The Norton Featherbed frame may have been one of the most common starting points for cafe racers ever produced, Triumph engines so often took the place of the factory power plant, you could be forgiven if you thought Triton was another factory down the street, but a Norton Esquire? I've never seen one, in fact, I don't recall ever hearing of it before. The Esquire was … [Read more...]

Yamaha could have done then what Greg Hageman does now, but then it wouldn't be special, would it? They produced the Virago, a nice looking engine hidden in a Japanese cruiser, somewhat popular at the time, but leaving things like this to the imagination of builders yet to come. Most of you have seen Doc's Chops customs before and this is just one more, built around what … [Read more...]

If the invitation says "black tie" and you still insist on riding, this would be a great choice, a 1948 Vincent Series B Rapide that has all the right stuff and presents itself very well. If modern motorcycles leave you wanting something more, let your eyes wander over the lines and curves of of a bike designed to put everything on display. The engine is, to my eye, one of the … [Read more...]

This is nice! We've written up GT750s before, they're not as sought after as the old Kawasaki triples, but with rebuilds like this one, that may change. They look good in stock form and like any two stroke, they have impressive power. This one, though, is a resto-mod into cafe racer that looks better than any "water buffalo" I've seen before. It's called "Threesome" to reflect … [Read more...]

Cruise through the motorcycles for sale and you see some interesting items now and then, like this 1974 Norton 850 SC Commando. I don't recall seeing these around before, but according to the description, the Drouin superchargers were available through the Norton dealers at the time and this bike has the last version of the blower which was also equipped with the slide throttle … [Read more...]