The ABCs of AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days

FROM

 

There are many, many reasons we attend AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. The bikes, the swap meet, the racing and the overall atmosphere created by motorcycle enthusiasts is an experience we don’t wanna miss. We were fortunate to have worked with the good folks at the American Motorcyclist Association to help convey the vibe of VMD (see the video at the end of the post). After going through our pics, here’s an alphabetical and photographic rundown of why we love attending this event.

And, if you haven’t seen it yet, here’s a vid we put together to give you a taste of the sights and sounds of VMD:

Honda CB750 Named Motorcycle of the Century by Motorcyclist Magazine

Motorcyclist Magazine is celebrating their 100th anniversary and they thought it would be appropriate to choose a "Motorcycle of the Century," which turns out to be the 1969 Honda CB750. They call it the bike that changed everything, which is exactly what I said, several years ago. Good choice.

There are lots of memorable motorcycles that created waves over the years, many people have their own favorites, but it was the Honda CB750 that rearranged the entire motorcycle market as soon as it came out. They offered comfort, reliability and performance, all combined into a single package at a great price. Competitors stood there, slack-jawed, as they watched their own product mix get stale overnight. I wrote about the dramatic transition of the Harley Sportster fromperformance king to bar hopper and Harley's decision to immediately forfeit the performance title, pretty much without a fight. Kawasaki responded with the Z1 and the market took off, but it was the CB750 that made it happen.

In recent weeks the price of pristine early CB750s has been moving up rapidly, probably helped a bit as word of the magazine's choice got out, but the Honda has always been a great bike to own and ride and if you have the room, it's a good one to put in the garage along with anything else you might have. The aura seems to have transferred to other classic bikes of the period, too, and quite a few models are selling at a premium to what they were bringing only a short time ago. They've been once again identified as "collectible" and money is rolling in, trying to find the next big thing in an otherwise stagnant market. I had a few things to say on the subject some years back and it's worth thinking about again.

So, congratulations to Motorcyclist magazine for 100 years and congratulations to Honda, too, for the CB750, the bike that changed everything.

by PAUL CROWE from thekneeslider.com

IN 2013 : ...... SCRAM Africa !

2013 !!! on the road again !!!!

COOL : Honda Monkey #1 by GCraft

Foto: GCraft With Racing Café

TRIUMPH T120 BOBBER

These days, you don’t often see hardtails getting thrashed around dirt tracks. But this Triumph T120-based machine is not only a daily rider, but also throws up rooster tails on a regular basis.

The bike is owned by a French BMX rider who now runs a surf-and-moto shop in Toulouse. Christophe wanted a hardtail Triumph bobber and was looking towards the USA for the build. Then Vincent Prat of Southsiders MC intervened, and suggested that the bike could be built in France.

In short order, the motor, forks and hubs were sourced from a Triumph T120. After a rebuild by French engine guru Henri Lao Martinez, local custom builder Momo installed the motor into a frame fabricated by Factory Metal Works in the USA.

Everything else extraneous was stripped from the bike, and as befits a machine built for “go”, the rubber is eminently practical: Dunlop K70s on 18” and 19” rims.

Head over to the Southsiders MC site to see more glorious images, including the Triumph in action.

Photography © Guerry & Prat Images.

from bikeexif.com

YAMAHA XS400 BY HOLD FAST MOTORS

The Yamaha XS400 is a hell of a motorcycle, it was first released in 1977 and it came pre-fitted with luxuries like adjustable rear shock absorbers, self-cancelling turn signals and an automatic petcock. The punchy 392cc parallel twin produces 36hp and feeds that to the rear wheel via a 6-speed transmission and chain drive.

This particular XS400 was built by Andy Hull over at Hold Fast Motors, Andy found the bike for sale by a farmer who’d been letting his kids play on it and as a result, it looked like it’d been picked up and tossed around by an F5.

He decided to strip the bike back to its constituent parts and rebuilt it from scratch, the engine needed a thorough going over. He wanted to give the bike a little additional ground clearance so he moved the rear shock mounts down a few inches, he then added a set of vintage motocross handlebars and a minimalist tachometer above the headlight.

The finished bike was then handed over to the talented pinstripper Jeremy Pedersen of Relic Kustoms, he added some tasteful pinstripes and the Hold Fast Motors logo on the side of the tank. That handsome leather battery surround was handmade by Nick Pedersen, it adds a nice warm tone to the colour scheme and eliminates the unsightly clutter often caused by the electrics.

You can visit Hold Fast Motors here to see more of Andy’s work, we’ll be keeping an eye on him and will feature more of his work as it rolls out of the garage.

from SILODROME

HYOSUNG KARION '07

Spek Modifikasi :

• Body custom by STUDIO MOTOR Custom Bike
• Painting by KOMET STUDIO
• Velg depan 3.00X18 + Ban Shinko SR428 130/80-18
• Velg belakang 4.50X18 + Ban Shinko 180/80-14
• Upside Down Yamaha R6 2009
• Monoshock Ohlins Aprilia RSV-1000
• Master & Kaliper depan Tokico
• Cakram depan PSM
• Raiser stang custom
• Stang Pro Taper
• Lampu depan Aftermarket
• Lampu belakang & lampu sen Aftermarket
• Oil Cooler Satria F-150
• Karburator Keihin PE28
• Knalpot custom by Jet Hot

Salam,
STUDIO MOTOR Custom Bike

Harley-Davidson 'Redhot' Cross Bones by Roberto Rossi

from Twowheelsblog

The 2011 Harley-Davidson Softail Cross Bones (FLSTSB) is the last H-D model to come with a standard Springer front end which, in combination with the fat tires (130 mm at the front, 200 mm at the rear), provides this motorcycle with an image that’s quite reminiscent of the bobbers of the 50s. With that in mind, it is just logical to expect that the customizations of this model would just follow the same style.

Roberto Rossi, a customizer from the Italian town of Mantua, introduces his interpretation of this 2009 Cross Bones, aptly re-dubbed ‘Redhot Bones‘. The first relevant modification concerns the rear, where the 17×6 rim is replaced by a 16-inch one fitted with a 5-inch Firestone ANS tyre. The same tyre has been used for the front too.

Gone are the standard mudguards, though the one at the front comes back properly cut and polished. At the rear instead we get sheet metal shaped by hand to resemble the sporty tail of the Laverda 500 Formula, an old 500 cc racer that the now defunct Italian manufacturer introduced in 1978 to promote its own trophy. The rear section is enriched with fine leather courtesy of Connolly Luxury Leathergoods Limited, the same company that took care of the upholstery on the Rolls Royce Phantom II of the 1930s. The original fat bob tank got replaced with a classic 8-liter peanut one with electric pump, borrowed from a modern Forty-Eight and embellished with the graphics of the 1972 H-D XRTT racer. Nice fishtail exhaust tips complete the looks of this awesome special bike.

"Slotard" by Jesse Rooke Customs

Foto: rookecustoms.com
from Racing Café