Vintage Motorcycle News
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…
I bought 3 RZ’s from a guy last year and this is the first one I’m restoring. I restored a Canadian RZ350R a few years ago but it had been converted to a regular non-fairing model so that’s how it ended up… There has been a fair amount of work 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…
Lots of work accomplished on the bodywork- base coats, colors, decals and clear coat are on. The tank needs a couple more coats of clear and then it will be ready for reassembly and a first ride.
Well, it is finally back home and on display. Really, it came out very nice and the owner is happy. The last picture is what we started with, so lots of work in this bike!
The Sherpa has been on the back burner for a few months but it is back up front now. The suspension, wheels, fenders and exhaust are now back on and it is starting to look like it might actually be back on the trails soon! My observation on these old Read more…
Well, with winter here I’ve put the VFR on hold but here are a few of the things that were done in the past few months- Wheels painted in original white with clear coat. The rear wheel is a CBR600F3 wheel, so a big increase in width. New tires, too. Read more…
VFR750… 2 steps forward, one step back. Time to put the front end back together after bead blasting and painting everything- stays, forks, brackets, handlebars, wiring, etc. Most of it can’t be seen when the bike is all assembled and the fairings are on but OCD takes over and makes Read more…
The annual Barber Vintage festival is just around the corner- Oct 6-8th. Honestly, there is just nothing else like this if you are a motorcycle fan. It is probably the best run and organized motorsports event I have ever been to considering the size and scope of all that is Read more…
With all the engine covers faded and scratched, we decided to repaint them in black wrinkle because the original gold wrinkle is simply not available. The black looks great and really makes the engine look fresh. The exhaust system was also repainted since it had a fair amount of rust Read more…
New in the shop- a real 86 VFR750F Interceptor with 22K original miles. The bike is cosmetically pretty dinged up but mechanically, in good shape. After rebuilding the carbs, and doing general maintenance, I took it out for a very short Mad Max ride with just a drip can for Read more…
OK, I haven’t posted on this bike in a while but yep, it’s all done and on the road. The owner is super happy and the bike runs and rides great! Here is the final product- click through to watch the first run video if you want to take a Read more…
I’m going back and forth between the Sherpa and Metralla and today is Metralla day! The engine ran quite well and the owner didn’t want to take it apart so to get it ready for paint, we soda blasted it and then used purple cleaner and lacquer thinner to wash Read more…
We’ve been plugging away at both the Sherpa and the Metralla with good results. The Sherpa engine is in the frame and we are looking for a new rear brake hub since the original has some cracks around the pivot posts for the brake shoes. The Sherpa should be on Read more…
We’ve been working on a couple Metrallas for the past few months and there is good progress to report! The frames are stripped, epoxy primed and painted the original gloss black. There are many other parts that have been either bead blasted and refinished or polished. We will soon be 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!
Getting all the bikes ready for the Barber Vintage Festival is always hectic. This year we are taking the 77 CB750F and the 73 Kawasaki S1. The 750 needed some carb work like most old bikes and I took the chance to rejet it at the same time. Runs fantastic Read more…
Mark your calendars folks, the Vintage Festival is fast approaching. Easily the most popular event that Barber holds each year, it continues to grow. Such a fantastic weekend! More bikes than you can possibly look at, swap meet for parts and bikes and vintage racing. I’ll be bringing the Kawasaki Read more…
The bodywork and frame for the Sherpa have been done for quite a while waiting on the engine to come back from the rebuilder and the wheels to have new rims laced on. Those are now back so we will start putting it back together soon. Here are a few Read more…
We have started working on a 1978 Bultaco Metralla GTS 203 series for a client. Very cool old 70’s vintage bike. 250cc 2-stroke that runs really well. It is pretty rough cosmetically, but no worse than the 73 Kawasaki S1 which turned out pretty nice. Motor is out and we Read more…
After several 15min break-in cycles, it was time to run her around the block… Click through to watch the video.
