

1:40

employee staff so I could apply for the

1:42

work visa spend the time in the states

1:43

because I was in the states 15 years on

1:45

and off.

1:46

>> Nice. Okay. So now I'm always going to

1:48

visualize you with the the white coat.

1:49

>> That's the white coat and that's where a

1:50

lot of people know me from.

1:52

Where did your passion for dirt bikes

1:54

actually come from and who was your hero

1:55

growing up?

1:56

>> I've got no idea where my passion come

1:58

from. I was just a kid. My my parents

1:59

are both school teachers, not into it in

2:01

the least.

2:02

>> Um, friend of mine had a little bike and

2:05

I got on that and that was me done

2:06

>> really for life.

2:07

>> What age was that would you say?

2:09

>> Seven or eight probably. And I didn't

2:11

get my own bike till I was 15.

2:13

>> Just wanted one more than life itself

2:15

and you end up getting one and now we've

2:16

got a few. So it's okay.

2:17

>> Just a few.

2:19

And then Mahero, it's got to be Dave

2:21

Thorp

2:22

>> from our generation. You got a guy

2:24

called Dave Thorp. He was like

2:25

three-time world champion,

2:26

>> but at the top of his game for many

2:28

years.

2:28

>> Nice.

2:29

>> And like when the first Grand Prix, the

2:31

world championship I went to was him in

2:33

like 85 at Farley Castle, which is where

2:36

we have one of our events now. And to

2:37

see him come from last to first, he

2:40

crashed in the first turn. And the whole

2:41

place was just like a a sea of people.

2:44

It was unbelievable. And I stood behind

2:46

his dad who was his mechanic. It was

2:48

Keith right there, the pictures. And I'm

2:50

like, that's what I want to do because I

2:51

knew I wasn't fast enough to be a rider,

2:53

>> right?

2:53

>> But I'm like, I did used to race, but I

2:55

wasn't good enough. I ran out of money,

2:56

ran out of talent pretty quick,

2:58

>> right?

2:58

>> I figured I could be a mechanic. Yeah.

3:00

So, I stood there behind Keith and I

3:01

tell Keith to this day, you were the

3:03

reason I do this now.

3:04

>> Wow.

3:06

>> It's okay. Well, honestly, that's such a

3:07

lovely story though. It's great to see

3:09

someone come from bottom to top and

3:10

really follow.

3:11

>> Yeah. I mean, I have no no A lot of

3:13

times people their family get him into

3:14

it. I just didn't know anybody. Didn't

3:16

know anything. Who are the type of

3:18

customers that come here to Doc Wob for

3:20

a rebuild for an iconic dirt bike?

3:22

>> We don't do so much of that. We do a

3:24

few. I mean, they're quite wealthy guys

3:26

usually cuz they're not cheap. We We

3:28

don't do cheap. Um most of the bikes we

3:31

build we own. So, we buy them, we build

3:34

them, we then race them and sell them.

3:36

That's tends to be the most. Um we did

3:38

have a business where we sold bought and

3:40

sold used dirt bikes, but that market's

3:43

really hard work now. So, we've moved

3:46

our business interests into the titanium

3:49

and the fasteners and the stuff we make

3:50

now.

3:51

>> Yeah.

3:51

>> Um, but as far as the customers, yeah, I

3:54

mean, they're, like I say, they're

3:55

fairly wealthy individuals. Usually,

3:57

they've got good tastes. They know what

4:00

they like. And because I've been around

4:03

from the 80s, I know what these bikes

4:05

are supposed to look like, how they're

4:06

supposed to work. There's a lot of guys

4:08

you see doing restoration work and

4:09

you're like, "Oh, yes. Lovely, lovely

4:12

workmanship, but it looks wrong because

4:14

you haven't done this the right color or

4:15

you haven't done that the right thing."

4:16

Whereas, if you want it to look like

4:17

it's supposed to look, well, that we can

4:19

do.

4:19

>> Well, you pay for quality really, don't

4:21

you?

4:22

>> Yeah. I mean, I don't know. There's

4:23

plenty of people who could do what I do.

4:26

There's not many people who can be

4:27

bothered.

4:27

>> Mhm.

4:28

>> So, it's painstaking. And, you know, if

4:30

you had to count all the hours we spend,

4:33

I'm sure we don't make any money.

