"This bike, complete with the desirable PM 8 spoke wheels, was sourced a few years a ago in upstate
New York by Jack de Roco, hence the name on the front number plate and that of the company.
The bike had seen some rough racing in its past. Mind you this is a true racing motorcycle. A battle
scar here and there, AMA scrutineering stickers... the lot and the real deal. But the bike was in a
poor state and desperately needed attention.
The renovation, commissioned to Dimitri Hettinga of Super Motor Company, ended up in a nut and
bolt restoration. After dismantling, the frame was first undone of its chrome finish and send off to a
polisher to ready it for its new nickel plated shine. A full box of parts: shocks, engine plates, carb
and other miscellaneous items were shipped to the cleaners. In the meantime the engine got a full
overhaul.
Dimitri decided to make a new tail/seat for the bike since he had always disliked the original Wood
seat. A clay model was made which deleted the hump, streamlined the tail and shortened the seat
length by 25 mm. To withhold a ranting from any originality purist, the original seat, painted in the
same caramel chocolate brown colour, has survived.
Most parts returned pretty quickly except for the engine. A waiting game. It took a staggering 9
months for no apparent reason. A complete bank braking nightmare even after when we got it
back....valves were leaking, inlet was reworked sloppy. No we will not be working again with that
engine re-builder. Bragging rights, racing palmares, the reputation...you name it. But very sloppy
workmanship and engine tuning up yours. It had to be done all over again. Happily we found a guy
that reworked the head and valve seating perfectly.
It was time for final assembly. Everything came together easily except for the wheels. The
alignment must have been off for years. All spacers and bearings are completely new. The R6 fork
that sported the bike before was shaved and polished to give it that clean flat track look. But after
putting it in, the stanchions were sticking way to much out of the top triple. Before the renovation
that feature was hidden by an oversized front number plate. A later (2003-2004) R6 fork was sourced on Ebay UK and send off to MCT suspension for a re-spring and a re-valve to make it suit a
brakeless front and a flat track surface. When it returned if got the the same shave as the previous fork. Except for the polish as it was decided the fork legs were better suited in a matt black finish tocomplement the black anodized Performance Machine 8 spoke wheels.
When the bike was complete and on its feet it was time for a new exhaust. The original wood pipewas replicated except for the end cone. Like a typical black exhaust of a 60's Honda RC racer it got a more organic flow to it by slightly tilting the reverse cone. Volumes are identical though to theoriginal Wood gas dispenser."
