I don't want to slow down the loading of the page, so I haven't included any thumbnail photos, but I've included a description and file size of each photo that is available.
COPYRIGHT STATEMENT: I'm retaining copyright to the photos that I've taken, though I don't mind people using them on their sites as long as I get attribution as the photographer (and a link to my site would be nice too). Copyright to photos taken by other people are retained by their respective copyright holders. I've attempted to abide by the "fair use" clause in the copyright laws. I've given attribution where available to the source of any photos that I didn't take. There are some photos from different publications, and while some of these publications are still in business others aren't. I'm not deriving any monetary benefit from these photos (in fact, it costs me to have them loaded on my ISP's server), and I have sincere doubts that my providing photos from publications of 25-40 years ago (especially defunct publications) is denying income to anyone. All photos are offered as a service to interested members of the motorcycling public. However, should someone who retains copyright to any photo that appears here object to the photo being made available, I'll remove the link to the photo upon request.
Here is a list (in order of appearance) of links to the different sections on this page. Please keep in mind that there is some cross-over between sections, so it might pay to look at everything just in case my method of classifying the photos doesn't quite match up with the way you would have dividied them.
Road and Roadracing Motorcycles
Michael Green (the east coast one) sent along this photo of Frank Camillieri on his TD1-B at Louden in 1969. Frank built frames for Yetman, and constructed the frame for Kevin Cameron's 350 Kawasaki Big Horn road racer. Frank at speed
John Strempfer sent me this photo. I don't have any details on his Ducati - the interesting thing is that the 175 Honda used to belong to my friend Henry Deaton, and went back east along with Henry's CR216 Honda racer. His 216 had a reinforced CB160 frame, unlike my 216 in the Seeley-style frame I built (and can be seen on the main graphics page in my section).
John Strempfer Honda 175 and Ducati single racers The Honda has an alloy Aermacchi tank and TD Yamaha seat. 2-1 pipe by Hanson Racing Technology of Chico, California
Ian Munro from Australia sent me these photos of the dry-clutch engine in his Honda CB77 roadracer - very nice work!
Lyn Garland of Vintage Specialties VINTSPCLTY@aol.com has very kindly provided me with copies of photos he shot at the Suzuka Circuit in Japan. He tells me these were taken in 1962 at the All Japan GP, which was used to qualify the course with the FIM for FIM GP use. This is the first of two sets of photos he sent me - I'll save the second group to put up a bit later
Alec Millett in Australia sent me this picture of a 500cc CB77 Honda built by the person who built his 250cc CB72 vintage racer. Alec told me: Find attached a picture of Mark Weiss' CB72 500(!). This particular bike won 13 State titles, an Australian Classic GP at Bathurst in 1988 and was a lap record holder at 6 tracks. Mark built my 250 CB72 which looks very similar except my tanks is fibreglass and it has megaphones. Oh yes - notice the sticker on the hand-formed alloy tank? 'Tingate Racing' - more of Rod Tingate's handiwork.
I met Bob Guynes in early October 1998. Bob used to race bikes with AFM in the 60s and then cars with SCCA for about 10 years after that. Ever see the movie "Das Boot" about the German U-boats in WWII? Bob made the big submarine models that were used in the film. Nowadays he likes to build road-racerish rolling sculptures, and here are a couple of examples. Bob does all his own welding/fiberglass and painting.
In late November Bob took me down to meet his friend Jim Reger. In his spare time Jim builds Honda XR100s for short track, and is working on this near-250cc CL175 Honda vintage road racer.
Two Yetman frames The upper photo shows a Ducati-single prototype, and I believe the lower drawing is a Honda CB77 frame. 60K jpeg file
Here are two vintage Hodaka advertisments:
Talk about TRICK! Here are some photos of a maximum Honda Cub 50cc racer from the July 1996 issue of the Japanese "Motorcyclist" magazine. Dry clutch, water cooling etc etc.
Karl Smolenski's web site documenting the construction of his AS50 Suzuki road racer http://kyalami.chess.cornell.edu/uscra/50ccstuff/SuzukiAS50.html
500 mile Brands Hatch production race action A photo from the 29 Apr 67 Motor Cycling shows Kevin Cass on the Suzuki X6 (third overall behind two 650 Triumphs!) leading Ken Watson on a 250 Ducati. 48K jpeg file
Brian Wooley's 50cc Yamaha road racer A photo from the 12 Nov Motor Cycling shows Brian Wooley's special framed and water-cooled Yamaha YF1 race bike. The bike had beaten the fastest Honda CR110s in England. 48K jpeg file
This set of photos are of my friend Peter's CR77, which is probably the only one in the world actually being raced (not just paraded). If you look closely you can see an extra motor mount lug on the front of the crankcase - this motor is actually a CR72 (now out to a 305cc bore) from the last batch of engines that had frames with dual downtubes running under the engine. Peter told me that many parts from this engine are different from his earlier engines - different problem areas in the early engines were fixed by the factory in this one. The yellow-coated areas of the engine are magnesium. Peter's shop wasn't very bright, so some of the shots may be slightly blurred from the slow shutter speed needed to compensate.
Here are some photos I took of the Honda 250/6 at Laguna Seca in 04/97. Instead of the complete bike they show details of the bike when partially disassembled while being worked on in the Team Obsolete pits.
Honda CR110 action shot R. J. Smith winning a 50cc race at Brands Hatch. From the 04/66 Motorcycle Sport 26K jpeg file
Factory blueprints for the Bridgestone 175 rotary valve twin From the 02/66 Cycle World 64K jpeg file
Drixton-framed Honda Hawk Marly Drixyl built this chassis with Baroni suspension and Fontana wheels. The frame is bronze welded, and the top of the steering head is only 24.62" high, with a seat height of 19.95". Photo from Carlo Perelli's "Report from Italy" in the 05/68 Cycle World 32K jpeg file
Honda CB77 with CYB race kit parts This is the early version of my friend Bill McLains CB77 road racer 32K jpeg file
Honda CB77 in GP trim This shot shows Bill's CB77 (sans fairing) after extensive chassis and engine modifications 29K jpeg file
Honda CL70 road racer This little 70cc Honda was built by Bill for a "tiddler" class at one of the tracks he raced at. 32K jpeg file
Suzuki GP twin This is a b&w picture of a Suzuki racer I obtained when I worked at a Suzuki dealership in the early 1970s. It was taken at the Venezuelan GP in 1967. I think the bike is a RK67, a 50cc watercooled twin cylinder bike. The pictures I have show the 125 with a much bigger front brake. Suzuki took the first three overall in the 50cc championship that year (Anscheidt, Katayama, Graham) with Itoh in 6th place. I would guess the rider in the picture is Katayama or Itoh. 70 jpeg file
Honda CR93 road bike Honda built a limited number of their DOHC 4v/cylinder 125cc twin production road racers in street trim. This one is thought to be a 1962 or 1963 model. My friend Peter Johnson (wiz welder/fabricator/machinist and Honda vintage road racer mega-fan) is lucky enough to have one in his collection of CR and RC race bikes. Note the dry clutch and Kei'hin smoothbore carburettors. 80K jpeg file
Yoshimura Honda CB77 road racer This bike was converted by Yoshimura in Japan, and later imported to the USA. It had an aluminum tank, seat and fairing, the Kei'hin CR carbs were from a CR72, and the front brake was from a factory four cylinder Honda RC of 125cc displacement . I bought the bike in this condition (sad) and later sold it to my friend Bill McLain. 62K jpeg file
Where to attach your CB77 oil cooler lines This shows the front of Bill McLain's CB77 race motor. Note the oil cooler plumbing, and the nice header clamps. 55K jpeg file
Honda S90 with heavily modified frame I got this picture from the July 1967 "Cycle" magazine. A friend of mine bought this bike from the original owner/builder (who took the picture), but didn't have a photo to supply for scanning. The bike had a H&C cam, 24mm Dell'Orto carb and a CB160 front drum brake. 54K jpeg file
Early Yoshimura brochure - front page This page shows some of the components Yoshimura made for CB72/77 Honda twins. 51K jpeg file
Early Yoshimura brochure - back page This page is the parts list for CB72/77 Honda twins. 41K jpeg file
Here are two paddock photos of a Linto 500 twin supplied by Dane Kurth.
