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!

Excellent RZ/RD350 YPVS Conversion

LOTS of tasty upgrades on this beauty..

Ex Barry sheen Racer 1980 Yamaha Yamaha TZ 500 on E-bay. If I had $60,000 I'd buy this bike.

Ex Barry Sheen Racebike now on E-bay.  And I believe the subject of the very first post on this very blog.

First Generation Kawasaki H1

Still my favorite.

Totally Sick! RZ500/R6 Hybrid. Too good not to share. Cross-post From The 2-Stroke Board.

You hear about bikes like this in lots of conversations.... "wouldn't it be cool to put engine X in chassis Y"..  Well someone REALLY did it.  More on the project over on BARF

"Current generation Yamaha R6 chassis with Ohlins forks and shock, Brembo brakes, forged wheels, and aluminum subframe. Engine swap with Yamaha RD500 (aka RZ500 aka RZv500) V4 twin-crank two-stroke. Handmade expansion chambers with carbon fiber silencers. Mikuni flatslide carbs."

Crossover post from the 2-stroke blog. Konig Racer. Really interesting engine cinfiguration.

this is a crossover post from the 2 stroke blog. I just did a cut and paste so i's complete with updates from the readers. A really interesting bike and story.

Second Update: I've got the smartest readers on the web!

Lawrence wrote in:


A documentary about motor-racer Kim Newcombe, who turned heads in the 70s on a König motorbike he developed and designed himself. He was killed racing in 1973 and posthumously came second in that year's World 500cc Grand Prix. The film mixes interviews and underdog triumph on the track scenes, with Super 8 footage of family life on the circuit, and poignant wife-of-maverick reflections from his widow Janeen. Love, Speed and Loss won best documentary at the 2007 Qantas TV Awards and Air NZ Screen Awards for best documentary, directing, and editing.
http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/love-speed-and-loss-2007


Also:
http://www.fasterandfaster.net/2010/01/love-speed-and-loss-remembering-kim.html

Thanks Again!  You guys are the best!

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Update from the comments:
Hi,
it is not a twin engine. It is a 4 cylinder engine. Originally a motorboat engine.
Cheers Uwe

I suspected that it might be but it was hard to be certain from the camera angle. thank you for clearing that up! Makes it all the more interesting!

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A liquid cooled opposed four cylinder with a gear driven, toothed belt rotary valve intake intake setup. Interesting stuff.

Update: Reader Ride. Another cross-over post from the 2 stroke board.

I know I've been cross posting from the other blog quite a bit lately but the 2-stroke pics I've been getting are just amazing!  Morgan Price sends in this amazing build.... Kawasaki / GSXR based radical 2-stroke fighter in progress.

For those of you interested in the building of this bike here is a link to the build thread I just stumbled across.  It's even more impressive than I thought.

 http://kawaportal.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2655&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

Reader Ride. Sweet Lambretta

Braam Nell from Brazil sends in this sweet little Lambretta.


He Writes:
I know I know I’m not bring the classic racer heat that you normally show on the site but Scooters are bikes too and here is my 62 Lambretta Li 150 Brazil Spec , which I have been spending some time on the last Year or so..She’s my commute to work 2 or three times a week , so runs beautifully!

Keep up the amazing inspiration, oh and I’m holding you fully responsible if I buy a Triumph Scrambler in the next 2 months!!

Ha! Sorry, I can't help you with that Triumph.   It's a mystery to me that I've held out this long.

Reader Ride (crossover from the 2-stroke site). A Fairly Radical Kawasaki H2 Cafe Beast!

Boots is a legend in the 2-stroke world.  He writes in with pics of his latest:

Hi Steve,
Thanks for such a great web site. You've highlighted some of the best
of the 2 wheeled world.
Good on ya!!
I'd like to present the 1973 H2 750 that I call my "UCR" (Ultimate
Cafe Racer). It's highly modified and the details can be read at
www.bootstriples.com .
This is it's 4th, and final, reincarnation.
I roadraced triples during the late 70's through the early 80's. This
is the bike I wished I had then!!
Ride safe and have fun.
cheers
Boots Langley

Reader Ride. Cross-over from the 2-stroke board. Custom RZ350.

Reader Ride... Old School CZ from the Czech Republic!

James From Czechoslovak sends in his oldschool  CZ 175 1962 dirtbike.

He writes in:
Hi, my name is James and I come from the Czech Republic. I love old bikes and retro style. I prefer motorcycles manufactured in Czechoslovakia (Jawa, CZ). I really like your site. Every day, like watching pictures of bikes all over the world. I decided to also donate their bike. Not original, but built of scrap to ride the terrain around my home.

This is my CZ 175 Type 450 of 1962, adjusted for oldschool dirt bike. He has lots of adjustments for off-road driving. The engine has increased power from 10hp to 15hp, weight is + / - 100kg .

I love the old Jawa/CZ.  Some of the best looking engines built and they go like mad!  Still miss my old CZ250 dirtbike.  Scary scary motorcycle but oh so fun!

Radical RD350 Custom From India.

I'm cross-posting this over from the 2-stroke blog.

Te-a Writes in:

Hello, My Names is Te-a, I'm from the far north east corner of India, in the city of Aizawl, Mizoram. We are a huge fan of your blog, keep it up. Heres a couple of pictures of a custom RD350, done by my brother Muansanga MSX. The frame is stock, rear suspension is from a 150cc 4-stroke Yamaha R15, tail cowling fabricated, wheels are 17-inchers from R15, 120/80 rear tire with a 100/80 front. Engine is completely rebuilt from scratch, with a stage 1 porting job with a custom built MSX expansion chamber. Custom painted by yours trully. Hope you like it. Thanks.


(My blog - www.mizobiker.blogspot.com)

Thanks very much for sending this in. I love getting bikes from other parts of the world. Especially customs. I enjoy seeing what other people are doing to their bikes. It's inspiring and it opens up the possibilities. Te-a's paint work is simply fantastic. Check out his blog new blog for more examples.

Sweet 2-Stroke Cafe... Yamaha RD350

This is a cross-post from my 2-stroke board. Just too cool.  Yamaha RD350 Cafe Racer.  Beautiful lines.

Beautiful!  More Here

Psychotic 2-stroke KX500 Street Fighter

I love the pipe routing. This thing must be dangerous!

The Very Rare Honda ELF - ROC 500cc 2 Stroke Racebike.

A bit more on these bike HERE

Update 3: Wicked Little 2-Stroke Yamaha Tracker-Bobber

Moving this to the top for a bit since so many folks had questions about it.

Update 3:  Found the build thread!  An alert reader over on ADV rider found the build thread on this bike. A lot of folks have been asking for more info so here you go!

http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=12857.0


From the comments (Thanks SakeRacer).  More info Here: http://www.pipeburn.com/home/2010/9/9/1973-yamaha-rd250-street-tracker.html

Sorry to Pipeburn. I didn't realize it originated on their site. TONS of great stuff over there so check them out often.

My observant commentors make some good points about the classification of this bike. Tracker of Bobber? I see a lot of elements of both styles here and to be honest I'm not crazy about pigeon holing bikes all that much so lets call it a tracker-bobber. Whatever you call it it's still freaking cool!

That's got backroad fun written all over it.

Cool Suzuki 750 2 Stroke Replica Build Pics. WithBonus Video!

You can see more here.  All in french though.