Friday, January 18, 2008

While they had the head I decided to let them take care of the valve guide replacement as well. It’s a simple enough procedure, if you have the time the tools and the know-how. My wife wouldn’t appreciate me heating the head in the oven to attempt a valve guide removal. Drilling them out is another option I would prefer not to contemplate. It’s great to have experts do what the experts should do. Just like the wheels. I could buy or make a truing stand. Polish the hubs, rims, and spokes. Attempt to correctly gauge the offset on the rear hub, string and tighten all the spokes. True the wheels round and eliminate the side to side wobble. Take them down to Joe Monkey bike shop. Entrust them to some 17 year old ham fisted tire changer on his third day of a Meth binge. A guy whose entire tire changing training involved him watching “insert mechanics name here,” do it once on a dirt bike. If he actually gets the tires on without ruining the rims, I still stand the risk of improper tire balancing to correct for flaws in mounting technique. I would rather have the experts do it thanks.


I have been continuing the work on my primary cover as well. I am trying to get to a show polish on the inner and outer covers. The front was already polished fairly well. The back side however was in need of some serious attention. The casting was very rough. It was a sand casting, not a finished cover. Polishing something so rough can be a challenge. The first step is 60 grit sandpaper. All done by hand. No machine sanders here. I started with the 60 grit and worked my up to 1500. I began by eliminating the large pores in the casting surface. You can start with 60 to 80 grit for material removal. Don’t get too aggressive. I used a hard rubber sanding block to help keep the plane of the surface. After using the coarse paper to remove the gross irregularities, steadily increase the grit count with successive passes. I used 60-80-200-400-1000-1500 Between 400 and 1000 I used my buffing wheel to bring the piece up to a rough shine. The scratches left by the sanding are much more visible in the reflective surface. If you highlight them by shining the piece, you can much more easily narrow your sanding to the remaining rough spots.


The hubs, rims, and gearbox cover will be polished by CNW during their upgrades/modifications. The fork tubes, timing cover, primary cover, fenders, and all other parts will be done here at my shop. I enjoy the polishing. It can be tedious but the results speak for themselves.

I need to prepare the gearbox for shipment. If I miss the window I may end up waiting months for my rebuild. CNW likes to set up a whole group of gearbox rebuilds to do at one time, assembly line style. It allows for better quality control and much improved time economy.

I am also planning to have CNW do a swing arm needle bearing conversion, MKIII isolastic conversion, and powder coating of the rear end. They use all stainless end caps and hardware. I know how to do it, but I don’t have the time.

My oil tank should be here any time. I thought it was going to arrive the same time as the head but it has not made it yet. I have also been toying with the idea of changing the electrics over to negative ground. With the high powered coil I am planning on the spark should not be an issue. I need to figure it out before I start buying parts though. My main motivation for doing this is to allow the use of a particular LED tail light that is not available in positive earth.


3-1-07

The oil tank upgrade from CNW arrived today. It looks great. The modifications are subtle and appear to be very well done. Still need to send that gear box in. I’ll find time this weekend to make sure it goes out in time.

6-3-07

I have been slacking. The project has not come very far in the last three months. I have acquired some cool new goodies for the bike though. The wheels have arrived from Buchanan’s, Via CNW. They look incredible. The bearing machining and hub polishing have made the transformation of the wheels complete. I opted for the best of everything. The hubs were show polished. The rims are show polished. The stainless spokes are polished. I went with the heavy gauge spokes. They just look a little beefier. The rear rim was reduced from the standard 19” to an 18” which is also slightly wider than stock. The 18” rim size allows for many more options when it comes to buying tires. I had Buchanan’s mount the tires as well. It seems like a shame to let someone else brutalize my wheels.

I have also ordered 90% of the remaining stainless hardware, silicone gaskets for the rocker covers, new axle, spacers, etc.

