Some school project

By Monique Ebrington
LIKE most 17-year-olds, Healesville resident Josh Callan was looking forward to owning his own set of wheels.
Yet unlike most 17-year-olds, Josh built his ride from scratch.
Josh said he had watched his sister Ziggy and friends choose themes for their Little Yarra Steiner School Class 12 project and when it was his turn he couldn’t think of anything better than to restore his dad’s old Ducati 650 SL Pantah.
“I’ve always been into bikes and I’ve always wanted to do up a bike,” Josh said.
“I knew the project had to be hard … a challenge, so when I thought of restoring the bike under the house I knew it’d be perfect.
“I had some mechanical skills but I still have to do a bit of research on the bike.”
While Josh owns a Peugeot 403, he has always preferred two wheels to four.
He quickly built up his skills as a competitive BMX rider, from a young age, and last year had to divide his time between the restoration project, his Class 12 studies and BMX races around the world.
Josh said last year he competed in national races as well as competitions in Denmark, America and South Africa.
“I knew that it would be hard, and it was hard,” he said.
“It was hard to find time and to fit everything in. Everyone’s year is different, new things pop up and you just deal with them.”
Josh said he utilised his time during the school holidays to catch up on progress.
He said advice from his Dad, teachers and industry professionals was also a great help towards his restoration.
“The school really supported us but they also encouraged us to go into the world and source information from other people,” he said.
“I had some great help from Steve Little.
“He builds classic Harley frames and, perhaps unwittingly, agreed to help me out.”
As part of the process Josh also joined the Ducati Owners Club of Victoria.
He said from that contact he gained a great mentor in club president Adrian Monti.
“Through the club I also found out about the Festival of Italian Motorcycles,” he said.
“I wanted to have the bike finished by the time the competition came around but I just didn’t get it done.”
Through a stroke of luck the competition was put back, Josh entered his bike and won the category for Best Ducati Sporting 4-Valve at the festival.
While Josh said he would focus on BMX training this year, he’s already looking forward to doing up another bike, this time with his Dad.