Funny ending (maybe beginning?) to this story! Bob came by today, and spent a “masked and socially distanced” hour in my shop. He’s having serious doubts about selling the bike he bought when new. Over the past 15 years, he bought lots of new parts and cleaned/ polished/ lubricated everything else.
After a nice discussion, here’s what we decided. He’s going to get started. I’m going to rebuild the front end, and lace in some new spokes, tubes, and tires onto his polished pair of hubs. Next I’ll get the carbs ready. I’ll keep track of my hours and charge him a base rate. If he loses interest, we’ll do the math. $600 - whatever he owes me= I own the bike. Truthfully, he seems pretty determined and I think we’ll have a few laughs. Nice guy, he has two others modern bikes and rides both on and off road regularly.