Visit with Dave Kirk

[gasman]

Last month my wife and I made a trip to the Tetons and Yellowstone. We had a 2 days in Bozeman to resupply and my wife had to check in with her business contacts. Since I knew I'd have a little free time I sent Dave a PM asking if I could stop by his house and place of business. I had met Dave several years before at the NAHMBS in San Jose and I hoped to see the Kirk World Headquarters.

Dave, being the true gentleman let me come by to visit before he was taking off for some racing in his Westfield. I brought an offering of coffee from one of the local roasters and spent 2 hours shooting the breeze with him.

First of all he is truly a genuinely nice guy, very down to earth with no BS. What you see is what you get.His shop is in his garage. It's clean and orderly unlike some builders shops I've visited.

Secondly he is a true craftsman and very humble about his clearly outstanding talent. He makes one frame at a time-he had one in his jig when I was there ready to finished. The lugs were works of art and every tube looked perfect. Yet, he manages to downplay the talent it takes to make beautiful frames. I could not do this unless I had years of training and even then I doubt I could do such nice work.

His ability was also evident by the beautiful Westfield racer he built from a "kit". I say kit when really the car comes in a bunch of pieces that need to be cut and drilled properly to go together well before dropping in the Honda s2000 motor. A very light car with a high revving motor that screams on the track I suspect.

As you can tell I was blown away by what I saw. My next frame will be built by him. I know some of you think I'm an idiot to not get fitted while I was there, I probably should have and I will in the future.

So Dave thanks for letting me stop by and thanks for being a sponsor of this forum.

He had several of his own rigs in the garage. This was my favorite. The requisite picture was taken on the inside of the garage door.

[93legendti]

Thanks for posting.

It would be a blast to visit with Dave or someone with Dave's talent. I bet the time flew.

2 hours doesn't seem like much, but to a one man operation, that's a chunk of time.
Very nice of Dave to host you.

[Kirk007]

And now you see how I ended up with 2 in one year.: )

[gasman]

The time did fly by and Dave is very gracious.

Yep Greg I can see why you ended up with two bikes in one year. They are simply masterpieces.

[AngryScientist]

very cool.

i own too many bikes, but a kirk is one that i would love to add to the group. there are only a small handful of professionals in the custom bike biz for which there is zero negative feedback. we all know who they are. i'd love to spend some time talking or riding with DK. Cheers, thanks for sharing. :beer:

[eddief]

I was in that garage once upon a time. Same place, different race car. I share your opinion about the man.

[spiderman]

And now you see how I ended up with 2 in one year.: )

Couldn't be happier to find the deal of the year
On a terraplane the same year I had my custom jk crosser...

[pdmtong]

very cool. i own too many bikes, but a kirk is one that i would love to add to the group. there are only a small handful of professionals in the custom bike biz for which there is zero negative feedback. we all know who they are. i'd love to spend some time talking or riding with DK. Cheers, thanks for sharing. :beer:

I know you know it's more than the lack of negative feedback. It's the attention to detail and exemplary craft with his person simply the icing on the cake - from attending the Paceline dinner at NAHBS to opining on the mundane, the esoteric, and the practical here on the board.

I've met Dave at SJ and Sacto NAHBS...he'd be someone I'd enjoy hanging out with even if we never spoke about bikes.

[pdmtong]

I know some of you think I'm an idiot to not get fitted while I was there, I probably should have and I will in the future.

I don't think it was a gaffe - this was a friendly visit with time better spent chatting than "working".

I think it best to take fit data closer to the time of order with the exception being the two builders who work off three primary measurements (saddle, bar drop, reach)

[parris]

cool that you got to visit. One of the really cool things about Dave's "process" for fitting and figuring out what we want in a bike that he's building is an extensive measurement sheet that he sends for you to fill out. These sheets are for body measurements as well as current bike measurements. Beyond that he sends a worksheet with questions about what you, your preferences in ride, terrain, etc. That combined with good communication makes for a very good experience where the end product is a bike that tends to fit like a well broken in pair of boots.

[GParkes]

I had the same wonderful opportunity to spend some time with Dave in his shop in August, 2013.I was going to be in Bozeman visiting a colleague and E-mailed him in advance about visiting. I had met Dave many years before when he was at Serotta. Spent about three hours talking about a few mutual friends from Saratoga, frame building, Serotta, and bike biz in general. The visit is the precise reason I am riding my full custom DK with terraplane stays. Wonderful man, gifted builder.