My latest find was a complete Dunstall 2-1-2 exhaust system with Decibel silencers. It is in used condition, with quite a few imperfections. The majority of it will be hidden when the system is mounted. To have a cool period accessory is worth the condition issues. I can always replace the mufflers with better Dunstalls if I need to. The pipes look pretty good. They are very well made and feel quite heavy. The welds are beefy and do not appear to have any issues.
Having the new exhaust system is going to require some modifications to the center stand unless I can find a Dunstall stand. The new exhaust route eliminates the possibility of using the stock center stand. I would just use the side stand but I fear the damage caused to the isolastics if I leave it parked on the side stand all the time. It is much better to raise the bike up on the center stand which takes the weight off the rubber. Never did send that gear box off to CNW. I guess it will have to wait.

My next step is going to be a trip to the powder coater. I have found a local shop that seems to do great work. I need to find someone that will let me do the hardware blanking after they clean it and before they powder coat it. I purchased a complete blanking kit from Old Britt’s. The kit allows you to blank off all the areas which need to be free of powder. I debated buying the stuff locally. They do provide a full list on their website. But for the same money it was much easier to have them assemble the kit.
My logic worked something like this. “Well, I have to pull the head to send it in for a rebuild. I’ll have to remove the seat, tank, exhaust, head steady, coils, Boyer, and several other parts and assemblies. If I have that much apart I might as well just rebuild the whole engine. If I’m pulling the engine I might as well do the gearbox and swing arm work. The only parts left on the bike would be the front fork and the electrical system. I really have no option but to dismantle the entire bike and start from scratch. Powder coat the frame, build a new custom wiring harness, upgrade every fastener to stainless, Steve Maney crank and gearbox outrigger, Hepolite pistons, port and polish, fork and brake upgrades, swingarm needle bearing conversion, MKIII isolastics, 520 chain conversion, Dave Taylor head steady, etc…”

Here is the bike so far:

I have dismantled the entire machine, labeling every part.

The wheel hubs have been sent off to Colorado Norton Works for the full treatment. New sealed roller bearings and show polishing. Matt at CNW is acting as my agent for the wheel building through Buchanans. All new stainless spokes and show polished alloy rims, new Bridgestone tires, building, mounting and balancing by the pros at Buchanans.

CNW Wheel Hub Mods:
All info and photos taken from CNW web site:

The rear hub is machined down in the center and on the outside. The small fins are retained and that surface is bead blasted for an easily maintained finish. The outer lips are show polished. Included in the upgrade are 2 sealed single row bearings.
The front hub gets a similar treatment.

- Entire hub is show polished- Machined to accept sealed bearings- 1 sealed single row bearing- 1 sealed double row bearing


CNW is also doing the head repair. That nasty exhaust port problem will be better than new. CNW uses an aluminized brass insert to replace the old stripped threads. No welding involved. This means no chance of warping the head by overheating.

Oil tank conversions are another popular CNW mod. So I am having them do that as well.


Send us (CNW) your old oil tank and we will do a number of upgrades and modifications to improve on the original design. The original upper mounts fail and when the lower mount gets over loaded it will fracture the tank. If you are fortunate it will only create hairline cracks and the tank will just leak, if you aren't so fortunate the entire mounting boss and part of the oil tank will come off and the oil will pour out (on your rear wheel to make it all worse) and in a matter of seconds your oil tank will be completely empty. Your sweet old Commando engine is now running without oil and it won't do that for very long.This is what we do to your old tank:
- The oil tank gets completely boiled out to remove any sludge and build up. This also strips all paint off.- The lower tank mount gets cut off and a plate is brazed over the area to ensure any hairline cracks are covered up.- The rear mount is beefed up for added strength.- The spigot to the chain oiler (if equipped) is closed up- The oil tank gets a gloss black powder coated finish.- The finish is removed where needed to ensure proper sealing when installed.- Included are two rubber mounts that are far stronger than the original.- Stainless steel hardware to mount is included.- A high density foam pad to install between the battery cover and oil tank is included
I am planning to let CNW do all my gearbox work as well:
New inner mainshaft bearing installed
Transmission case bead blasted and pressure washed
Gear bushings replaced as required
Upgraded layshaft roller bearing installed
New mainshaft bearing and seal installed
New countershaft sprocket, specific to 520 "O" ring chain
Outer cover machined to accept MKIII kickstart shaft seal upgrade
New "quad" rings replace all "O" rings throughout
New shift linkage springs installed
New MKIII kickstarter arm assembly
Covers polished to "show" standard
All new stainless steel hardware
New inspection cover

