Old/new/old guy around here

[grandpaul]

Will's '75 Norton Commando 850 cafe racer a la Paul Smart, with my mod of the transverse oil tank to give the "clear space" feel behind the carbs

Mark's '68 Norton N15, restored, and added modified P11 scrambler pipes & nice alloy rims

'74 Kawasaki H1 500 triple that I bought at a race track swap meet so I could use the engine in a borrowed race bike that blew a cylinder sleeve. I didn't know it, but it had a holed piston. So, I was racing a with 333cc air compressor engine! I took 3rd in the championship, thanx to that engine (as bad as it was, I managed)

The race bike with the swap meet engine, at Barber's, in the season finale!

 

[grandpaul]

BSA 500 twin Chopper Rescue on a budget, working with only stuff I had in my shop. Strangely, I bought that tan seat at a swap meet like 5 years earlier!

Scratch built '72 Norton 750 Production Racer replica. The "before" photo is a mockup I put together from almost 7 years of leftover Norton bits. When I found the Yellow bodywork on E-bay, I know that was the direction I'd go in.

'71 BMW R65/5 rescue (dropped on it's left head). I started to built it to race in AHRMA, then decided on a Triumph Bonneville instead.

 

[grandpaul]

Yep, there's still lots more...

Norton Atlas 750 that I put together for a guy. The engine and transmission were already put together, but not in the frame. Only the swingarm and shocks were loosely bolted to the frame when the client brought me the carload of parts.

'79 Triumph Bonneville 750 Special that had tons of missing parts that I managed to find. Slapped the little EMGO fairing on it just because.

Honda 750 Four mild custom. I didn't mess with the engine, and I had already installed the headers & fenders, and swapped wheels before I took the "before" photo...

 

[cdc]

Very impressive work!
Congratulations.

 

[grandpaul]

My 1970 Triumph 650 "Trophyville" refurb/mod. That was one leaky, smoky, horrible-running scruffer with dull pipes. I overhauled the top end, got a nice paint job and went thru a dozen 0000 steel wool biscuits cleaning it up! I also ditched the Mikuni carbs for original stuff.

"The Three lives of Mark's Commando" I did the original overhaul, red powdercoat, bobbed seat, and all the electrical on the "Beach Bum"; Mark did most of the rest of the assembly (I helped him some). Then, I reworked it to a more moderate cruiser/bobber for him. Finally, he sold me all 6 of his remaining bikes, and I pulled this one apart, re-powdercoated it in Black, and made a cafe racer out of it.

 

[grandpaul]

One of Mark's 6 bikes that I bought, an unfinished Triton project. I used all the best parts on MY Triton, and this was the results of using what I had left over. Weird, but it sold well...

"A Touch of the Grape" 72 Norton Combat Commando 750 resto-mod, close to stock, original Roman Purple Fireflake paint still intact. Dunstall pipes and quick-flip rearsets, otherwise ORIGINAL!

My scratch-built '66 Triton - '66 Bonneville engine in '66 Slimline Featherbed, '72 Suzuki 550 triple front end w/ 4LS front brake (very trick). LOTS of custom goodies including M.A.P. 750 kit, M.A.P. belt drive & clutch pack, Tri-Spark ignition, Amal MkII carbs, oil cooler & filter, central mount early Commando "jerry can" oil tank, my own scratch-built 6061 alloy engine mount plates & sintered bronze swingarm bushing & spindle kit, Tarrozzi rearsets, clip-ons, I forget what else.

Triton now has a polished alloy Lyta Sprint tank, and different mufflers...

 

[grandpaul]

Let's see.... where did I leave off? I have to scroll through MANY photos to dig out the "before & after" ones...

This was my beloved '67 Triumph Bonneville 650, already partially restored from a HORRIBLE leaky, smoky, rusty, non-original piece of barely-running junk. My first "real" restoration. I had a friend do the engine overhaul, because I'd never worked on a British bike before that (1997). I sure wish I'd have gotten a proper "before" photo, but I couldn't stand to look at it! I had that bike over 20 years, but sold it to help pay hospital bills when I broke my leg in 2020.

