MECHANICAL engineer Bob Walton was about six weeks into building his own motorcycle in the front room of his Headington home when he began using the settee to prop up a wheel.

The father-of-four said it took him about six months to design and build the motorbike, which he completed last September.

The 54-year-old did the work mostly during weekday evenings as well as over several full weekends.

Mr Walton, who works as a freelance mechanical engineer for Abingdon-based Scientific Magnetics, among others, said he made the bike as “a hobby” for a cost of about £2,500. He said his partner Heather “thinks I shouldn’t be spending so much, but I finished up with a vehicle.”

He built the chassis from mild steel and bought the other parts, mostly from OO Racing, based in Kent.

He said the bike has a 160cc engine made in China, weighs 80 kilograms, averages 80 miles to the gallon and has a top speed of 80 miles per hour.

Above all, he claims his bike has a more stable ride than ordinary, commercially made bikes.

Mr Walton, who has an engineering degree, said he had registered his bike with the Motorcycle Single Vehicle Approval scheme in order to ride it on public roads.

“When I go shopping I come back to my bike and there’s a crowd of tourists taking photographs,” he said.