I want to share my 1970 OSSA Pioneer 250 with your readers. I have owned it since new and have ridden it in enduros in Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont and Pennsylvania. I also desert raced it in Utah, but after restoring and upgrading the bike, I now show it.

I just showed it at the Quail Motorcycle Gathering in Carmel, Calif. It’s been rebuilt and upgraded with new shocks, sprockets, cables, a newly upholstered seat and many re-chromed parts. I replaced every nut and bolt possible. It has been a labor of love. It’s not completely stock, but it’s mine to please me. I am very proud of my OSSA Pioneer 250. I am a big champion of the defunct OSSA factory in Spain (discounting the use of the name by a new company in Italy). — James Noel/Alamo, Calif. 

Bruce’s lovely restored and customized Honda CB450. 

Rider: Bruce Cummings, Forest Grove, Ore.
Age: 51
Occupation: Branch manager, Home Medical Services. Also runs Vintage Honda Service, a side business restoring and fixing Honda motorcycles.
Rides: 1973 Honda CB550, 1975 Honda TL250, 2005 Honda CRF250X, 2003 Harley-Davidson Night Train, 2006 Harley-Davidson Road King Custom

Bruce’s story: “I started riding at age 8 on a Honda Mini 50, and I’ve been a fan of the Honda brand ever since. Although I have owned a variety of motorcycles from Hodaka to Harley-Davidson, I have always had an affinity for Sixties and Seventies Honda street bikes. After refurbishing a 1965 CL160 and owning several CB500s and CB550s, I began looking for an early Seventies CB450 DOHC, a bike that was on my ‘bucket list’ to own and restore, as I was impressed by the racing technology in its dual overhead camshafts and torsion bar valve assembly.

“I found a complete Honda CB450 with only 5,000 miles showing on the odometer. The bike had been stored for about 20 years in a barn. The fuel tank had several dents and all of the paint was very faded. At some point a large amount of lacquer had been spilled on it from the handlebars downward and it crystallized into a unique substance that proved interesting to remove.

“Once the 450 was home I evaluated the engine to determine its health, and with a little proper tuning the engine ran surprisingly well. Its vital components checked out fine, and fortunately no major engine work needed to be done. After the initial overall inspection the 450 was stripped down to the frame in preparation for a complete restoration.

“Every component was inspected and either cleaned by hand for reinstallation or replaced with a NOS component; the end goal was to build a factory-looking café bike. There were compromises to originality by adding modern rear shocks, exhaust, tires and a drilled front disk brake rotor, as well as drag bars and a bar end mirror. I also changed the sprockets to reduce the rpm at freeway speeds. The beautiful paint work was completed by Precision Motorcycle Painting in South Bend, Ind. This was the only outsourced work. The 450 is a joy to ride and the small improvements with the modern equipment make the riding experience sportier than stock. Some next steps for this project are electronic ignition and Mikuni carburetors. Many thanks go out to Forest Grove Honda for access to all those NOS parts sitting on their shelf, and although I did almost all the work myself, this Honda CB450 bike project would not have been possible at all without the support of my lovely wife, Denice. Thank you!”

Thanks for the comprehensive explanation for the replacement of BMW pushrod seals (January/February 2013), an operation I have performed many times. One point that will help DIY owners to align seals correctly: each one has a raised line at its base. If set perfectly vertical on the tube when offered to the crankcase, this ensures the seal is in the correct position for insertion. If it twists either way, a poor seal could occur.

The article on the two Velocettes brought back fond memories of a 1962 350 Viper I owned while living in England, one that allegedly belonged to a Velocette employee when new. Timed at Thruxton during a Crazy Day, it pulled a genuine 90mph, the one and only time I ever rode it that fast. It would show many 500s a clean pair of heels and hold the road as if glued to it. It proved smoother and mechanically quieter than most of its contemporaries and would acquit itself well against a 350 Gold Star, and in some cases the 500.

I wonder what happened to 771 AJW, which I sold for a mere 400 pounds? A genuine, unmolested Velocette Viper, reliable to a fault, that showed sheer quality even after some years of use. Here it is in its original red/black livery as delivered from the factory. MC - R. James/Florida 

Rider: Rick Chalupsky, Antigo, Wisconson.

Age: 60 

Occupation: Retail

Rides: 1980 Kawasaki KZ650, 1983 Kawasaki KZ1100 LTD

Rick’s story: “I found this beautiful KZ650 when I was 56 years old, in June of 2009. I work retail and money is more often than not an issue, so I went on Craigslist hoping to trade for a Kawasaki project bike. After quite a few attempts I ran into a guy from Green Bay, Wis., (just 75 miles from me) looking for a good-quality digital camera. He was getting low-balled with offers for his KZ650. He was asking $1,500, so he agreed to trade with me for my nice-quality Olympus camera and some old stereo equipment. All I had were pictures of the bike, but I agreed to the deal. Since I had no way to get the bike home, he offered to bring it to me in his pickup for $10 gas! Well, he arrived, we made the exchange, and I ended up with a near-mint 1980 KZ650 with 4,500 original miles on it! With a clear title! At some point in its sheltered life it must have fallen over on its right side, because the points cover was scraped. I replaced it immediately with a NOS cover from eBay for $40. The right turn signal stem was broken and, get this, my local Kawasaki dealer had a brand new one on the shelf for $11.50! So now, 3-1/2 years later, I’m sitting on a near-mint KZ. It’s garaged right now, and I think the mileage is 5,800 miles, so I still need to break her in a little bit. It’s a trade-off between racking up the miles or keeping it as a low-mileage original. But I have a 1983 KZ1100 LTD with 20,000 miles that I’ve had longer that lets me decide my riding options. I’ve taken the KZ1100 on a road trip to Des Moines, Iowa, more than 1,000 miles round trip, and the only problem I had was a severe case of sunburn. I’m still looking for a project bike!” MC 

Reader Al Tellis and his 1967 Ducati Bronco 125, which he restored himself about 2 years ago. 