My good ol' '68 BSA 441 thumper total restoration, yet another one that "got away"...

One of my best restorations EVER: 1974 John Player Norton 850, from a genuine ORIGINAL JPN that had not only been mistreated, but I had traded for over 10 years earlier. The other guy reneged and demanded the bike back AFTER I got it running (at that time it had no bodywork). A third guy had started to turn it into what he THOIUGHT was a period-correct roadracer from the 70s, but was totally misinformed. I knew EXACTLY what it was! I took over 500 photos of the total restoration process. I carefully calculated the overall detail inventory, and determined it to be approximately 96% original spec when I was done. Original style mirrors were in the tail storage, by the way, we didn't want them sticking out during shipping to the eventual buyer in Sweden. That was one of the very last sets of Black Chrome mufflers that Paul at Viking built until almost a decade later when he built another batch.

 

[grandpaul]

'56 Triumph 6T Thunderbird HORRIBLE chopper rescue to Rat Rod bobber with period headlight nacelle-

Incomplete Triumph Bonneville Trike resto/mod. I had designs of cutting open that keg to make a mobile BBQ build with a tilt-up K&Q seat. "the best laid plans" didn't work out. I traded this trike as seen in the lower photo, for the "before" Purple Norton Commando posted a few posts up!

1965 Triumph Bonneville chopper rescue that I never got to finish (sold as shown)

 

[grandpaul]

'67 BSA 650 Lightning mild chopper rescue

Brian's Suzuki 750 cafe racer project - I did the engine refurb, brake systems, electrical including M-unit, frame powdercoat, fork overhaul, and other miscellaneous stuff including custom under-seat electrical tray and small battery under the seat hump. Brian did the seat, paint, and pipe wrap.

Scratch build of a very unique Norton Commando using some of the last parts that Kenny Dreer sold when he closed VR. Yamaha XS650 front end, KD box section "big bearing" swingarm, Honda CB850 rear wheel & brake, crossover brake cable, VR880 tank & seat, Ducati Monster headlight, rearsets & clip-ons, all polished alloy, hand-wired, etc, etc, etc. This is one of a few bikes that I still have!

 

[grandpaul]

'74 Moto Guzzi Eldorado 850 that I rescued from oblivion. When my wyfe found out "we're pregnant" TWENTY YEARS after our son was born, she said "we're going to need a sidecar", so I found this "matching" Cozy Convertible.

Perfect setup! Sally was taking the picture, our "baby" (now 18) is the little one in the sidecar. The big girl is my oldest daughter, the rest are my 3 granddaughters. EVERYBODY loves the sidecar!

'82 Honda MB5 total resto-mod, including upgrading the engine to an MB-8. Couldn't match the paint with a rattle-can...

 

[grandpaul]

1968 Norton P11A ranger that I assembled from parts in 18 hours, to running condition (power unit & transmission were not torn apart). Got it to 95% original condition except paint, and coil bracket & rear fender bracket that I replicated from scratch; just missing rubber fork gaiters and tach drive & cable.

I've got to work on composing a few more composite "before and after" photos from the individual shots, as well as my few "specials" that will have more detail.

 

[grandpaul]

This is a '74 Triumph Trident 750 triple engine that I built for Will...

I have a similar B & A of a Bonneville twin, but can't find it...

