Phew! Home From Holiday Travels! Here's AN Excellent Reader Ride, Kawasaki H2 - 2 Stroke Restoration Till I Get Things Caught Up!

Philip Rochette writes in:

Hello
Here are some shots of my 1972 Kawasaki 750 H2 that I have recently restored.
It was a long term and very interresting project .
I enjoy my bike and I have a lot of fun riding it in the beautifull french Alps.
Here is the link to my site about that restoration and more;
http://kawasaki750h2.free.fr/
Best regards

Fantastic Restoration!  Thanks for the excellent pictures Philip!

A Friend of Mine Built Himself A Really Fun Little Honda Cafe from Spare Parts.

Nice Job Butch!

Reader Ride! GSX 1100 From Croatia!

Ivan from Croatia writes in:

Hi,
I like to read your blog, it's one of the first things I do each morning. Today I was surprised I
couldn't open it, but later it was accessible. It's great and you have a lot of great pics!
I'm sending you a photo of my work, so that you can see what we are doing through the winter, here
in Croatia.

Thank you Ivan!  Great bike!  I like the all the upgrades. 
We're all good now folks.  Looks like just a google glitch although from what I've read a lot of bloggers got it MUCH worse.

Reader ride! Another Cafe BMW from Jay.

I really like the scrapes on the knee pucks AND especially the valve cover. Nice job! You've been putting her to work!

Reader Ride. Jay Sends In Another Fantastic Custom BMW .... This One's A Scrambler!

Damm That Is Sweet!  And stay tuned for another nice Cafe...

Built by Gene and Ron Atherton.

It is a 83 Honda VT500 Ascot. It was our ice bike, before that Gene tried to dirt track it but it didn't work out. We built it during the winter of 09. Gets road most ever day in the summer.

Thanks
Ron

UPDATE: A few more. Reader Ride. Outstanding BMW Cafe Racer.

Jay sends in this excellent R100S

Your site is my morning coffee. Here is one of the few café I built.
 

Ducati Dirtbike Video... OUCH!

The former owner commentd on this beauty from an earlier post HERE and included this somewhat painful video. Great Stuff!


Death Valley on a Ducati from Joe Finn on Vimeo.

Reader Ride. Cool Ducati and Cool Story.

It's like the bike found the right buyer at just the right time!  sometime you find a bike and sometimes a bike finds you.
Brian Writes in:

Howdy,
First off I wanted to say I love your site. The bike porn you feature
always gives me inspiration. So much in fact that I finally get to
submit my ride and story!
I looked for a vintage Ducati for years here locally in Seattle. Last
year one finally turned up, a 75 860 GT. The price was REALLY right and
local so I immediately wrote the guy thinking either the bike was gone
or something as it was simply too good to be true. The ad stated a box
of parts and all documentation going back to the 70s came with it. I
went out to see it, and indeed it was all true. Bought it right then and
there. Took it home and started doing some research. It was cafed pretty
early on in it's life. I saw in a DIOC newsletter index the story of a
cafed 860, turned to the page, and saw my bike! Looking exactly as it
looked then, except for a few new additions.
I am actually taking it back to stock now but thought it would be a neat
story to post up on your site. How it got from California to Seattle is
a mystery. Fantastic bike to ride and sounds like a terror with the
authentic Conti pipes!
Cheers,
Bryan
 
Outstanding!  Thanks Bryan!

Reader Ride. A Pair Of Great of Great Yamaha's From A Confrssed XT Junkie!

Paul Hutchins Writes in:

Swerved into your site and thought you might post my Big Wheel photos.

I have a almost pathological interest in the 500 Yam and recently sold most of my examples of this great cult classic. My street ride was this SR custom, White Bros. 540cc motor, high lift cam, 38mm carb, with Omar's bodywork. I also restored this 1976 XT, the first ever model in the States, it was mint original and brought a similar price from a collector in Sydney, Australia. The TT is a dirtracker that was once on the street, it is now an ice racer in Michigan.

Thanks, Paul Hutchins

Reader ride. Really Great BSA Custom From Dogtown Cycles!

Man oh man! These old Japanese and British Hardtails are really starting to grow on me.

Love the article in the Spanish mag - my bike is top of the page!!!  The only thing I could translate was "addictive blog" - it is!  My go to site while having coffee in the morning....  Keep up the good work.   Cheers!

My pleasure! Keep up the great builds!

Reader Submittal. A really Great Home Grown Honda Bobber!

I saw the pics of the finished bike over on ADV Rider and knew there had to be a good story behind such a cool build. So I pm'd the owner to see if he's be interested in sharing a few details and I was not disappointed!. Thank You John! There's a lot of personal touches and one-off parts in this one. It's obvious that you've put some time into it. Thanks Again!

John Writes in:

Hey Steve,
I would be happy to share some info on the bobber I posted on advrider.  It started out as a 1974 CB750 which was hardtailed and tranformed into the bike you saw.  I have been working on it for 2 years it is almost done. I just need to finish dialing in the carbs.  It has been a pain since I use straight pipes and a open air intake.  Everything on the bike that is custom I built.  I do my own powder coating, except for frames since my oven is not that big.  I tryed to go with a minimalistic, clean, old school approach.  I am happy you like it.  If you have any other questions or want to see any other pics (I have a ton) let me know.
John

Here's the Before and Build pics. That's quite a save!

