(Information and Photo Courtesy of Rick Newlee)
Well, the Mike Bast bike. It's one that he ran at Costa Mesa in around 1970 - 1972. The front Diamond is a Redline made by Mike Konle. He also made frames for Class "C" flattrack and MX bicycles.
Bill Cody told me that Redline only made 20 of these Diamonds. The rear Diamond is Jawa but they cut the lower cross brace in half, plated it into a "D" shape and rewelded it. The purpose was to be able to move the 22" rear tire as far forward as possible. The rims are shouldered Akronts, 23" front and 22" rear, laced with thick spokes (presumably for close combat). The rear hub is a Barnes knock-off.
The front Diamond has a different steering head angle than the Jawa. Front axle dimension to crank centerline is shorter by about 1 1/2 inches. Handlebars were his own special bend as well. The engine was messaged by George Wenn and the clutch was too. Cam cover says Jawa-Wenn on it.
I can see evidence of George's work on the engine. We are going to try to bring this bike back to what it looked like when it was being raced by Mike. I need to call him later this week to verify as much of this as I can and hopefully get a picture or two of the bike back then, with or without Mike aboard.
Not very clear in the photo pictured Right, the Hub is stamped "Bast Bros" and hopefully, Rick will be sending us more pictures of this one as the restoration gets under way.
True to his word, and after many months working on the restoration project, the Mike Bast Jawa came to a completion and Rick has finally sent in pictures of how it looks today.
Another excellent Restoration Rick .....
And here's something you don't see too often on these Pages, a photo of the original builder alongside the restorer. The photo* is of Mike Bast (Astride the Machine) and Rick taken at the AMA Vintage Motorcycle Show at Sears Point in Sonoma, California this last April 2001.
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