I’ve added the first ride video to our YouTube channel here, so go check it out! Kawasaki S1 first ride after restoration
We’ve made lots of progress in the past weeks… the engine is in, the carbs are on with all the cables (lots of cables!), the wiring harness is in and almost complete, The chrome handlebars have been swapped out for some matte black superbike bars, the chain/sprockets are on and Read more…
We are moving along on this project since I’ve had a bit more time to devote to it lately… The seat is done, the electronic ignition is installed, tiny little intake manifolds are back on so, the engine is ready to be put in the frame. Lots of little details Read more…
Well, we have a rolling frame, new tapered steering head bearings, tires on and getting close to putting the engine back in. The instruments were in really rough shape and needed disassembly, cleaning, a new lens for the tach, painting and some custom made foam spacers/isolators so they would mount Read more…
Well, the paint is on and looks fantastic in diamond pearl white and blue. The wheels have the white and blue rim stripes on and assembly is progressing. The old steering head bearing were destroyed and one of the races was cracked all the way through so I’m guessing the Read more…
Well, lots going on with the S1… The wheels were corroded but solid and I decided that for the price point of this bike, the only real option was to bead blast and paint them. So, it was also a good chance to clean and blast the drums as well Read more…
With the tank stripped, it needed to have the inside cleaned out before it was sealed. There are several types of acid that will clean out the inside of a rusty tank but the easiest and safest is white vinegar- acetic acid. It is mild and you need to let Read more…
Moving along with the S1, we are getting all the little stuff blasted and repainted. There are just a ton of small parts that have to be refinished on a project like this and it is pretty time consuming since it is detail work. Like the handlebar switches, bar risers, Read more…
With the frame stripped, blasted and epoxy primed, it is time to get busy on some of the other components. Notice how nasty the welds are on this bike- really just typical for a 70 vintage machine. Next, I need to rebuild the front forks, order the electronic ignition, bead Read more…
Well, I’ve actually been pretty busy on other bikes but a few things have been accomplished on the S1. The motor is reassembled, the carbs are done and look great and a few small items have been bead blasted and painted. The cylinders are bored 1mm over and new pistons, Read more…
Another great year at Barber for the Vintage Festival! Total attendance this year was up about 5000 to over 69,000 people. The bikes, displays and swap meet were all great and you always meet some interesting folks. The Vintage races were really fun to watch and it’s not just the Read more…
The customer I painted these tanks and fenders for has reassembled one of the Metralla’s and it looks fantastic! Such a great looking bike with classic lines. The 250cc 2-stroke engine was supposedly good for 100+mph. That is serious for the late 60’s. With modern tires and oils, it may Read more…
If you are on this site, you probably have already heard of the awesome Barber Vintage Festival and this year’s is fast approaching! Scheduled for Oct 9-11th, it is sure to be bigger and better just like every year so far. With rows and rows of swap meet parts and Read more…
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…
With the CB750 done, I needed another back-burner job to keep me busy when I had time in between customer projects. So, I bought this old S1 triple and pretty much regret it at this point. But, hey it will be a super cool bike when it is done. The Read more…
With the yellow Bultaco’s done, we turned to the street versions, which are MK2’s. The styling and simplicity of this model is just excellent. The gas tank is a beautiful classic design and we worked long and hard to find original photos so that the stripes and decal placement is Read more…
Well, the paint is finished on the GTS’s and looks great. As with all old bikes that came in lacquer, picking a shade of the original color is tough since it yellows and fades pretty bad. We had one pretty good side cover that had a bottom section that was Read more…
A client has several ultra rare Bultaco Metralla’s that he is restoring and we are doing the paint and bodywork for him. 2 of them are the fiberglass GTS models and 1 is the steel tank street version which we will do later. Very cool bikes. The fiberglass tanks were Read more…
Well, the CB750 is basically finished and running quite good. The seat was made from a 40mm sheet of race seat foam like you typically see on race bikes. It really looks perfect for the style of the bike. After about 40 miles of test rides, it continues to run Read more…
Work continues on the 750… the headlight is installed, most of the bodywork, and we fabricated a nice muffler from a spare Yosh round baffle and a piece of 2.75″ OD 304 Stainless tubing- but the important dimension was the header end that was a perfect 2″ and slid right Read more…
With the paint done, it was time to get the carbs tuned and the bodywork installed. Old carbs like this are a project! We used a standard set of mercury vacuum sticks and got them all drawing the same at idle. Then we adjusted the idle mixture screws and then Read more…
With most of the mechanical stuff done, We turn to the cosmetic side and the paint scheme. The basic scheme has been set for months since the frame was painted orange a long time ago. But the contrast colors were up in the air… The dark silver I mixed was Read more…
Well, the wiring is in and almost complete and all of the updated brakes are on and bled. The wiring included a new solid state regulator/rectifier, Dynatek electronic ignition to replace the old points, new coils and leads, and lots of minor fixes to the harness and switches. Probably 20 Read more…
Well, the motor is in! With a freshly painted frame, I was stressing about getting the motor back in without scratching everything up. It is a very tight fit that requires some twisting and turning, so I lined all the frame tubes with pipe insulation and duct taped the lugs Read more…
When I was growing up in the 70’s, every kid wanted a Trail 70. Now, they are quite collectible and thus restorable- so a friend is restoring his candy ruby red 72. It started in pretty rough but complete condition and is moving along nicely. I took a break from Read more…
Well, the shocks arrived and are installed… these RFY shocks are Chinese look-a-likes of classic Ohlins or Penske shocks. Obviously not the same quality as Ohlins but not bad. This guy has taken them apart and looked them over and they really are pretty good for the money- about 100.00/set Read more…
So, today we installed the new Dunlop 404 tires and we are working on the final fitting of the tail section. As soon as the new rear shocks get here, we will have a rolling frame and be ready to install the engine! The taillight is out of some 70’s Read more…
Before we can put the engine back in the bike, we need to have a rolling frame and before we can do that, we need the wheels in their final configuration… These Comstar wheels are a bit difficult to work with since they are an aluminum/steel hybrid- the rim and Read more…
The stock peg brackets are huge and heavy but I am committed to using as much of the original bike as I can, so we are trimming and drilling to lighten them and remove the rear mounts. While I had the die grinder out, I trimmed the front fender to Read more…