2-stroke

Reader submittal. A seriously Bitching collection of RD Yamaha 2-strokes.


Reader Tony Mcguire sends in pics of his sweet collection of 2-strokes.

He Writes in:
Hi, Im Tony McGuire from east Yorkshire UK, i just came across your site so i thought id send you a few pics of my strokers hoping you might enjoy them 🙂
regards, Tony
-1972 Yamaha DS7 cafe racer built from scratch by myself..
-1975 silver Yamaha RD350B restored by myself
-unrestored blue 1977 Yamaha RD250D..
-1979 yellow Yamaha RD400E , my everyday rider..
please feel free to publish any or all the pics , thanks, Tony

Thank You tony!

Reader Submittal. Outstanding Kawasaki H2 Restomod / Rescue


Joe Byrd sends in this fantastic :save: of a classic Kawasaki!  Having been down this road a few times with Kawasaki Triples myself I can attest to what a fantastic job this is.

Joe Writes:

Steve
After you posted pix of my H1A and my CR500R, you said to let you know about the next one.

My H2 750 Triple
You can see the before and after;
I purchased the “bike-in-a-box” early last fall with the intent of rebuilding it over the winter.  The build got off to a late start but by June I had it running.

I call it a rebuild and not a restoration because I just wanted a nice looking, nice running H2 to ride, I did not want a bike too nice to ride. I think it has worked out as planned.

Every part needed something. I did all the work myself with the exception  of the powder coating, some machine work (requiring special machines) and applying the paint base coat and clear coat. The painter wanted nothing to do with the decals.

I only bought new parts when I did not have the part or when I could not rebuild the existing part in a satisfactory manner.

I made a lot  parts I did not have or could not get, having access to a machine shop is a great thing.

I seemed like everything that should have taken a minute, took an hour and everything that should have taken an hour, took a week.

I replaced every bearing and seal.  I installed a rebuilt crank  and new pistons in new bores.  It got a new clutch and I had enough transmission parts to build one with minimal wear. And as always, H2 transmissions require careful  shimming.
       
I have ridden it about 600 miles so far, I have fixed a few nits and niggles. It took a while but now I have the jetting spot on. And it is running  like a strong H2 with no issues.

The first week I had it running, I rode it to a large cruiser extravaganza and entered the 750  in the bike show. Though there were quite a number of metric customs, the H2 won first place in the Asian category!

Reader Submittal. Outstanding suzuki GT750 Restomod.


Ken Fontenot of Cyclesports Houston sends in their latest masterpiece.  one of these days I’m going to have to buy myself a nice GT.  They’re starting to grow on me.

 Ken writes:

Here is a custom restoration we did on a ’72 Suzuki GT750. The bike came in to us all apart in boxes and had been that way for several years. Actually there were two frames and parts from two different bikes, a ’72 and a ’73.

Instructions from the owner were that he hated chrome and wanted a nice bike that looked like a stock one but with nice mods that would make it a better bike, no outrageous custom, wanted to keep it very conservative looking, using the ’72 frame.

We did a complete inspection of all the parts and pulled all the best stuff out and started the project. First off we took ALL the chrome peices and sent them to the powdercoaters for a nice aluminum coating, fenders and all. We also sent the ’72 frame, electrical box, side & center stands and had them coated in gloss black. In lue of the chrome rims we ordered a set of aluminum excell rims and stainless spokes from Buchanan’s, the hubs were also aluminum coated. We had Jemco exhaust systems right down the street from us build a set of there 3 into one nickel plated chambers. All the painted items were stripped and painted aqua Blue, same as the stock color for ’72 but left off all the stripes. The instruments were sent off and were completely refurbished. We also ordered a set of black XR750 flat track bars from Flanders.

We had two engines so we took both completely apart and used all the best parts to make one. Crankshaft was sent to Bill Bune Enterprises for a complete rebuild and truing with all new bearings and seals. We also got new first over pistons & rings, bored the cylinders and painted the cases satin black. All the engine covers were either polished or painted hi-gloss black. All fasteners were replaced with polished stainless allens.

Carbs were also stripped and painted, bodies satin black, covers & bowls hi-gloss black and rejetted for the chambers and K&N pod style air filters instead of the stock airbox. All cables, hoses & fuel lines were replaced with new.

We had a ’73 disc front bake setup as well as the ’72 Double leading Drum. We knew the Disc would probably work better but just couldn’t get away from the cool good looks of the Double leading setup, all new shoes and bearings of course.

