Stick a fork in her...shes DONE!!!

Heres ye'r finished product. Its amazing what a $5 can of duplicolor can do! Well, maybe a few. I'm really pleased with how the paint came out. The gold accents on the wheels and suspension come from a good automotive primer, then some gold outdoor furniture paint I picked up at the hardware store. As we speak she is on craigslist, and I also let Barber Motorsports Museum know shes up for sale (yea, like they'r gonna call). No doubt this bike is a little peice of history. All the young bucks out there on sport bikes should take a look at this bike. If you wanted a sports bike back in the mid/late '70's, this is what you had to do. Get u'r self an inline 4 or twin. Buy yourself a Seeley or Avon faring kit, with clipon bars and rear set controls. If I don't find a buyer on Craigslist, it'll go to Egay next week. Starting bid will be what a paid for it with no reserve. That will tell me what my work is really worth.

Wow, well its been a little bit since I've posted. Over the last few months I stripped the plastics and tank off the bike, and went with a siver and blue paint. I also fabbed up a rear cowl with a Lepara solo seat. In addtion I've went with a gold/copper hue for the rear spring, front forks, and rims. I'll have an updated pic when I get it all back together. The front brake saga continues. I still haven't got them to work properly. I'm going to give a different Master Cylinder a shot . I should have some completed pics in the next few weeks.

Waiting on brakes

...recoving well from ankle surgery, finally was able to get out this weekend and do a little wrenching. Spent most of the time on other projects, but I did start the 550. Starts on one or two pops of the starter, and thats after sitting for two weeks, so I'm convinced the fuel and engine are solid. I'm waiting on a front Master Cylinder now. Not sure what was going on with the front brakes. Have been unsuccessful at bleeding them up to this point. And on top of that, the MC was leaking, so I found a replacment off ebay...from an 80's CB650 I beleive. Its for duel calipers which is what the 550 has, so we'll see how that goes.

The brakes is the last thing to make the bike ridable and safe, save some indicator lights on the console. Now the question is how far do I want to go with this bike? The paint scheme while retro is in need of off serious overhaul. I've toyed with the idea of a reproduction of "Old Blue". I love the color scheme, and it fits well with the cafe theme of the bike. I could do this, or I could just sell the thing and make a few hundred bucks. With the addition of the Triumph I'm at my limit right now of four bikes. I've started the fab work on a cowl for the rear, and I have a solo seat to go with that. I'll get it registered and put some miles on it, so we'll see...

OK-So I'm a slacker!!!

...its been to long since I've posted. It seems it it hasn't been one thing, its another. I purchased a POR kit, and coated the tank, and pulled the carbs and cleaned and soaked them again. So now I think all my fuel, and carb problems are behind me. So now if I could get some brakes on the thing, maybe I could actually ride it!!! I completely pulled the front brakes off the bike. Cleaned the calipers. Put everything back toether, and can't seem to bleed the system. I'm not getting any bubbles from the bleed nipples, but I have no pressue on the brake lever. In addition to that the Master Cylinder leaks, and the calipers aren't backing off the disks. So more furn with that. I did manage to get the front forks diassembled and cleaned up, and installed new fork seals. After this I also need to do something about foot controls. They were fabbed by the PO, but they are at a bad angle (IMAO) and hard to control. I'm debating wether to just put the stock pegs back on, or fab up some on my own.

I was out of the loop for about 10 days. Me and the wifey took a trip all over Europe. Here are the pics:

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/bigegirl_2000/album/576460762310378188#page1

Got to visit the famed Ace Cafe while in London. Lots of biker history to it...if you don't know look it up!

Oh, and it looks like we'll have a new addition to the family. A 69 Triumph Daytona. Don't ask!!!

Day 50

Shes a runner! Got the bike running last weekend, all be it only on 3 cylinders. I remedyed that this past weekend. Pulled the carbs again and recleaned the #2 carb, and I seem to be banging on all four cylinders now. Waiting on carburator jets to come in now. Gonna try running 125 jets and see how the plugs look. I also replaced the headlight Friday night. When I got the bike the only lights that worked were the tail light. I also want to get the oil and hi beam lights working. Heres a pic of the maiden voyage...

Day 32

Finally found a set of carbs at a resonable price on Ebay ($20). They came in on friday, so I let the replacement carb soak in Chem-dip last night, and started re-assembly today. Heres a couple pics. We'r (me and da Wifey) are going to Europe the middle of August and my goal is it here this beast growl before we go. So that gives me about a month. Maybe I can have these carbs in running order by next weekend. Stay tuned!!!

Day 22

Note to self: Soak carb bodies in cleaner before attempting to remove the float pin! Still looking for a #2 carb body. Got offers from to parts places, one for $35 for just the carb body, and another for $50 for a cobbled together set of carbs. Both these offers are on the high side, but thats whats expected of parts shops. I'm watching a set on Ebay now that ends in 5 days. I think they will go for cheap. Its a full rack, but is missing parts. Stay tuned...

Day 15

Its been about 2 weeks. I was down for a bout a week with the flu, so I just got back in the swing of things last week. I got the carbs off and got them diassembled and cleaned. Like an idiot I broke one of the posts that holds the float in place on one of the carbs. So now I need to find a new carb body before I can start reassembling the carbs. I removed the exhuast and header and cleaned those up. There was a small crack in one of the pipes that I welded up. I also drained the oil this weekend. It looked pretty clean to have been sitting for 15 years.

In other news I [finally] got the Vindicator (77 750F) running like a top. Its about time after almost 9 months! Basically is was a combination of timing and carbs. I got the timing dialed in spot on on Saturday, and the last step was adjusting the float levels on the carbs.

Day 1

Greetings from the deep south (Baton Rouge, Louisisana). Last Saturday I sold one of my bikes (the 78F you see to the right). As much as I hated see her go I had to make room for another project. I thought it would take me a couple weeks or months to find a project, but sure enough on Tuesday I found what I was looking for. A nice little 550 cafe racer I picked up from Mike in Dallas, Texas. Mike says he ran like a champ when he put him up 15 years ago. His name is Harvey...just so its clear I don't "name" bikes, but my wife does, and thats what she has named him. Of course like all PO's (previous owners) they never drain the carbs or gas tank (shame on you Mike). So the first thing will be a good carb and tank cleaning. heres a pic of carbs. I've seen worse, but theres a fair about of varnish there.



So after a 15 hour drive from Baton Rouge to Dallas, in one day, WITH THE FLU!!! Harvey is now safe and sound in my carport.