4:35

>> Wow. That's crazy. Well, I know that

4:36

you've got a small team behind you, but

4:38

very highly skilled. Tell me a little

4:40

bit about them and what their roles are

4:42

here.

4:43

>> Well, Tonyy's my workshop manager and

4:45

he's my right-hand man really. I mean,

4:46

I'm quite often darting around. I'm on

4:48

the phone, but Tone's just in the

4:49

workshop, head down doing his thing. Um,

4:52

then we got Harvey who's the sales

4:54

manager. Harvey looks after the sales

4:56

side. Any orders come in, he deals with

4:57

my wife who's also the admin, and she's

5:00

the admin for the events as well. So,

5:01

she oversees all the paperwork side. So

5:04

between her and half, they saw the

5:05

orders out, payment links. Then we've

5:08

got Darren who works in the warehouse

5:11

packing and helping listing parts,

5:13

taking pictures, listing parts. And

5:15

we've got Martin who's our engineer.

5:17

Martin works three days a week. And uh

5:20

he was former Ministry of Defense

5:22

engineer, and he um

5:24

>> he's a whiz. He makes like one-off stuff

5:26

for us, sample stuff. We um we do all 3D

5:30

printing. So when we make something, we

5:31

have to 3D print it to make sure that

5:33

when it goes to a CNC machine and we

5:35

make a 100 of them, it fits. It works.

5:37

>> Now I understand that you use some very

5:39

exotic materials when building. Can you

5:42

tell me anything about that?

5:42

>> Mostly titanium. Um like that's the bolt

5:45

business. I started the bolt business

5:46

because when I was restoring bikes, if

5:49

if I can't find it, that would sound

5:51

big, you can't get it,

5:52

>> right?

5:52

>> And we were all mechanics have got a

5:54

little stash of titanium bolts cuz a set

5:55

of bolts for a bike were traditionally

5:56

£45,000 just for the bolts.

5:59

>> Wow.

6:00

And so I started looking into it and

6:01

with modern manufacturing techniques

6:03

that price has come right down and you

6:05

can buy the material in big enough bulk,

6:07

cheap enough. Um, so I went to a Formula

6:11

1 friend of mine who's manufacturing

6:13

wheel nuts and all that stuff. Sat with

6:14

him and we talked about

6:17

material specs and how to make the

6:19

stuff. So um, Martin helps us with all

6:22

that side of things.

6:23

>> Brilliant. Okay, lovely. Um, do you have

6:26

a favorite bike that's been through doc

6:28

wobb and why?

6:30

>> I think the white Chesterfields for some

6:32

reason. All the bikes we've built. Um,

6:34

we did a black Chesterfield Yamaha one

6:36

year and we did a white one and the

6:38

black bike was more iconic, but when we

6:40

built it, it looked looked lovely, but

6:42

the white one really popped. I don't

6:44

know why,

6:45

>> but that white Chesterfield bike and we

6:46

had an American rider Mike Brown and he

6:48

really went fast on it.

6:49

>> Nice.

6:50

>> So, not only did it the bike looked

6:51

good, he made us look good.

6:52

>> Brilliant. That's really good to hear.

6:54

Another part of your business is

6:56

promotional events. Tell me a little bit

6:58

about these and how they came about.

7:01

>> Well, we always used to build bikes for

7:03

a vets event called VMXDN Farley from

7:06

0809. We'd build bikes. We'd show up

7:08

there because the American riders would

7:10

come in. They'd come in cuz they knew me

7:12

and they knew that we' provide a bike

7:14

that was okay. Otherwise, they don't

7:15

know what they're walking into.

7:16

>> So, once you said, "Look, well, we'll

7:17

build a bikes, they'll be this, they'll

7:19

be that." And then you get a word, you

7:20

get a name for it. So, that was always

7:22

good. Um then in like 2021,

7:26

Dave King, who's my friend who was one

7:29

of the promoters for the races, he had a

7:31

falling out with the other promoter and

7:32

they were going to let him go and he

7:34

said to me, "Or if I weren't here, would

7:36

you do it?" I'm like, "No, I'm done. If

7:37

you're done, I'm done." And then we got

7:39

talking and I said, "We should do an

7:41

event ourselves. I think we can do

7:42

better than this." So that's basically

7:44

the seed started.