In the 1980s Rocky Largent was inspired by Tony Foale's 350 Aermacchi racer to build a space frame for his Aermacchi street bike. The bike was built with the help of Dan Brunacardi and had a Lectron carb (converted to downdraft operation) and Astralite wheels. The photos were supplied by Hans Mellburg who recently sold the bike to an owner in Northern California.
These pictures were sent to me by Theo Jonkhart in Holland. The first two are of of the Italian Demm 50cc DOHC road racer. The 3 bikes/riders in a row is the winning line-up after the end of the 1957 250cc lightweight TT- held over 10 laps of the Clypse circuit at the island of Man. Winner left is CECIL SANDFORD on Mondial. On the far left In blue is works mechanis GIUSSEPPE PATTONI who later on in the sxties built hisown Paton racers. Right of Sandford is London motorcycle dealer Cabby Cooper. At centre 2nd placed LUIGI TAVERI on MV Agusta and at right the 3rd man ROBERTO COLOMBO on the same machine. At Taveri's right is motorcycle historian Erwin Tragatsch. The man with the cap to the right of Colombo is MV chief mechanic Arturo Magni.
The next 3 items came from an article on 50cc GP roadracers in the 28 June 1969 issue of Das Motorrad. They aren't all Italian bikes, but oh well . . .
Stuart Graham This international roadrace star (son of Les Graham) is pictured monowheeling a 250 Aermacchi at Caldwell Park in 1962. The picture is from an article by Dennis May in the 6 Dec 67 issue of Motor Cycle. 88K jpeg file
Gilera wins Mexican GP! An ad touting Gilera's sweeping the 125, 150 and 175cc classes at the Mexican GP. 91K jpeg file
Another set of photos from the July 1996 issue of the Japanese magazine "Motorcyclist" are of a Motom 98TS road racer. This OHC bike's chassis is very different from the mid-50s 98cc 98TS street bike, and this is the only time I've seen pictures of the roadracer.
Luca Guala sent me these scans of Bruno De Prato's Ducati racer. It has a "fubar" rear suspension and a fuel tank under the engine. This appeared in an Italian bike magazine.
Duncan Hardy in the UK sent me this picture. He wrote: "This came from the DOC GB magazine Desmo in 1988. As you can see the Dymoke frame is simple but effective. The bike itself proved uncompetitive. Although the builder Pete Thomas (in shot) regularly extracted over 100bhp out of a bevel drive he had a real problem keeping the crankcases in one piece! ISTR Dave Railton only campaigned it for a few races before moving on to something more reliable."
Tomas Tallqvist sent this picture of his friend Erik 'Ecca' Andersson in a serious powerslide on his Ducati single vintage racer - and he saved it! The physical viewing size of this is big enough that you may want to download it and bring it up in a graphics program to allow you to zoom out a bit. Erik Andersson Ducati single 45K jpeg file
Two Yetman frames The upper photo shows a Ducati-single prototype, and I believe the lower drawing is a Honda CB77 frame. 60K jpeg file
350 Ducati road racer I'm pretty sure this is Maury van Streefkirk's wide case Sportsman bike, taken at Sears Point. 45K jpeg file
At the August 3, 1997 race at Sears Point a fellow came up and sold me these three shots from the previous race. It looks like the massive speed of Harold's Ducati 250 made it difficult to get the bike and rider (me) fully in the frame.
Here are left and right side views of Harold Park's 1966 250 Ducati race bike. Harold has owned and raced the bike from new (he and his brother Dale were Ducati dealers then, and Dale is still the owner of BTF Motors in Livermore, CA, carrying Ducati/Husqvarna/Bimota/Moto Guzzi). Harold asked me to ride his bike for him while he recovered from some hand surgery, and after one race I've collected a 3rd place in the AFM 0-450cc Vintage class. Another AFM race is coming up in early August 1997, and the AHRMA Vintage National in late August.
My Ducati GT750 at the track The Ducati was my second race bike, and first 750 twin. I ran it in AMA Modified Production BOTT races. This was taken at an AMA national at Sears Point, where I took 5th place. Note the dual-linkage mechanical antidive on the front brake. 29K jpeg file
My GT750 on the track This shot shows me at an AMA national at Laguna Seca. 25K jpeg file
Two Ducs at Laguna Seca This shot shows Doc and me coming out of the last corner at Laguna Seca. I don't remember if I passed him. 31K jpeg file
Ducati 350 road racer Fred Mork sponsored me for a season on this narrow-case non-desmo 350. 42K jpeg file
Ducati 250 road racer I took this picture of a Van Tech-framed 250 at Westwood, BC. The bike has a Yamaha TD1 front brake. 83K jpeg file
Ducati 450 road racer I took this picture of a presumed 450 at Westwood, BC. The frame was built by a fellow named Reed Galbraith; his company is Galco. He lives in Ravensdale, Washington 69K jpeg file
Ducati 750 road racer This picture is also at Westwood, BC. The frame was built by Reed Galbraith. 66K jpeg file
Two photos of Dale Newton's TT2 road racer These were shot at Laguna Seca in the mid-80s. The bike was being raced by John Williams. One photo on the track, the other in the pits. 76K jpeg file
Three photos of the Doug Lofgren/Dave Gollan designed and built road racer The bike was originally built to house an Alazurra engine bored to 750. Dave won a regional Twins Championship on the bike in 1991. The current 900SS engine puts out 93 bhp and the bike weighs under 350 pounds. The current owner is Pat Hall, and photos are courtesy of Doug Lofgren, Motorcycle Performance Services 128K jpeg file
Ducati 750 Imola Replica This photo was taken by Lou Caputo at the 1996 AHRMA National at Willow Springs. Note the dry clutch. 56K jpeg file
A 250 Ducati for Racing - this three part article by Gordon Jennings appeared in the 12/65, 02/66 and 10/66 issues of Cycle World. Jennings details the development of a 250 Ducati road racer, and everyone thinking about (or doing) a Ducati single racebike should read it.
Dale is well known on the Two-stroke List as an extremely knowledgeable ring-ding expert, but he also dabbled with four strokes. Here are some pictures of the bevel-cam drive 900SS Ducati he converted to belt-drive cams in the early 1980s (well before V2 in Australia or anyone else). Photos courtesy of Dale Alexander.