My new parts list is growing. Today I purchased an NOS Smiths oil pressure and oil temperature gauge. It fits directly into a standard Norton gauge cup.
I still need to work out some of the details for the oil pressure line and the oil temperature assembly. The pressure side is simple. It will probably be tied into my proposed oil cooler feed lines. The temperature sender may be more difficult. The sensor unit may wind up inline with the oil feed lines if need be. It may not give me the precise numbers from inside the engine. But it will establish a baseline temperature.

I had already purchased a much cooler set of gauge holders prior to picking up this gauge. I found them on eBay. The guy sells a ton of them. Pretty tricky looking. The brackets came with spacers to make up for the thinner mount around the fork top. Unfortunately, the cables are about an inch too short when the gauge position changes. I need to check out some options for longer cables.

I also have two more top portions of these holders. This section could be mounted to the handlebar capture bolts with some home made brackets. It depends if the new gauge will mount to these brackets properly. Otherwise it will require a little more thought.

2-27-07
The exhaust port repair is complete and I got the head back from Colorado Norton Works today. It looks great. The original threads have been replaced with a much more substantial looking threaded insert. With the repair and the new exhaust locking rings I got I should never have to deal with stripped threads again.
A year and a half later I decided it was time to buy my wife a bike. Found a little 71 cb500 inline four in need of some attention. IE a full resto. Not a gem, but certainly repairable.
Here is a pic I shot of that bike the day after we got it home.

The previous owner purchased it new in 71. The mileage was a very low 5k. I could tell it had fallen over several times. Not when moving thankfully. The steering lock was broken off and the forks had impacted the tank on both sides. The bars were bent, signals broken, pipes dented, speedo and tach DOA, cheesy paint job on the tank, etc… I immediately set about making it a sweet little cafĂ© racer. Off came the side covers, air box, battery tray and electronics. The paint was stripped and the tank repaired, sort of. I eliminated the side covers and relocated all of the electronics to a hand built tray under the seat. The frame tabs were all cut off and ground flush with the frame tubes. The dead battery was scrapped in favor of a custom built assembly of remote control car batteries. 14.4 volts and 70 amps. Everything fits nicely under the seat now. The battery packs won’t run the starter, but this is a Honda. The slightest downward force on the kick starter and it fires right up. The modifications leave the rear frame triangle open and visible. It gives it that ultra-light racer look.

My wife has never ridden as anything other than a passenger. She was slightly intimidated by the size of the machine. We were going to take the motorcycle class together to get her up to speed the safest way possible. In the meantime I decided to get her a slightly smaller learner bike.
The most beautiful little cb350 you may ever see.

This little beauty was ridden around the block a couple of times over the next year. I kept it clean and ready to ride. I just never rode it.

Almost a year to the day later I got a phone call. My brother-in-law had a friend who was moving and needed to sell his 1978 BMW R100/7. The last year for the slash bikes. He called to see if I would list it on eBay for him. I told him I would rather just buy it. “Give me two weeks to come up with the cash.” The time had come to sell the cb350. I thought it was a great deal. The 350 and some junk I had laying around the garage for a 1000cc BMW.


It was almost two weeks later to the day that I took possession of the BMW. I started riding to work every day. Rain or shine. Hot or cold. As long as it wasn’t icy, I was on the bike. I was able to ride to work 125 of the next 130 days. The five missing days were due to extreme weather or illness. I added a few other modern conveniences to make her more suited to the daily commute. Vintage Krauser hard sided saddle bags,(not pictured), chrome tail rack, a new Slipstreamer wind shield, dual 55watt halogen lights on the front forks, Stebel Nautilus air horn mounted between the front down tubes. The air horn is scary loud. Exactly as it should be.

