What are your project goals?
TT -
First and foremost, to have a ride! Once that is accomplished, the rest is icing on the cake.
In an ideal world, I would ride the rest of the summer and tinker over the winter as the weather turns unfriendly and cash becomes available.
1 - For the bike, I guess I would try to get it sorted out w/updates/upgrades (tapered bearings, carbs cleaned and synced, swingarm bushings, etc.) to make it as safe and tight a ride as possible.
2 - Then, as parts and time became available (and aforementioned money), I would swap tank for something like CX tank w/knee scoops or get some fab work done, redo the seat pan w/a rear cowl, get some rearsets, clip-ons, etc.
3 - Once the bike was looking the way want, strip it all the way down, de-tab the frame, powdercoat, polish, paint, etc. and put it back together.
I think I've heard other people call it a 2 stage restoration.
To that end, the better shape the initial bike is in with regards to running condition and how shiny the bits and pieces are, I imagine the less time/effort I'll have w/tinkering later. However, I have more time than money, so cheaper w/elbow grease is better than spendy.
Sound reasonable or do you have any ideas, see any pitfalls? I'm glad for any input! Especially if it means finding the right model that won't require heavy mods to bring it up to snuff or is notoriously hard to find parts for or work on. For instance, I know the earlier 550k's had head covers that may be problematic (via the Honda Svc Bulletins), but I haven't heard whether that is a widespread problem in real-life.