Now THIS is RACING! A picture of Dale on the Ducati during a practice day at Sears Point (with the cars!) 36K jpeg file
A view of the left side of the bike Note the steepened steering head angle, and the Craig Hanson designed and built 2-1 high pipe. Dale and Craig thought the megaphone was far enough from Dale's leg, but it did get a bit toasty until slightly relocated. 47K jpeg file
A view of the right side of the bike Dale is leaving the pits at the Laguna Seca AMA National for practice. You can see the belt drive conversion. 30K jpeg file
The belt drive conversion components Here are two pictures with the parts laid out for viewing (off the motor) 71K jpeg file
A dry timing-side case Note the welding needed to seal the crank bearing area so the timing chest could run dry. 91K jpeg file
Engine components Three photos - the short-deck big bore piston compared with a stock piston, the cylinder with torque plates, and the cylinder heads/carbs/manifolds showing the major reshaping done by Barry Gerolamy after a well-known tuner failed to complete the job. 58K jpeg file
More engine stuff The lightweight crankpin, the hollow dowels locating the engine to the frame motormounts, and a rear carburettor that attaches to the cylinder head at a much different angle than stock. Note the check valve for the crankcase extraction (the dreaded exhaust sucker) to the left of the carb. 83K jpeg file
In September 2000 I went to Italy for a week with my step-brother-in-law Tim Mobley and his parents. Tim had made plans to go to the Mostra Scambio in Imola (I guess it must be the biggest classic swap meet in Europe - it was waaaaaay bigger than anything I've seen in the USA) and very kindly invited me to go along. The event is held at the Dino & Enzo Ferrari circuit, and both sides of the track surface are lined with vendors, along with filling the pits, access roads, and garages.
Our first stop was in Bologna at the Ducati factory and museum. Sadly, I had fairly slow film in my camera so not many of the museum photos came out.
Here's a BIG bunch of photos of bikes I took at Imola. It was so neat to see bikes "in the flesh" that I'd only read about or seen pictures of, and as I'm a fan of small road race and dirt bikes I found plenty of stuff to photograph.
While in Italy we made a trip to Pesaro to visit the Zanzanis (check out their photos in the MotoBi section), builders of the Zanzani MotoBi racers. Primo Zanzani was the head of the MotoBi race shop, and gave the Benelli 250 Quattro racers competitive power (though he couldn't convince the head of Benelli to make changes that would have given the 4 cylinder racers an oiling system that would let their cranks make use of that extra power). Primo and his sons Athos and Mirko run a precision CNC machine shop, and build new 250 sei tiranti (six stud) MotoBi classic racers. These aren't replicas - Primo built them in the 1960/70s and he's building them again.
You can visit the official MotoBi-Zanzani Vintage Roadracers website at: http://www.motobi.com
Mirko Zanzani has sent me some more photos of new and old Zanzani 250cc Motobi racers - some include members of the family:
Here are a couple of shots of Doug Cusack's freshly restored Benelli/MotoBi 250cc Barracuda. Nice job Doug!
Bruce Merrell lives and works in Bangkok, Thailand where he found this MotoBi 254 Competizione. The bike was also sold as a Benelli and Moto Guzzi 254, but this is the first I'd heard of a version badged as MotoBi, and also the first I've seen of the Competizione model.
From a 1977 issue of the Dutch magazine "Motor" comes this photo sent by Ivar de Gier. The MOC Benelli Sei was entered in the 1977 Bol d'Or by Motobecane. It had very aero-looking bodywork which isn't visible in this photo taken while the bike was being worked on in the pits.
From Primo Zanzani's personal files comes this interesting photo. Mirko Zanzani (one of Primo's sons) tells me: "This photo shows the first Motobi 250cc DS 6 tiranti built and shipped to United States in 1966. From left to right: Mr. Aiuti, Mr.Bonaventura and Mr. Gaspari (mechanics), Primo Zanzani, Marco Benelli, Amilcare Ballestrieri and Eraldo Ferracci.
Peter Oort sent along this interesting photo of a 250 MotoBi outfitted with sidecar and dustbin fairing for some speed record runs. Peter says: " Motobi had a dustbin in 1955 on a side-car and became a world record with a 250 cc 2T Spring Lasting Gran Sport Speciale on Monza. The Motobi drove in 4 hours 500 km and went further for the next records for 8 hours, the 500 Miles and the 1000 km. This Motobi beat the records of the 250 Guzzi with compressor, which ended in 6 hours. The sidecar was driven by Vasco Loro and instead of a person, they put 60 kg ballast in it. This record machine was shown on the Milano Motorshow in 1955 at the same time with the winning Motobi of the Milano -Tiranto race. "
For you "egg" fanciers, Peter also sent along this cutaway drawing of a 1956 MotoBi engine.
For the MotoBi enthusiasts here is a rough drawing of the frame I'm planning to build for a 250 MotoBi vintage road racer. It is very deliberately modeled upon the frame from the 500 Linto for two reasons: the Linto had a pretty nice space frame, and I think it will reduce sniveling from the "that's not period" crowd.
Primo Zanzani and his sons sent me these two drawings of how a modern MotoBi single might look:
Primo Zanzani and his sons in Pesaro Italy are putting the "6 Tiranti" version of the 250cc MotoBi roadracer back into production. There are some pictures already on the site showing engine cases being machined, etc. A few days ago the Zanzanis sent me some photos they took of a completed bike during a recent track test. They tell me the bike was fast and ran well. Start saving your money now!
Just received this date (4/27/98) are these pictures from Primo Zanzani. Sgr. Zanzani, it is plain to see, is making great strides towards his goal of being able to provide NEW MotoBi classic racers! The pictures didn't come with any text, so I've done my best to identify them.
Here are some more racing MotoBi parts courtesy of Peter Oort:
Also supplied by Peter is this brochure of the Werner Maltry scrambles conversion. It is a big file, but shows lots of details:
Maltry 250 scrambler brochure 441K jpeg file
And thanks to Chris Rein in Germany, here is a translation of the brochure into English (with some of his editorial comments):
Scrambler 250 ccm Motobi - the superior and most simple 4-stroke - 1 cylinder, 4-stroke OHV-engine - stroke x bore 57 x 74 245 ccm - crank with 6 bearings (sounds a little much, no?) - 25 hp at rear wheel - dry weight 98 kg - engine characteristics can be altered to suit track with a few "turns of a hand" - choice of 19" or 21" front wheel with large 180 mm brake - 18 x 4.00" rear wheel (I guess they mean tire...) - special forks, damping adjustable in 4 settings, travel 165 mm - rear swingarm with 3 time adjustable shocks - low centre of gravity - thus very easy to ride - wheel base 1390 mm - choice of short ratio or long ratio gearbox - large choice of final drive ratios with 6 gearbox sprockets and 5 wheel sprockets - price (from Zurich) net 3000,- swiss francs
Peter also sent this picture of a Maltry roadrace conversion:
A Maltry roadrace conversion 56K jpeg file
MotoBi decal Another big file, but if anyone is interested in making a new version of this brightly colored decal commemorating the 1960 Italian junior championship it should be worth having the large file size.
Zanzani "6 tiranti" head for MotoBi singlePeter Oort supplied this photo. The Zanzani head adds two more cylinder studs to the 4 stock studs. 34K jpeg file
Here is the first MotoBi I bought. The person Marc had bought it from had converted the bike to FF foot controls, built the seat, and a set of stainless steel pannier tanks sandwiching the frame backbone. The bike also has a Tillotson carb. Anyone recognize the forks? I think they may be Suzuki, but they are definitely Japanese. Marc kept the Grimeca 4 shoe front brake, and neither of us would take the front fender so it went into the dumpster. The bike has a 250cc 4 speed engine, and came with both 125 and a 250 4 speed spare engines.
Here is my latest MotoBi acquistion - a 1969 250cc 5 speed Benelli Barracuda. The 5 speed motor is in a box, partially disassembled. The motor shown is a 4 speed 250 that came with the bike.
250 MotoBi Works Scrambler Jon Jacobson sent me this photocopy of a b&w picture that was printed in "Classic Motorrad". It shows a 1961 "works" scrambler, presumably with 4 speed transmission. Jon says the seat/rear shock tubes look beefier and longer than in the street frames. I think it looks like the steering head has been raked out from standard, probably to give more cylinder head/ front tire clearance. I feel another project coming on . . . 27kb jpeg file
18 November 1997 - I've just been informed by Peter Oort of the Netherlands' "MotoBi Amici" club that the scrambler was actually an offering of Werner Maltry, and not something sold by the factory
Jon Jacobson sent me these two pictures of rigid-rear end MotoBi dirt track frames. His information indicates the frames were built by Eraldo Ferracci when he first came to the United States. Notice the motor mounts on the "lowboy" frame have been repositioned to lower the engine by 3 or so inches.
