Those that have met Paul will inform you he is very definitely not one for self promotion. Those same would not be surprised to learn that this site is not his own making and was finally agreed to under threat of printing t-shirts with his noggin them.   

That twisted way, is my way of saying thanks to a guy that went far, far beyond the ‘call of duty’ to help me stay on the road in the 1990’s.  Thankfully, even after this, he still does today. Back then I was a poor student with a rough diamond 1981 r80g/s in the middle of what would amount to 10 years with bikes my soul means of transport. Later to be known as the Anthropobikeseein period). It was at this time I literally puttered up the road to Paul’s workshop. The internet was just an infant and finding specialists was largely by word of mouth so this was no insignificant discovery. It was not at all what I expected to find and the experience changed for ever my riding future.

I cant recall what I expected to see that day.  That being well suppressed by the  memory of what I did. Imagine a young aspiring artist unwarily wandering into the country studio of da Vinci. The incredulity of what was there carrying as much weight that it was there. All the time.  Not in Munich or Italy.  But just up the road in the northern eastern coastal country of New South Wales. Rainbow Country they call it. Indeed.

Before the time I rode onto Paul’s driveway he had already completed many GS specials, a few of which I came to know over the next few years. At the time of writing I believe Paul has built around 90.  

All that, in a hefty nutshell, is why this site exists. If you read this far it may well be that you will agree this kind of discovery and the experiences that followed, are well and truly worth recording and sharing.  

As for how the experience has influenced my riding life, well, my dubious record of Rooney Tuned discovery is evidenced below.

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The first of my Rooney Specials completed in 2003. No sooner was it completed than a family appeared out of nowhere, they would continue this trend of inconvenient entrances for years to come. It was later purchased by Chris Cowper, later again converted to a Rooney Box frame and has since ridden each continent.

This first build ran the reinforced single sided g/s swingarm and final drive, 1000cc (r100cs) top end with twin plugged heads. Forks were WP Extreme 50mm conventional type. The impractical but beautiful pipes were impractical and beautiful, I hear them still. 

My second used a few more trick bolt on parts, like the Gletter subframe and seat, with an Ohlins fork complimenting a traditional style side mounted rear shock of the same brand but mated to an r1100 swingarm and final drive . This one also running Siebenrock 1070cc pistons and barrels with big valved and dual plugged heads tickled by a power-dynamo ignition. 

Above, myself and Paul with build 2 in 2014 and below it’s first taste of snow in the Tasmanian Western Tiers in 2019. Everything was going fine until I tried to stop to get this image and dabbed the rear brake a little to hard, leading the rear wheel deciding it wanted to lead. 

My third and current build is an 1150 4v engine and drive line in a Paul Rooney frame.  It came to be after a riding one of Paul’s two valve race bikes with the same Paul Rooney frame and not being able to get over the way it handled.

This one is the one enthusiast troubled with owning more than one machine refer to as “My Daily”. This bike makes me a better rider. Enough said. Well, maybe not, I’ll geta write up of this one done soon.

Oh, in 2023 another one followed me home. The fully faired version of the great Dakar rally bike’s that HPN calls the ‘Rallyesport’ was a machine that captured my more youthful interest. I never expected to see similar machines being built by a world class specialist out of a barn just up a few (pretty sweet) roads from where I was later studying. This 1070cc matches the classic style with the improved suspension performance achievable through the use of the later para-lever with centrally mounted shock.

Of note are the lowered, lowered foot pegs. This was not to provide a step up for Gaston Rahier. The bike was built for a tall gentleman. The lower pegs though have proven ok for my style of riding on this bike. It makes it a quite comfortable classic to kick out a good few hundred km over a day. It eats up formed gravel roads like there is no tomorrow, goes like a cut cat, sounds like a rally bike and makes you feel higher than Gaston himself (pun respectfully intended G.). I guess I need to do a write up of this one too.