Making Something Old New Again

Well, I found it.  I have found my project and brought her home.  Just to catch you guys up, let me fill you in on how I got from thinking about a project to being knee deep in old part, grease and hornet's nest.

I started talking with Alys (wife) about my desire to have a project.  She knew that I was looking at project bikes, and she also knew that I really want to get her riding with me.  I love doing life with her.  I want to share everything that I love with the one that I love.  So naturally, I want her to ride too.  She seems to like the idea, but we have struggled to find a bike for her that she likes and that I like.  I have had the sport bikes and she has ridden those with me enough to know that these aren't the bikes for her.  I have also had the v-twin cruisers and I really can't see her riding her own HD wearing a leather halter top and bandana on her head as she cruises down the back country roads.  See, she is a classic soul.  Her favorite TV show is "I Love Lucy" and she likes to impress people with her smile and her heart and not how much skin can she show at the local biker bar.  She is classic and classy.  What does this have to do with motorcycles, you ask?  Well I believe that the bike's personality should fit the riders personality.  Now I don't make these descriptions to insult in any way any sport bike riders or Harley guys and dolls.  I just make the statement to show that these scenes don't fit her.  And really, they don't fit us.  So now we just need to find a bike style that fits. 

It was about this time that we both watched a show on Discovery's HD Theater called Cafe Racer TV.  This show is all about the lifestyle of the Cafe Racer scene.  After watching the two episodes that week, Alys turned to me and said, "I really like that style of bike."  "Really?!?"  I was shocked.  She said that she liked the classic look of the bikes and I honestly think she was attracted to the independent spirit that the girls on the show exhibited.  Now, I had already been thinking about building a Cafe Racer based off of a UJM.  I just wasn't sure which one.  So with this new found information from my bride, I decided that I would build a Cafe Racer just for her.  I started talking to her about colors and style and parts and look and I was really trying to get an idea about what we would both want.  I had a picture in my head of a low, lean, flat black with red frame Cafe that would have an old school rat bike look to it.   She had other plans.

So I started searching craigslist and on Saturday morning I found the bike that I wanted.  It was a Honda CB750.  The bike didn't run, but the guy had the title and was only asking $500.  I was ready to go right then and buy it.  I called my buddy Todd and asked about using his trailer to go get the bike.  The trailer wasn't ready but he offered to take me down and we could put it in his truck.  I was so excited.  I was going to be able to start my project with a CB.  These are some of the easiest UJM's to find parts for.  This was going to be the perfect bike for her.  I sent the guy an email and waited.  While I waited I started looking for parts and began to plan the build.  Time went on and I wasn't hearing from the guy.  As morning turned to afternoon, I realized that we were running out of time to get down and look at the bike and still make it back in time for our evening plans.  Once I knew that we were out of time, I sent the guy another message with my phone number and told him that I won't be able to look at the bike today but asked to set up a time on Sunday.  He called me back and let me know that Sunday would be fine, however he has another person coming to look at the bike this afternoon and he would let me know by email if the other guy bought it.

We went on to our plans and had a great night with friends.  Accept that I kept checking my email to see if there was any news on the bike.  Finnally, about 7:00 that night I got a very simple email.  "Bike is sold".  Well, time for plan B.  Let's keep looking and see if we can find another bike with a clean title for a decent price that would make a good project.

I woke up the next morning and started thinking about the one that got away.  To console myself, I turned to Craigslist once again.  As I sifted through all of the ads I comforted myself by saying that it may take weeks or even months to find the right bike.  Then I found one that surely was too good to be true.  There was an ad for a 1981 KZ1000J that wasn't running and only needed an ignition igniter.  The owner had the title and only needed $250 for the bike.  I immediately sent the owner a message and asked to set up a time to see the bike.  While I waited I researched the ignitier issue and found that this was a common problem for  the old KZ's.  It is so common that some ingenious person had figured out how to make an igniter out of 2 GM HEI ignition controls for half the cost of the Kawasaki part.  I then looked to see if many of these have been made into Cafe bikes.  What I found was encouraging.  Most people that work on these bikes don't make Cafe's out of them.  However, the part support for them is fairly good.  That was important for me as I didn't want to spend so much working on this bike that I wouldn't be able to get my money back out of it in the long run.  The ad didn't have a picture but I found plenty online to give me an idea of what the future could look like.


