PJ and Jake Bike
I didn’t really have a tribute bike for my sons, PJ and Jake, in mind when I bought this bike about a year and a half ago from Craigslist in Chicago for $300. But that is what it kind of turned into. I haven’t mentioned this to anyone yet not even my wife but this will be my Christmas present in memory of them this year. (I know a little late cut me some slack.)
My identical twin sons PJ and Jake were still born when my wife Jen was 38 weeks pregnant. They were our first and after them I have been blessed with four girls, yes four girls. Twin nine year olds a seven year old and a three and a half year old. I had wanted a bike for a long time and had decided that Triumph was the bike for me. The only trouble was the cost of a bike and the parts to fix it. Never having owned a bike before, I did not want to get in too far over my head and I knew I would not have a lot of time to work on it. Mike, a buddy at work, is into Hondas and has a few and pointed me in the direction of the early 70’s CBs. The bikes had the look I wanted and at the price I could afford. I wasn’t too worried about getting a bike that did not run and as Mike put it, “a motorcycle is a bicycle with an engine”, and are relatively easy to work on. Back in the day I used to work on old cars and have had a number of early 60’s Ramblers. One of which is a 1964 Rambler Classic 660 that was my first car I still have. Since I moved to Chicago almost 20 years ago now I have not had the space to really work on/restore cars. Currently we have a small one car garage with enough room to work on a bike. At this same time two other co-workers, David and Kerry, where planning on taking a motorcycle training class and I thought what the hell, if I don’t do it now I never will. So I took the course with them and got my motorcycle license. David bought a newer Honda and Kerry a brand new Triumph. Both bikes much nicer then the aluminum and steel wheeled paperweight that I bought.
All along my wife was against me getting a bike and she likes to tell the story of how this one came to live with us. I had been looking on Ebay and Craigslist for years thinking and dreaming of what I would want, afford and be able to fix. I would leave Ebay auctions and Crasiglist postings open on our computer at home knowing that Jen would see them and maybe this would soften her up to the idea. It didn’t. Then about a year and a half ago I found the bike, a 1971 Honda CB 500 four cylinder. I mentioned it to Jen and she said that I could go look at it but I could NOT buy it until I figured out insurance and where to store it and then we would “discuss it”. So the next day while she was out of town for work I got in touch with the owner and went to see it. When she got back she asked me how the bike looked and I said it looked good. She asked about insurance and I said it would only be about $100 a year. She asked me if I figured out storage and I said yes it fits in the corner of the garage with a car parked in it. She asked how I knew this and I said because it is in the garage right now. She was not too happy about it but I promised to finish all the other house projects that were started before starting on the bike.
Here are some photos of the bike when I got it home:
It was all complete and the speedometer showed 5,000 miles. It did not have a title or keys. Cosmetically it was not pretty. It looked like it sat outside for a number of years and needed some major attention again. It also must have had been laid down. There was a little road rash on the left side.
First thing was to see if it would run. The tank was rusty inside and I used (2) gallons of Metal Rescue and it worked like magic. Rebuilt the shutoff valve. I took the carbs off cleaned them and put in a new kit in each. I had to rebuild a couple of the valve seats with the gas resistant JB weld. Got the lock rekeyed. I also went through all the electric, cleaned all the bullet connections replaced all the bulbs that were not working. I put in new points and condensers and checked the coils. New spark plugs installed. I also had to fix the starter button. The spring and contact were missing so I made a new one out of plexiglass and solid copper wire. Then a new battery and some starting fluid and it fired. Once I knew it would go I worked on making it stop. I rebuilt the master cylinder and front caliper. Master cylinder was a pain in the butt. Fortunately the engine and trans seem to be really solid, no leaks and working great. Somewhere in the middle of all this is when I realized that actually riding the bike was only a small part of why I was doing this. The journey was this whole process of tearing it down, fixing and reassembling. It did not matter how long it took it was something that I needed and it needed to be something only for me. I often found myself thinking about PJ and Jake when working on it. And if my daughters who think the bike, and dad are sooo cool, that would be no comparison to how awesome PJ and Jake would have thought this project would be. And I know they would have been at my sides trying to help me the whole time asking all sorts of questions and I would explain to them as best I could what makes and engine work and what all the parts and pieces do. Many times I would think, “damn how can I fix this” or “why the hell isn’t that working”, or “I’ll never get this running” and it seemed hopeless. Then I would stop, take a break, do some research on this forum and know that I couldn’t let PJ and Jake down and I eventually would fix whatever I needed to.
