FrankenBeemer! A 1966 R60 with an 1150 RT engine!
Found this over on the interesting Cafe Beemers Blog! Now this is a modern Classic! Wow! This must put a good thrashing to those lazy rolling concourse rides.
Leaps and Bounds!
Wow! What a month!! I got a great link from Pipeburn (GREAT site. Please please check them out) and had a nice predictable spike in traffic but an aweful lot of folks must have stuck around because there's been a pretty steady gain in traffic since then. A very sincere thank you to everyone for stopping by and welcome to all the new readers. I hope you're finding it as interesting as I find it fun!
Sorry for the delay. My host is acting up. UPDATE: Technical difficulties continue..
Sorry but blogger is acting up and the photo's won't dispay correctly. Please stand by.
Reader submittal. Husqvarna Desert Racer!
Bob Close from the Penton Owners Group sent me a link recently to a site I'd never heard of called huskyrestoration.com and some pics of this amazing Husqvarna Baha Racer. Please do yourself a favor and click the link over to this fantastic site and check see all the pictures and read the story of this bike. This isn't a trailer queen. It's going to be raced in the 2010 Baha 500. And while you're over there please check out all their restoration projects. Really really amazing stuff. If you're a fan of these old dirtbikes (or just curious) you should defilnately pay a visit to the Gents over on the Penton Owners Group. I sneak over there and peek in on them every once in a while and I'm definately getting the bug.
Thanks again for the link Bob. Much appreciated.
The amazing Suzuki "Thinstrom" 650! A highly modified V Strom Suzuki.
I LOVE this kind of build. This is the kind of bike that Suzuki should be offering as an offshoot... For the complete story of this fantastic build go HERE on the ADV rider site.
Reader submittal. Big Post On A Very Cool Custom Norton by From A Great Builder!
I've recieved a LOT of great material form Paul zuniga (AKA:GrandPaul) in a short period of time and I've been so busy that it's taken me a bit of time to get it sorted out. I'll start out with the first bike he sent me. An outstanding custom Norton monoshocked special.
Paul Writes:
I came across your site through a link from PipeBurn.Com. I'd like to submit a couple of my Norton Monoshock projects for you to consider on your site. I have been into classic bike (especially Britbikes) for over 20 years, and have been restoring old bikes for almost 5 years now as a business; www.bornagainbikes.com is my web address. I am a forum moderator on TriumphRat.Net & TriumphTalk.Com (classic & vintage sections), and I host my own classic, vintage, and customs forums on Delphi (links in my signature). I ride with CMA (Christian motorcyclist's Assn.) and the BIR (Brit Iron Rebels); wierd mix, I know.
Anyway, here's the poop on the bikes-
Blue bike:
Ever since the first time I spotted a pre-production Photoshopped picture of the proposed "New Norton" in 2001, I KNEW I had to have one. Kenny Dreer was in the process of acquiring the worldwide rights to the Norton name; he came up with the new design for a horizontally split "wet sump" engine, started building a couple of test mules, and started taking deposits for the first 100 "signature" edition bikes. My goal was to have one!
Well, I got tired of waiting for the new Norton, then heard Kenny was selling out the whole operation to some dude in Great Britain; so I contacted Kenny and made a deal to buy some of his leftover VR880 stuff. Sometimes you just end up in the right place at the right time; it turned out Kenny still had most of the 951 prototype bike, so we made a deal!
Kenny sold me several ONE-OFF components from the ORIGINAL prototype bike including the monoshock swingarm, "tight tuck" headers and carbon fiber primary; he also sold me the Blue fuel cell/gas tank, boat-tail seat & sidecovers, a set of FCR carbs, and most of the major components to build a VR880 engine including a freshly rebuilt high-end Baisley-built head & Spyke electric starter.
