We’ve had this burned Triumph Bonneville in the shop for quite awhile, but the engine looked so bad we pushed it over into a corner. Then we were always bumping into it. Finally I decided to mount it on one of our engine stands and see what we really had left. Now that we’re breaking it down for a rebuild, the insides are in surprisingly good shape! Guess it takes more than a little fire to destroy a classic like this.
Anyway, watch in the weeks to come while we raise a new bike from the ashes of the old one. Below is a picture from Wikipedia showing what an unburnt Triumph Bonneville looks like:
Recently we were approached by an eye doctor in the Kansas City area to restore a Lambretta for him. He had originally wanted to buy one of ours that was already finished, but then purchased one to restore himself. He finally decided it was a little too much specialized work. It’s a 1956 Lambretta LD 125, and has some Rube Goldberg modifications that one of the previous owners did to make the scoot work. (Parts were hard to find, pre-Internet!)
We’ve broken her down. The engine is in assembly, we’re searching for all the missing parts, a new electronic ignition system is on the way from England, sheet metal work in process, soon to be in paint. We plan to deliver it late spring!
The proposed paint scheme will be similar to the scoot pictured above, but with original Lambretta colors.
We’re working on the coolest little bike ever, a 1956 Motobécane moped. We just got tires from England and have started getting it ready for the road! In the meantime, here’s a YouTube video showing a bunch of Motobécane mopeds in their fully restored glory. Of course, ours will look much better.
Motobécane was a French company started in 1923. For many years it was France’s biggest manufacturer of motorcycles, and later expanded into mopeds. According to our good friends at Wikipedia, the last Motobécane moped rolled off the line in 1985.
There’s a new gunfighter in town: This 1975 Norton Commando 850, in the John Player Special color scheme. Best of all: 978 original miles. Big Eds will be doing the carbs on this bad boy. The MK3 Commando was first Norton fitted with an electric starter — which was a mixed blessing since it had a tendency to quickly drain the battery.
