Yamaha RZ350 - First Custom bike build

Had to have been 2000 or so when I built this one. Back story is RZ350 was my high school dream bike and I'd never let the dream die. Turns out bikes had gotten a lot better since then. Bought for $800 as a rough looking runner. So excited to take it on that first ride. Hated it. Bike was slow, had crappy brakes, worse suspension and felt like moped.

This was day one of buyers remorse. Stared at it for a month or so and came up with an evil plan.

Dent in tank was from hand controls. It had no doubt been laid down. After much rumination, it became clear that I needed to build what the RZ would have become had it not been banned.

So, I had a buddy at Yamaha who flowed me a set of R1 bodywork and that gave the bike some real direction. Found a set of old (and slightly bent) TZ wheels at the shop (worked at PM at the time). PM also supplied the brakes (super trick race calipers and floating rotors). Swingarm was FZ600 and forks are GSXR1100. Above is inital mockup of all the goods. Intent was for it to look as original as I could.

Still sporting the TZ slick (I never did find the correct tire), I had the wheels straightened and powdercoated satin black (failry very oem look). Raask rear sets did the job, but always seemed a bit clunky to me. Chambers got the freshening up and silencer cans went to a very neutral bronze ano. Nothing was polished or fancy.

This is post paint, but still not quite road worthy. R1 tail sits on its original Aluminum subframe (heavily mod'd to bolt to steel RZ frame) and battery is in tail section. Corbin sent me an R1 seat and I cut the hell out of it to blend in with the RZ tank. Super wide chambers required a 5" plate at the bottom of the fairing (where the two halves came together). End result looked like it belonged. GSXR fork legs gotthe bronze ano treatment as well as spring for the much lighter RZ. Oil injection tank resided inside of the right side of the fairing (viewable while riding)

Race calipers and floating rotors made for some amazing brakes for such a light bike.

Corbin did a great job with the rough foam I had carved out.

What if the RZ had survived. My fake plate pondered it for all to see.

Doing a shoot for work and snuck my bike in!  Wrapped it up shortly after this. Won several shows and was teh talk of a a couple of bike nights (Had a guy argue the bike was a a gray market import). At full noise, it was a thing to behold and motor mods made for about as much hp as it was going to reliably give up. Under 300lbs, sticky tires and hella brakes bike was quite a handful. Power delivery was tough to control, though. Leaving a light was a battle between stalling and crossing the intersection on one wheel. I never did master it. Bike demanded it be kept at blisteringly high  RPM and every ride felt like it would be my last. A few months into it I finally admitted it was more bike than I was rider and sold it for a bunch of cash. Turns out you can't really go back.

Model Years - Part 4

GM Dually, scratch built cabover camper. Lic plate is 4CMPING

This one went to the guy who bought the Class C. Was a great Ebay year for me.

This was a rare one. My dad had a powder blue Cruiser when I was a kid, so I had to do one to match.

Did a few bikes, too. Yamaha R1.

My favorite motorcycle of all time. Bought a real one almost a decade later and of the 40+ bikes I;ve owned, it's the only one I regret selling. Looked identical to this, too!

Model Years - Part 3

Was impressed by an off road truck at an event and needed to do one in miniature. Had to hand form all the fenders and entire chassis is from scratch. Also sold on Ebay for pretty big $$.

That's some pretty bad suspension geometry.

Model Years - Part 2

Based on my actual Burb and pretty accurate.

Look close and you can see plumbed brake lines.

This was a fun one. Spent a few hours at local RV dealer, took pics and measurements. Built most of it from scratch after that. Lic plate is CAMPMOR.

Redid the interior wallpaper right after this shot.

Pics on the wall are of my actual Jeep. Sold this on Ebay for $500! Yeh, really...

The Model Years

So one weekend some time in the mid 90's I was feeling like hell and had decided to stay in. I had received Jeep models on several birthdays/Christmas years prior and it seemed like a good time to build one. Crappy obsessive personality wouldnt let it quit at just one, though. Pics are from digital photographies infancy and not terrribly good.

 Flat fender with a Buick oddfire 6 cylinder.

Cage is from scratch and detail parts are all aftermarket (yeh, the model industry has one of those, too)

4 Barrel Holley on top of a Buick Oddfire 6, in 1/25 scale.

This one is a CJ5 on 37's

Cut the front end up to create a one piece tilt to show off Vette motor. Fully plumbed, too.

Another flatt fender. Old school style inspired by one of the guys in the Jeep club I was wheelin' with at the time.

 Classic SBC motor.

1984 Jeep Scrambler part 3

65,000 Miles on it at this point. Was a rock solid rig. Family out grew it and it sat for months before I could talk myself into selling it. Pretty good size $$ made the process less painful.

 Started with a fresh blank and did my own dash.  Rhino Lined interior held up nice, but was pretty loud for commuting. Never forget the feel of that Lokar Shifter.

Right before it was sold. Earl Scheib Viper red held up very nicely.

This is an earlier shot (old tire rack). It twisted pretty decent for a street driven rig.

Looks like OW and pre lift.

1984 Jeep Scrambler - Part 2

High Desert with the Drifters Jeep Club. By this time it was geared down and locked up. Never did need a winch.

Also served as a tow rig. This was tire rack #3. First two ripped off the back.

1984 Jeep Scrambler

Don't have any day one pics, but this is pretty early in the build. Picked it up for a grand sight unseen. Gigured hardtop was worth close to that anyway.  Had it stashed at a buddies shop while we tried to get the stock motor (Iron Duke) running. It had a $120 budget and at $127, I pulled the plug and had to give the motor/trans/electronics away to get them out of the shop. Scored tires/wheels early on, so it's sporting those, but for the most part this is how it looked when I got it.

After giving up on the 4cyl, I decided on a small block and TH350 drivetrain. Folks at Turbo City had a roller cam 305 for cheap, so sent that to my local motor builder and had him go throgh the whole thing. GM truck manifold and throttle body on top and GM van headers to keep it smog legal (and get around the frame). Turbo City did the harness and computer and got it running. This shot is it back in my garage for detail work. In hindsight, should have Rhino lined engine compartment first. Was in a bunch of pubs covering the conversion and multiple trips to state referee to make it legal.

Used stock bar as a foundation and built a simple cage around it. Primer is covering up massive dent in door jam. Turns out rig had been left on a job sight and bumped by a loader. It pushed it into a pole and tweaked the body pretty bad. Although it straightened up pretty well, hard doors were a no go, so sold the top for $500 and a fresh soft top. This shot is in Earl Scheib parking lot! Did all the bodywork and prep myself. Pulled the interior and glass and dragged it down for the best $300 paint job I'd ever seen.

First time out. Big Bear in some big rocks. Had not installed lockers yet, so it strugled a bit in the hairy stuff, but otherwise it worked without a hitch.