7:45

>> We then approached certain tracks. We

7:47

ended up with Fox, which is an iconic

7:50

British Grand Prix track from the '90s.

7:52

And because the Evo scene was always up

7:54

to an 89, then they moved it. It was

7:57

really hard to build these bikes. It was

7:58

all right when 10 years ago, but now

8:00

there's no parts. So to keep the bikes

8:02

affordable and in everybody's memory, we

8:05

moved the the parameters to like 08,

8:07

>> right?

8:08

>> And that when the two strokes kind of

8:10

were the best. And so that's what we

8:12

moved it to. And it just it's blown up.

8:14

It's absolutely. You couldn't have

8:16

wished for how busy it is. It's now the

8:18

biggest event in the country. The

8:19

biggest pets event in the world and

8:20

>> you must be very very proud.

8:22

>> We get three or 400,000 live stream

8:24

views. We were sponsored by Factory

8:26

Yamaha Corporate Factory Fox. All the

8:29

big brands.

8:30

>> No, that's

8:30

>> and we've got the range now on as a high

8:32

street. They're high street sponsors for

8:33

us. So the range Wilco home base.

8:36

>> Wow.

8:36

>> They're title sponsors for both events.

8:38

I mean this is high street stuff.

8:40

>> Um amazing. That's mainly because Chris

8:43

who owns it is an enthusiast. Let's not

8:46

kill.

8:46

>> You must be so so proud of yourself.

8:48

Like what?

8:48

>> It's weird how it's blown up. Yeah.

8:50

>> Such an incredible journey. Before we

8:53

go, I'd love to take a little look at

8:54

some of your bikes. What sort of bikes

8:56

do you have ready and available for us

8:57

to have a little look at?

8:58

>> We've got the Yamahas we've built for

9:00

this year's VMXDN Fox and Farley Castle

9:02

Vets. Um so we've got um a New Zealand

9:05

guy called Ben Townley on one. We've got

9:08

uh Allesia Chiod, three-time world

9:10

champion Italian guy. We've got Ryan

9:12

Cypes, Phil Nicolleti, and then for

9:15

Foxhill Farley. We've got Sam

9:17

Sunderland, who's two-time DAR winner,

9:19

and Guy Martin, who's TB guy.

9:21

>> So, they're going to be racing those.

9:22

So, they're here. Uh we've got a few

9:24

other bikes dotted around the place, but

9:26

at the moment, we're three weeks away

9:27

from the event. So, we're head down just

9:29

making sure these bikes are 110%.

9:32

>> Of course. What do you need to do within

9:33

the next three weeks then to make sure

9:34

that these bikes are just and spam

9:36

and ready? Well, we've built them, so we

9:37

need to put them through heat cycles,

9:39

basically where you warm them up, cool

9:40

them down three times just to bed

9:41

everything in.

9:42

>> Okay.

9:42

>> Um, these are 22-y old bikes, so nine

9:45

times out of 10, you put fuel in them.

9:46

Even though we've completely rebuilt

9:47

them, something's going to leak,

9:48

something's not right, something's going

9:50

to rattle. So, we have to go through

9:51

each bike individually. Um, each bike is

9:54

different. They look the same, but each

9:55

rider's got different weights, spring

9:58

preferences, handlebars, grips. We have

10:00

to personalize them to the rider before

10:01

they've even seen them.

10:02

>> That's so we have to get them somewhere

10:04

near

10:04

>> Unreal. So there's all that kind of last

10:06

minute prep.

10:07

>> What type of person are you when you are

10:09

watching your bikes race? Are you a

10:11

nailbiter? Are you a shoutter?

10:13

>> Bag of nerves. I'm just

10:15

>> The trouble is with putting bikes on

10:16

track, it's all well and good making a

10:18

bike look pretty and people taking

10:19

pictures.

10:20

>> You put a bike on track in the hands of

10:21

these guys best in the world, they're

10:23

going to break it. It's what they do.

10:25

They broken.

10:26

>> You kind of expect for the rope to

10:28

break.

10:28

>> They weren't they weren't reliable 25

10:29

years ago. They're certainly not now.

10:31

You know, it's 25 year old material,

10:33

most of it. And these guys are riding

10:35

them like a modern bike. And the riding

10:37

style's changed now to be much more

10:38

aggressive cuz the bikes can take it.

