A sweet T500 from ou regular contributor Ted Guthrie.

Hell of a nice deal!  Exactly the type of bikes people dream of finding..  Thanks Ted. And sorry for the long delay in getting this posted.Not sure what happened there.

Hi, Steve. Thought I'd share with you the great barn find I brought home recently. It's a 1973 Suzuki T500 Titan, with 4,000 original miles on it. Although far from perfect cosmetically due to plain old aging, it is in amazing condition. All I did to get it look as it does in these pictures was to wash it. Torn fork gaitors show, as well as a broken lock on the gas cap - hence my baggie/rubber band seal. Tape on the tank is my label reminding me there is no fuel in it. Haven't tried to fire it up yet, as I intend to go through the carbs and ignition first. Dig the condition of the seat and tires. They're exactly as when I got the bike. No Armorall on 'em or anything. Nearly 40 years old. Amazing. What a survivor. Ted Guthrie PS: Please see also, pic of parts and pieces of '75 Bultaco 350 Alpina I am putting together. 1960 Triumph Tiger Cub is next in line, too.

Kawasaki G3SSD 90.

A really cool little Kawasaki from reader Ted Guthrie. I would have killed for one of these when I was a kid...

Ted Writes:

Next bike is a 1974 Kawasaki G3SSD, which I brought home just this last week. It is all original, starts first kick, runs perfectly, and came with title, toolkit, and owners manual. It's about 90%, cosmetically, with just a bit of pitting on some chrome, plus rusty spokes and a few bubbles on the beautiful, original paint job.

I always wanted one of these little bikes, ever since a neighbor girl had one when they were new. I used to watch with great envy as she putt-putted around the yard on it.

Back in the 70's, even little, tiny bikes such as this G3 were very well equipped. Note the sidestand AND center stand, spacious seat, buddy pegs, and big-bike lights. There is also oil-injection of course, and the choke lever is cable operated and conveniently mounted on the bars. They sure don't build 'em like they used to.

Ted Guthrie

The Hodaka Wombat from Ted Guthrie.

Ted keeps the great bikes coming in with this lates submission and story! He Writes:

Here's a nice, original bike. It's a 1974 Hodaka 125 Wombat. I picked the bike up a few years ago, complete with title and toolkit. Note also the original, unmolested turn signals. I got the original key, too. Only thing missing was the owners manual, which the former owner had unfortunately thrown away - just because it was a little moldy. Rats. Oh, well. The bike fires right up and runs perfectly.

The first picture (with the cows) was taken the day I brought the bike home. That's exactly as I bought it. Since then, I've cleaned it up a bit more, shot some correct-paint on the engine's sidecovers, and did same for the pegs and rear brake pedal. I also resprayed the air cleaner cover and installed a repop "Wombat" sticker on it, plus blasted the pipe and shot it with high-temp, correct-satin paint. Also installed new petcocks and repop grips. Plenty of parts of available for these little Hodads, and the rider following is cult-level.

The second picture shows none other than racing great, David Aldana, taking a spin on the bike at Vintage Days 2008. I was hanging out with some friends who were doing the vintage roadracing thing. Thier garage space was right next to David's, and at one point I saw him checking out the Wombat, which I had parked right outside.

I struck up a conversation with Aldana, whom I had interviewed the year before. He began telling stories about the old days, and the fun of riding bikes like Hodakas. I offered for David to ride the bike, which he initially declined. However, after a bit more prodding, and with a great big grin on his face, he soon gave in and off he went.

Aldana returned (quite) a bit later, having had a great time. He was all pumped up, and kept saying how much fun the bike was. He also reported having received a lot of attention during his ride. I said, why of course - you're David Aldana! He said no, that everyone was interested only in the Hodaka. Haha.

All in all, the little Wombat is GREAT fun. It runs like a champ, is great for putting around at events like Vintage Days, or for putzing on the trails, or even for running errands around town. In fact, despite just 123cc of displacement, the Hodaka really buzzes on the street. There is no doubt as to why these bikes were so popular. What a cryin' shame Hodaka is no more.

Ted Guthrie

A damm shame indeed.. Thanks again Ted!

All original 1975 Can-Am!

When I was a kid growing up in Canada I used to drool over this exact model. I didn't know much about bikes at the time but I knew what I liked. The look, the lines and those awsome colors. not to mention the performance for the time. It might have been a real handful for a 12 year old :)

Thanks to this fantastic find by Ted Guthrie (owner of the earlier posted Penton 6-day) I can see that my lust was not misplaced! What a great ride! And I think it's great that you use it for it's intended purpose instead of locking it away!

Thanks again Ted for sharing another great ride! If yo have more don't hesitate to keep them coming!!

Ted Writes:

Thank you for running the pics of my Penton Six-Day. I very much appreciate your generous comments regarding the bike. Good thing the pictures aren't any better or you would see all the flaws. Haha.

Thought you might also enjoy this '75 Can-Am 175 TNT. I picked it up a couple of years ago. The bike came from an estate sale, sold by the family of the original owner.


It is all-original, runs perfectly, and came with title, toolkit, owners manual, and even some cans of original Can-Am branded two-stroke oil.
The weekend after I bought the bike, I rode it in a 75-mile, vintage enduro. The old "Canned-Ham" ran great, but the combination of totally blown-out shocks and too-stiff forks made it nearly impossible to keep it pointed straight down the trail.

Since then, I've cleaned the bike up some, and installed new stickers on the tank (to replace the original, screened-on graphics). Still to be installed are new sidepanel/numberplate stickers, along with repros of the "175 TNT" graphics on the sidepanels.

But, it looks and runs great, for a 34-year-old trailbike. Truly a survivor. I like to think the orginal owner would be pleased with where the bike ended up and how it is being cared for.

Ted Guthrie