One morning on the way to work I met up with a cage pilot in a new Mini Cooper. We raced from light to light for the next 10 miles or so. It was exhilarating, the best way to wake up in the morning. At one light we both smashed on the gas and went screaming down the road. I was shifting hard and he was way behind. Once he began to catch me there was nothing I could do. He flew past me in a rush. As I rolled off the gas I heard a strange thack thack thack thack. I thought maybe the racing had removed some carbon and seated the valves a little deeper, causing my tappets to start clicking. It was not to be however. My neighbor Greg is an ace mechanic. Check out his website--Pontiacengines.net--I had him over to evaluate the problem. “Sounds like a rod bearing,” came the word from the master. I knew he was right. I just didn’t want to believe it. Greg builds race engines in his garage. Unreal assortments of machines greet you when the garage door comes up. Greg is able to build racing engines beyond NASCAR standards. His proficiency with his dynamic crank balancing machine brings tears to the eyes of many jealous racing competitors.

The next week or two were an education. It was nice to have a top notch mechanic providing the know-how. We pulled the heads, barrels, rods, pistons, etc… The rod bearings were indeed wasted. They had distributed loads of copper onto the crank and into the engine.

The BMW got a mild porting and polishing. Gregs specialty is full on bad ass race type engines. My needs were more moderate. We balanced connecting rods and pistons, honed barrels, new rings, fresh valve job and rod re-sizing, “custom” oil pressure gauge fed off of the original dummy light sender. The gauge is still held to the bars with a rubber band.

Flushed with our success on the BMW, it only made sense to tackle the Norton. It seems that history is repeating itself. I buy a BMW and then rebuild the Norton. Having that reliable daily rider makes the prospect of Norton restoration a reality.
After finishing the partial restoration on my beloved 850 I couldn’t wait to get out and ride. My first outing was to a local bike night. The steak place up the road was the local hangout for bikers every Tuesday night. My wife and I tried to make a habit of showing up. I had ridden my BMW several times to lavish praise from the attendees. I didn’t feel I deserved it though. The Beemer was all original. It wasn’t my doing. All I did was buy it. How could anyone take credit for a bike they didn’t help create? Oh, are you still reading this Mr. Lawyer Harley guy?

The Norton on the other hand was my project.

The first bike night was a huge success. The gawkers were practically lining up to take turns ogling my machine. I was quite the proud Papa. I tried to linger in the background to hear the comments.
“I think it’s British.” “I used to have a Triumph 650 like that.”(You wish!)
“Wow that one looks like its going 100MPH while parked.” What is that? I like it.”

Overhearing the comments I couldn’t resist going over. I pulled out my tire gauge and proceeded to check the tire pressure. Yes, I had done that at home before I left. But they didn’t know that. As soon as I approached my bike the crowd began to move closer. I could tell a few old guys were dying to ask, er, tell me all about my bike. “Do you know what you’re riding?” asked one particularly eager looking old timer. “Not only do I know what it is, I made it what it is.” Came my snotty reply. Seriously, I mean the guy asked like I just found it down the road and decided it would be fun for the evening. I stayed around chatting for a few minutes with some of my new friends and finally made it over to our table. My wife had been waiting for me to come back. This was the night my wife dubbed the Norton, my “Dick Magnet”.

All guys like to think their bike is a “Chick Magnet”. But Nortons are something special. A bike that people “in the know” oooh and ahh over. Muscle car guys, Harley guys, Sport Bike guys. They all love a shiny old Norton. Any time I park the bike I can barely get away before someone starts in about the Norton they owned in college. I swear they must have made at least half a million of them. How else could so many people have owned one? Or is it the same 10,000 Nortons being shuffled from one unworthy owner to the next?

The next chapter in the Maroon Menaces’ life is perhaps the best, and worst, thing that can happen to a beautiful old motorcycle. My wife and I decided to move from Norman Oklahoma up to Longmont Colorado. The altitude totally jacked my bike. The old jets were far from correct for the new area. In order to keep her running I had to keep the revs up all the time. Any thing under 3 grand and it was like an asphyxiating fish. She wanted to die at every stop. Gone were the bone jarring acceleration and effortless cruising. I rode her a few times after we moved. No more than two hundred miles in two years.