My plan was to take a '75 Mark III Commando frame and adapt it to accept the Dreer monoshock swingarm; The adaptation proved to be a bit tricky, but using AutoCad, I was able to come up with a simpler shock top mount setup than the relatively complex horzontal layout that was on the original prototype bike. For the front end, I decided to go with a modern inverted fork, and was able to source a nearly new complete ZX6 front end locally. The hardest part of the build was taking a Dreer VR880 front hub and sourcing the appropriate bearings and spacers to accept a modern 1" axle and 300mm full floating brake discs; Buchanan's did the lacing up to the drop-center rims. I decided against using clip-on handlebars because I intended to put some miles on this bike as a regular rider, and my back can't handle the boy-racer ergonomic position with clip-ons.
As anxious as I was by this point, I decided to install a complete running 850 e-start engine and build the VR880 lump later; I took a friend up on his offer for an engine and rear end, which I needed for the disc brake rear hub assembly. I then fabricated an electrical panel and hand-wired the bike to mate the classic charging system & lighting with the modern Sparx electronic ignition and UJM thumbswitch controls; the big-amp battery to crank the e-start is hidden under the seat's hump. A set of Clubman racing reaset footpegs were installed, using an earlier model right-foot-shift outer tranny cover & shifter shaft. The rest of the project came together pretty quickly and the results are what you see here, my take on the "modern" Norton Commando"
Bike Specs:
Engine
Norton 850 Commando Mark III, vertical air-cooled OHV pushrod twin, dry sump
Kehin FCR 35mm flat-slide carbs mounted to 33mm intakes, matched to head
Norton 850 Mark III primary system & electric starter
OEM Norton 850 engine covers, oil pump, transmission & clutch (Sureflex clutch plates)
Chassis
Norton 850 Commando Mark III frame, modified for upper monoshock mounting
Dreer Custom fabricated monoshock swingarm with “big bearing” conversion
Isolastic eng/trans mounting subframe, modified for e-start and swingarm bearings
Kawasaki 636 Fork yokes, stem turned to fit OEM Norton steering bearings
Mark III vernier isolastic mount system with Taylor top steady & Eads front steady
Wheels & axles
Excel rims (2.5” F, 3.5” R) laced with Stainless Steel spokes & nipples by Buchanan’s
Custom built rear axle & spacers for OEM Norton Mark III rear hub
Kawasaki 636 front axle with custom built bearings by Buffalo Bearings
Dreer VR880 dual disc front hub & rotor spacers, with custom built axle spacers
Metzeler Lasertech tires: 100/90x19 Front, 120/80x18 Rear
Suspension & Brakes
Front: Showa 41mm fully adjustable (compression, rebound & damping) inverted forks
Rear: KYB fully adjustable, gas charged reservoir rear monoshock
Front: Dual 4-pot Tokiko calipers, 298mm Brembo full-floating rotors, Nissin master cyl.
Rear: 2-pot Nissin caliper, lightened & drilled Norton 280mm rotor, Nissin master cyl.
Cycle Parts
Dreer VR880 matched seat/tail, fuel cell & sidecovers; in Blue with Red & White pinstriping
Dreer ONE-OFF “tuck in” exhaust headers w/ peashooter reverse cone megaphone mufflers
RK 520 chain, Drag Specialties Aero 95mm gas cap assembly, CRG bar-end mirrors
Kawasaki 636 push-pull throttle & clutch lever assembly, Doherty HD cables
OEM Norton footpegs, center stand, oil tank, kickstarter
Electrical Equipment
Sparx 12 volt, 230 watt, 3-phase alternator, Sparx 3-phase regulator/rectifier, H4 halogen headlight
Sparx magnetic trigger electronic ignition, Blue Streak dual-lead 4 ohm, 12 volt ignition coil
Kawasaki 636 handlebar mounted lighting & accessory control switches (2005 spec)
Born Again Bikes hand-wired electrical harness system
AGM heavy duty battery, Barrel-type security keyswitch
Thanx for your consideration, I'll add a link from my website.