[93legendti]

perhaps a gaffe, but maybe not - this was a friendly visit and I do think it best to take fit data closer to the time of order unless

only exception if you are patronizing one of the two builders who work off three measurements builder (saddle, bar drop, reach)

Agreed. If you don't have money in hand ready to put a deposit down, it may not have been fair to Dave to ask him to take the time and energy to fit, just cuz gasman was there.

[gasman]

Agreed. If you don't have money in hand ready to put a deposit down, it may not have been fair to Dave to ask him to take the time and energy to fit, just cuz gasman was there.

I wasn't ready to pull the trigger so no point in getting fit. I wouldn't want to waste his time any more than I did.:rolleyes:

[David Kirk]

Hey -

What a nice surprise to find this morning - thank you.

I have an open door policy and welcome visits and just ask for short notice so i can be sure to be here and not out running errands or riding. I always welcome visitors (I do work alone after all) so if anyone is going to be in the area and wants to stop buy please let me know - I'll leave the light on for ya.

Thanks again,


dave

[SPOKE]

Last month my wife and I made a trip to the Tetons and Yellowstone. We had a 2 days in Bozeman to resupply and my wife had to check in with her business contacts. Since I knew I'd have a little free time I sent Dave a PM asking if I could stop by his house and place of business. I had met Dave several years before at the NAHMBS in San Jose and I hoped to see the Kirk World Headquarters.

Dave, being the true gentleman let me come by to visit before he was taking off for some racing in his Westfield. I brought an offering of coffee from one of the local roasters and spent 2 hours shooting the breeze with him.

First of all he is truly a genuinely nice guy, very down to earth with no BS. What you see is what you get.His shop is in his garage. It's clean and orderly unlike some builders shops I've visited.

Secondly he is a true craftsman and very humble about his clearly outstanding talent. He makes one frame at a time-he had one in his jig when I was there ready to finished. The lugs were works of art and every tube looked perfect. Yet, he manages to downplay the talent it takes to make beautiful frames. I could not do this unless I had years of training and even then I doubt I could do such nice work.

His ability was also evident by the beautiful Westfield racer he built from a "kit". I say kit when really the car comes in a bunch of pieces that need to be cut and drilled properly to go together well before dropping in the Honda s2000 motor. A very light car with a high revving motor that screams on the track I suspect.

As you can tell I was blown away by what I saw. My next frame will be built by him. I know some of you think I'm an idiot to not get fitted while I was there, I probably should have and I will in the future.

So Dave thanks for letting me stop by and thanks for being a sponsor of this forum.

He had several of his own rigs in the garage. This was my favorite. The requisite picture was taken on the inside of the garage door.

+1!!!!!!
Dave is absolutely top shelf. I've been a fan since I first met him at a Serotta open house. It is a pleasure to work with him on a custom frame project. He only has a few peers in the custom bike building business.

[93legendti]

I wasn't ready to pull the trigger so no point in getting fit. I wouldn't want to waste his time any more than I did.:rolleyes:

I think you did the right thing.

[likebikes]

2 days to resupply?

[gasman]

2 days to resupply?

My wife had business she needed to take care of online. The internet connections when you are in the wilderness are non-existent.

That took a bit of time but we also explored Bozeman. The Museum of the Rockies is a must see. We spent one full afternoon there.
We enjoyed our time in Bozeman.

[gasman]

Hey -

What a nice surprise to find this morning - thank you.

I have an open door policy and welcome visits and just ask for short notice so i can be sure to be here and not out running errands or riding. I always welcome visitors (I do work alone after all) so if anyone is going to be in the area and wants to stop buy please let me know - I'll leave the light on for ya.

Thanks again,


dave

How many builders would say this and truly mean it ? Dave is the best.

[malcolm]

Gasman if it helps Dave nailed my bike from the measurements. I had very little input beyond answering the questions he asked and sending in the measurements, then letting him do his thing and it's perfect.

I've got another Kirk I bought used before I had this one built. I emailed him about the frame and he responded almost immediately with it may take me a day or two to find email and within a couple days I had all the info about the frame you could want. I still have both and they are the two I'll probably keep as I start paring down for retirement

Dave is first class and does work that only has peers. I vote for fillets.

[Joachim]

Thanks Dave! I should post a review in the custom section...