The last time we went out was a simple 25 mile commute. I wanted show off for the guys at work. They were growing tired of all the time I spent extolling the virtues of my perfect machine. They wanted to see for themselves. The legendary 1974 Norton Commando 850 was a big hit at the shop. The trip home is where our story takes a turn.

It was perfect weather for riding. I had been looking forward to getting off work early so I could have a nice blast home on one of the roads that skirts the foothills of the Rockies. I peeled out of the parking lot and raced for the mountains. I kept the revs up and flicked the throttle at lights to keep her going until we hit the state highway I planned to take home. Highway 36 from Boulder to Lyons is not a great road. But it will do in a pinch. 65MPH all the way home. After six months or so away from riding it was nice to feel the wind and hear the blatting exhaust. I always keep an ear on the exhaust while I am riding. On this particular day I heard a sudden change in the note. I immediately pulled over to check it out. I noted only a small crack in the left exhaust pipe welds near the crossover. Not a huge deal. Onward I sped like the devil himself was on a Hayabusa trying to find me. During the last 2-3 miles of the trip the problem got worse. I was cruising through town with my left foot against the side of the exhaust header. By this point it was barely attached. SNAP. Make that not attached. The left head pipe keeled over toward the road and almost dug in. It would have launched me like a pole-vaulter. I caught it with my left foot and with a quick right turn I was off the road. Cursing my luck, thanking my lucky stars, and contemplating the expense of replacing my exhaust system I went looking for supplies. The dumpster near my parking spot yielded an old wire coat hanger and some fiberglass insulation. I managed to wrap the head pipe with fiberglass and secure the whole mess with the hanger. It was not a good repair. The pipe fell off as soon as I was moving again. With home only ½ mile away I just pulled the pipe off and went for it.
The sound of my bike roaring along with one pipe on and the other one lying on my lap was nearly enough to make me cry. I was terrified I was going to burn my valves to smithereens. Thankfully it was all over almost as soon as it began. I made it home and limped her into the garage.

After being reminded how she performed, and how she ran, I decided to order a new set of headers the next day. A week or so later the postman left them on my porch. With grand visions of new pipes and new jets I went straight to the garage and began installing my new headers. The first one went on fine. The pipes were not lining up quite right on the second. I have no idea if the pipe is just poor quality and doesn’t match the bike. Or if I got the sequence wrong when installing and tightening the whole works. Anyway, the next thing I knew I had a handful of aluminum shavings that had once been the exhaust threads. My baby was really hurt now! I removed the exhaust and surveyed the damage. The threads were shot. Apparently I had been cross threading them while tightening. Those aluminum threads peeled out easier than a 65 Camaro. !@#$%!!! Now I’ve done it!

I knew I was going to have to pull the head and have it fitted with a new threaded insert to correct the damage I had done. Park the bike in the back of the garage and wait till I find the time and the energy to get back to it. In the mean time I just focused on some of my other non-motorcycle projects.
Even though it hadn’t been ridden in a couple of years it still seemed to have gunk building up on it. That’s my story any way. In reality I just love the cleaning and polishing of bikes as much as I like riding them.

Soon after this picture was taken I also purchased a 1973 BMW r75/5. This too resided in the kitchen. I had no garage at the time. And it would be a crime to put a cherry old Beemer outside in the weather. Besides, I like to be able to see my bikes any time I want. The BMW was a great bike. Exceptional condition. Fun to ride. But I digress.

Having the Beemer as my daily rider inspired me to dive into the Norton. It seems to be easier to tear a bike apart if you have another one to ride in the mean time. My mechanical ability had increased exponentially over the preceding three or four years. I had successfully undertaken some fairly major mechanical projects on my four wheeled vehicles. Driveway based timing chain replacement of a one ton box van. Front wheel bearing replacement and fragged bearing race removal in the Lowes parking lot at 10 o’clock at night. Don’t ask. During the same time period I had a few other bikes that didn’t make it into the story. They really don’t matter. This is all about my Norton. All the other vehicles did for me was provide a knowledge base. They were always secondary to my first true love. OK First Crush. My wife is my first true love.