10:40

But they're taking that aggressive

10:41

riding style and riding these old 2000

10:44

2002 bikes and stuff's going wrong. We,

10:49

you know, we've got a pretty good record

10:50

of bikes not breaking, but there is five

10:52

on track. So, you're just making sure

10:54

they're all going all right, making sure

10:55

everything sounds good.

10:56

>> Yeah.

10:57

>> And just trying to also trying to watch

10:59

for lines. If there somebody else has

11:00

got a good line, I'll tell them. Um

11:03

because I don't go to the start so I can

11:04

watch the whole the whole race, but the

11:06

mechanics take the bikes down with the

11:07

pit boards and all that stuff and I just

11:09

stand there like on me own.

11:10

>> Oh bl shaking.

11:11

>> I just want it I want it to be over. I

11:13

just want it to be over.

11:14

>> Yeah.

11:15

>> Well, it sounds like such an amazing

11:17

day. Hopefully we can join you.

11:18

>> Yeah. Come down and have a look. It's a

11:19

really good day. It's a little bit

11:20

hectic.

11:21

>> Okay. So, before we go and take a look

11:23

at some of the bikes you have here, can

11:26

you tell me your top three bike garage

11:28

if you could have any three iconic bikes

11:30

from the past?

11:33

Can I have just three? Um,

11:36

Yamaha YM500. There's a bike Yamaha made

11:39

in 87 and 88 when I was doing the world

11:42

championships and I was working with KTM

11:44

and Yamaha never made a production 500.

11:47

They never made a watercooled and it was

11:50

just aluminium frame 18 years before

11:52

they came out in production with

11:53

aluminium frame. They only made it for 2

11:55

years. It is the coolest thing you'll

11:58

ever see and it still looks cool now.

12:00

So, you know, it was it's ungodly that

12:02

thing. Um, Dave Thorps factory Honda. I

12:05

was lucky enough to get the job of

12:06

rebuilding that and to be able to see

12:09

inside all the engineering was off the

12:11

scale.

12:12

>> I can imagine.

12:12

>> And then, uh, a Renaldi 250 Yamaha, the

12:15

Chesterfield bikes, they were iconic.

12:18

>> Yeah.

12:18

>> And that's what we try to replicate. um

12:21

or any ProCircuit built bike cuz the

12:24

ProCircuit guys do such a brilliant job

12:26

and they support us and I help Mitch out

12:28

who owns ProCircuit. It's a big company

12:30

makes exhaust pipes aftermarket stuff.

12:33

Their race bikes are

12:35

off the scale.

12:37

>> Phenomenal. Well, thank you very much

12:38

for that. So, shall we go and take a

12:40

look at some bikes?

12:41

>> I can show you what we got here. Yeah,

12:43

no problem.

12:43

>> Let's go.

12:46

>> So, Rob, tell us a little bit about

12:48

where we are right now. So this is what

12:50

we call the orange workshop. This is our

12:51

restoration shop. This is where stuff's

12:53

in bits for quite a long time, for

12:55

months,

12:56

>> because we can't start something and

12:58

then need the bench space, put it all

12:59

away, get it all out again. So it just

13:01

has to be like this is for four months.

13:03

All we've done is built these. So

13:05

they're all Yamahas in here right now,

13:06

and it's just

13:08

trying to keep each one built to each

13:11

ride specific specs, but also keeping

13:13

them all the same so they look the same,

13:15

>> of course. So they have to look the

13:16

same. Tell me a little bit about the

13:18

color scheme with all of them looking

13:20

the same.

13:20

>> Well, the color scheme for this year is

13:22

the Yamaha 70th anniversary. Um, we had

13:25

an embargo till the first week of July

13:27

because they were going to announce the

13:28

color scheme for the Moto GP road race

13:31

teams, the Grand Prix teams, and the

13:32

American teams all the same weekend. So,

13:34

we couldn't do anything till the day

13:35

after.

13:36

>> And then they had the color way. We had

13:37

to approve it all once they saw the

13:39

design. Um, but it has to go to

13:42

corporate Yamaha. They all have to sign

13:43

it off. It's quite unusual for us to

13:45

have to go through those.

