1973 Yamaha DT 360

This was a fun small job that I did for the guy who bought my Triumph Street Triple R (which I now regret selling!). He is doing a cafe style semi-restoration on the 360 and so we needed to paint the bodywork. We picked a good classic/retro color scheme of Read more…

Hejira Update- 7

Well, the paint is all finished on the cafe style bodywork. It really looks great. I’m looking forward to seeing them on the bike. We still have a set of full race fairings to paint that will be used with the same tank and tail. So, they will also be Read more…

Hejira Update- 6

Here are a few pictures of the progress- the red is on and the graphics are on. The Hejira decals that Tapeworks.com made for me are far better than the original that we had to scan and work off of. It is going to look great. The red/white/gold is a Read more…

Hejira Update- 5

A few pictures as I get ready to put the red on… here are the parts with the panels taped up- so, what is under the tape is the polar white we sprayed on a few days ago. Laying out and striping panels is pretty time consuming. Lots of hours Read more…

Hejira Update- 4

We’ve made some good progress- after some final sanding and finishing, the epoxy primer was applied and then we went back and touched up some areas with spot filler and block sanded everything. One of the biggest decisions to make on a 50 year old bike that has a hand Read more…

Hejira Update- 2

The upper and all the fiberglass is media blasted and as you can see in pretty tough shape. The upper has been patched together in a previous life and all the edges, corners and gel coat are very nicked, chipped, etc. I’ve laid new glass in certain areas to reinforce Read more…

Motorcycle vs. deer

This happened during a closed course rally in W. Virginia. The dude was pretty tough to get right back on the bike and continue the race. Deer are a huge problem for motorcyclists who ride on rural roads. I’ve almost hit a couple here in Georgia and I’ll admit, the Read more…

New BMW R 1200 GS Triple Black

From BMW’s press release… I guess everyone is getting in on the Harley 48 look. Honestly, I don’t think the 1200 GS lends itself to this scheme all that well. But, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Coming Soon… 2011 BMW R 1200 GS Triple Black Woodcliff Lake, Read more…

Can Am Project- Part 6

Today we install the graphics and clear coat everything. These are big decals and hard to get on straight but if you take your time and use the wet application method, you can get them on straight with no bubbles. It is always fun to see what the parts look Read more…

Can Am Project- Part 5

The next step in the Can Am project was spraying on the white base coat. We spent a fair amount of time getting the shade of white exactly how we wanted it. The white on these old bikes is really more of a cream. You really can’t tell unless you Read more…

Can Am Project- Part 4

After lots of hand sanding and cleaning, we are ready to prime the parts. I always use an epoxy primer to seal the surface. This works equally well on metal (like the aluminum tank) and fiberglass/plastic. If needed, you can do some light sanding or scuffing with a scotch-brite pad Read more…

Can Am Project- Part 3

Next we need to do a little body work and filling. The front nose cone fairing used to have a removable number plate panel that could come off to uncover the headlight if it was installed. Since the bike will never be on the street, we decided to use a Read more…

Can Am Project- Part 2

This bike was never used as a dirt bike- it was converted into a cafe racer from day one. So the bodywork reflects that. It is also old and had what seemed like dozens of layers of paint on it that had to be sanded off. Sanding stuff like this Read more…

1975 Can Am 250 Project

Just a quick post so you can see the custom made aluminum gas tank. A few days ago, I posted the picture of the old fiberglass tank that was really beyond repair. This new tank is a beautiful reproduction and matches the shape of the old tank nicely. We found Read more…

Ducati at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb

From Ducati- Follow the action on their blog page. Ducati returns to the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb for an encore performance on June 27. The weapons of choice – a pair of all-new 2010 Multistrada 1200s! Partnering with Spider Grips, Ducati is fielding a two bike team, piloted by Read more…

SL 350 Restoration- Primer

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…

Welcome to the new site

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…

Dianese Motorcycle Airbag System

Very cool… as technology continues to improve and manufacturing becomes cheaper, the ability to ride more safely will increase significantly. Honda already has an airbag system for the Goldwing, but that of course wouldn’t help sportbikes or naked/streetfighter style bikes. I do have to say that the test rider is Read more…