In the winter of 2003, I think. I went at the Norton full speed ahead. I decided to address all of the cosmetic issues and add a few little goodies to help it impress the locals.

Here is partial list of the upgrades in no particular order:
New paint and decals
QPD belt drive kit
Dual Mikuni carb conversion
Stainless front brake line
Rebuilt master cylinder
Halogen headlight conversion
Tomasselli super pratic ¼ turn throttle
Braided clutch cable
Clubman handlebars
Boyer electronic ignition
New brake pads front and rear
Ventilated primary cover
Dyno Dave clutch rod seal
Braided stainless oil lines
Stainless rocker lines
Stainless fuel overflow lines
Anti-sump valve
New plugs/wires/coils
Rear set controls
Chain guard extension
Bar end mirrors
Relocated ignition switch
Stainless allen head bolts on covers
Exhaust rubbers
Oil tank rubbers
Exhaust bracket set
New pea shooters
New Dunlops front and rear
I bought my Norton at the end of 1998 from Collector Cycles in Houston. The information provided was little more than a postage stamp sized photo in Walnecks. Together with an all too brief blurb stating the nomenclature of the machine. Calling the dealer for more information proved only slightly more enlightening. “It’s a 1974 Norton. Stored for 15 years. Needs restoration. You’re the fourth call today about that bike. No price breaks!”

Well, you can all guess the rest of the story. I paid the man what he was asking. Then paid to ship the beast to my home in Norman, Oklahoma. When she arrived I was less than thrilled. This was no Honda! The paint was bad. The chrome was worse. Rims pitted, exhaust barely attached, the seat had a hole in it, giant ape hanger bars, burned out headlight, carbs gummed into oblivion, ancient Avons dried and cracked. Everywhere I looked was another problem. The only unaffected parts were the engine and the gear box. But I saw all the names I recognized from the magazines. Smiths clocks, Lucas electrics, Avon tires on Dunlop rims, Amal carbs. It was all original and I was in heaven!

With a few hours work on the carbs and a new battery I was able to breathe life into the fabled Norton power plant. “At least it runs!” I was elated. I only knew these bikes by their reputations. To my knowledge, I had never even seen one in person. I took her for a very tender cruise around the block. My first experience with a right hand shift. The old Avons were cracking and shedding their skins with every rotation. The holes in the mufflers were echoing like gunshots. I was terrified and giddy on that first ride. I could feel the potential power at low speed. I had no idea what she could do. I just knew that I wanted her to do it, right now!

Off to the tire store. $300 later I was mobile. Soon there after I replaced the headlight, the mufflers, all the foot rubbers, handlebars, cush drive buffers, all new cables and few other difficult to locate bits. Suddenly I had a machine worth riding. Even in less than stellar condition this bike was a mount worthy of worship. The tone of the exhaust at full clip made everyone check it out whether they were enamored of bikes or not.

I rode her like this for the next few months. All the while drinking in any information I could glean from whatever meager resources I could locate. Ah, the bad old days. Before the internet rescued an entire generation of motorcycle fanatics. All the literature I came across told of the constant maintenance. The weak spots in the engine and drive train. The ever present electrical gremlins that plagued British iron.

OK, I’ll admit it. I was terrified. I thought my bike was going to self destruct after every Sunday cruising session. I decided to park the “fragile little thing” until I could maintain her.
My next bike didn’t come until 1994. A guy in town had a couple old Hondas chained to a tree in his front yard. I drove by every day. Dreaming of a little Honda to tool around town on. A week or two later I spotted the owner mowing his yard and pulled in to talk. We quickly arrived at the ugly truth that he wanted too much for the little bikes. The owner was an avid vintage cycle collector though. He eventually asked if I wanted to see his collection. “Absolutely.”

There, in the back porch area, near and utterly overwhelmed by a BMW Paris Dakar sat the cutest little bike I had ever seen. A 1966 Honda Dream 305. I was smitten. “How much for that one?”
“Oh, the Dream! You like that one?”
“I love it!”
“Um, I guess I would take $1000 for it.”
“SOLD!!! I’ll be back at 5 O’clock.”


