Anyone who has been following this thread may realize that it has morphed into more than a typical 2-3 year project thread. My sickness (peripheral neuropathy/Parkinson's) has thrown a large monkey wrench into the whole process. I started out refurbishing the bike (72 K2 nicknamed Phaedrus) that I had bought in 1974 and ridden all over the country, drag raced it, road raced it, crashed it (totaled twice). In it's final iteration it had an 888 kit in it with carbs, head work, and more, and serviced 50,000 miles without mishap. I had to park it in 1995 as it was bleeding from every orifice and I wanted to ride. My wife learned how to ride and we were in a Sport Touring club which meant sporting rides and good camaraderie. I graduated from the replacement 88 650 HawkGT, to the worlds most powerful sport touring motorcycle (at the time) a 02 FJR1300. She was soloing on a Kawasaki ZL600 which was a 75hp mini superbike with a cruiser layout. With the FJR in the garage, Phaedrus got neglected.
In 2008, Build Buddy Bruce (BBB) suggested we spend 2-3 hours one day per week to get Phaedrus II on the road. And so the build began. The theme for the next iteration would be, to utilize all the latest technology that would have been available in the 70s, and try and capture the 70s look. It was to be fully functional as a bike to take trips on, as it had been in its earlier life. And I wanted to satiate my desire for a truly wild paint job: Plum Crazy Purple (Mopar color) metal-flake, airbrushing, and flames.
By 2014 we had the first "final" version up and running. I had been diagnosed with PN in 2013, the same year I totaled my FJR. I walked away, but it was close. Little did I know that would be the last of my riding. I bot a "rampfree" trailer that would lower to the ground for easy loading. We hauled it around to several shows. I won the VJMC National Rally 1st place trophy for custom motorcycles, and was really proud. At that point the thread had several hundred thousand hits averaging about 700 per week. But the engine smoked something terrible, due to my use of parts that had sat on the shelves too long and got rust and corrosion and well, crap.
So we embarked on a truly entertaining build for a state of the art 900cc rebuild. Time went by. You don't break any records at 2-3 hours per week. But we were having fun, and I couldn't ride it anyway. In 2016 I was diagnosed with the Parkinson's, though I'd been struggling with the symptoms for years before that. Mostly joint stiffness, loss of muscle mass, etc. The loss of balance progressed to the point where I can't walk safely and have to use a wheelchair. Thank goodness the technology for such things is real impressive. With the help of M Rieck we finished up a motor and got it dynoed at 78hp or such. I took it to Wilmington OH back when the East Coast Timing Assoc was running LSR runs. A friend of mine with many LSRs under his belt rode it for me and turned 125 mph. Not bad, but this engine is good for another 10-15 mph. The same guy rode it at the Lucas Oil Raceway drag strip a total of 12 times. Considering he had no experience launching he did OK.
A paragraph on "friends of the build". Besides BBB, the instigator of the whole thing, there's Ed, who just called (emailed?) one day and showed up for a few of the more active years. And Pat, who the first time by on a whim, it was the day we needed help getting the engine in, and there he was! And more recently there's CBJoe. Forum member, who breathed new life into the project at a time it needed it.
Then we had about 2 years of trials and errors and ridiculous errors, mostly on me. And that catches up as much as I want to write for now.
People are continuing to hit the thread even though my weekly updates have morphed into something much less frequent. And the COVID19 lockdown has done nothing to help that. But even so, we are near 500,000 hits, making the weekly average rise to 800 per week! With that much interest I'm going to suck it up and get back to work. When COVID19 allows, however as its close proximity work, and I am a high risk individual. I'm not really keen on dying for the build.
So if you're coming to this thread for entertainment, get what you can out of it. You'll know that I'm either going to discuss something pertinent to your 750, or I'm going to invite you to my pity party.
I've got the best caregiver a man could want, but she has banned me from the shop unless I have a strong adult with me to spot my fall. Its been so long I'm afraid to go out to the shop to see what I'll find.
I'll start with some older pictures from late Feb and early March. Then we'll regroup and when its allowable, get back to work. Peace Out