13:45

>> Are they really picky? They can be, but

13:47

they want it right and that's fine, you

13:49

know. And what's really cool is Yamaha

13:51

are going to take the pictures we've got

13:52

and they put it on yamaha.com.

13:54

>> Nice.

13:54

>> Which is the first time a restoration

13:56

firm has featured on a manufacturer's

13:58

website cuz they only feature their own

13:59

bikes. They don't feature any third

14:00

party. So that's the first.

14:03

>> So you said each bike obviously looks

14:05

the same. Tell me about the little

14:07

different features that each bike

14:08

actually has inside of it.

14:09

>> Well, what we do, we speak to the rider

14:11

and we get their their weight with all

14:13

their helmet and the boots and the gear

14:14

on. So then the rear springs have to be

14:17

measured. We got a measuring tool there

14:18

and we have to measure the springs to

14:20

make sure they're the right weight for

14:21

the riders. American guys just want the

14:23

stiffest fork springs you can put in

14:25

there because the way their their style

14:26

is. European guys,

14:28

>> you have to do the fork springs to their

14:29

weight. And then they want their own

14:30

handlebar bend, their own grip

14:32

preference. Some guys will want

14:34

different ribs on the seat. Some want

14:36

two ribs, three ribs. They are quite

14:38

specific. Things like the lever heights

14:41

and all that stuff we can adjust when

14:42

they get here. And of course tires will

14:44

decide on the day,

14:45

>> right?

14:46

>> And also gearing because we've got so

14:47

many options for different gearing. If

14:49

it's wet and boggy, we'll have to have

14:51

different gearing than if it's dry and

14:52

hard.

14:52

>> Right. So, how much practice do they

14:55

actually get on this specific bike

14:56

before a race?

14:58

>> Most guys will only see it on like

14:59

they'll show up on the Wednesday, we'll

15:00

go and ride it for an hour or two. So,

15:02

we have to get it really close.

15:04

>> Wow. Um, and then there's another thing

15:05

with these older two-strokes is the

15:07

carburetor settings called jetting,

15:09

>> which is they can be really sensitive

15:10

and we have we have to use really

15:12

expensive fuel and that's also quite

15:14

sensitive to the jetting. But when you

15:15

get it right, it works good. But we've

15:17

got settings from last year, the year

15:18

before. So we've got a good base

15:19

setting.

15:20

>> Yeah.

15:20

>> And that's affected by altitude, air

15:23

density, the heat index. So we have to

15:26

make constant changes. But the good

15:27

thing is they're all the same.

15:28

>> Yeah. So, but the motors on these were

15:30

built by we we assemble them, but the

15:33

the actual tuning works done by a guy

15:34

called Mitch Payton, a ProCircuit in

15:36

America.

15:36

>> Okay.

15:37

>> And he sends the we send the cylinders

15:39

to him. He modifies those for the right

15:41

fuel. So, we've got 106 octane leaded

15:43

fuel, which is you couldn't use it on

15:46

the road. It's illegal for that. But for

15:47

race, close circuit race, it's okay.

15:49

>> Yeah.

15:49

>> And then they make the exhaust pipes.

15:51

So, three of these exhaust pipes we

15:52

could never sell.

15:53

>> Wow.

15:54

>> They're special. And he said, "You can't

15:56

sell them. If you smash them, great.

15:58

They just can't end up in the public

15:59

domain.

15:59

>> Right.

16:00

>> So, he doesn't want them back, but we

16:01

can't sell them.

16:02

>> Yeah. They're yours forever now,

16:03

basically.

16:03

>> Well, we'll just have to put them in the

16:05

skip when we're done with them. So, he's

16:06

worried that they're going to get out

16:07

and people are going to see what he's

16:09

doing. So, that's the big thing.

16:10

Everything's quite secretive with the

16:11

racing.

16:12

>> I can imagine. It's competitive, isn't

16:13

it? Is there a certain build that you

16:16

like specifically like yourself?

16:19

>> These all the same to me.

16:20

>> It's all the same.

16:21

>> I like Suzukis. I was a factory Suzuki

16:23

mechanic. I mean, I was a Honda and

16:24

Kawasaki guy, but Suzukis, they just

16:26

like the way they're assembled. I like

16:27

the way they put together. So, you know,

16:29

I'm yellow. I like an RM. I just do. And

16:32

it's just

16:34

>> I've got a passion for the company cuz I

16:35

work there and they're really nice and

16:37

really cool and I really appreciate the

16:38

way that they go about stuff.