Reader Ride. A mercy purchase leads to a cool Cafe...

Keith Montgomery writes in:

To me a bike that doesn't need to be worked on or"fixed up" is of no use.
I bought this one from a guy whose house burned and the bike was kinda sitting out in the drive for a long time. I was visiting my friends shop,  Monster M4 Suzuki one day and I stopped and left a card with my name on it for the owner to call  if it was for sale.
Sixty dollars later it was sittin in the garage. now what I thought. it was a total junk yard dog. There was decent compression so it HAD to run, right?
The points had been clubbed to death with a dull hatchet but what the heck.  Thanks to my cost+10 deal I have at a friends shop/salvage yard it was sparken.  About 40 dollars worth of cleaning supplies and a LARGE hand full of quarters fed into the car wash it was clean enough to actually start screwin with.  Tapered steering stem bearings, a doner battery, a seat unit and an OLD pair of clubmans I had been saving for 20 years, this and that I scrounged from my goodies and a few pieces from the salvage yard...
I stripped the tank and sealed it with the very effective Caswell tank sealer, fixed a leaky petcock, re-jetted the cleaned carbs to suit the pod filters, new tires/chain cog, a little front brake mod to get in the vicinity of actually slowing down, tilted the pipe up to my likink and cut the end of the cannister to reveal the"reverse megaphone" hidden inside and a bit of elbow grease...it actually rides quiet nice.  If i didn't need the money I'd wanna keep it. I get attached to bikes that need love....

Thanks Much Keith! I hear ya on all of it.  I love to save lost causes.   Just my 2 cents here but you should hang on to it.  Get a pair of rearsets on there and a spend a little more time on the details and I bet you'd never want to sell it.  You've already done the hard parts. Go take a look at Wrenchmonkees. Those guys would have that thing in a private collection without too much effort. I'd think hard about it before letting it go.  Thanks again!

Reader Submittal. SR 500 Custom Rebuild

It there anything you can't do with these thumpers?  From Frank Naaykens Speed Dealer customs Joplin,mo.

Reader Ride. 1983 KZ1000 R2.

Chuck Margiott Writes in:

Hello, Just sending you a photo of my bike. Just took it out of storage from 13 years ago. It looked like this when I put it away It is a 1983 KZ1000R2

www.kz1000r.com for bike of the months photos.

You've got a GREAT storage room there Chuck!  Thanks for the pics!

Another Briggs and Stratton Bobber from... Bob.

The build sheet:

Specifications For Black Briggs Bobber
Frame---------------------------Probably nos aftermarket hardtail from the 60s
Wheelbase---------------------58 in.
Rims-----------------------------18 x 2.15
Tires-----------------------------18 x 4
Hubs-----------------------------Honda 350
Brakes--------------------------Drum
Swept Area--------------------56.5 sq. in.
Brakes Loaded----------------8.8 lbs. per sq. in.
Curb Weight-------------------300 lbs. / 200 lb. rider - 500lbs.
Fork-----------------------------Homemade
Rake----------------------------25 degrees
Trail-----------------------------3 in.
Suspension--------------------Leaf spring over leading rocker
Floorboards-------------------24 in. Wide and 8 in. clearance
Lean----------------------------35 degrees
Ground Clearance-----------6 in.
Axle to Ground---------------13 in.
Crankshaft to Ground-------11.75 in.
Handlebars--------------------Lowrise buckhorns 31 in. wide with 5 in. rise on 3.5 in. dogbone risers
Grips---------------------------Anderson style
Engine-------------------------V twin ohv Briggs and Stratton
Displacement-----------------34.75 cu. in. / 570 cu. cent.
Bore----------------------------2.83
Stroke--------------------------2.76
HP------------------------------18 @ 3600 rpm
Torque-------------------------30 ft. lbs. @ 2400 rpm
Exhaust------------------------two into one header 1.75 in. auto
Drive Train--------------------comet ind torque converter
Drive Clutch-------------------44 c magnum
TQ Overall Ratio-------------2.43 to 1
Final Drive---------------------428 chain sprockets/ 15t into 60t for 4 to 1 ratio
Speed--------------------------70 mph @ 3600 rpm
Frame Geometry-------------Cloned from Indian 101 Scout
Steering Geometry-----------Cloned from Indian 101 Scout

Reader Ride. A Triumph Scrambler In It's "Native" Environment

If I had half a brain I'd go buy one of these and never look back. Nice to see one being used correctly!

Thanks to Jamie LaMent for this beauty!

Reader Ride! Amazing Wanderlust Pics! 16,000 Mile Trip on 1978 KZ1000!

The ride of a lifetime and proof that you don't need a $20,000 specialty motorcycle to go on a real adventure.

Vic Wilkens writes in:

Hello,
I'm a fan of your awesome blog. Thought I'd share a few photos from my recent 16,000 mile trip through the United States. Pictured is my '78 KZ1000 that carried too much stuff, and took more than her share of abuse. (you may notice the tach is missing) Keep up the good posts, love the variety.
- Vic

Thanks For sharing these Vic! Great Stuff!