I promptly went back to work and sold my car to a wholesaler that serviced our Subaru dealership. Got my bike that night and never looked back. I kept the Dream in my living room during the cleanup and mild resto. I had still never ridden a bike with gears and a clutch. I had very little mechanical ability, very few tools, and even less disposable income. But I spent every free moment playing with that little bike. Pull off a piece, figure out what it does. Shine it up while watching TV and put it back on. I basically did the whole bike a bit at a time. When I was bored, or between pieces, I would sit on her and pretend I was riding. Making engine sounds and shifting when I needed to. This is how I trained myself to ride.

With my limited mechanical ability I was never able to get her running. It would pretend it was going to start and then die. I finally broke down and took it to the shop. A friend on his way to work gave us a ride to the shop in the back of his truck. I walked home. Within the hour I got a call that the bike was fixed. “If you can be here in the next 20 minutes you can pick it up. We’re closing.”
“I’ll be there in 15 minutes, click.”
I hopped on my trusty old skateboard and pushed my way to the shop.
The bike was running when I pulled up. Carbs balanced and leaky carb float replaced.

I was ready to go. Except I had never ridden her for real. I sat in the parking pretending to do some sort of pre-ride check on all the systems. In reality I was waiting for all the bike shop guys to go home. I didn’t want these “real bikers” to see me wipe out in traffic.

My first ride was terrifying. Helmetless I took to the rush hour traffic. The steering, if you can call it that, was really loose. The bike was not at all like my little moped had been. The gear box was temperamental. Stalling, and embarrassing me at every light. Balance and braking were not my strong suits. The same could be said for the bike. Part of the time I was on the sidewalk pushing it along. Then I would regain my nerves and try riding it in traffic again. I barely made it home in one piece.

It was the greatest day of my life.

The next month or two were a blur of scared children and scolding old ladies. The joys of summer time riding. T-shirt and goggles weather. During one particularly spirited Saturday jaunt I heard this terrible screeching sound. Some of you have heard it. The sound of a Dream dying. Cylinders frozen in place. I didn’t know how to fix it but I knew what had happened. Ten minutes later I was able to get the kick starter moving again. I guess it cooled enough to release the pistons. We crept home on 1/8 throttle and rolled back into the living room. I can’t fix the dream.

I can’t sell the Dream.

Even though I knew the engine was shot, or at least severely injured. I just couldn’t part with it. I kept that bike in my living room as a piece of art for the next few years.

While the Dream languished in dignified retirement I found another prize. A guy in the paper had a 1975 CB550F with 4800 original miles for sale for $600. That was back when you could still buy a nice Honda for a Dollar a CC. He lived way outside of town so we agreed to meet in the Sam’s Club parking lot. He rolled in right on time. I was early. I could see the nature of the bike before he even stopped the truck. Black spray paint on the tank, tatty old seat, rusty muffler. Looked like an outdoor bike. After checking it out and listening to the old mans stories about it. I bought it for $550. Took it home and began the restoration. Strictly cosmetic. The drive train was perfect. No need to tamper with good old Japanese internals. Same learning curve with the 550. Work on it to learn about it. I found a local painter willing to do motorcycle parts and had him paint the body work for me. Replaced the muffler with a genuine $400 Honda item. Replaced the tires and polished everything I could find to polish. As you can tell from the photo it looked great.
That 550 was 1000% the bike the Dream was. But even then, as my riding skills progressed I knew I wanted a bigger bike. I just didn’t know what to get.

I began buying old bike magazines and drooling over the exotic thoroughbred machines. Even though I could barely afford a beat-up Japanese bike, names like Triumph, Vincent, and Ducati, and of course Norton fired my imagination. I officially had the “Old Bike” bug. My bike was my exclusive mode of transportation for months at a time. Cars are so restrictive. I rode my little Honda for a couple of years after that. Ultimately selling it to help with cash to start a business.

About 18 months into my stewardship of the yellow Honda my Grandmother passed away. I was left $5000 to do with what I saw fit. As a full blown motorcycle addict the decision was not difficult.