When I bought a non-running but complete RZ350 from a local dealer, I didn’t know what I would need to do to get it running and I really didn’t even have a plan for how far I would go in restoring it. The bike is an all original, one owner, Read more…
The Z50 is finally all assembled and looks and runs great. We did finally give up on using an aftermarket carb and bought an OEM Honda Keihin. We finally found a really nice original exhaust and refinished it to new condition. The fenders are semi-rigid plastic and were painted at Read more…
So, my friend Ron Raven, who donated the Hejira we did last year to Barber, texts me a picture of him sitting next to the bike on display in the Museum! Because Barber has 1000’s of bikes, they rotate them in and out of the displays and we thought maybe Read more…
Well, we finished the CT70 in time for the mini moto mania ride in at the local Honda dealer. Good times and lots of Groms! The carbon fiber CT70 was a hit and looks fantastic. We also finished a 2019 Monkey with a 210 cc kit and a ton of Read more…
We’ve made good progress on the carbon fiber CT70. It is really a laminate since the old metal frame is sandwiched between carbon fiber. Since last post, I’ve applied the decals and 3 more coats of clear. It looks awesome! Next we got some 12 inch rims to fit on Read more…
After finishing the Repsol Honda CT70, we’ve decided to do another one with one of the frames we collected. There was enough rust that the frame was a throw away unless we came up with a new process to save it. Since this frame had rust in various areas, we Read more…
Well, lots of parts ordered and on the way… the frame is epoxy primed, tri-coat pearl orange with custom “Repsol” graphics. Forks, 12in wheels, 2 in extended swingarm and gas shocks will be arriving this week. I still haven’t decided if I want a 140cc engine or go big with Read more…
Just over a month away and the excitement is building among vintage bike fans! The weekend festival is always a highlight for motorcycle enthusiasts. Undoubtedly the best run event of it’s type- literally 1000’s of bikes, shows, racing, swap meet and of course the fantastic museum. It’s like drinking from Read more…
With most of the mechanical work finished, I’ve turned to the bodywork. This bike has a black frame so it should have yellow and black Kenny Roberts paint and graphics. Several kits are available for the graphics and most of them are pretty good. I ended up painting the black Read more…
A lot has been accomplished in the past few weeks. The bodywork is done- cleared, buffed and installed. The carbs were taken apart yet again to replace o-rings and gaskets that were leaking and while apart, a jet kit was installed for the Yoshimura 4 into 1 system I found Read more…
What an awesome weekend for motorcycle fans! with over 73,000 people in attendance, it was the most successful event yet. Perfect weather helped, but the event it always well run and managed. Here are a few shots from the weekend- enjoy!
One of my customers is doing a resto-mod on a 1976 CB550F and we painted the tank and side covers in the original Honda candy sapphire blue. On the candies, you paint a silver base coat and then spray layers of translucent color until you have the desired color depth. Read more…
My friend Rob at Tapeworks has been working on this project for several months now and it is in the final stages before production. Make sure you head over to the Kickstarter page and get in on the action. He needs to raise funds to have all the molds made Read more…
Well, I’ve been seriously lazy about updating the website but here is the latest project- a 1985 BMW K100 with some later bodywork pieces. The owner wanted metallic orange similar to what Lamborghini uses and it really looks great. Digital cameras struggle with colors this rich but the front shot Read more…
Well, there is a new bike in the shop and I’m still undecided about what direction to go with it. It is a complete stock 750 right down to the turn signals- although the muffler has been changed. The stock seat is in excellent condition and the bike only has Read more…
So, a friend of mine owns a Harley dealership and sent me a few pictures of the the new Harley line of smaller bikes that was introduced yesterday in KC. For a lot of people who own Harleys, customization is one of the main draws. We all like to make Read more…
Well, progress continues and after fighting the old DG pipes which really didn’t fit well, I’ve got them installed and not contacting the frame anywhere. The radiator is back on- had to get the pipes on before the radiator… The brakes are ready to be hooked up and bled and Read more…
Just a quick update- here are the parts all primed, sanded and ready for base coat paint. Since the base coat on this bike is basically just white, the parts will not really look any different in base coat- just a brighter white.
After I stripped the bodywork off of the RZ, I went to work getting all the old paint off of the fairings. Lots of sanding! Since the parts were old and used, there were also some spider cracks in the gel coat from bumps, flexing, etc. These require repair by Read more…
I am starting on a new project this week that will be super-fun! This RZ500 is owned by a client who is trying to create a road legal replica of Kenny Robert’s last GP bike. So we have some pictures from the Yamaha museum in Japan that will serve as Read more…
In today’s installment, we are spraying on the silver base coat that gives the metallic look to the translucent candy red top coat. When you are using a tri coat system like this, the base coats need to have hardener added so that when you spray the red top coat Read more…
The SL has a mix of materials used for it’s bodywork- steel for the tank, aluminum for the fenders and plastic for the side covers. In a case like this, the best primer to use is an epoxy primer like PPG’s DPLF. It sticks to anything and anything sticks to Read more…
My friend Jerry is currently in the midst of restoring his 71 SL 350 and since I did the paint work for him, I thought it would be cool to post the progress for everyone to see. The bike was not a total wreck, it was just showing its age Read more…
Here are a few pictures of the finished V-Rod Street Rod. This is a super rare bike that Harley only produced 700 of in 07. In addition to the paint and cosmetic repairs, I also did a complete service that included new hydraulic fluids for the brakes and clutch, oil Read more…
Today, the weather was a bit nicer with temps in the 60’s and sunny skies. So it was the perfect winter day to do the final buffing on the paint. Even though the paint looks great after clear-coating, we wet sand everything again to eliminate any slight orange peel or Read more…
We are in the final stages of the “restore the V-Rod” project and is is starting to get really fun. Today, we get to install the replacement exhaust and put the chrome heat shields back on the pipes. The original mufflers were scratched when the bike fell over- not badly Read more…
So, now we are in the final stages of our project and some of these are really tedious and time consuming. Since this bike was a daily ridden commuter bike, it wasn’t cleaned and polished regularly- so the aluminum parts like case covers, swingarm and wheels had that dull slightly Read more…
If you have been coming to motobikeblog for the past 3 years, you are probably wondering what is going on! Well, we are merging 2 sites into one for more (and better) content. NationalSuperbike is the other site where I post pictures and galleries of bikes I have converted and/or Read more…
Well, here are a few pictures of the finished product. As you can see, it totally transforms the bike. Apparently, Yamaha does have a kit similar to this in other parts of the world but I’ve never seen one in the US. Tapeworks.com will have the graphics available as a Read more…
Well, all that is left is to do the final assembly. After letting the clear dry for a couple of days, we can reassemble the bike. One thing I noticed on the FZ1 is how heavy and complex the tail section is. It has to weigh 20 lbs all by Read more…
After installing the graphics, we need to clear coat everything. Clearing in the graphics gives the bike an almost unbelievably richer, more finished look. Since the graphics are actually printed on the vinyl, after clearing, it looks like it was painted. Much nicer than even factory style decals.
In today’s installment of the FZ1 project, we install the graphics on top of the yellow base coat. After I did the templates for the the graphics I wanted, I scanned them and sent them to Tapeworks for printing and production. Very nice stuff. The black is printed on the Read more…
Here is part 2 of the transformation of a stock FZ1 into something totally cool and custom… In this installment, we disassemble the bike and sand/clean every part. By clean, I mean surgically clean. Then we prime everything with PPG white epoxy primer. White is pretty much a requirement for Read more…
In this series, we repaint a Yamaha FZ1 in a classic 80’s racing scheme.