Jon Jacobson also sent me some photos of some of his MotoBi projects, and they appear below:
1963 MotoBi ad This "MotoBi wins Daytona" ad comes from the May 63 Cycle World 44K jpeg file
1969 MotoBi 250 racer This picture and caption comes from the 14 May 69 Motor Cycle 62K jpeg file
Alec Millett in Australia sent me these photos of Bob Eldridge's Benelli/MotoBi road racers. The MotoBi was a horizontal single (like the Guzzi and Aermacchis) made by Guiseppe Benelli when he left the family firm after WW2.
A team of MotoBi factory-suppported riders raced at Daytona in 1962. These two photos were supplied by Abbott Lahti to Michael Green for use in an article on the Daytona GPs that appeared in RW&MT, and Michael was kind enough to send me copies.
Kurt Liebman and a 200 MotobiThis picture comes from the 07/64 Cycle World, where it appeared in an article on an AMMRR race at Vineland NJ. The photographer isn't mentioned. 63K jpeg file
The MotoBi 125cc Formula Jr racerThis picture comes from the 02/64 Cycle World, where it appeared in an article on the 38th Milan motorcycle show. Photo by Carlo Perelli. It is a bit grainy as I've blown it up to make it more visible. 59K jpeg file
Stuart Melling in the UK sent along this photo of a MotoBi race bike built from a street bike.
Mirko Zanzani sent me a photo of their new 250 racer with the fairing on it (to go with the earlier photos that had the fairing off).
Just in case you are wondering what 6 NOS MotoBi single engines look like, this is the crate of them that I got at the end of 1998.
On one of my MotoBi/Benelli horizontal singles I noticed some capped off tubes welded to the frame. Peter Oort sent me a couple of pictures showing me how some of the bikes had the aircleaner system attached to these tubes.
Here's another special-framed Laverda triple where I've mislaid the supplier of the photo
Giorgio in Italy sent me these photos of his 1967 Regolarita Corsa 125cc Laverda and a 1968 ISDT 125cc Laverda, including an action shot from the San Pelligrino event in 1968.
Here are a couple of nice street bikes from (I believe) a North American event. I can't find the original message and don't remember who sent them to me (let me know so I can credit you).
This photo is of a special framed racing Laverda triple built in Austria in 1983 and raced in national events. This Haider Laverda was recently offered for sale. The photo was supplied by Gert Schnoegl.
In July 1998 I received a message from Colin Will in Australia. Attached to it he sent me a picture of a very pretty Spondon-framed Laverda triple of about 1985 vintage that takes a 1979 Laverda Jota motor. He also told me that he is building 5 endurance racers using an Egli-type spine frame using 1000 or 1200 motors, and sent me photos of one of the bikes photographed at the end May, At the time of the letter the bike was at the exhaust manufacturer. He mentioned that all the body work is alloy and it has an SFC type fairing also out of alloy which will be polished.
Colin Will in Australia sent me these photos of a fine Laverda special he built. The bike has an Egli-style spine frame, all aluminum bodywork, and a built motor - VERY NICE! I think I've got pictures of the back at an earlier stage of construction elsewhere on the graphics pages.
The ever-popular Garelli girl and 150 Garelli A period ad - the 150 Garelli was really a 150 Laverda single. 40K jpeg file
A friend of mine (Michael Bailey) sent me this snapshot he took during a European trip in the early 1980s.
Robert Milders' monoshock 750 Laverda road racer on the track This and the following 2 pictures were supplied by Robert Milders of the Laverda Club Nederlands. The similar bike in the background of one of the pictures is 900cc twin. 35K jpeg file
Robert Milders' monoshock 750 Laverda road racer Here is Robert's bike under construction in the kitchen of his teammate's 10 floor apartment. 39K jpeg file
Two monoshock Laverda road racers Here are both bikes in the pits at Spa Francorchamps in 1995. 51K jpeg file
Chris Allen and his Trackmaster Laverda road racer This is from several years back, with Chris working on the bike in the pits at Sears Point. 51K jpeg file
Here are some pictures of special framed Laverdas (and one Kawasaki) built by an Italian designer, Signor Segoni, Most of these were provided by Marnix van der Schalk, who runs the Laverda SFC registry. The graphics files range from 9-92K in size
Thomas is one of the folks on the Laverda list, and he sent these two photos of a special frame he's having constructed around a 500 Laverda twin. The other two photos show an earlier version of the bike and a triple which appears to have been converted to a monoshock rear end.
Michael Green also sent along this photo of a modified Moto Guzzi Le Mans in Italy.
Here's a photo sent to me by Gerald van Wyngaarden of a nicely done up big-twin Guzzi
Ivar de Gier sent me these photos of a Moto Guzzi grass-track outfit. Ivar told me : the grasstrack sidecar racer was built in the beginning of the seventies by Dutchman (later he moved to Norway) Maarten Mager. The engine was tuned with the help of the Guzzi factory, and the combination won a string of grass track races throughout the beginning of the seventies in both Scandinavia and Holland.
In late November 1998 I met Jim Reger. In his spare time Jim builds Honda XR100s for short track, and is working on this near-250cc CL175 Honda vintage road racer. Jim does have a very cool Guzzi single in with all his Japanese stuff:
Bob Lillie's Moto Guzzi Le Mans A very nice Guzzi cafe racer. Note the battery box slung under the transmission. 36K jpeg file
Fabio Andreozzi scanned and sent me these photos of his brother's 1180cc LMIII Moto Guzzi. Note the removal of the front down tubes and engine cradle tubes, and the installation of a Magni Parallelogrammo full-floating rear suspension conversion. The bike uses EPM wheels and exhaust silencers made by the owner. The graphics files range from 120-160k in size
The latest version of the Magni Parallelogrammo swing arm conversion for twin-shock Guzzis My friend Rick Heyman just sent this picture to me. He's bringing in some of the conversion kits (as well as complete Magni bikes), and says that Magni told him this will fit all of the Guzzi disc-rear brake dual-shock big twins. For more info on this and other Magni parts you can reach Rick in Albuquerque, NM at 505-256-7411 or fax him at 505-247-9194.
