If I remember correctly from one of his post over on another board.....its just a frame.
He has another non-sandcast motor and parts he is putting on the frame to build the cafe.....am I right Fang??
Later,Greg
This is mostly correct. I have been collecting bits for about seven years.
I know a little about my SOHC CB750s, I think I have had 17 of them, but this is my first early 1969, low VIN sandcast. I love these bikes, and there truly are too many people trying to make them perfect again. That never was my style. When they were new I would have made it a cafe bike. Now that it is almost 40 years old I still want to make it a cafe bike. No big deal.
By the way, the frame looks like someone started to chop it. Nothing is missing, but there are a few "S
awzall" cuts. If ever there was an ideal early/mid 1969 frame to race prep and cafe, this is it. I will TIG repair, remove unnecessary stuff, and then reinforce where necessary. I imagine this cafe project will end up taking me about two years and cost in the ball park of $5000 to build. The frame will be nickel coated or nickel powdercoated when I am done.
Again, no big deal. It just is my thing. I appreciate everyone's interest, but this will not be a fast nor very interesting project. Slow, meticulous, eventually perfect to my standards. I hope to find a set of cases in the 2000 to 4000 range and button a big bore kit onto them....
I am almost finished building a special motor right now. 900cc Henry Abe kit, with BIG sleeves, cases machined to hold the cylinders, RC crank, forged rods, heavy primary and cam chains, Big cylinder studs, hot cam, titanium retainers, fat springs, ported, polished and engraved cases, etc etc etc. Not just the big flashy stuff, but lots of one-off hand made billet parts. Little things that most folks would not notice. A fair effort toward a well built engine.
To me this is the stuff of Quality. I'm not talking about the adjective, but the Form of the idea; the essence and substance from which good proceeds. I believe in God, and I have a theology of motorcycle. God created and when done he called it all “very good.” Creation is a reflection of him. I too create, and I do it in my image. I want someone to walk up to one of my motorcycles and say, “this is one hell of a motorcycle; this is the face of God shining down on me. I want to meet the guy who built that.” You know, I want my bikes to be a sort of
Icon both of myself and the eternal.
Why would I say all of that? I don't know. Just to say that I really care about what I am doing. If I cut and weld a “sandcast” frame and other bits, taking what might have become valuable and in the process of making it beautiful diminish some of its monetary value, then so be it. Have you ever read the book,
The little Prince?
If you were to say to the grown-ups: "I saw a beautiful house made of rosy brick, with geraniums in the windows and doves on the roof," they would not be able to get any idea of that house at all. You would have to say to them: "I saw a house that cost $200000." Then they would exclaim: "Oh, what a pretty house that is!"
You can read the whole book online
HERE.
So when I am in my old leathers, wearing my Davida and Aviator goggles, doing wheelies and sliding through turns and doing burnouts (out in front of WalMart), I'm not just raising hell, I'm embracing the essence of Quality, struggling to live life beautifully, trying real hard to be good. I'm sort of a Rocker at heart, but I also am a philosopher poet. I'm trying to be own person out here. (Please pass the Starbucks....) I keep hoping that if I THINK about what I'm doing it will make it more meaningful. I don't care. Go build your own bike. Just do it with all you've got or else it will be crap.
Peace and grease
-fang
