Posts tagged 'motorcycle'

Different sprocket sizes - larger or smaller - what is the impact on performance?

Chain comes in a variety of pitches and widths. It is crucial to select the correct chain and sprockets for your bike.

In 1980, Kawasaki introduced the in-line four KZ550, an excitable motorcycle that became a fan-favorite among Kawasaki riders, almost instantly. Engine-wise, the KZ550s were nearly identical, with minor improvements realized over their production lifespan. A shaft-driven version was produced in 1983, known as the KZ550M. The 'Spectre' version used the CV carbs and a different cylinder head for enlarged porting. The 'GPz' models used the CV carbs, as well. The most noticeable differences between the 550 models were aesthetics.

DCC customer Matt Anderson, from Lancaster, MA, put his personal touch on his '83 KZ550 and we are rolling with the changes!

I have always been fascinated by motorcycles my whole life but didn’t dive headfirst into them until I got my license in 2005. That was when I first heard the term “Café Racer”. When I read about the history of café racers, and what they were all about, I fell in love with them. I just felt like, “This is me; this is who I am.” From that moment, I knew I was going to have to build one someday soon. I could already picture it in my head, down to every detail.

For a year, we searched for the perfect donor machine. When we came across this 1980 Honda CX500 in a barn in Northeast Ohio, I fell in love. Sure, with all the yellow gaudy trim, it lived up to its “plastic maggot” namesake. But everything was there to transform it into a lean, mean brat. We trailered the bike home to Florida and I sold the Bonneville the following week—a-la Cortes burning the ships after landing in Veracruz. I was all in.

"We wanted to leave the bodywork as original as possible but give it a modern flair and change the dynamic of the performance," Herm says, adding, "We want people to look at this bike and know that it's a CB1100F, even though we didn't put that anywhere on the bike."

The biggest roadblocks in this project tied directly to the resto-mod concept. The mechanical bits, the stuff that slows most of us down, didn't really worry Herm and Jason, because between them, there's clearly little they can't do. Once the engine was out Herm pulled the top end apart, checked the bores and pistons, had the cylinder head cleaned up and the valves reground, then put it all back together. In a day.

In the early 70s, Moto Guzzi was longing to manufacture a motorcycle outside the realm of touring. They had been successful with the V-twin touring bikes but had an itch for something more compact and agile. A sportbike.

Woodend Customs' 1972 Honda CL350

Everybody loves a feel-good story, right?

If you had to choose, what is the single feature of a motorcycle that draws you in?

The beautiful thing about motorcycles is how it brings people together from all different walks of life, all corners of the Earth. Some have been riding and wrenching since they could walk, while others take on a newfound passion in the later stages of life. DCC customer Rene-Yves Cote finds himself somewhere in between and we find ourselves besotted at the sight of his '72 CB350.

Widely known as the "little brother" of the ever-legendary CB750, the Honda CB550 is considered by some to be one of the most balanced motorcycles that came out of Japan in the 1970s. At the time, Honda Motor Company was in need of a motorcycle that could fill the mid-capacity vacancy in their product line. The overall performance of the forerunning CB500 left the company and its fanbase with a lot to be desired. The CB750 was too powerful and bulky for the average rider, while the smaller CB350's and CB400F were too small and handling was not ideal at top speed. In 1974, the CB550 was born and Honda had found its happy medium, producing the model through 1978 with minor tweaks along the way...