The ZDS Moto Guzzi road racerThis race bike was built by George Kerker and Bob Blair of ZDS Motors (the west coast Guzzi distributors) from a 1969 Ambassador. The picture is from the May 1970 Cycle Guide magazine. The photographer's name isn't listed in the magazine article. 73K jpeg file
Endurance-race Guzzi frame Built by Norbert Kienzler? 10/85 Motorrad 41K jpeg fileHere's a shot of Ron Halem's dad "stylin" with a buddy on a couple of War Department Matchless singles during WW2 : Gold Star Ron's Dad 39K jpeg file
Mystery road racer ORR Issue 65, Gordon Francis 36K jpeg file
Thanks to Bill Snelling the above has been identified as an RCA-engined DOT. Bill provided a couple of other period photos of an RCA DOT owned by Peter Foster:
250cc Velocette road race special This interesting special was built up in South Africa by Jannie Stander, and the photo was taken shortly after it arrived in England in 1960. Note the DOHC conversion, external flyhweel, and underslung oil tank. It was said to be quite fast. ORR Issue 67, Gordon Francis 29K jpeg file
250cc Velocette road race special Left side. ORR Issue 67, Gordon Francis 29K jpeg file
Reynolds Norton road racer Geoff Duke in action at the 1959 IoM TT. Note the Reynolds leading link fork and the large front down tube that doubled as the oil tank. ORR Issue 56, Nick Nicholls 33K jpeg file
Also from the 12/66 issue of Cycle World we find this B.R. Nicholls' photo of ace American roadracer Lance Weil at Mallory Park:
A 500 Velocette production racer in action P. Wileman goes around the outside in a Brands Hatch race put on by the Southern 67 club. Photo from the28 Aug 68 Motor Cycle. 36K jpeg file
Pannier-tanked Arter Matchless Here is a photo of Peter Williams on his pre-artillery wheel 500cc Arter Matchless roadracer. The fuel from the pannier tanks was to be fed a small header tank and then to the carbs by a swing-arm actuated mechanical fuel pump. No other streamlining was to be fitted to the bike. Photo from the 6 Mar 68 Motor Cycle. 46K jpeg file
Yetman frame for 650 TriumphA 1969 new products announcement photo. This frame for the unit 650 gave a 57" wheelbase, 28 degree steering head angle, and the frame w/swingarm weighed 31 pounds. 51K jpeg file
High-pipe Dunstall 750This 750 Norton in the "drain-pipe" frame has a 2-1 high level exhaust developed by Gordon Blair. You'll notice the megaphone is fitted right at the collector - my friend Craig's dyno experience indicates this isn't the proper way to do things, and that is why my 750 Laverda racer has a large OD tailpipe between the collector and the megaphone (photo in the section devoted to my bikes). Photo from the 02 Sept 70 Motor Cycle. 64K jpeg file
BSA B50 road racer Another photo from the AHRMA races at Sears Point. I think this is Craig Skinner's bike. 41K jpeg file
Dave Kath's Gold Star Dave has owned this bike since new. 38kb jpeg file
Norton Commando racer This is Dave Neal's special framed Commando racer. 70K jpeg file
Here is a photo that shows the two 1 gallon pannier fuel tanks that supplemented the normally-mounted 3.25 gallon tank on Peter Williams' (one of my very favourite racing engineers) works F750 Norton at the IoM TT. A very sensible use of otherwise empty space that handily lowers the bike's center of gravity. Photo from the 23 June 1971 issue of Motor Cycle.
Wondering how to brace your 500cc Triumph road racer frame in a period manner? Check out this photo from 4 Sep 68 "Motor Cycle" of Percy Tait's works racer.
The next two photos are from a two-page color photo set from the 10 Jul 1968 Motor Cycle, covering the 500 mile production road race at Brands Hatch. The first photo shows American Lance Weil on the Elite Motors Triumph Bonneville he and Martyn Ashwood used to take third in the 750 class after a length pit stop with ignition problems, It was the fifth fastest bike through the speed trap at 110.4 mph. The second photo is Dave Croxford on the Croxford/Ray Pickrell Dunstall Dominator (745cc) leading Mick Andrew on the Andrew/Tony Smith 654cc BSA Spitfire. The Norton retired at half way with a broken primary chain, and the BSA was 4th in the 750 class (after being kicked straight after a crash) and was also the fastest bike in the race at 114.7 mph.
Colin Lyster was a Rhodesian who made many innovative engines and chassis in the 1960s/1970s.
The Fahron 125cc road racer A picture from the 22 May 68 Motor Cycle of the Fahron racer. 70K jpeg file
The Difazio hub-center steered AJS 7RiThis picture comes from the 26 Jun 68 Motor Cycle. It shows Richard Difazio on the bike his father Jack built. This is, I believe, one of the very earliest versions of the Difazio hub-center front end. Be sure to read the little bit of untitled text to the right of the picture. 113K jpeg file
Ray Flack's kneeler Manx From the 25 Jun 66 Motor Cycling. Flack modified the frame on his 350 Manx to emulate the works Norton ridden by Ray Amm. This photo was taken at the bike's first race meet, where "the bike was not in a sufficiently advanced state to pass the scrutineers." 53K jpeg file >
Before Spondon was founded, Bob Stevenson and his friend Geoff Galloway built the Phoenix, a 500cc two stroke twin. They made their own chassis, crankcases, etc. The bike used Greeves Silverstone barrels and DOT heads. Photos of this really cool bike from the 10 Jan 68 Motor Cycle.
A 125cc EMC two stroke road racer I took this shot at the Northern California BSA Owners Club show and swap. No details on the lucky owner. 53K jpeg file
AJS 7R3 Lou Caputo took this picture of the Team Obsolete 350cc 7R3 (not a 7R). Note the dual exhaust ports on this single. 50K jpeg file
Seeley G50 Condor Another photo by Lou Caputo showing a Seeley Condor with G50 engine. 53K jpeg file
Modified Seeley BSA racer These two shots are of a MK3 Seeley chassis with a BSA Goldstar engine and Quaife 6 speed transmission. My friend Craig did the basic engine installation, and then I did a lot of the detail work, including the extra frame bracing. The bike's owner said the bracing firmed up the handling noticeably. Sorry for the clutter in the picture, but that is the way my garage normally is! 150K jpeg file
Another Seeley BSA racer This picture was sent to me by Tomas Tallkvist. It shows him on his Seeley Goldstar winning a race at the Bothniaring in Jurva, Finland. Tomas is doing a nice job of developing the chassis and engine on this bike. 87K gif file
Paul Kellner supplied me with these pictures of the short roadrace version of the NSU/Baumm recordbreakers.
The scans are from the book "Die NSU Renngeschichte 1904-1956" written by Dieter Herz/ Karl Reese. These are in the chapter on the "economy bike" ride on Hockenheim. Unlike the Baumm recordbreakers, the shell on the economy bike wasn't a stressed skin structure. The book was published in 1982 and has the ISBN number 3-87943-797-1, and the publisher is/was: Motorbuch Verlag Stuttgart (Germany). I believe the photos/drawings are originally from NSU.
Here is another batch of pictures of the Baumm/NSU Hammock supplied by Paul.
A 50cc Sachs road racer A picture from the 29 Nov 67 Motor Cycle. 27K jpeg file
North BMW 750cc Road Racer This Rob North-framed BMW was on display at Laguna Seca. It was raced in the early/mid 1970's in AMA F750. A German engine in a frame built by an Englishman raced in the United States 72K jpeg file
This photo shows Australian Jack Findlay working on his watercooled Bultaco 250 at the East German GP. 23 Jul 66 Motor Cycling. Findlay Bultaco 23K jpeg file
I don't recall who sent me this photo, but it is a nice side view of a Derbi roadracer. It looks like one of the late 1960s/early 1970s 50cc bikes:
Bultaco Pursang/Metrella road racer This appears to be a Metralla with some race kit parts (tank) and a later Pursang motor. A pretty bike, you'll notice it has lights and plate. 63K jpeg file
I was recently sent these photos by Erik Green of Team Obsolete. This HD-750 RR frame with monoshock conversion belongs to a friend of his, and they are hoping that someone will recognize the bike and supply them with some information on the bike's history.
Gene Church and XR1000 This photo was taken at Laguna Seca. I'm pretty sure it is Gene Church on the XR1000 HD. Either I'm stuffing him on the inside on my Ducat 750, or he's passing me on the outside - take your pick. 53K jpeg file
Here's an interesting spine framed bike. This was the "Reader's Special" featured bike in Performance Bikes magazine a few years ago (all I've got is the article which doesn't show the issue # or date). The photo is by Stills and Simon Everett. Tom Walker rolled sheet metal into 5" OD tubes to make the frame, and the frame holds fuel down to the level of the rear brake mastercylinder. The frame section under the seat is the oil tank. Wheels and forks are from an FZR600 Yamaha. The article didn't give the weight of the vehicle.
