How many appliances do you own? Let's see, refrigerator, washer, dryer, TV and maybe a few things like a blender and a toaster. These are things you buy to use, but when not in use, they're turned off until needed. Do you ever spend an evening working on your refrigerator to modify it, customize it or tune it for more performance? How about your TV? Put a turbo on your washer … [Read more...]
A Norton Matchless in the British Tradition of Custom Hybrids
Recently we wrote about a beautiful, though less often seen, British hybrid combining a Norton Featherbed frame with an Ariel Square Four engine, it was called a Noriel. Now, here's another less often seen combination, a slimline Norton Featherbed frame with a Matchless 500cc single for power. I'm not sure if there's an accepted name for this one, "Norless" perhaps, but, … [Read more...]
Completely Transformed Honda CB350 is a Very Creative Resto-Mod
Restorations to like new condition are always nice to see, but sometimes it takes a creative mind to envision something a little different and in this case, the owner pulled off a great transformation. Starting with an old and tired 1970 Honda CB350 with a seized engine, he stripped it down to bare metal and began again. A new single shock rear end was fabricated and it … [Read more...]
Noriel Black Velvet and Norton Esquire – Two Different Visions Across Sixty Years
A recent magazine cover photo caught my eye, it was John Mossey's Noriel Black Velvet on the cover of Classic Bike. It's one of those thoroughly British creations that comes about when you combine major parts from different marques into one new machine, in this case it's an Ariel Square Four engine installed, with no small amount of massage and modifications all around, into a … [Read more...]
A New Direction for The Kneeslider
It's been a while since I posted and I thought it was time to say a few words about what's going on. Briefly, it's a change of direction. I've spent so much time on my computer over the last 14 years with The Kneeslider and so little time in the garage that the need to make a change became overpowering. The last post I wrote, about fixing things, was a tiny hint of where I'm … [Read more...]
Make Your New CB1100 Look Like a Classic CB750 with This Kit From Whitehouse
A few years ago I wrote about a motorcycle that looked just like a CB750, except it wasn't, it was a new Honda CB1100 fitted with a CB1100 Four K10 kit that swapped out the tank, side covers and a lot of other pieces to make the already somewhat retro CB1100 into a very close replica of an early CB750. The kit was from Whitehouse of Japan. The only problem at the time was the … [Read more...]