In the mid 1960s, I worked as a mechanic at Salem’s Motorcycle Headquarters in Phoenix, Ariz. We were a Zundapp, Ducati, Sachs and Norton dealer and were supplied by ZDS Motors’ Bob Blair. I knew Mr. Blair through our shop and I talked with him several times, both at our shop in Phoenix and at his business in California. 

Our shop had built and raced a very fast 250 Ducati, dubbed the “Peppermint Stick.” It was very successful on the race tracks in Phoenix and Tucson, even beating Jim Hunter on his BSA Gold Star at a Sweepstakes race in Tucson. Bob helped and encouraged us with that endeavor. He saw our work and professionalism and asked us to build a mini-bike for his son, Steve. He sent us a new Ducati Bronco as a starting place. We modified it to fit Steve and it turned out really cool.

When the P-11 first came out, I bought one immediately and enjoyed the ride all the time I had it. In 1966/1967, Mr. Blair sent us a new Norton P-11 to prepare for an up-and-coming daredevil named Evel Knievel. One evening after working on Evel’s bike we were just getting ready to head to the local pub, the Red Door, and I asked Evel if he wanted to join us for a drink. He asked me directions on how to get there, and I told him to go west on Indian School Road to Seventh Avenue, then turn right and cross the bridge over the canal, and the pub would be on the left. All he said was, “How wide is the canal?” He never showed up that night.

Restoration of a Triumph T20M Cub was Andy Granovsky’s most challenging project to date. 

I just bought your November/December 2012 issue and had to write you. I have a 1966 Triumph T20M Cub that I got a few years ago and finally got around to restoring. It turned out to be more expensive and time-consuming than my 1969 Bonneville or my 1969 TR6C Trophy. I’m still working on the tuning. It turns out to have a Harmon-Collins street/drag cam with way more valve overlap then the Triumph R sports cam and a 10.5:1 piston. It is the hardest-starting bike I’ve ever had! It looks so innocent.

I also own a 1971 BMW R75/5 that I restored 15 years ago. I installed R90/6 cylinders and heads, and a 5-speed transmission. It is the perfect weekend cruiser. — Andy Granovsky/via email 

Chris' 1974 Honda CB450K7 before restoration. 

Rider: Chris Malcolm, Winston-Salem, N.C.
Age: 52
Occupation: Truck driver
Rides: 1974 Honda CB450K7, 1974 Hodaka Super Combat, 1974 Yamaha TX750, 1975 Yamaha MX100, 1980 Honda CB750

Chris’ story: “As a former Honda mechanic back in the day, I am always looking for project bikes to restore. I had been trying to purchase this 1974 CB450K7 from a friend of mine for several years. He finally relented just before Christmas two years ago. It was in worse shape than I expected. It had been sitting for 25 years or more. Although most of the bike was there, a lot of it was not able to be used. 

“I wanted to restore a CB450 after seeing the article in your magazine about the bike that Charlie O’Hanlon of Charlie’s Place had done. I spent many, many hours searching for parts, and I found them all over the world. The funniest parts story is the six-hour drive I made to buy a bunch of CB450 parts, and when I got them home the only thing in the huge box of stuff that I could use was a handlebar mount that I could have gotten shipped to my door for $10. But that’s all part of the fun.

“I spent about 23 months doing this restoration, working in my free time. There were times when I didn’t do anything on it for weeks at a time, but I was always looking for parts or thinking about my next step. The only parts I had chromed were the exhaust flanges. I did all the work with the exception of the paint and body work, which was done by Dinks Paint & Body in Yadkinville, N.C., and the cylinder head was completely redone by Charlie’s Place, who also provided me with an electronic ignition that works perfectly.

“I did change the color of the bike, as I didn’t really care for the color of the 1974 CB450. I liked the red and gold on the bike in your magazine, so I actually took my copy of the magazine to my body guy and told him to match it. As for the rest of the bike, I just tried to make each and every single part as nice as I could. If it takes a week for a single part, no problem. If it takes a month, no big deal. The bike purrs like a kitten and rides great, too. When the weather warms up and dries out I plan on putting some miles on her. A website I found recently, Hondatwins.net, has a scavenger hunt I intend to participate in. I’m looking forward to that.

“My next bike, which I’ve already started, is a Yamaha 175 Enduro that I’m doing for a good friend. When he brought the bike to me from Pennsylvania, I asked him what he wanted me to do with the bike as far as the restoration and he said, ‘Just get it running.’ Then I showed him the article about Joe Rankin’s ‘Dumpster Diving’ Yamaha 175 in your July/August 2012 issue. He said ‘Build me that!’ So, that’s what I’m doing. Wish me luck! Joe did a beautiful job on that bike, as did Charlie on his CB450.”