 

[grandpaul]

My all-time most rare & valuable bike - THE original monoshock prototype New Norton Commando, almost as shown by Kenny Dreer at the NY IMS when he announced the worldwide consolidation of the Norton brand into Norton America, and built a rolling show bike with a dummy engine. The sidecover and seat cowl were scratched getting it onto the show floor. Anyway, when he eventually sold the whole deal to the rip-off Gardner, he had to yank the hollow engine out of it to go with all the new model prototype stuff. As this is a classic frame, he didn't have to let it go. He sold me the bodywork, one-of-a-kind monoshock rear end, one of only 3 CF primary cases he built (4 ounces!), one-of-a-kind "tight tuck" exhaust headers, a VR880 front hub so I could lace up a wire spoke rim, a complete VR e-start package, and a pair of FCR carbs. I sourced a ZRX6 front end, a standard MkIII 850 e-start engine, a MkIII rear wheel, some rearsets, and a few other bits to create this running rider. I also converted the left-foot shift transmission to right foot shift (not hard at all). It is FAR too valuable to be riding around, I will never sell it. It is (take it or leave it) a "trailer/show queen".

Very first "Before" mockup with ZX6 chassis (NO WAY that was going to happen. I only kept the forks & brakes.

Much more reasonable later mockup after rounding up more parts. You can (almost) see that all it took was two small tabs welded to the frame for the shock top mount.

Much closer, still with the VR880 lump, CF primary case, and complete working front brakes.

Then, FINISHED!!!!

I have since reverted to Premier Amal 932 carbs, there was no way to fit air filtration with the FCRs, they were way too tight to the frame web which almost completely blocked off the carb intake openings.

 

[grandpaul]

This is one of my most "never should have sold" bikes ever - 1975 Honda CB550 K Four, which I bought from a fellow sailor that was 2 days from shipping out. He had come down from $1,000 to $800, to $750, and finally to $600. I paid him $400 and gave the other $200 to his landlord a month later when I picked it up. He had a trick stainless steel rear grab rail on it, as well as a "King & Queen" seat, chrome pullback bars with drilled billet risers, and a Kerker header with no muffler.
Photo taken at NAS Corpus Christi NCO housing carport, with my Sunbird "little Trans Am" behind it...

After I got out of the Navy, I found a nicer tank & sidecovers, and painted the frame & exhaust (it was all rusty from being at the coast)

Then I had my friend Joey re-paint everything Silver, and installed a muffler on it. I also installed an oil cooler and clip-on handlebars

It finally got a set of carbs from a 750, a "Pops" Yoshimura 590 kit, an EMGO quarter fairing with bullet mirrors, an intake scoop for the oil cooler (made from a "one Way" sign), and a tail from a Kawasaki 350 triple. All the bodywork was painted with Imron Antique Metallic Gray, by Joey. This 590 could keep up with my KZ1000 all the way to about 85-90, then the big KZ would slowly walk away.

I sure miss that jewel...

 

[Boulder Ed]

Wow what a lot of cool work resto work. I've always envied the skills you have. It's got to be a labor of love working on those old Brit bikes. The JP Nortons were really the only 70's Brit bike that got my attention but thankfully they were always overpriced and still, well, a Norton that would require more maintenance than I ever wanted to do

 

[AdventureSeeker]

Wow! Impressive work and results. Definitely the result of great skills and equally great patience.

 

[Fordf350]

Also as impressive as all the work was the insight to take all the pictures. It was not as easy as in today’s world. I still don’t take as many pics as I should but at my age I am not going to change. Thanks for sharing.

 

[grandpaul]

Also as impressive as all the work was the insight to take all the pictures. It was not as easy as in today’s world. I still don’t take as many pics as I should but at my age I am not going to change. Thanks for sharing.

You are only seeing the "before and after" photos. I have anywhere from 100 to 500 PER project! The John Player Norton went over 500 due to the historic detail to authenticate originality. One of only 200 made, it was my rarest bike. Next would be the '83 Triumph TSS Bonneville 8-valve (only 238 built), but I didn't restore it, it was completely original and working perfectly, like new!

As to the photographs themselves, I always rotate as required, crop to just the subject bike (minimum background), then resize to 800-1000 pixel width by whatever height, then save at the best resolution to keep the file size as low as possible for uploading. So, plenty of pre-publishing work on each photo! I do ALWAYS make it a point to FRAME the photo as well as possible BEFORE snapping the photo; that means I don't have to do nearly as much cropping and rotating.