Louis Austen send in these scenic shots…
Reader Submittal
Reader Ride. Georgous Kawasaki Z1 Restoration.
Mike sends in these beautiful restoration shots of his well traveled Z1.
He Writes:
Hi,
Thought I’d send pics of my old baby for your blog …
Brought the bike over with me from the UK. Finally decided to do a complete restore thinking it’d cost about $3k … $10k+ later … couldn’t ride it because she was so very pretty.
Sold it after 500 miles but will forever cherish the personal challenge. Screws were self cleaned and re-plated or re-chromed like stock. All parts powder coated. Engine black coat was baked on in my kitchen oven (yes, I was single!). Basically went through what we all go through when it comes to our toys.
Cheers
Michael
Fantastic Work! Don’t know how you could let a beauty like that go. Thanks Much!
Reader Submittal. Stunner Of An Ariel Square Four From Ted Guthrie.
Reader Ride. A Badass 1978 Honda Hawk 400T Bobber. Yes. You Read That Correctly….
If you’ve followed this blog for a while you’ll know that I just love builds like this. Ted Brecheisen sends in more proof that you don’t need big bucks to build a fantastic bike. I used to own a stocker as a kid. Never imagined it could look like this!
Ted Writes:
Great blog site. Love your two stroll one also. Have 2 excellent RD350’s (stockers)
Here are a couple of pics of a 78′ Honda Hawk 400t the we did over the winter. It was a throw away we retrieved and started chopping. It’s low budget but cam out pretty good. The swing arm has be extended 4″ to get a little more wheelbase. The front old Goodyear DT dirt track tire was the start of the inspiration to head to the dirt track look. Tank is a 88 Yamaha Virago 250, license plate bracket is two 5hp Briggs connecting rods. Handle bars awe from a Yamaha ATV. Rides great and has good handling manners. Cheap fun!
Thanks,
Ted Brecheisen
ted@marketshareplus.com
Awesome Ted. Thanks! And if you get a chance I’d love to see those RD350’s! Always in the hunt for good 2-stroke pics for the other site!
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!
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Reader Ride. One BADA$$ Yamaha XT500 Vintage MX’er!
John From North Texas Writes in:
Not all Yamaha XT500’s are destined to become flat track racers or street trackers.
I race this bike with the local vintage MX club here in North Texas. http://www.tvrc.org
Damm John, that looks like a heluva good time! Thanks Much!
Reader Ride. As Long As We’re On a Classic Honda Theme… Another sweet CB77!
Reader Ride. Moto Beta 125 Premier Enduro. A Stunning restoration From Our Old Friend Ted Guthrie.
Haven’t heard from Ted in a while so I thought he might be up to something… and sure enough… here’s his beautiful restoration on a Moto Beta 125 Premier Enduro that he finished just in time for the Mid Ohio Vintage Days event. I have GOT to get up there one of these years dammit.
After:
And here is the before pictures. I mean holy smokes that a nice restoration. Really well done there Ted. thanks for sharing it.
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!
Farily Radical CB100 Custom From My Favorite Indonesian Builder!
Gifny Richata from Indonesia sends in his latest custom build. See his first submittable HERE This bike is further proof that you don’t need big CC engines to create something special. This may be the coolest CB100 on the planet. As an aside, you have a nice touch with the camera. Very well composed.
Gifny writes in:
How are you doing? I always enjoy your motorcycle blog everyday!! Keep up the good stuff! :D….. Just in case you want to put my latest work….It’s a 1976 Honda CB100. It’s a low-budgeted project, nothing fancy but looks pretty good to me 🙂 Only swapped the swing arm with a Honda GL200, added bigger tires, and a custom Commando-style tailpiece. Engine is bored up with a 200cc piston. And just put matt paints to get the raw look. Building process can be seen on our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Hajarbroxx-Motorcycles/115078248506795?ref=ts ….hope you like it!
Cheers,
Gifny
Hajarbroxx motorcycles
I like it a LOT! The lines are excellent! Thanks much for sending it in!





























