VICTOR Lyons describes it as his pride and joy - a 1950 Jawa motorbike lovingly built from the ground up.
It is, he says, priceless - the only bike of its kind in the world.
One day it will end up in the Bathurst Motor Racing Museum. But only, Victor says, when he is being "measured for a wooden overcoat".
Victor spent seven years building the bike.
He crafted it, piece by piece, in his own workshop in Forster on the state's north coast.
It took him two years longer than expected to finish the project but every minute, Victor says, was a minute well spent.
Not surprisingly, the bike attracts interest wherever it goes.
Engineers and motorcycle enthusiasts swoon over it while even those who have little interest in motorcycles or motorcycle racing marvel at his creation.
It is currently on display in the front foyer of the Milton-Ulladulla Ex-Servo's where even an ex-nun, Victor is proud to say, has commented on its 'beauty'.
"It's only a motorbike but it has created a lot of interest," he said.
Victor has owned between 90 and 100 motorbikes over the past 70 years - the first, he remembers was an AJS - but nothing compares to his 1950 Jawa racer.
The 82-year-old first started collecting Jawa valve engines - manufactured by a Czech firm - about 30 years ago. He says he was impressed not only with their design but with the materials used in their production.
He had initially planned to build a racing bike but after the Japanese came out with their "really quick" 250cc and 350cc two-stroke motors he realised there was no point.
Two stroke motors, he says, rendered valve motors obsolete.
But the dream stuck with him and when he found a photo of three experimental racing bikes using engines from Jawa road bikes - he knew the dream could become a reality.
Victor used the photos to construct a full-sized wooden model of his 'dream machine' and then went to work. He estimated the bike would take five years to build but in the end it took seven.
For four of those years, he retreated to his workshop between 6am and 10pm every day, seven days a week.
The finished bike was a work of art but fell victim to Victor's ill-health and a marriage breakdown. Not only was it left outside, but parts went missing.
Luckily, he was able to source replacements and - after moving to Ulladulla - set about getting his beloved Jawa back and restoring it to its former glory.
Victor says the restoration process simply wouldn't have been possible without the help of local residents.
He lives in a bedsitter with his cat, 'Miss Tubby', and was given the use of an Ex-Servo's staff member's garage in Ulladulla to bring the Jawa back to life.
Over the past few months he has stripped the bike back to nothing and has fully reconstructed it. He describes the project as an 82nd birthday present to himself.
Victor says his Jawa racing bike revs up to 8500, producing speeds of up to 120 miles per hour on alcohol as opposed to petrol. He last rode it approximately 10 years but says it is still in perfect working condition.
Unfortunately a "stiff right leg" will probably prevent Victor from riding the bike again. But he makes no secret of his desire to do exactly that.
When asked if he would like to put the Jawa through its paces one more time his answer was simple: "Would I what!"
Instead, Victor has turned his focus towards the restoration of another bike - a Jawa road bike - which he hopes to complete within the next few months and which he says is "coming up beautifully".
He would like the bike to be a showpiece in the foyer of the new Milton-Ulladulla Ex-Servo's Club when it opens later this year.
However Victor is living on a pension and says the bike restoration comes at a price.
"I get the money by starving myself," he freely admits.
Victor describes his latest project as a 'toy' and says the Jawa road bike is being built to his own specifications.
It will also end up in the museum at Bathurst.
While Victor enjoyed some early success racing motorbikes, he has spent most of his life building bikes for people that he recognised had far more ability than himself on the racing circuit.
"I was never an outstanding rider so I found people with promise and I put them on a bike," he says.
His contribution to the sport is well documented. He was a machine examiner at the Bathurst bike races for almost 30 years and is a life member of the Motorcycle Racing Club of NSW.
He believes his involvement with motorbikes over more than half a century has enabled him to deliver on the family motto of 'making a mark'.
Victor says the motorcycle restoration projects have given him an interest over the years and have taken his mind away from other things.
As for the future, it is unlikely the former engineer will turn his talents elsewhere.
"Old habits die hard," he said.