The Vintage RR list was talking about brake levers/balance boxes for 4LS front brakes. Here are four ways it has been done:
Theo Jonkhart sent another batch of very interesting photos of classic racers, and they appear below:
For the Montesa fans here are two photos of a Crono (one of the last street Montesa 350 singles) road racer. I've misplaced the info from the person who supplied the photos.
Here are some photos sent to me by Theo Jonkhart from the Nederlands. Theo writes:
At the attic I dug up an old b/w picture from March 1967. I was 22 at the time and used do design showroom material: banners, streamers, price tags etc. for the Dutch importer of Benelli and Ducati in those days. At the spring motorcycle show in Amsterdam his stand got an extra dimension by showing Pasolinis '66 Benelli 350 with front disc brakes. a novelty by then.
Of course I took the opportunity to bring my camera with me and climb aboard that gem. As you noticed yourself, Renzo must ve been very short legged and armed and did not exceed 5 feet. With my 6 feet 4" it looks like I'm sittin on a kiddy bike.
Enclosed also Jim Redman pushing for the start during the practise of the 1966 Dutch TT races at Assen on his 500-4. Also a rare color picture of Carlo Ubbiali and count Domenico Agusta during the warm-up of his 125 MV 1957 TT on Man. Here is a picture of a line of Honda GP bikes, with a 50cc RC115 at the near end, taken at the Assen Centennial Classic
Here is a picture of Dan Hanebrink's Monotrack Engineering monocoque racer. The frame is made of welded magnesium plate, and the 3 cylinder Kohler 2-stroke engine was rated at 100 bhp. Constantly variable transmission and synchro-belt final drive, Monotrack calipers and coated aluminum brake discs, hydro/pneumatic suspension, 16" Monotrack cast wheels, and "weight was scarcely more than 200 pounds".
Monotrack monocoque From the Monotrack/Target catalog 20K jpeg file
This picture is a vintage Husqvarna scrambler turned into a vintage road racer. I took this at the Sears Point AHRMA national in the spring of 1998.
Scott Potter was rummaging around and found these photos, taken in 1972 or 1973 at an Italian road race track of some forgotten name.
Jan Thiel and the Jamarthi A photo from the 4 June 69 Motor Cycle showing Jan Thiel working on the 50cc Jarmathi GP engine. 58K jpeg file
I took the next batch of pictures at AFM Sears Point races in the early 1980s:
The next group of pictures were taken at Laguna Seca in 04/97.
Three of Fred Mork's Vintage Road Racers
Mark Gillibrand in Australia sent me this picture of his CB125 Honda single-based "bucket" racer. This class is designed as a low-dollar/high-fun class, somewhat similar to the F150 class I helped try to get started in AFM in the 1980s.
Here are 3 photos I took at a Sears Point AFM race this summer. I've misplaced the business card I got from the owner/builder so I can't tell you who he is right now. He is from Northern California, I believe he is either an industrial designer or architect, and the Rotax engine is fitted into a braced Kawasaki EX250 Ninja frame.
I didn't know it then, but the first time I met my friend Craig Hanson was on my first trip to the AMA National at Laguna Seca in 1975. He'd just completed a multi day/night thrash on the special-framed SOHC CB750 Honda racer he'd designed and built and rushed to Laguna. I snapped the photo because the bike looked interesting. I don't remember if I spoke with Craig at the time, and he says his memories of the race are a bit hazy as they'd been working nearly around the clock for days to make the race. The bike was raced in the 750cc Junior race and went on to be pretty successful in AFM racing. This may be one of the only photos of the bike around, and a we owe a large "thank you" to Jim Schneider for piecing together scans of two different slides to get a complete view of the bike. Note the very low build, as well as the H-D XR750 fairing and early version of an aerodyamic seat.
Ken Lehman sent me these photos and some info on the bike:
Rich D'Amore, the owner of this frame contacted me in the hopes that it might be identified. He eventually heard from a fellow in the UK who has a frame just like it that it is a TD1/2 frame constructed by Colin Lyster. Rich bought the frame after it turned up in a storage unit that was being auctioned off to cover the past-due rent. Lyster 250 Yamaha 34K jpeg file
Gregor Halenda and his friends have built a really cool BMW twin. They've modified the frame extensively, grafted on a Paralever rear end, built a 2-1 exhaust from dimensions/parts supplied by my friend Craig, etc, etc. He's sent me some photos, and there are plenty more on his website (the URL for which is)
Hans Passberger in Germany sent these photos of an Egli Vincent frame and a complete bike:
Here's a Rick Hammond photo of an Egli Vincent under construction Reno Carrachi's (the "C" in NCR) shop in Italy. Egli Vincent
Single-cylinder roadrace frame for a DR Big Suzuki 06/82 Motorrad 35K jpeg fileCRDC (Competition Racing Development Center) was a small company in the San Francisco area formed by Don Haagstead and Jim Gordon that built a number of aluminum monocoque chassis in the 1970s. Here are some more Bob Braverman photos. The first 3 are from the February 1972 issue of Cycle Guide, and show a TD1-powered road racer. The other two are of a 360 Yamaha single-powered dirt bike built as a project for the February 1974 issue of Cycle Rider. The frames are .050" thick 5052-T4 aluminum, and the bare frame weighs 10 pounds.
These pictures are of a 1983 "Martin Performance Systems" catalog supplied to me by Jérôme Chappellaz. The Moto Martin frames were built in France and were quite popular at one time. The files are large both in file size and screen size, but give a lot of detail.
My friend Carl Whittington built up this Yamaha XS650 cafe racer. As I recall, the bike was from the last year of the "standard" non-cruiser models. I got the Manx-style Norton Commando aluminum tank for him, and chopped many holes into the bottom of it before I was able to get it to fit properly on the Yamaha frame. Carl shortened the front of a stock seat pan to work with the tank and then had it upholstered in a traditional style. An 18" alloy rim was laced on the front and the front fender lowered to match the smaller tire. A Lucas replica tail light, mini turn signals, alloy rear sprocket, Telefix fork brace and some Tarozzi rear sets completed the chassis. The frame isn't special, but I decided to include it anyway.
When our friend Craig Hanson (of Hanson Racing Technology) put the head on the flowbench he found the exhaust ports weren't being very cooperative in producing more flow. He remarked to me that there was a sharp bend in the port, as if the exhausts had originally come straight out of the front of the head, and then someone decided they needed to be angled out to make the bike look more like a 650 Triumph. We put the head on the milling machine and bored new parallel ports in. When the resultant gaping hole was built up with clay it was put back on the flow bench and showed immediate improvement. Craig says he saw a parallel exhaust head run at Ascot in SoCal, and the fellows who had it did pretty well with it. Craig then got to "grow" all the missing fins back, and after being blasted and painted with KalGard GunKote the head looks like a factory part. Other than the porting the engine is basically stock - the original pistons had the squish clearances set to the head, the cam was timed, the electric starter removed, a crankcase breather check valve was fitted and a Lucas Rita electronic ignition (and eventually Dyna coil) was installed with a much smaller battery. Craig built the new 2-1 exhaust system with a SuperTrapp muffler - which you'll note is tucked away so well that it works with the center stand without having any ground clearance problems. I forget if Carl made the manifold stubs for the 36mm Dell'Orto carbs or if I did, but I cut and angled them in closer to the center line of the bike and welded them back up, so the carbs and large K&N filters would fit into the trimmed stock side panels better. The photos are jpegs, 21-32KB in size.