-GrandPaul
Proprietor of Born Again Bikes Refurbs & restorations
Host of the Vintage Bikes Forum
Paul Writes:
I came across your site through a link from PipeBurn.Com. I'd like to submit a couple of my Norton Monoshock projects for you to consider on your site. I have been into classic bike (especially Britbikes) for over 20 years, and have been restoring old bikes for almost 5 years now as a business; www.bornagainbikes.com is my web address. I am a forum moderator on TriumphRat.Net & TriumphTalk.Com (classic & vintage sections), and I host my own classic, vintage, and customs forums on Delphi (links in my signature). I ride with CMA (Christian motorcyclist's Assn.) and the BIR (Brit Iron Rebels); wierd mix, I know.
Anyway, here's the poop on the bikes-
Blue bike:
Ever since the first time I spotted a pre-production Photoshopped picture of the proposed "New Norton" in 2001, I KNEW I had to have one. Kenny Dreer was in the process of acquiring the worldwide rights to the Norton name; he came up with the new design for a horizontally split "wet sump" engine, started building a couple of test mules, and started taking deposits for the first 100 "signature" edition bikes. My goal was to have one!
Well, I got tired of waiting for the new Norton, then heard Kenny was selling out the whole operation to some dude in Great Britain; so I contacted Kenny and made a deal to buy some of his leftover VR880 stuff. Sometimes you just end up in the right place at the right time; it turned out Kenny still had most of the 951 prototype bike, so we made a deal!
Kenny sold me several ONE-OFF components from the ORIGINAL prototype bike including the monoshock swingarm, "tight tuck" headers and carbon fiber primary; he also sold me the Blue fuel cell/gas tank, boat-tail seat & sidecovers, a set of FCR carbs, and most of the major components to build a VR880 engine including a freshly rebuilt high-end Baisley-built head & Spyke electric starter.
My plan was to take a '75 Mark III Commando frame and adapt it to accept the Dreer monoshock swingarm; The adaptation proved to be a bit tricky, but using AutoCad, I was able to come up with a simpler shock top mount setup than the relatively complex horzontal layout that was on the original prototype bike. For the front end, I decided to go with a modern inverted fork, and was able to source a nearly new complete ZX6 front end locally. The hardest part of the build was taking a Dreer VR880 front hub and sourcing the appropriate bearings and spacers to accept a modern 1" axle and 300mm full floating brake discs; Buchanan's did the lacing up to the drop-center rims. I decided against using clip-on handlebars because I intended to put some miles on this bike as a regular rider, and my back can't handle the boy-racer ergonomic position with clip-ons.
As anxious as I was by this point, I decided to install a complete running 850 e-start engine and build the VR880 lump later; I took a friend up on his offer for an engine and rear end, which I needed for the disc brake rear hub assembly. I then fabricated an electrical panel and hand-wired the bike to mate the classic charging system & lighting with the modern Sparx electronic ignition and UJM thumbswitch controls; the big-amp battery to crank the e-start is hidden under the seat's hump. A set of Clubman racing reaset footpegs were installed, using an earlier model right-foot-shift outer tranny cover & shifter shaft. The rest of the project came together pretty quickly and the results are what you see here, my take on the "modern" Norton Commando"
Bike Specs:
Engine
Norton 850 Commando Mark III, vertical air-cooled OHV pushrod twin, dry sump
Kehin FCR 35mm flat-slide carbs mounted to 33mm intakes, matched to head
Norton 850 Mark III primary system & electric starter
OEM Norton 850 engine covers, oil pump, transmission & clutch (Sureflex clutch plates)
Chassis
Norton 850 Commando Mark III frame, modified for upper monoshock mounting
Dreer Custom fabricated monoshock swingarm with “big bearing” conversion
Isolastic eng/trans mounting subframe, modified for e-start and swingarm bearings
Kawasaki 636 Fork yokes, stem turned to fit OEM Norton steering bearings
Mark III vernier isolastic mount system with Taylor top steady & Eads front steady
Wheels & axles
Excel rims (2.5” F, 3.5” R) laced with Stainless Steel spokes & nipples by Buchanan’s
Custom built rear axle & spacers for OEM Norton Mark III rear hub
Kawasaki 636 front axle with custom built bearings by Buffalo Bearings
Dreer VR880 dual disc front hub & rotor spacers, with custom built axle spacers
Metzeler Lasertech tires: 100/90x19 Front, 120/80x18 Rear
Suspension & Brakes
Front: Showa 41mm fully adjustable (compression, rebound & damping) inverted forks
Rear: KYB fully adjustable, gas charged reservoir rear monoshock
Front: Dual 4-pot Tokiko calipers, 298mm Brembo full-floating rotors, Nissin master cyl.
