Seeley Intro
Well as some of you know I have a Seeley Honda that I am going to start building.
I have been playing around in the hobby for a while now. Started my first SOHC CB750 over ten years ago and that bike still isn’t finished!
Can see the unfinished CB750F behind the Seeley.
Have learned a lot about bikes, projects and how to have fun over the years. My main focus has always been vintage Honda motorcycles. My one bike has followed me from working at a florist to becoming a professional mechanic (aircraft and boats), to returning to school to get my engineering degree and finally to a full time job in the robotics industry. Well now I am living in Albany and trying not to wear out my welcome at a local friends garage. Funny that before I had a two-car garage before, but little time/money, now I can get the time, but don’t have my own place to wrench on…..
I very much enjoy the hunt for rare and interesting stuff. My main passion has been for old race bits for the CB750, but this thrill of the hunt extends to other hobbies too. Some claim that I have ADD with “stuff” but I find it soothing to learn about stuff and then become involved with people that know more about it.
Background on Seeley:
Colin Seeley was a racer and frame builder. Most know him more for his Norton framed bikes, but in May of 1975 he started making frames for the Honda CB750. The basic idea was you could buy his frame, tank, seat and a few other parts and swap everything else from your standard SOHC in. Bikes were sold complete as well. I’m actually unsure as to what option was more prevalent. Many say that the Seeley frame was one of the stiffest of the “specials”. By the time Seeley stopped making SOHC Honda frames just over 300 where made.
Background on the project:
Over the summer in 2014 the parts of this project were listed on SOHC4. I was thrilled to see something so interesting for sale. It had been a while since I had seen any special frames listed anywhere for years. Was even more shocked to find out it was within a two-hour radius of me! Well as always the asking price was well outside of my price range, but then again I might just be to cheap for my own good. I talked to the owner and offered some help in finding a person that would be interested in it. The project got listed on CL and NYCVinMoto. I assumed that the next time I saw it the bike would be in amazing shape and parked next to a Seeley Norton at NYCNorton.
Seriously, how sexy is that thing? I farted near it once. And a good friend became violently ill after seeing it. Unsure if that reaction was that he was overcome with the beauty or the Jamaican beef paddies that he had 5 of on top of a case of IPA…..Either way there is still a stain in the middle of a tollbooth.
But without getting to sappy and using lines like “as fate would have it” the bike didn’t get the attention I thought it would and the seller hopped it would get. I made an offer and we agreed on it. Took the drive out and found out how much cool you could pack into a VW CC.
Drove everything to the wonderful motorcycle show at Works Engineering in Brooklyn and tried to enter into the show for fun...
After that it unfortunately sat in my basement for a little bit. I finished my degree and started a new adult life in NY’s capital. Spent most of this winter shuttling junk from Long Island here, setting up a new tool box and trying to beg borrow and steal shop space to work.
Well I am finally at a point that I will start turning wrenches on the bike so figured a thread was in order.
Will update with details on the project and goals latter.
