restoration

CBX and an H2 parked in front of the "Tree of Shame" at Deals Gap Resort.

The fellow who restored these bikes did an amazing job. That H2 was VERY nicely polished. Here’s some closeups from my other site.

1968 Bultaco Sherpa.

It a flat Tracker extravaganza around here lately. Here’s a nice old Bultaco set up Flat Track style!

A perfect Honda Trail 70.

The object of lust for a generation of 10 year old boys. The terror of thousands of campgrounds. The decoration strapped to the bumpers of millions of Winnebago’s. The Honda Trail 70. And a damm nice one to boot.

We interrupt our regularly scheduled blogging!

I know I was going to go modern for a while but I just received this outstanding reader ride from Ted Guthrie. A beautifully restored Penton 125 Six-Day. While I’ve never considered myself a true “restorer” of motorcycles (I prefer the term resto-mod) I have struggled with enough old bikes to really appreciate the level of effort that goes into a bike like this. The really great part is that it’s really done out of love of the bikes. You’d be hard pressed to ever make a good living (much less become wealthy) doing this kind of work. But I’m constantly amazed at the work that I see out there and that people send me. Keep sending them in. It’s MUCH appreciated!

Ted Writes:

Hey, great site you’ve got. Some of the best pics, of terrific variety of bikes, I’ve ever seen. Attached are some photos of my recently completed 1973 Penton 125 Six-Day. Bike started out as a total junker, which had sat outside for years. It now starts first-kick, and runs perfectly. Incidently, the Steel Tanker you have the pic of, which was taken at the AMA museum, belongs to the original owner – Al Born – and the bike is serial # 003. Yep, it is the third Penton ever built. Al is among the original group of riders, who were hand-picked by John Penton to receive (and race and win and promote) the first ten Penton motorcycles produced.
Ted Guthrie
Historian
Penton Owners Group




More Sam simons Projects…

Here’s something to give you an idea of the kind of attention to detail he has. Fantastic work!

From his recent E-mail:

I’ve done some ‘different’ projects since the RD-K500,only one of them being as ‘intense’ and as involved as the RD-K. That would be the little Gilera 124 army dispatch bike.

You may get a kick out of this bike….
I was wanting to do something military for a change,and a chum/collector had to Gileras to offer.
Both were 1967 /_*SEARS*_/ 124’s(Gilera),and one had only 38 miles use!(with traditional rust and faded color).
To make a long story(and project) short,Steve,it was a more challenging task than I expected;trying to come away with a finished product that was convincingly real/original. I think that I did that,but it was very similar to the RD-K in time spent……really. Literally,any pieces/features not found on the stock SEARS 124 that are present on the ‘Gilera 124 Militare’ were either new fabrication(i.e,seat, rack,air cleaner) or heavily ‘massaged’ oem parts(i.e,forks,shock location,both fenders).The handlebars began life as RZ350 units.
It does fool the ‘experts’. Another chum took the silver 124,and did a beautiful little vintage Italian ISDT machine.

I done a couple of other ‘odd’ vehicles too,but I’ll save that for another email to you…..