Sorry…

Been having a damm fine time celebrating July 4’th. We’ll resume our regular posting tomorrow. I promise. In the mean time I hope you’re having an excellent day no matter where you are in the world!

Regards!

British "Fest" from the Islands!

Joe Abramo sends in some great stuff all the way from Hawaii!

He Writes:
Surf on over to see the complete web pages……….


http://www.napaliprop.com/72-Commando.html
http://www.napaliprop.com/66bsa.html
http://www.napaliprop.com/2008-T-100.html


Love the MPOD concept!!
I go there every day now.

Joe Abramo

Great Stuff!  Thanks Joe!

Reader Ride. Possibly The Nicest XS650 Street Tracker I’ve Seen Yet.

Folks are making this really easy for me. I’m getting quite a flood of outstanding pics lately so if you’re bike isn’t getting on right away doesn’t mean that it won’t. I’m NOT complaining so please keep em coming.

Ken Fontenot of Cycle Sports Huston sent in this jewel of a build. As XS trackers go, I don’t believe I’ve seen it equaled.

Ken Writes:

I read that you were always looking for interesting bikes to post to your site. Here is a bike we built over the winter months. Several pics attached as well as a story about how it all happened.
Everyone knows things have slowed down a little in the motorcycle business lately as well as many other businesses so this past winter we decided to take on a project to occupy any down time we might have.
We have had an independent shop here in Houston Tx for the last 29 years and have worked on several Flat trackers and Street trackers in the past and everyone here liked that style so after looking around we pulled out a rusty 1975 Yamaha XS650 rolling chassis that had been outside for about 16 years.
We had a starting point. We tried to accomplish this by using as many parts as possible that we already had around the shop, simply refinishing, replating, repainting and restoring. Well after about 6 months this is what we came up with. Its a real conglomeration of parts from many different bikes that we made work.

* Frame is a 1975 Yamaha XS650, gusseted and modified
* Engine & carbs are from a ’77, Both left stock but painted polished & carbs rejetted
* Front suspension & fuel tank ’81, steering stem bearings,seals & progressive springs
* Swingarm ’86 Yamaha Radian with needle bearings
* Kaw ZRX 1200 Shocks, Repainted and re cadium plated
* Foot controls are Kawasaki Ninja 250
* Tailpiece XR750 Harley, seat recontoured , firmer foam inserted and recovered
* Tailpiece is also rubber mounted to the frame on viabration absorbing Iso mounts
* Headlight & Brow from a Harley Sportster, custom mounts made
* K&N Air Filters with custom adaptors made to mount to the carbs
* Pipes were built down the street from us by John Easton at Jemco Exhaust Systems
* Stock front caliper and rotor with Grimeca mastercyl & stainless lines
* Brembo Rear caliper with custom water jetted hanger and stabalizer bar, stainless lines
* Stock front brake rotors turned, drilled & painted
* For the wheels we used two stock front Xs650 hubs & Spokes
* Custom built billet sprocket adaptor made by James Moody at Leeco Springs
* The Rims are rear Honda CRF450 Excell 19″ take offs donated by Honda of Houston
* Paint scheme graphics were designed by Shane Davis at Graphtec Inc in Houston
* All paint was done here in our shop, the only powdercoated parts are rims and fuel cap
* Trailtech computer for speedo, tach, odometer, tripmeter, clock, temp, shift lights
* Trailtech also has an optional bezel with all the idiot lights needed, rubber mounted
* We custom built the turn signals and lic plate & taillight brkt.
* Hard to spot the front signals but they are there
* Custom built the electrical box and wiring harness.
* Hi performance YTZ10s sealed battery, electric start only.
* All lighting is LED except for H4 Quartz headlight.

This has been a very fun project and of course we ended up spending more time that we expected but we are very proud of the final result. Considering we have spent very little (under $1800) in actually parts & supplies, this bike runs, handles, stops, and rides exceptionally well and really turns heads where ever we park it.

Ken Fontenot, Jeff Wisenbaker & Ben Brooks
Cycle Sports Ltd of Houston
9802 Clay Rd
Houston, Texas 77080
713-690-9802
http://www.cyclesportshouston.com

Another suprising milestone….

Took a look today at the site stats and noticed that the it’s averaged just over one thousand hits a day for the last month (well few months really but it totaled out evenly this month). In my wildest dreams I never imagined it would ever get rolling like this. With all the reader contributions lately I feel like it’s as much your site as mine. So keep em coming folks! And Thanks Again!

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!