Year: 2010

Sometimes there just something about them…

Just an aside from our regularly scheduled posting…

Coming to that point with a motorcycle where your own personal and spiritual gears mesh and the bike just becomes an extension of you is a moment of satisfaction that’s hard to explain to folks who don’t ride. For a lot of us this can happen as quickly as the ride home from the dealership on that brand new ride and for others it may never happen. Sometimes the two of you just have irreconcilable differences. It’s usually not the bikes fault. It’s usually our fault. We just refuse to believe that the “bike of our dreams” could be anything less than perfect. Then we spend some time trying to bond and it all goes wrong. Hey it happens. No point denying it. Put it behind you and move on. We weren’t the rider we thought we were. At least not on that bike. These things “usually” happen quickly enough.

But then there’s those of us who are constantly falling for the tired old girl with all that “potential”. We know we can get her on the road quickly but once we start into her it’s like pulling that first thread on an old sweater. Next thing you know you’re into a full restoration of a bike that was just going to be a “rider” till you finished one of the three projects you have going on already. Even in the best of circumstances there can be weeks or sometimes even years before you can get that first ride much less that moment of mystical magical bliss.

I had just such a moment this weekend on a bike I would have never expected. The first amazing thing is that I actually kept it whole and didn’t take it all the way down. It was a “rolling upgrade”. A cosmetic buff and fluff with some substantial performance mods that actually worked as advertised. The next surprise (at least where I’m concerned) is that it’s a 4 stroke single. Long time readers of this blog know that my first love is 2 strokes. You can see my 2-stroke blog as an example. It actually preceded this blog by quite a bit but I kept finding all these cool bike pics with nowhere to post them so this blog was born.

Anyway, after a lot of tinkering and performance updates I finally got the jetting dialed in in my DR650 this weekend and took her on the first of what will be many longer excursions. Twenty minutes into it I knew I was hooked. Everything started to feel natural. The riding position, the (nicely upgraded) handling, the power and torque of the engine.What started out as a ten minute shakedown run lasted all day and the grins lasted all weekend. This single cylinder, do-it-all motorcycle stuff is more fun for the dollar that any bike I’ve ever ridden. I’m starting to wonder why bikes would ever need more than two cylinders tops… er… then I remember the sultry stumble of my old speed triple and come to my senses. But still, does anyone really “need” more than one? Maybe…. we are a country covered with interstates after all. But where’s the fun in that? All the best action is on the 2-lane stuff anyway. And don’t forget the dirt and gravel!

Just noticed…. 200,000 visits!

Things have been growing at a pretty good clip around here and I didn’t notice the count as we passed 200,000 visits. I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a great big THANK YOU you to everyone for stopping by and especially for all the great pictures that folks have been sending in. A lot of the credit for the success of this site goes to the readers. You’ve been making my job a lot easier lately with all the great submissions. Thank you VERY much and please keep em coming!

Reader Ride. Ducati 250 Single Racebike.

Didn’t get the owners name but he sent in the following info:

In answer to your request, here is some input of a bike I’m proud of. Once a basket case on a porch in CA, it was built into a show machine by Denny Berg. After 20 years of shows and setting in my office, it is now ready for its first track day 4/25. There will be an antique riding the antique. Fitted with a new front brake, good tires, improved steering, and with some goodies from Syd’s in the engine, shes ready to go. I hope to add a fiberglass “jellymold” tank to her shortly.

Thanks!  And I’d love to see some pice from her race debut.  Should be a great day!

Reader Ride! Wicked little Kawasaki KZ200 Street Tracker.

Gifny Richata from Indonesia sends in these pictures of his fantastic KZ200 street-tracker.  This is more proof that you don’t need big dollars and big engines to build really cool bikes. 

Gifny writes:

Hello,
I’m Gifny Richata from Indonesia, and I just want to show you some pics of my recently built custom bike. It’s a 1981 Kawak KZ200. I just want to share the joy I have building this bike and want to thank you for showing cool bikes through your blog, which some of them really inspired me to build my own.
I’m working as a concept artist/illustrator and started my own studio ( http://www.oraystudios.com ) and now with my friend Nandang, a mechanic who helped me building this bike, we’re gonna start a small custom bike garage called Hajarbroxx motorcycles, and hopefully we’ll start making really cool bikes in near future…

cheers,
Gifny

Fantastic Stuuf!  When you start your business please send me pictures of whatever you have.  I love these sorts of builds.  Big imagination with reasonable budgets.