16:40

>> They're just a different company to the

16:42

other Japanese guys I work with.

16:43

>> Yeah. Lovely. And you said that you have

16:45

another garage as well here. So, tell me

16:47

a little bit about the process of what

16:49

you do in that garage before it actually

16:52

the other workshop. There's the

16:53

engineering shop. There's the fab shop

16:54

which is the welding and cutting and all

16:56

the dirty grinding and stuff. So that's

16:58

I can take you over there in a minute.

16:59

That's the blue workshop we call that.

17:01

>> And that was done that's R&D. So if

17:03

we're manufacturing parts and we're

17:05

making a frame guard, we get a bike in,

17:06

we're measuring it, it goes into the

17:08

weld shop, goes into Martin who's got

17:10

his machine working there. So there's

17:12

three of us rather than sending it away

17:14

to an engineer in place and waiting for

17:15

it to come back. We just stand there for

17:16

10 minutes. He'll change it.

17:18

>> He'll try it and then stuff turns around

17:20

in hours rather than weeks.

17:21

>> Nice. So that's where we take stuff

17:23

apart

17:24

and then everything goes off to be

17:26

coated or plated. It all comes apart,

17:28

goes to different places around. Then we

17:31

fab the frames, then they get powder

17:33

coated. So just that's where all that

17:34

prep work gets done. Then they come in

17:36

here for assembly.

17:37

>> Fantastic. Well, I'll be interested to

17:38

have a little look in the other workshop

17:39

if you don't. I'm not sure what's in

17:41

there.

17:41

>> Thank you so much.

17:44

>> So tell me where we are now in this

17:46

workshop.

17:47

>> And this is now the blue workshop. This

17:48

is where stuff comes to be stripped.

17:50

Everything goes to where it's got to go

17:52

to the fab shop, the machine shop, and a

17:54

way to be powder coated, anodized,

17:55

whatever we do. Uh, I've been building

17:57

that little Suzuki in here because the

18:00

orange workshop's full of Yamahas. So,

18:02

>> is this just something like as a hobby

18:04

based or is it

18:05

>> That was a really special bike. That's a

18:07

really, really special 2000 um Travis

18:10

Pastana I5. He won the championship when

18:12

he was 16 riding that.

18:13

>> Wow.

18:14

>> So, that's like a bit of a passion

18:15

project of mine.

18:16

>> Oh, that's lovely. Got great history.

18:18

And then we've got a gent in here doing

18:21

some loud work as well.

18:22

>> Martin Martin the machinist is in here

18:23

doing some machining as he as he does.

18:26

>> Hi.

18:28

>> So tell me a little bit about what is

18:29

going on here.

18:30

>> We do like oneoffs R&D stuff. We don't

18:33

do massive production run stuff in here.

18:34

A lot of it's repair work on older

18:36

stuff. Yeah.

18:37

>> A lot of it is manufacturing

18:39

>> newer parts to fit older bikes. So

18:41

there's a lot of that involved. Um we

18:43

never seem to have a front wheel fits

18:44

without some kind of machining. But

18:46

Mart's really good. M understands. Not

18:48

many engineers understand motorbikes. So

18:50

we have to have somebody who understands

18:51

how a motorbike goes together.

18:52

>> This will give it a nice shine.

18:53

>> So that's just really smoothing it over

18:55

and giving it a bit of gloss.

18:57

>> Rob, tell us about this final little

18:59

workshop that we have here.

19:00

>> This is what we call the titanium room.

19:02

Again, it's blue, but it's the toy room.

19:03

This is where all the nuts and bolts

19:05

that we make. Mark the engineer sits

19:07

there and does all the drawings. So we

19:08

manufacture oversized brake kits,

19:10

overflow tanks, everything gets made in

19:13

plastic 3D print before we go ahead and

19:15

make the actual

19:16

>> Right. Okay. So, what do we do with the

19:18

plastic bit before making the actual

19:19

>> We bolt it onto a bike to make sure it

19:20

fits.

19:21

>> Brilliant.

