Just thought I'd put up a quick post to introduce myself before I start my epic project thread...
My name is Nick, I'm from sunny Queensland, Australia. Have had bikes on and off over a few years, but only as cheap transport really... Was never an enthusiast.
I did do a half-arsed rebuild on a GSX750E a few years ago, then sold it before riding it anywhere much:
Instead, I spent crazy money on cars, including my true love that was in the build for the best part of 10 years:
So after getting married, buying a house etc etc, I found (was told) that car builds are too expensive, time consuming and take up too much room. So I knocked together a pickup truck with the running gear and other leftovers from the Fairlane, under the excuse that it'll "help with the renovations" and called my car building career quits:
Which lasted about 6 months... Earlier this year, I decided I needed a project to help me wind down after work, and use up those pesky "savings" the wife keeps hassling me about.
I decided a bike would be the way to go - they don't take up much space, things can be done bit-by-bit without massive upfront costs like rebuilding a V8 or painting a car...
My first idea was a British single, to build a BSA Gold Star replica. After chasing a number of worn out, rusty, incomplete ebay bikes over my $2500 budget, I decided to wise up and get something Japanese.
My first thought was an old 4cyl Honda (400/4 or something), which are known to be cheap and reliable. However, because of this, everyone owns one. After exploring some radical (read: incredibly stupid) options like an early Bultaco Matador, a friend who is mad about old Suzuki's sent me a link to a pair of T500s on ebay locally.
One was hacked up and obviously missing bits, but the other looked relatively complete. So the plan was that I build a cafe racer out of the mostly complete one and my mate would build a flat tracker or something out of the basket case. So we did the deal.
Finally, the best part of a month after putting a deposit on them, we hired a trailer and went down to the Gold Coast to pick them up.
Couldn't believe my eyes - With the exception of a pair of badges and one mis-matched indicator stem, the bike is complete and in great nick. Kicks over fine on compression, tank's clean inside. Chrome is all excellent. Potential win. The seller was the nicest bloke I've ever met and we spent an hour or so chatting to him. He had bought the pair of bikes a number of years ago. My more complete one was not running when this bloke bought it, so he told us there was every chance it'd need a complete rebuild.
On the way home, a new plan formed - It was too nice and too stock to build a full on custom out of, so I'd clean it up, paint it a factory colour, add a couple of tasteful mods and ride it around. Talk then turned to whether it'd run or not.
Two new spark plugs, some fuel, some aerostart and way too many kicks later, it fired up, sounding great and smoking impressively. We thought it'd be rude to call the seller two hours after picking up a bargain non-runner and tell him it's doing 5,000rpm in the driveway.
Some pics of when I got it:
So, the plan is basically build up a nice, clean stocker with two main modifications - a fully-upholstered Matchless style cafe racer seat and a set of ace bars.
Colour will be the factory Candy Lavender and white.
More info in the build thread I'll start!
Thanks for reading
NH
