CZ125 Roadracer.

I had a CZ250 for a short time "back in the day" and the thing scared the hell out of me. I imagine that this thing would scream like a scared ape. I love cooling fins as long as my hand. Beautiful bike.

MV Augusta 350 twin. Outstanding Reader Ride!

Reader Greg Rathe sends in some pictures of his gorgeous MV Augusta 350

Greg Writes:
Great website and wanted to share one of my favorite bikes with you and the site.

This is a two cylinder 350cc with twin SS1 Dellortos. The details of the bike are incredibly beautiful and it is in all original condition.

Its a bike I love to ride that is solid, smooth and reliable. Handling is great, turn in's are smooth and even the brakes are not to bad for drums. Cruising the back road twisties are great and I have seen 85mph on the speedo without feeling close to top speed. The wheelbase is short and the tires narrow, if you think a new direction than the bike is headed, most likely the bike will already be going in that direction before you have made the decision.

On top of the gas tank is the original MV Agusta sticker with 34 stars, noting the championships the company had won.

My best,

Greg Rathe
New York, NY USA


Thanks Much Greg for the pics of this great bike! Must be pure joy on those back road rides!

Honda Elsinore CR250M

1964 Puch "Allstate" 250 twingle.

An extremely highly polished H2 restoration.

Personally I think it's be a chore to leep this beauty clean but it sure is nice to look at.

Suzuki RG500 Gamma

H1

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!

Beautiful reader ride restoration!

I just received this outstanding reader ride from Ted Guthrie. A beautifully restored Penton 125 Six-Day. While I've never considered myself a true "restorer" of motorcycles (I'm more of a resto-mod kind of guy) I have struggled with enough old bikes to really appreciate the level of effort that goes into a bike like this. The really great part is that it's really done out of love of the bikes. You'd be hard pressed to ever make a good living (much less become wealthy) doing this kind of work. But I'm constantly amazed at the work that I see out there and that people send me. Keep sending them in. It's MUCH appreciated!

Ted Writes:

Hey, great site you've got. Some of the best pics, of terrific variety of bikes, I've ever seen. Attached are some photos of my recently completed 1973 Penton 125 Six-Day. Bike started out as a total junker, which had sat outside for years. It now starts first-kick, and runs perfectly. Incidently, the Steel Tanker you have the pic of, which was taken at the AMA museum, belongs to the original owner - Al Born - and the bike is serial # 003. Yep, it is the third Penton ever built. Al is among the original group of riders, who were hand-picked by John Penton to receive (and race and win and promote) the first ten Penton motorcycles produced.

Ted Guthrie

Historian

Penton Owners Group