Rear: 2-pot Nissin caliper, lightened & drilled Norton 280mm rotor, Nissin master cyl.
Cycle Parts
Dreer VR880 matched seat/tail, fuel cell & sidecovers; in Blue with Red & White pinstriping
Dreer ONE-OFF “tuck in” exhaust headers w/ peashooter reverse cone megaphone mufflers
RK 520 chain, Drag Specialties Aero 95mm gas cap assembly, CRG bar-end mirrors
Kawasaki 636 push-pull throttle & clutch lever assembly, Doherty HD cables
OEM Norton footpegs, center stand, oil tank, kickstarter
Electrical Equipment
Sparx 12 volt, 230 watt, 3-phase alternator, Sparx 3-phase regulator/rectifier, H4 halogen headlight
Sparx magnetic trigger electronic ignition, Blue Streak dual-lead 4 ohm, 12 volt ignition coil
Kawasaki 636 handlebar mounted lighting & accessory control switches (2005 spec)
Born Again Bikes hand-wired electrical harness system
AGM heavy duty battery, Barrel-type security keyswitch
Thanx for your consideration, I'll add a link from my website.
-GrandPaul
Proprietor of Born Again Bikes Refurbs & restorations
Host of the Vintage Bikes Forum
Kawasaki GPZ750 Turbo.
God I lusted after this bike when it came out. The sudden rush when that turbo gets spun up must be amazing.
Reader ride. Fantistic scrambler done up as an old school "desert racer" from Italy.
I recieved these pics and a message all in Italian. I ran it through 3 different translation programs and sorted it out the best I could. It reads as follows:
Hello, I am Italian and my name is Carl,
I have built my bonnie in the style of an early desert racer which I have always admired. In 51 years, I have owned and admired many bikes including the ducati scrambler 350 and yamaha xt 500. I wish I had never sold them but I was young and had little money.
The changes are entirely handmade, the work of a friend and I in choice of details.. Exhaust, seat, handle-bar, headlight carried all the way to the stripped bodywork, I adore the bare metal.
Thank you for your site, great job for us fans
I'm sorry I do not write so well in english.
Here is the original message, If someone is fluent in Italian and can assist with the translation it would be VERY much appreciated. I'd like to learn everything I can about htis beautiful creation and pass it along here. I'm pretty sure some key information was "lost in the translation" so to speak. Thanks.
Original message cleaned up a little as follows:
Ogg: foto triumph desert sled ceva
Ciao, sono italiano e mi chiamo Carlo, ho messo mano alla bonnie per
renderla il più possibile vicina allo
stile desert del quale sono sempre stato un ammiratore, premesso che ho 51anni,
ed ho poseduto negli anni qualche motina sullo stile, ducati scrambler 350, yamaha xt 500, mannaggia a quando le ho vendute mà ero più giovane e pochi denari.
Le modifiche sono interamente artigianali, opera di un amico ed io nella
scelta dei particolari.
Scarichi, che sound, sella,manubrio, copripignone, faro incassato tre le
forcelle, ecc non me le ricordo tutte, a il serbatoio e sverniciato portato a ferro, adoro il ferro....
Saluti e sempre comlimenti per il tuo sito, grn lavoro per noi
appassionati, mi scuso ma non sò scrivere in spagnolo.
