Reader Submittal

A fantastic 1972 Honda SL350 with a great backstory.

I stumbled across this sweet SL350 on ADV rider and had to ask the owner more about it. Turns out that it’s got a nice history. Paul built it to recreate an early Baha 1000 promotional ride from back in the day. For more complete info check out the AMA blog post on it here. Great stuff!  Also, for a great build thread with lots of great background see this build thread over on ADV rider HERE.

Thanks again Paul!

Here’s the “Glamor Shot”

One of his potential candidates that didn’t make muster.

Here’s the first go-round on the restoration:

And here she is in her element being put to work the way she was intended! Great Stuff!

Update: Video added! Reader Ride. Nicely Modded Jawa RT350 From the UK

Terence Hines writes in:

Hi , Thought you may like to see a few photo’s of the Jawa r.t. i built a couple of year’s back . This bike started out as a standard Jawa T.S. 350 from 1990 , But i was after something a bit more retro looking , At the same time it had to be Jawa , There are many changes to this bike ,some major ,some minor but detailed . The front end has been lowered by 40mm and the rear end raised by the same amount . With a one off hand made rear light unit and number plate bracket mounted on a Honda mudguard . Seat rail’s modified and a one off seat base made up . Rear fender strut’s made from tapered tube . And the internals of the original speedo tacho sprayed black and mounted on a one off mount together with home made l.e.d. warning lamps made from S/S 8mm button head bolts . The list goes on and on . But these are a few of the changes I’ve made to get the type of style i wanted . Hope you like . Terry P.S. You can see my vid’s of this bike and my latest project at http://www.youtube.com/user/terence20001?feature=mhum

Reader Ride! Outstanding Suzuki 1100

Steven Rideout Writes in:

Here‘s a couple of shots of my Suzuki 1100 i built last year.All 05 GSXR 750 suspension and a built 1260 motor.hope you like it.
God Yes!  she’s a stunner!

 


Fantastic Yamaha TX500 Cafe Rider!

Tyler Hammond sends in another beautiful build! He writes in:

Hello again,
I was excited to see my Norton on your blog….actually more like
honored to be among other cool bikes……then I realized I have built
other cool bikes over the years. So i have transfered some pics from
an old computer to forward to you.

This is a 1974 Yamaha TX500 twin. It never really sold well, but its
claim to fame was it was one of the first Yamahas with DOHC. I built
this bike originally about 12 years ago (in Yellow) then revamped it
about 8 years ago, before the customization it was in stock format and
my daily driver. Its still basically a stock bike. with the exception
of the exhaust pipes I made myself (sportster mufflers) . The Tail
light is a 1959 caddy. I added another disc brake to the original
setup with little fuss…I did convert the master cylinder to handle
the Dual brakes. The Seat was also a custom Job i did myself by
cutting up the stock seat pan and some fiberglass. The bike did get
the complete frame up rebuild including powdercoating the frame. I
sold this bike about a year ago after nearly 20 years of ownership. Of
course Having a Norton Commando in the Garage makes it pretty easy to
forget about this old girl.


Reader Ride. Very Rare and Very Original Bultaco Streaker!

Blackhorse Motorsports sent in this stunner!

Bought a few bikes and this was the gem of the group. It appears this bike was never ridden!perhaps those miles are just from being pushed around the collection.

Reader Ride. Bitchen CL350

Always loved these bikes. And sorry to Donnie Watson for getting his e-mail buried in the clutter. I’m getting caught up on a LOT of things lately.

He wrote in:
Here are a few pics of my CL I built a couple years ago.
New site looks good!

Thanks
Crazy Doc

Thank You Doc!

 

 

Reader Ride. A Seriously Cool Adventure Streetfighter… with an unfortunate ending.

I’m not usually a tail high streetfighter kind of guy but his bike has totally MAD credibility.   Ben writes in with the following post… please read it!:


Hey there. Great site, read it every day.

My name is Ben and I’m a bicycle courier in Vancouver BC. I also build bikes in a little DIY shop with a few friends of mine. This is my CBR900RR street fighter that I built while in a wheel chair from crashing a previous bike. It’s got a 1000rr front end and VFR single sided swingarm. The rest was cooked up my me.

When it was done and I could walk again, I rode it from Vancouver to La Paz mexico following the pacific coast the entire time! The trip was phenomenal, an experience of a life time. After going through a few sets of tires and having the best time, the bike was stolen right before my eyes! Snatched into a van in downtown La Paz never to be seen again! All in all it was worth it but I sure miss her! The last two pics are of my beach side off road adventure and camping spot that was part of the Baja 1000 coarse. The other is a fantastic restaurant, great crab burrito.

P.s. If this makes it up on your site an any other readers have seen it since october 2009 let me know!


Man this is among THE COOLEST bikes I’ve ever posted. Great build. Great adventure. But a crappy ending. If anyone’s seen the bike PLEASE LET ME KNOW! It totally Sucks that it was lost that way.   And if you’re involved with the theft… then you’re a piece of shit who has a chance to   do your karma or your soul (or whatever you believe in)  some good and get this guy his bike back.

Ben my hat’s off to you.  Monster thumbs up!  Sound like a fantastic trip.  And hey I’d love to see anything else you’ve got coming out of your shop.

Thanks Very Much!

Reader Ride. 1980 DUCATI GTV 350 Cafe Racer

Bibu Writes in:

Hi ! … First of all i want to congratulate you for your site ,it’s great .
I’m Bibu from Romania and I’m 100% DUCATISTA … I own a little garage called desmoBIBU “Custom Cycles” …….
This is my 1980 DUCATI GTV 350 (desmo parallel twin) that i’ve modified into a caferacer … It’s a very rare bike ,only 958 built … It took me 11 months to complete .
This is a little movie i’ve maked with the build thread : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhFR070TOCM&feature=player_embedded
Hope you like it .

Check out my blog for my other bikes and other cool stuff : http://desmobibu.blogspot.com/
Good luck !
Bibu,

Reader Ride. A Norton Fastback/Interstate hybrid.. of sorts.

Tyler Hammond sends in this excellent Norton.

He writes in:

Hello,
I just recently completed a complete restoration on my Norton. Its a
1971 with a ’72 front end (for the disc brake) I have put a fastback
rear tail with a interstate tank. The factory never sold them this
way, but i love the fastbacks and now i can carry 5 gallons of gas for
my trips. i bought this bike from the original owner, it had been
sitting since 1979.

here is a link to a picture of the bike the day i brought it home

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thunderace/198880040/in/set-72157594212781001/

Love your site keep it going, its a daily visit for me

Tyler
San fran Bay area