Tear down:
Parts:
Tank:
The new paint color is actually almost the exact color of the original. It looks a little too green in the photos.
Carbs:
Polished Parts:
Assembly:
In writing this it sounds like it went pretty quick but it took months. Life is pretty busy with work, the kids and volunteering, other car and home repair projects etc. etc. I would have liked to do a detailed build post but the little time I did have to steal away was spent working on the bike and not taking photos or typing. I would like to thank all the members of this forum for all the time and knowledge you have shared on your builds. It was greatly needed and appreciated.
I ended up buying a titled frame since getting a new title in Illinois was proving to be a challenge.
Then, on with the cosmetics. I picked up a few used parts off of ebay, craigslist and swap meets. A used set of pipes for $30 (a real steal) fenders, headlight bucket, highway bars, tires, points cover, gauges, turn signal lenses, mirrors. I got quite a few new parts from Dime City Cycles and JC Whitney. Bars, tail light, grips, fork boots, gaskets, etc. etc.
I put on new bars had to replace the tach and speedo with different ones. At some point the threaded part on the speedometer broke off, probably when it was laid down. Oh well, so much for a low mileage bike. I painted the tank after filling a lot of small dents. I used a Jeep metallic paint called “rescue green” and it matches the original almost perfectly. I ordered the Spray Max 2K and it came out beautiful. I also used it on the headlight ears, bucket and side covers after I patched the cracks with fiberglass. I sanded down the rims and spokes. The spokes turned out nice but the chrome on the rims was too far gone and I wanted them black anyway. I spent many, many hours polishing aluminum. The forks, brake master, brake caliper, top triple tree, levers, and rear brake drum. They are not polished to a chrome finish but they have a nice sheen. I painted the front and rear fenders black. It seemed like I painted a lot of the original chrome items and polished a lot of the original painted items. I didn’t really have a style in mind and wanted to keep a somewhat original look but to make it a little grittier and meaner. I am planning on replacing the original seat, it has a few small tears and is a little faded. I do still need to clean up and polish the engine.
Oh, and I did get it back together at the end of this fall and put on about 70 miles. There are a lot of details that I have left out like taking the carbs on and off about 8 times and all the time spent on cleaning and polishing. I really enjoyed the entire project so far. The idea of taking all these leftover parts from different bikes and reassembling them and saving a bike from the scrap yard was really satisfying to me. The thrill of the hunt and getting good deals on parts is great. And I also have kept all the original parts that I took off the bike and anything that was cut, painted or modified was not the original it was a part that I picked up from someplace else. I probably will never put the originals pieces back on but for some sentimental reason I could not get rid of them.
A couple of things that turned out really well were the front fork boots that were shock covers from JC Whitney that were cut down to fit. They were only a few bucks each. The Spary max paint was great and really easy to use. Just be sure to use 2k paint and 2K clear. I learned the hard way by using a single stage black paint on the tank and the 2K clear. The clear peeled right off after a couple of days. One of my happiest moments was when I was able to fix the thin metal connector piece that holds the carbs together. I needed to make a new one so I need to find a thin piece of metal to fabricate and I had it in my pocket. It was a smashed penny. The kind you get as a souvenir from the penny rolling machines. My wife and I have been collecting them since our honeymoon and I had some custom ones rolled for PJ and Jakes birthday a few years ago. So as you can see from the photo they were the perfect size and now I have something from them on the bike.
Here is the finished bike. (If a bike is ever really finished.) Hopefully you enjoyed this and didn't find it too rambling and sorry the photos are so small. Not sure how to make them larger. I have them on photobucket and if someone knows I would appreciate the help.
Bill