Here is a picture of Didier Jillet's endurance racer with 1200cc Peugeot 4 cylinder engine. The bike weighed 407 pounds and was narrower than a Honda CBX (not hard to do!). A 6 speed transmission and a fully enclosed rear chain in which the chain case forms the rear swing arm. The picture is from the 21 March 1979 Motor Cycle News. 1200cc Jillet endurance racer 27K jpeg file
The 250cc Adriatica GP twin is an interesting device. Note the crossed rear swing arms and rear damper position. The hollow aluminum spars carried the fuel, and the chassis was designed by Alessandro Strada and Dervis Macrelli. The engine design was by the Dutch tuner Jan Witteveen who designed the 125 Gilera MX engine. Photo from the 23 April 1980 Motor Cycle News. Adriatica 250GP racer 27K jpeg file
This is an interesting 80cc race bike. John Rees of Wales had Derby Racing Services build the chassis for his Ziegler engine (anyone have details on this?) and ran it in some GPs in the mid-1980s. MCN 24 July 1985 DRS/Ziegler 80 40K jpeg file
Another very cool bike from "down under" is Duncan Harrington's Honda single with Hossack/Fior-style front end. I think Duncan built this bike as a school project. Duncan also did the bodywork styling for Ian Drysdale's 750V8.
Bud Riddle and Dale Lineaweaver (L&R Racing) are selling "turnkey" Husaberg flat trackers. They plan to do a roadracer too, and have a test bed consisting of a 600cc Husaberg engine mounted in a Suzuki RG250 chassis they have been running in some AFM races. Here are a couple pictures of that bike. You'll notice that one photo shows a high pipe exiting under the seat, and the other a low pipe exiting on the left hand side of the bike.
BSA/MZ Barrakuda This photo fro the 12 April 1995 MCN shows the bare chassis of the 125cc Yamaha engined bike that MZ was going to build. It was designed by the Seymour-Powell design studio, the people who designed the MuZ Skorpion single. The chassis is very reminiscent of some of Tony Foale's spine-framed racers. The bike didn't go into production. 33K jpeg file
Michael Meagher sent me these photos around 08/97. The engine is a watercooled Kawasaki 500 MX single, and the chassis is a steel tube monoshock TZ250. Michael says: "I campaigned it from 1987 through 1991. The motor is a 1985. The chassis is a G model. Otto Jorgenson fit the motor to the chassis and built the expansion chamber. Richard Wascher, of Wasco frames, remade the aluminum tank and built a second expansion chamber.". The bike was sold to another racer in 1996.
Eric Sherrer has sent me some photos of his DUBBS singles.
A Harris-framed 750 belt-cam drive Ducati Photo taken at the All Italian Day in Alameda. The bike has Dymag wheels. 44K jpeg file
Here are two photos of a lovely Ducati. Keith has owned a bevel-drive 750SS from new, and has put well over 100,000 miles on it. He painted his 900SS to match his 750. He intends to get the frame painted when the engine first comes out. In the center of the clutch cover is a small Daffy Duck emblem. Keith is an artist (paints, etc) and his taste shows very well on this bike. This is Keith's daily driver - he doesn't own a car, and he tours on the bike too. Keith's bike doesn't have a special frame, but the bike is special!
A friend of mine (Michael Bailey) sent me this snapshot he took during a European trip in the early 1980s.
Tomas Tallkvist sent me these nice shots of one of the bikes that is dominating the SOS class in Europe.
Moto Martin frame for a Suzuki four One of the guys here in S.F. came up with this, and I took the opportunity to snap a shot. 43kb jpeg file
Freddie Spencer and the Honda NR500 In the early 1980s GP bikes where the big show at Laguna Seca's AMA national. Here is a shot I took in the pits of Freddie Spencer and the Honda four-stroke 500. 45kb jpeg file
The July 1996 issue of the Japanese magazine "Motorcyclist" had this picture of an FF streamliner Vespa. It appears to be based on a SS180 scooter and dates from 1967. The text mentions (in English) "Alpha-Wallis", and the word "Alpha" does appear on the side of the bike. If anyone can translate the Japanese text I'd be interested in adding more details to this description.
Here's a rough translation provided by Jeff Halverson of San Francisco: "This Vespa can of course travel by road, but at times can go submersed in the oceans depths, and also at times by means of a (hangar [1]) propeller, it can fly into the air- As for secret service men [2], this is a great means of escape. (Were talking about in the movies...) It is an SS180 used in 1967's "Agent Dick Smart 2007". This was created by the English (branch) Alpha-Wallis company."
On 4 November 1998 David Clark sent me a slightly different translation of the caption that was done by a coworker of his: This 'Vespa' can go on the road and dive into deeply and fly the sky by using a special propeller, which is active as a partner of a secret agent. But it is in the movie. This is 'SS180' which is used in 'Dick Smart Agent 2007' in 1967. Made by Alpha-Walls company in England.
McIntosh Kawasaki frameMichael Green from New Zealand sent me these two photos of a frame for a "turbocharged Kawasaki Z1 engine in it with all the good stuff - MTC studs, JE pistons(soon), Yoshimura ignition, Barnett clutch pack. As it has been rebuilt for period racing it also still has the lockheed calipers and brembo rotors. The Marzocchi forks have been ditched in favour of Katana forks for about a 10,000% improvement. It runs on 75% methanol/25%avgas and seems quite happy with 19 pounds boost and pulls wheelstands at 130/140mph effortlessly. " 64K jpeg file
McIntosh Kawasaki frame photo #2 70K jpeg file
Michael Green from New Zealand has sent me some more photos of the McIntosh-framed turbo Kawasaki race bike.
Rob Tuluie's CR500-engined "Tulda" road racer. Bike designed and built by Tuluie. Picture supplied by Glenn Thompson. 82K jpeg file
Dr. Robin Tuluie sent me these three pictures of his Honda CR500-powered Tul-da roadracer. With the pictures he wrote: "I've scanned in some pictures of the Tul-da from Daytona this year BTW, I just won my first 250 GP race with the Tul-da at Brainerd this weekend against several (fast) TZ's and the typical FZR's and Hawks, etc. Top speed was 144.2 mph (using a very accurate digital speedo) (top speed at Daytona was 141.9mph this year). Also won 2 other classes. "
Specifications as supplied by Rob are:
John Dahl's "customer" CR500-engined "Tulda" road racer. Picture supplied by John Dahl. 83K jpeg file
Here are 5 new shots of John Dahl's "customer" CR500-engined Tulda road racer - it lives! JPG files supplied by John.
The following pictures of trick-framed singles were provided by Randall Zempel:
Julian Farnam designed and built this bike with alternative front end and had it on display at some Sears Point AFM races in 1996. The front end design appears similar to the RADD front end.
Here are some more photos of Julian Farnham's creation - a Yamaha twin with a RADD/Foale-style front end. I took these photos at an AFM race at Thunderhill this year (1997). The bike still needs some more suspension tuning, but Julian is very pleased with it so far.