Todd and I went out and looked at the bike in Lake Dallas.  What we found was a typical barn-find type bike that has been left outside uncovered.  The tires were both flat, the brakes had no fluid, the gas tank was empty and the battery was gone.  What I did see is a frame with no rust, a motor in good shape and suspension with new forks seals.  After the title was signed and the money exchanged, we loaded it up and brought it home.  This is how it looked after unloading the bike into the garage.

I sat back and looked at my new project with one thing on my mind."What the hell did I just get myself into?"

The next morning, I started working on the ignition to see if I could get it running.  What I found was a bad igniter, bad pulse coil, bad ignition switch, and bad start button.  After some searching, I found the starter switch and ignition switch on the internet and ordered the parts along with some club man handle bars.  I also found that the cost of the ignititer and the pulse coil and plug wires was nearly $250 dollars.  For the same cost I could replace the entire ignition system with new coils, pickups and wires with a Dyna-S system.  This is the way I will go in order to get the best performance and reliability.

While working on the tear down, Alys showed me a picture of a bike that she really likes.  It is a preview of what she would like to do with her KZ-Cafe.


So I started the tear down and shot a little white paint on the tank to see how it looks with the lines of the bike.  I look forward to getting the mock-up started.  I plan to put the battery under the seat hump and relocate the wiring under the seat.  I will have another update sometime next week with the handle bar mockup.

Until then.......

Jay

Starting Something New

As most of my friends know, my wife has decided to strike out into new adventures and finish her degree.  what this means for me, besides a smaller back account, is that I now have much more free time in the evenings and weekends while she studies and goes to class. 

This caused me to think about what to do with my time.  I could take up sports.  Well not really, because all of the sports that I ever attempted I was the last person picked.  So then maybe I could......um.......oh!  I could go hang out in the corner bar.  Well, maybe not the best idea.  So then I guess I need a hobby.  So what should I do.  It was about this time that a friend needed help replacing a head gasket on a car.  I had forgot how much enjoyment I got from wrenching on something. 

Then about another week later a friend asked if I wanted to help him on a Small Black Chevy rebuild that he had for his project truck.  I jumped at the chance.  I went to his shop, and together we put the engine back together and got it ready to stab back into his project truck.  I can't wait to hear this thing run.  Its a SBC stroked to a 383 with a solid roller cam and Edelbrock Performer Intake with a Holley 750 Carb sitting on top.  I enjoyed working on this motor so much that I decided that I needed a project of my own. 

Now I had to take my time deciding what to work on.  I thought about a classic car.  I thought about a kit car.  I also thought about picking up an old project and trying to stuff a 5.0 V-8 into a Ford Ranger.  The problem with each of these ideas was the same.  Where am I going to work on something that big?   I only have my garage and it isn't big enough to work on a car or truck project and still hold my motorcycles.  Also, did I mention that my wife has gone back to school?  So I can't really afford to rent a space and buy parts for the project.  So then I was left with one possibility.  What about building bikes?

I have already worked on plenty of bikes.  I started with minor cosmetic stuff on the YZF-600R that I had, then worked on the R1 and later the Ducati S4R.  I have almost completely redone the Big Dog Chopper.  Between the mechanical problems, the electrical problems, and the body work and paint that I am currently in the middle of, I have done most everything required to build a bike.  It was then that I decided that I would build a bike.  Now I just have to decide what kind of bike to build.  Choppers have just about been done and there is very little originality left in the chopper community.  Also, I have a chopper and really don't enjoy the lifestyle or the ride.  What I have seen that I like is a resurgence of the old school Cafe bikes.  There are many talented builders that are starting to take the old British and Japanese bikes from the 60's and 70's and turn them into modern versions of Cafe Racers and Bobbers.  Ideally, I would want an old school Vincent with its British V-twin and minimalist design.  As those are hard to find and cost more than a small house, I think I need to stay with a UJM, or Universal Japanese Motorcycle.  So with that, I started searching Craigslist to see what treasures are available.  I am not sure how much effort will take or how long it will take me to get it done, but I have some ideas that I would like to try my hand at.

I have also always wanted to blog.  I have a few friends that I really enjoy reading their thoughts and blogs and I have decided that I will document my experience building this bike.  Afterall, the enjoyment for me is in the build itself.  I feel like a kid with a new pony in that every day I can't wait to get off work, get home and get changed to go out and see what needs to be done today.  So follow along if you like and see how my mind approaches the projects ahead of me.

Jay