INV. № 0148 — 12 NOV 2025 Currently in the shop: 1968 Triton 650 · 1973 Ducati 750 GT ★ ACCEPTING 2026 INTAKES ★
Frame-up restoration · British & Italian motorcycles · 1960–1985

BUILT RIGHT
OR NOT
BUILT AT ALL. — No shortcut, no powder-coat over rust, no Pattern-3 parts where Pattern-1 will do.

Marston Garage takes two motorcycles a year to the studs and builds them back the way they left the factory — only better, because the bad ideas of the era are corrected and the good ones are honored.

A vintage motorcycle parked in a dark studio room, lit only by directional warm light MARSTON
01 · CHASSIS
02 · ENGINE
03 · LIVERY
04 · RUN-IN
47YEARS · ONE GARAGE
2BUILDS PER YEAR · ALWAYS
186RESTORATIONS COMPLETED
14MO. · TYPICAL BUILD TIME

Currently on the bench.

Updated 12 November 2025
01
Engine — wk 22
A classic brown naked motorcycle in warm sunlight, standing in for the rust-tanked Triton 650

Triton 650 '68

Pre-unit T120, Featherbed frame. For a client in Marseille.
FrameWideline, polished
Engine650 cc parallel-twin
Carbs2 × Amal Concentric
DeliveryApril 2026
02
Paint — wk 36
Close-up of a red Ducati fuel tank with the maker's logo, evoking the round-case 750 GT

Ducati 750 GT '73

Round-case bevel-drive. Sand-cast cases. For our own collection.
FrameOriginal tubular
Engine748 cc 90° V-twin
Carbs2 × Dell'Orto PHF
DeliveryReserved
03
Frame — wk 4
WAITING A vintage Norton motorcycle parked on a city street, the marque that will emerge from the dip tank

Norton Commando '72

750 Roadster. Frame still in the dip tank. For a client in Edinburgh.
FrameIsolastic, refurbed
EngineTo be split
CarbsAmal MkII pair
DeliveryAutumn 2026

Fourteen months, five chapters.

Every motorcycle that leaves this floor goes through the same five phases in the same order. No compression of the schedule. No exceptions on parts.

Week 1 — 6
01

Tear-down

The motorcycle is photographed, catalogued, and broken down to roughly nine hundred individual parts. Each is bagged and tagged.

Week 7 — 18
02

Chassis

Frame straightened on the jig, all welds inspected, swingarm bushings replaced, wheels relaced with stainless spokes.

Week 19 — 34
03

Engine

Cases split. Cranks trued. Rods balanced. Pistons measured. Anything off-spec is replaced with new-old-stock or hand-machined.

Week 35 — 48
04

Livery

Tank stripped to bare metal. Filler-free panel work. Two-pack base, original-formula pigments, hand-lined coachwork.

Week 49 — 56
05

Run-in

The engine is broken in over six hundred road miles before it leaves us. Final tune. Logbook. Keys handed over in person.

Why two at a time.

A restoration is not a job, it's a conversation between the bike and the person fixing it. When you do six at once the conversation breaks down. The pile of parts on the bench gets too big, the answers get rushed, and a small thing — a worn cam follower, a sloppy thread — gets waved through.

So we built the shop around two motorcycles. One on the engine bench, one on the chassis bench. That's the ceiling and it's not moving. The waiting list is roughly fourteen months at the moment, sometimes more for the rarer Italian machinery.

The work is slow because the work is right. If you want it faster, there are other shops; we'll happily recommend three of them.

— Henry Marston
Founder · Behind the wrench since 1978

Tell us about the motorcycle.

We accept commissions through a written intake. Please describe the bike — year, model, where you found it, and what the body and engine look like to your eye. Photographs help.

We reply within five working days. If we can take the build, we'll invite you for a shop visit and a long lunch before any contract is signed.

Shop floorUnit 4, Marston Yard, Bristol BS3
Telephone+44 117 555 0148
Lettershenry@marstongarage.co.uk
HoursTue – Sat · 09:00 – 17:30