A BARRY woman is gearing up for her next challenge after she won a top title at the West Wales Motorcycle Show.

Katie Dunley, 17, won the public vote of Best in Show at the West Wales Motorcycle Show when it was held at Carmarthen Show Ground last month.

She was presented with the Arthur Bricknell Memorial Shield for the motorbike she built out of parts from a 1997 Honda CG125 Brazil and a 1983 CG125.

“I based my bike on a café racer and decided to enter into the show after my Dad said I should,” said Katie.

“I applied for the show and was entered under the custom bikes category and to my surprise it won the public vote for the best in show.

“I am now scouring eBay for my next project hoping to spot a British bike bargain.”

She added that she had grown up around motorbikes and had been interested in building them since she was 11.

“When I was 12 I turned a mountain bike into a custom chopper as a project,” she said.

“When I was 16 my dad bought me a Chinese scooter which we repaired and sprayed ourselves. I used this every day for college and hated it.

“I really wanted a British classic or a Harley Davidson but these were way outside my price range as I only had a small budget, but I needed a reliable bike for college so decided to base my project on the CG125. I bought my 1997 CG off eBay for £147.

“I didn’t like the modern looks so used a hacksaw and welder and to set to work. I then bought a 1983 CG locally which had been used as a field bike for £75.”

Katie used parts of the former field bike to customise her motorbike.

“I took from this its forks, yolks, as it had an old fashioned look and a helmet lock, the mudguard, the tank and the side panels,” she said.

“My dad did the welding as he didn’t trust me to use it, but apart from that all of the polishing, rubbing down and the rebuilding was all my own work. The tank badges, originally from a Honda 750, were sourced through ebay and came from America.

“The badges didn’t fit so I had to heat them up and bend them.”

She added: “I chose candy apple red for the colour for the tank and panels and a family friend painted them for £350. I then resold all of the spare parts from the two bikes to recover some money as my budget was £1000.”