Restoration / Technical
Restoration and Technical features simple how-to tips as well as complete overhaul procedures. R&T also feature resource lists and motorcycle specifications.
8/12/2010 10:47:03 AM
A closer look at the Then Came Bronson Sporster and Don Collins' custom replica built from a 1974 Harley-Davidson Sportster.
8/12/2010 10:01:09 AM
Harleys may still be the kings of the modern custom crowd, but few bikes satisfy the creative fantasies of classic custom motorcycle builders better than the Yamaha XS650.
8/6/2010 4:06:00 PM
The Motorcycle Classics and Dairyland Cycle Insurance Custom Triumph Bonneville Build is finished!
6/28/2010 12:14:56 PM
I’m beginning the restoration (or “custovation” as I like to call it) of a 1972 Triumph T120V, which my Triumph enthusiast father gave me as a basket case last month. With no mechanical background besides Sundays at a local co-op motorcycle shop I'm committed and determined to build this bike from the ground up to the finest condition possible. None of this would have been possible if it weren’t for other motorcycle lovers passing the love of restoration down to me.
6/16/2010 3:35:15 PM
As part of our Motorcycle Classics/Dairyland Cycle Insurance Bonneville Build, we knew from the beginning we'd want to do something with our 2010 Triumph Bonneville's stock instrument panel. While the stock setup is perfectly functional if even somewhat minimalist, it’s not minimalist enough for what we’re going for with our bobberized Bonneville. An integral element of our project was/is to alter the Bonneville's tallish stance and morph it into something low and lean. The stock gauge setup sits proud of the handlebars and angles back. That arrangement works fine for the stock Bonneville with its upright riding stance, but it wasn't going to cut it with our bike. Enter Seth Bernstein at D9 Brackets.
6/8/2010 11:10:24 AM
The 1971 Triumph Bonneville was responsible for Triumph missing that year’s U.S. sales season, and it just about bankrupted the company. So how did South African tuner and racer Nev Fisher turn this Ugly Betty into a custom Triumph beauty queen?
6/8/2010 10:59:43 AM
Rene Waters' love of café racer bikes led him to purchase a beat up 1978 Ducati 900GTS and turn it into a beautiful custom Ducati motorcycle.
6/7/2010 1:00:30 PM
The latest videos from Motorcycle Classics.
6/2/2010 2:00:29 PM
The Motorcycle Classics and Dairyland Cycle Insurance custom Triumph Bonneville build takes shape.
3/31/2010 11:31:26 AM
Motorcycle Classics and Dairyland Cycle Insurance team up to craft a modern take on a custom classic — the bobber.
3/31/2010 10:17:36 AM
Modern performance with Race Tech cartridge emulators and shocks.
3/30/2010 10:26:56 AM
Test bed for the Black Shadow and the immortal Black Lightning, Gunga Din, the most famous Vincent of all time, has finally been restored.
2/16/2010 10:03:33 AM
You don’t have to be a pro to get great results when covering your motorcycle seat.
2/8/2010 10:24:29 AM
While most of us might not have the skills to rebuild an engine or transmission, reupholstering a motorcycle seat cover is a project within reach of the average Do-It-Yourselfer.
12/21/2009 12:54:50 PM
New fixes for old BMWs.
12/2/2009 1:57:02 PM
The BikeBandit.com/Motorcycle Classics 1973 Honda CB500 is done – and one lucky reader is taking it home!
10/27/2009 9:56:42 AM
If you’ve been lucky enough to be exposed to classic motorcycles for any length of time, particularly classic European motorcycles, you’ve probably come across some of the books written by Ian Falloon. An internationally recognized authority on motorcycles, Falloon writes for magazines around the world. Although he trained at one time to be a symphony oboist, that career was derailed following a motorcycle accident. Rough for him, but good for the rest of us, who have benefitted greatly over the years from his change in career.
10/19/2009 2:34:37 PM
Our 1973 Honda CB500 Four BikeBandit.com/Motorcycle Classics Project Café has a new owner! We set up a sweepstakes for the bike, and drew the winning name on Saturday, Oct. 10, at the 5th Annual Barber Vintage Festival. And the winner is … drum roll please … Dennis Picken of Omaha, Nebraska! “I suppose everybody says this, but I’ve never won anything in my life,” Dennis told us when we called him. “I’m just shocked. I’m really excited, the pictures I’ve seen are really exciting.”
10/14/2009 3:02:13 PM
If you’re old Honda has spent any time in the sun, it’s a pretty good bet the speedometer and tachometer face plates are cracked and faded. Thirty-some odd years out in the elements will do that to a bike. The good news is, you can make those face plates look like new – or give them a personalized look – and it’s not as hard as you think.
10/8/2009 11:39:05 AM
A few months ago, it looked like we had all the time in the world to put our 1973 Honda CB500 back together for the 5th Annual Barber Vintage Festival on Oct. 10. Suddenly, the festival’s right around the corner, and we’re scrambling to get our café-d Honda up and running.
10/1/2009 12:01:44 PM
Got an old bike with tired front forks? Want to learn some of the secrets of suspension tuning? Join Motorcycle Classics and Race Tech Suspension’s Matt Wiley at 11a.m. on Saturday, October 10, at the 5th Annual Barber Vintage Festival for a guided tour on effective suspension upgrades.
8/21/2009 4:00:45 PM
Paul Zell likes classic British motorcycles. And like many aficionados of old British bikes, he believes they can sometimes stand a little improvement. Case in point: his 2005 custom Vincent motorcycle.