19:21

>> You wouldn't want to use it and then

19:23

once we know it fits, we can go ahead

19:24

and get these made cuz you have to get

19:26

these made by the hundred and it gets a

19:27

bit spendy if it's wrong,

19:28

>> I can imagine. So, what are these little

19:30

parts that we're looking at at the

19:31

moment?

19:32

>> These are mainly brake carriers that

19:33

we're working on at the moment. We make

19:34

oversized brakes, so the brake works

19:36

better.

19:36

>> Yeah.

19:36

>> But when you think an oversized brake,

19:38

the brake needs to be further away from

19:40

the middle because the discs bigger. So,

19:41

we make the big discs and we make these

19:44

that will work with them.

19:45

>> Okay. Okay. And then we've got your

19:46

little um nut and bolt kind of.

19:48

>> Yeah. No, that's that's that's a bolt

19:50

kit that Harvey's picking right now. Um

19:52

we manufacture titanium bolts. We

19:55

started doing it just for the older

19:56

bikes that we built.

19:58

>> Then we got into the newer stuff and um

20:00

we now supply factory Honda, factory

20:03

Yamaha, factory Suzuki, factory KTM,

20:06

factory Husqana gas.

20:08

>> Amazing huge brand.

20:09

>> They all they all buy it off us. We're

20:11

technical partners, so we're not

20:12

sponsor.

20:13

>> Amazing. We don't get a sticker on the

20:15

bike, but we get a sticker on the van

20:16

and we get the right to use them in any

20:18

advertising we want.

20:19

>> Brilliant.

20:20

>> But that comes with its own. They're

20:22

quite hard work as you'd imagine. They,

20:24

you know, if they're buying it from

20:26

that, you've got to be able to source

20:27

the material back to foundry,

20:29

>> right?

20:29

>> Um, if we have a failure, it goes for

20:32

X-ray and it goes into the lab to find

20:34

out why it's failed.

20:35

>> Okay. And it's kind of pressure on you

20:36

in that

20:37

>> if I'm watching the TV and a bike

20:38

breaks, I'm like, what's broken on that?

20:41

So we have a little we have a few issue

20:43

not issues but

20:44

>> if you know we work with the teams

20:46

they're really good and what what is

20:47

good for us then whatever we end up with

20:50

the team we can supply the customers

20:51

it's not especially for them

20:53

>> okay

20:53

>> so what we make we sell to the customers

20:55

so it's the same stuff as factory Honda

20:56

and all these other guys are using every

20:58

one of these cupboards

21:00

there's probably £200,000 in each one of

21:02

these cupboards

21:02

>> £200,000 of nuts and bolts

21:05

>> in each one and that is crazy

21:07

>> so now now we're at the stage where

21:08

we're pretty much stocked up we get

21:10

really busy time in like September,

21:12

October for the race teams.

21:13

>> Yeah.

21:13

>> They order all their stuff in one hit.

21:15

They don't want it dribbs and drabs.

21:16

>> Wow.

21:17

>> They want their years worth of stuff in

21:18

one hit.

21:19

>> Then throughout the year, if they change

21:20

a break or they change a radio and they

21:22

need different bolts, they come on and

21:24

we send them just them bits.

21:25

>> Wow. That is insane.

21:26

>> But it is quite insane. When you go to

21:27

the World Championships and

21:28

>> and are those competitive prices in

21:30

regards to any of the other competitors

21:32

selling them?

21:32

>> Until we came along, a bulk it was like

21:34

£4,000.

21:35

>> That's £4,000 usually.

21:37

>> That's £1,000 we done.

21:38

>> Okay. So you're very very well you very

21:41

competitive price.

21:42

>> We obviously do cost price to the teams

21:43

but they do buy it. We don't we don't we

21:45

don't sponsor anybody.

21:46

>> Brilliant.

21:47

>> We can't afford to. It's too expensive.

21:48

>> Amazing. What makes these different to

21:50

any others then?

21:51

>> Titanium is basically half the weight of

21:54

a steel bolt. Stronger.

21:56

>> Yeah. It is very light.

21:57

>> It's light. I don't know where that come

21:59

from.

22:00

>> In there probably. Um and it doesn't

22:02

rust. Doesn't corrode. Um a lot of the

22:04

teams are using it like they'll get new

22:07

bikes every three races. Yeah. These

22:08

bolts are doing two years. So they're

22:10

taking them out of the box and reusing

22:11

them over and over again and nothing

22:13

else gets used.