New Footpeg rubber, seat, front fork boots, as well as grips were aquired and installed. New tapered roller bearings on the steering stem, progressive springs and new progresive shocks and bronze swingarm bushings renewed the suspension and worked much better than the stock componets. For tires we found a set of new K-70 dunlops for that retro look.

The bike has won awards at local shows and is ridden by its owner Greg Owen every chance he gets. The bike really handles great, is very comfortable, and runs exceptionally well. Those Jemco Chambers give it a very nice growl and sitting there at idle its music to the ears! We love the old Two strokes!

Thanks for Your consideration!

Ken Fontenot
Cycle Sports Ltd of Houston
9802 Clay Rd
Houston, Texas 77080
713-690-9802
www.cyclesportshouston.com

Thanks for the great pics Ken!

Add caption

Update From the Comments Section: Suzuki T500 Cafe.


Hi Steve…..we are flattered that you like this bike. It was built by us, (Paul and Tim), at Titan Performance in Kent in the UK. We specialize in 500 cafe racers, and the parts needed to put a bike like this together. Take a look at our website and lots more pictures, on www.classic2strokesuzuki.com
best regards Paul.

Reader Ride. 1972 Hodaka Prototype Wombat 125


Randy Martin sends in some pics of this very cool Hodaka Restoration.

He Writes:


A good friend of mine ( Boyd Thomure ) introduced me to your website and I think it is great. I have already spent too much time on it and want to see more.
I have spent the last year restoring a 1972 Hodaka Wombat as a replica of the original Prototype Red Wombat. When Hodaka built the Wombat and had it ready for a show they only had Red Paint in stock at the time, so the first bike was done in “Hodaka Red” Paint. All other Wombats after that were finished in Black.
When I was 14 years old my very first bike in 1973 was a Hodaka so this has lots of memories for me and my parents. 

Excellent! Thanks!

Reader Ride. A VIP visit and some beautiful TZ shots.


Got a great e-mail (and some really great pictures) today from Richard over at Mule Motorcycles. If you don’t know much about them do yourself a favor and go pay them a visit… go ahead we’ll wait…  LINK  I consider this post to be a bit of a coup for me as I’ve been drooling over their bikes for years now and for my blog to be paid such a high compliment from such outstanding builders makes me think that I just might be doing something right.  It’s much appreciated!

Richard writes in:

My friend sent me your link a few months ago and the variety you have just amazes me. I’m pretty fussy about how stuff looks and I find almost every bike has features I like, if I don’t like the whole bike. We must have similar tastes in bikes. Keep um comin’! Good job! Heres a few pictures of some TZ750’s I restored back in 1991. The pictures are all scanned from photos, so they’re not super crisp, but I thought you might get a charge out of them anyway.

Richard   http://www.mulemotorcycles.net

I guess my 2-stroke lust precedes me.  Thanks VERY much for stopping by and for the great shots.  And yes… I will keep em coming.

Holy S#it!  that is a NICE garage… I swear to god I gasped a bit when I first it.  I look at this and wonder if maybe I wasn’t born a decade late.

Reader Submittal. Honda Exotica. NSR250SP


I’ve got a few very regular contributors to the board and Mike Skelton is cementing himself as one of the best. Today he sends in this drippingly exotic Honda NSR 250 SP.

Mike Writes:

Steve,

A friend that I have known for 30+ years emailed me and told me that he had sold his 1993 Honda NSR250SP on Ebay, one of 900 made. Originally a Japanese model only, somehow it got registered in the states years ago and my friend has owned it for 8.5 years. It needed to go so he could finish restoring his Lotus.

I HAD to get some pictures for MPOTD, and I shot them in the large format that you request. The new owner has 6 other motorcycles, only one a 4 Stroke, and he races a RD400. From Virginia I think.

Note the original dealer decal on the tail section.
Enjoy and post away!
When do I get my MPOTD Contributing Photographer hat?? lol!

Mike if it was a paying job I’d give you a raise! Maybe we need to start thinking about hat and T-shirts for our “field corespondents”!! Hmmmm… I’m going to give that some serious thought. Stay tuned!

Bultaco Alpina!


Is anyone else having trouble seeing the photo?  It seems to be coming through fine an all my browsers.  Thanks.

Thank You to Dogtown Cycles for this stunning Bultaco.One of my favs!