8/5/2009 4:50:02 PM
This rebuild came about as part of Project Café, the 1973 Honda CB500 Four we’ve been morphing into a street café racer with help from BikeBandit.com. We covered rebuilding the brake caliper in the September/October 2009 issue, a project you can also find here on our website.
8/3/2009 1:09:36 PM
How do you like your old Indian motorcycles – restored to concours condition or in their work clothes showing the wear and tear of a hard life?
7/31/2009 2:19:29 PM
Rebuilding the front brake caliper and installing new brake pads.
7/27/2009 12:09:40 PM
Six months ago we turned the first wrench on our Triumph TR6C project, and it’s now finally drawing to a close.
7/23/2009 4:05:39 PM
Blame a long, cold winter, but progress on our 1971 Triumph TR6C moved at a glacial pace after our last report in the March/April issue. But with spring’s welcomed arrival, we finally had a chance to get back into the shop and make some headway. And as the pics show, our project bike is starting to come together.
6/4/2009 3:37:37 PM
This month, we chose two “How-To” projects: upgrading to tapered steering head bearings and installing our fancy new rear swingarm bushings.
4/6/2009 12:00:43 PM
We install a Works Performance Steel Tracker TRS on a 1991 BMW K100RS
3/26/2009 4:15:56 PM
A few years ago, while detailing my motorcycle after a long ride through Mexico, I noticed a broken rear wheel spoke. The dealer I subsequently visited told me that I had to buy a complete set of spokes, and that I most likely had two broken spokes (the one I noticed and one, the parts guy said, opposite it on the other side of the wheel). I was more than a little annoyed that I couldn’t buy a single spoke. I checked a couple of independent shops and heard the same thing: I needed to get the entire wheel relaced. I asked the shops if they did the work; all said they sent the wheel to a specialist. They all mentioned Buchanan’s Spoke and Rim, Inc.
3/24/2009 9:35:49 AM
Rebuilding the carburetors on the Motorcycle Classics Project Café 1973 Honda CB500 bike.
2/20/2009 3:11:17 PM
Keeping any classic machine on the road is a combination of who you know and what you know, and this is especially true in the BMW classic market.
2/11/2009 3:21:03 PM
As a general rule, motorcyclists have a higher than average understanding of what makes their machinery tick. For classic bike owners, part of the fun of owning older iron is the opportunity to learn more about their machines and how to keep them running. If you’re trying to sort out carburetion issues, a recent tech tip from the folks at Randakk’s Cycle Shakk will help guide you down the road to success – and get you back on the road.
2/4/2009 11:54:39 AM
Rebuilding the forks on the Motorcycle Classics Project Cafe 1973 Honda CB500 bike.
11/26/2008 5:22:12 PM
BikeBandit.com and Motorcycle Classics team up to turn a 1973 Honda CB500 into a café racer, and you could win it!
9/26/2008 2:56:19 PM
On Sept. 15, 2007, I celebrated 25 years of owning my Norton Commando. In that time the bike and I rolled through a litany of adventures and misadventures, our relationship sometimes harmonious, sometimes not.
9/8/2008 4:21:11 PM
I’m certain that there are many lists of motorcycle related pitfalls, humorous and painful, but these are all lessons that I have learned in person. Sometimes I have even had more than one lesson on the same topic!
8/26/2008 2:49:10 PM
It’s been a long year since we finished our last Motorcycle Classics build, transforming a 1971 Triumph TR6C from semi-derelict into a gleaming thing of beauty. Truth be told, our Triumph came out better than we could have hoped, and after the dust settled we planned to jump into our next build ASAP. Best intentions being, well, best intentions, the build we hoped to start months ago is just now coming together as we plunge into our next pseudo resto project, a 1973 Honda CB500 Four. A CB500? Is that a classic? Absolutely. CB500s are fab bikes, great to look at as well as to ride; although right now ours is fabulously ugly and only kind of running, as you can see in the video we shot and playing on our homepage right now.
3/26/2008 11:08:38 AM
Former BSA racer Kenny Eggers recaptures his racing past with his factory-restored Star Twin Racer.
2/6/2008 11:57:26 AM
The beefiest of Honda’s middleweights was the CB550 Four. A smooth, capable machine based on the CB750 introduced in 1969, it was decidedly old-school and hardly the machine to entice a new generation of riders. Enter the CX500.
7/18/2007 10:06:56 AM
Our long-term Royal Enfiled Bullet receives a host of performance and appearance upgrades.
7/11/2007 12:29:36 PM
City College of San Francisco is offering a motorcycle restoration class, and it has been very popular.
7/11/2007 11:45:15 AM
Restoring a 1959 Harley-Davdson XLH Sportster proves to be the perfect cure for one man's blues.
7/11/2007 11:09:08 AM
John Mossey Restorations is building new Egli-Vincent style motorcycles, and you can have one - for a price.
7/11/2007 11:04:06 AM
Larry Feese, Sr. and his team of original Indian Sport Scout racers.
7/11/2007 11:00:14 AM
We take a beat up and unloved 1971 Triumph TR6C Trophy Special and aim to get it back on the road.
7/11/2007 10:37:44 AM
Part two of our rebuild of a 1971 Triumph TR6C Trophy.
7/11/2007 10:01:32 AM
A list of suppliers and resources for classic BMW motorcycles.