22:14

>> Just the box.

22:14

>> Just our stuff. You just like can you

22:16

change it out?

22:17

>> So um I say basically if you assemble a

22:20

complete whatever the weight of that

22:22

when it goes out the door.

22:23

>> Yeah.

22:23

>> The standard bolts will weigh twice as

22:25

much.

22:26

>> Wow. Okay.

22:27

>> And you know weight equals horsepower.

22:29

>> Of course. Absolutely.

22:30

>> And you know there's less flex with

22:33

titanium bolts which is good in some in

22:36

some aspects and some aspects it's not.

22:37

So, some guys prefer steel bolts in

22:39

certain parts of the bike,

22:40

>> right?

22:40

>> They're all different. Trust me. All

22:41

these guys,

22:42

>> everyone just has their own preferences

22:43

by the sound of it. And this

22:44

>> they're all on the spectrum. Anyway,

22:47

>> aren't we all?

22:51

>> So, what's going on here?

22:53

>> The photo shoots this internet site

22:55

called Moto Hunters. Uh they're trying

22:56

to recreate the ' 90s days where it was

22:58

all girls and bikes. And so, they're

23:01

recreating that. They're doing a

23:02

calendar, I believe. And then with the

23:04

box, the team box, I rebuilt that. That

23:06

is a funky box van.

23:08

>> Yeah, it was I used to drive one of

23:09

those in the states where the factory

23:10

teams all used to have like we have five

23:12

or six all the same.

23:13

>> Yeah.

23:13

>> So, I redid it and so the van's a star

23:15

in its own right. It's quite weird. But

23:17

we use it for events and we use it to go

23:19

testing and racing.

23:20

>> Brilliant.

23:20

>> But these guys are just taking some

23:21

pictures. A bit of promo for the events.

23:23

>> Yeah.

23:23

>> But I think it's mainly for them to um

23:26

use on their Instagram pages.

23:27

>> Nice. Okay. So, they used to be

23:29

obviously the Broly Girls back in the

23:30

day and people like that. Whatever

23:32

happened to them? What? It's

23:32

>> all gone a bit politically correct,

23:34

didn't it? So, I think these guys are

23:35

trying to take it back to when it was

23:36

like a little bit a little bit rockstar,

23:38

a little bit punk.

23:39

>> I think that's what they're trying to

23:40

get to. So,

23:41

>> Richie asked me, I said, "I've got a few

23:43

bikes. Come take some pictures. I don't

23:44

care."

23:44

>> Nice.

23:45

>> You know, the only thing we can't do is

23:46

we can't do Yamahas. It's a bit more

23:48

corporate. We can't

23:49

>> We got to be mindful what we do there.

23:51

>> Absolutely.

23:53

[Music]

24:00

[Applause]

24:04

[Music]

24:13

How do I

24:15

>> We have had a truly amazing day here at

24:18

Doc Wob in the beautiful English

24:21

countryside. You never quite know what

24:23

we're going to show you next here on

24:25

Iconic Ride. So stay tuned by hitting

24:28

subscribe. Make sure you drop us a like

24:30

and a comment below to tell us what

24:32

you'd like to see on any future

24:34

episodes. Goodbye for now.

24:45

[Music]

24:51

[Music]

24:57

[Music]

Interactive Summary

The video features Rob Walters, owner of Doc Wob, a specialist in iconic dirt bikes. Rob shares the story behind his company's name and his lifelong passion for dirt bikes, inspired by his hero, Dave Thorp. Doc Wob's business has evolved from restorations to include manufacturing titanium fasteners and organizing major promotional events, which have grown to be the largest vets events globally. Rob introduces his highly skilled team and details the meticulous process of preparing bikes for races, including customization for each rider and the use of exotic materials like titanium for performance. The tour of his workshops highlights the distinct stages of restoration, engineering, and manufacturing, showcasing their innovative 3D printing and custom machining capabilities. Rob also expresses his nervous anticipation during races and reveals his top three iconic bikes. The video concludes with a glimpse into a '90s-inspired photoshoot, reflecting the diverse aspects of Doc Wob's brand.

Suggested questions

14 ready-made prompts