Jack Baker's 500 Yamaha This thumper was run at Sears Point in the early 1980s by Jack Baker. The frame was built by Dave Garoutte (DKG) who also built a number of TZ frames. 37K jpeg file
Rotax 125cc Two stroke #1 I took these pictures of three different Rotax 125cc road racers at Sears Point in the early 1980s. Those were the days when there were a lot of special-framed bikes being raced. 88K jpeg file
Rotax 125cc Two stroke #2 60K jpeg file
Rotax 125cc Two stroke #3 81K jpeg file
1000cc North Suzuki I took this picture at a Sears Point endurance race in the early 1980s. I believe this was a Team Hammer/Suzuki bike. The frame was built by Rob North 69K jpeg file
Team Suzuki 1000cc endurance racer I'm not sure, but I think this photo predates the Rob North framed Suzuki endurance racer. 83K jpeg file
Glen Gibson's EX500 I took this picture at a Sears Point AFM event in 1996. Glen and his brother Brad built the chassis and engine. Unfortunately, I didn't catch the bike with the fairing and tank removed. Nice work! 85K jpeg file
Four more shots of Glen Gibson's bike supplied by Glen. With and (mostly) without bodywork. 84 to 93K jpeg files
Chain drive Yamaha Vision racer This 640cc Vision is in an FZR400 chassis. The owner/builder is John Clemens (with assistance from Tony Howard) and he resides in Portland OR and he won his local 650 Twins championship in 1997 and also finished 3rd in Open Twins. Claimed weight is 320 pounds and horsepower of 85-90. Fuel injection and another 5-10 horsepower are planned for 1998. 39K jpeg file You can reach John at: JCClemens@aol.com
Yamaha 750cc Vision I took this picture at an AMA National at Laguna Seca about 1985. The 750cc Vision motor was made by Wilbanks Racing and installed in a custom frame. The bike was quite fast, and run in the BOTT race. 70K jpeg file
Greg Stevenson is a friend of Craig's, and a very skilled weldor/fabricator. He designed and built this big-bore 720cc Vision with an OZ-style variation of the Hossack/Fior front end. Aircraft streamline tubing is used in the front upright. 82K jpeg file
Benelli 900cc Sei Craig's friend Dave Rittenhouse built this bike at Craig's shop. This started as a 750cc six cylinder, but was bored to 900cc. It had a lightened crank, Kei'hin smoothbore carbs and was a street bike! Notice the Hossack/Fior style front end, and the triangulation in the frame. The motor looks low, but was significantly narrower than stock and had plenty of lean available. 116K jpeg file
Benelli 900cc Sei - detail of the front suspension/steering. 63K jpeg file
Norton Commando BOTT racer These two shots are of a special framed Commando built by Jim Schmidt, taken at Sears Point. The current owner, Ken Canaga of Left Coast Racing tells me that those are handmade carburettors on the bike, and not a fuel injection system as I originally thought. 162K jpeg file
A Nico Bakker aluminum frame on a belt-drive Ducati - photo on a Dutch website brought to my attention by Hans Breukers, Editor of the Dutch Ducati Club magazine "STRADA ".
A composite framed Rotax street bike I'm told this bike was built by Ted Wilkins of Ontario, Canada. It is powered by a 580cc Rotax snowmobile-type engine, has a vacuum-bagged carbon-fiber monocoque frame, weighs 320 lbs, and puts out 100 bhp. Note the belt-drive countershaft is also the swing-arm pivot. Very neat bike - I'm contacting the owner for more information. Photo courtesy of Alan Lapp. 38K jpeg file
A Spondon XT550 road racer Another single from Sears Point. 41K jpeg file
Maury van Streefkirk's SR500 road racer Maury designed and built this frame with GSXR wheels for his SR500. The picture was taken at Thunderhill. 48K jpeg file
FZ600 framed XS650 Yamaha twin road racer Another shot from Sears Point. I think the owner told me that a lot of the parts were on hand or given to him, so he put them together. 44K jpeg file
A short leading link fork on a Commando I took this photo at Alice's Restaurant. The owner told me he had built the front end as a school project. There are three shots - one of the front of the bike and two details of the forks. 94K jpeg file
Glenn Thomson sent me these pictures of a 125cc Can Am that he built in the early 1980s with a hub center front end of his own design and manufacture. He also made the one-piece aluminum fairing/tank/seat assy. The bike weighed 155 lb., including the fairly heavy Can-Am rear hub and Honda CB500 disc setup on the front. The jpeg graphics files range from 82-135K in size
Rene Blouin sent me this photo of a spine frame, asking if I could identify it. He mentioned it had a Yamaha TZ250 engine in it when it was bought in Europe in the 1970s. It's a Fritz Egli roadrace frame for the TZ. He's said he'll send me some more photos. Egli TZ250 frame
An action shot that caught my eye in the 23 July 66 Motor Cycling shows Dave Lofthouse, then leader in the British Championship grasstrack series on his 650cc Triumph outfit. Lofthouse outfit 43K jpeg file
Here is a picture from a 1985 British sidecar cross championship race. The bike has both engine and chassis from Wasp, and the riders are Terry Good and Andrew Husser. MCN 10 Jul 1985. Wasp sidecar-crosser 21K jpeg file
Another shot of an earlier Wasp from the 23 Jul 66 Motor Cycling.
HD w/Thunderheads outfit I took these two shots at an AMA National at Laguna Seca, early to mid '80s. 145K jpeg file
Triumph outfit I think these two photos were taken at Sears Point in the early 80's.. 155K jpeg file
Ivar de Gier sent me these photos of a Moto Guzzi grass-track outfit. Ivar told me : the grasstrack sidecar racer was built in the beginning of the seventies by Dutchman (later he moved to Norway) Maarten Mager. The engine was tuned with the help of the Guzzi factory, and the combination won a string of grass track races throughout the beginning of the seventies in both Scandinavia and Holland.
Kelvin Blair in Australia sent along this photo of the single-damper LL fork from his racing sidecar.
Kelvin Blair's sidecar LL fork
Here are a couple of vintage Honda twin drag bikes built by John Cheadle of Leavesden, England. The 250cc CB72 is supercharged with a rubber-belt driven Arnott blower, running on methanol dispensed through a 1.25" Wal Philips injector. The 125cc CB92 appears to be running a Kei'hin carburettor. The frames were built by John Gazeley, and the 3.5" spines hold 6 pints of fuel. The forks are rigid. Photo from the 15 July 1967 issue of Motor Cycling.
Bob Cornforth in England sent me these pictures of some vintage drag bikes.
One summer when I was in college a coworker in the parts department of the Suzuki/Triumph/BSA/BMW dealership was Phil York. Phil set a Bonneville record on a nitro-running Honda Minitrail with a big-inch S90 engine. Here's a picture of Phil and his bike from the November 1971 issue of Cycle Guide. Bob Braverman took the photo and wrote the article. I sat on Phil's record-breaker - and hung over each end of it!
Here are four photos that David Kath sent of a twin-engined (YZ80 Yamaha) Bonneville bike. It took a 175cc record at 117+ mph at the 2001 Bonneville event. The owner told him it was originally Cushman scooter powered.
Another Bonneville photo (Speed Week 2001) comes from Ken Canaga. He and Eric Sherrer (builder of the DUBBS singles) set three records on Ken's 750cc Sportsman Norton, with a best speed of just over 130mph.
Here are three photos of small land speed bikes sent to me by Douglas Robinson. The first is his 1972 Yamaha LS2 100cc twin, and the other two are his 1976 Kawasaki KM-100. About the Kawasaki Douglas writes : The attached .jpg files are from Bonneville '96 (with me and the big yellow truck) and El Mirage in '97 (before the rear fairing was installed). The bike is a '76 Kawasaki KM-100 (rotary valve engine) which runs in Special Construction class as less than 50% of the original frame is still there. I set a record at Muroc Dry Lake (part of Edwards Air Force Base, now called Rogers Dry lake where the space shuttle lands) at 93.465 mph with this bike in '97.
Here are some photos Dave Kath took at the 1997 Bonneville Speed Week. To start off is a series of shots of Max Lambky's dual-engined, supercharged, fuel-consuming, NOS-injected, 400+ bhp Vincent streamliner. These pictures were taken the day before an episode of sliding along the salt on the bike's side, when they had the bodywork off fixing an errant clutch slave cylinder.
Here are some of Dave's photos of the Big "D" Triumph twin engine Trident bike.
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© 1996-2008 Michael Moore, last update for this page 29 June 2008
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