Hello, I am Italian and my name is Carl,
I have built my bonnie in the style of an early desert racer which I have always admired. In 51 years, I have owned and admired many bikes including the ducati scrambler 350 and yamaha xt 500. I wish I had never sold them but I was young and had little money.
The changes are entirely handmade, the work of a friend and I in choice of details.. Exhaust, seat, handle-bar, headlight carried all the way to the stripped bodywork, I adore the bare metal.
Thank you for your site, great job for us fans
I'm sorry I do not write so well in english.
Here is the original message, If someone is fluent in Italian and can assist with the translation it would be VERY much appreciated. I'd like to learn everything I can about htis beautiful creation and pass it along here. I'm pretty sure some key information was "lost in the translation" so to speak. Thanks.
Original message cleaned up a little as follows:
Ogg: foto triumph desert sled ceva
Ciao, sono italiano e mi chiamo Carlo, ho messo mano alla bonnie per
renderla il più possibile vicina allo
stile desert del quale sono sempre stato un ammiratore, premesso che ho 51anni,
ed ho poseduto negli anni qualche motina sullo stile, ducati scrambler 350, yamaha xt 500, mannaggia a quando le ho vendute mà ero più giovane e pochi denari.
Le modifiche sono interamente artigianali, opera di un amico ed io nella
scelta dei particolari.
Scarichi, che sound, sella,manubrio, copripignone, faro incassato tre le
forcelle, ecc non me le ricordo tutte, a il serbatoio e sverniciato portato a ferro, adoro il ferro....
Saluti e sempre comlimenti per il tuo sito, grn lavoro per noi
appassionati, mi scuso ma non sò scrivere in spagnolo.
Simply Spectacular Suzuki GT550.
Thomas Leeming from Montana recently sent me this excellent Suzuki GT550 cafe racer / former racebike. I told him that I've always been a Yamaha RD400 and Kawasaki Triple fan but this Suzuki could definately sway me. Jush gorgeous.
Thomas Writes:
Thanks for the great web site. I recently completed this 1975 Suzuki GT550 cafe. Pipes by Omar's. Electronic ignition. Battery, oil tank and electrics are hidden under the seat cowl. The older photo is from 1974 at Louden NH when I roadraced a GT550.
Thanks Very Much for the pics Thomas. Very Much Appreciated!
Thomas Writes:
Thanks for the great web site. I recently completed this 1975 Suzuki GT550 cafe. Pipes by Omar's. Electronic ignition. Battery, oil tank and electrics are hidden under the seat cowl. The older photo is from 1974 at Louden NH when I roadraced a GT550.
Thanks Very Much for the pics Thomas. Very Much Appreciated!
The same bike back in the day...
More Guzzi PrOn..
Another stunning Guzzi...maybe I'm an addict? I don't know. Maybe I should check with Tiger Woods.
Maybe the best racing conversation EVER!
If you're a long time fanatic of motorcycle racing or you're just curious and thinking of "dipping your toe" for the first ime and maybe watching a few races this year, do yourself a favor and watch the three videos of a conversation between an all-time american racing legend and what's likely to be a future one. Eddy Lawson and Ben Spies.
Even if you don't care for racing these video's can teach you a bit about, the nature of sacrafice and motivation and what it takes to win.
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Even if you don't care for racing these video's can teach you a bit about, the nature of sacrafice and motivation and what it takes to win.
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Update: a few more. Reader Ride(s)! A nice stable of Triumphs!
Will Hildreth has sent me some great pics of his Triumph stable. I have had a soft spot for the early T-Bird Sport for ages. I rode a first generation Speed triple for years but I had a hard time making the choice when it was parked next to one of these. The aftermarket 3 into 3 pipe is just the BOMB! Buddy of mine had one that's on the blog already. I'll post a link shortly.
Here's a few more he just sent me. Beautiful!
Oh and here's the rest of his rides. You've got great taste Will.
A new generation T-Bird
A Sweet Rocket 3
Here's a few more he just sent me. Beautiful!
Oh and here's the rest of his rides. You've got great taste Will.
A new generation T-Bird
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