Topic: New Member, Same Sickness

[Paul Bater]

Hi All,

I'm Paul, a brand new member to this forum. I have this sickness that makes me want to buy a 30-35 year old bike and tinker with it until I lose my mind. I was hoping to find some like-minded people to share my pain.

I currently have a 1991 Nighthawk 750 and a 1994 VFR750. The VFR is currently up for sale, to make some room in the garage and bank account for something 20 years older! I'm looking forward to reading through the old messages and FAQ's and tech bulletins to familiarize myself with the models. My theory is to buy a fairly beat up CB500/550, go over it thoroughly, take it to pieces, learn what I have to learn, and then buy a nice one. I figure this way, I won't destroy a perfectly good CB by trying to 'fix' it.

I'd appreciate any help/advice/caution/ideas on the subject. My heart's not set on a 500, so if you have any advice on a different machine, I'm all ears.

Thanks
Paul

[heffay]

of course i have to ask... how much for your viffer?  <-- that was in a silly accent but, you'd never know that.

welcome to the torture chamber.  it will suck the life out of you and somehow make it all better.

[ProTeal55]

Hi Paul 

Welcome to the madness , which is SOHC4.US   
I bought my CB as a to-&-from work bike , and thats it.
Fast forward about a year and I actually sold my other bikes to focus on the CB.

Let the games begin !

[tsflstb]

Hey, me too!  The viffer talk is getting me all nostalgic.  I sold my nice clean VFR and bought a beat up 400F.  The VFR is a great bike, you could hop on and ride cross country...but there was nothing left to "tinker" with on that bike.  Plus, any maintenance began with an hour of removing plastic.  In a perfect world, I would have kept both, but there will always be newer bikes available.  I've always wanted a 400, and what's out there is out there, they're not making any more.

the "old" bike...


my "new" bike...people wondered what the hell was wrong with me


making a few changes...I found it's easier to tinker with 1970's technology

[Bob Wessner]

Welcome, Paul.

The only word of caution I can offer is in regards to your statement;

My theory is to buy a fairly beat up CB500/550, go over it thoroughly, take it to pieces, learn what I have to learn, and then buy a nice one. I figure this way, I won't destroy a perfectly good CB by trying to 'fix' it.

By the time you get done with making the beater right, you probably won't want to part with it.   Good luck and look forward to hearing from you as things progress.

[Noel]

Buy the 500!

The 750 guys will be here to pound their chests, and the 350/400 guys will be here to snivel about small packages or somesuch, but the 500 is the best! 

[Paul Bater]

Thank you all for the welcome. I'm getting pretty interested in these bikes.

The VFR is on cycletrader.com if you want a picture and a better description. I'm in Livonia, Michigan. I'm asking $4500, I'd like to get $4000, its in great shape, the original owner really took care of it. Comes with soft bags and a Givi rack, and some other sundries. Do I sound like a salesman yet?  

I can forsee this whole 'old bike' thing getting out of control and taking all my time and spare cash! This is why I'm trying to sell the VFR first, buy a bomb and try and take it slow! My Nighthawk earns it room and board by getting to me to work and back every day, so its a keeper. The VFR is purely for fun so it has to go. Much as I like it, its so darn complicated, and nothing gets started until after 45 minutes of fairing fiddling. Having said that, for as complicated as it is, nothing evers goes wrong......

Its going to be a bit hard to spend much time or money for a little while as my wife and I have just had our second daughter. I'm guessing the Mrs won't be too exited about me living in the garage for the next 6 months!  

So do you think buying the old beater and dismantling it is the way to go, or should I spring a bit more up front for a nicer clean bike? I was going to just 'learn' on the cheap bike, but as one of you just pointed out, there's agood chance I'll get attached to it and decide to fix it up!

[Jonesy]

So do you think buying the old beater and dismantling it is the way to go, or should I spring a bit more up front for a nicer clean bike? I was going to just 'learn' on the cheap bike, but as one of you just pointed out, there's agood chance I'll get attached to it and decide to fix it up!

Depends on what you want out of it... If you are looking to restore it, if it's in nicer shape when you buy it you won't spend so much on new parts (mucho $$$). If you just want to ride it around and don't care too much about looks, then a beater bike would be the way to go. (my opinion..)

[Noel]

I'm all for buying an old bike and fixing it.

1) "Rescuing" a bike from a slow death is a noble and worthwhile thing.

2) A bike in good condition all but demands that it be left original. An old beater can be tailored to fit YOU, whether that means a race bike, a cruiser, or even ape hangers and drag pipes.

3) It is better to make your mistakes on a bike that wasn't worth much to begin with. Especially if you get into "permanent" mods like grinding off unused frame tabs, etc. -- if you regret it later, it will be shoulder-shrugging kind of regret rather than an "Oh my God, what have I done?" kind.

4) When you fix up an old bike, it becomes a part of you. You become intimate with every part of it (no comments from the peanut gallery, thank you) and you can really fall in love with it. With a new bike or a classic in good shape, I think many people have an odd kind of reverence for it; an "I could never do that to such a nice bike" hands-off sort of attitude. But an old bike that you've been through top-to-bottom really becomes yours.

Buy the old beater, I sez. You won't regret it. Much.

[heffay]

when i got my 350 the 400 parts bike came with it... now i'm slowly adding bits and taking them away to form a "racebike" that was and still is a heap of parts.  the lot was purchased for 1500usd... maybe 1300usd.  i can't remember now.

hey... why not get two?   

[Paul Bater]

This is all very helpful, thanks!

Its funny, I bought my Nighthawk for cheap because it was pretty sad looking. I'm not sure its been abused but it certainly hasn't been taken care of. I'm sure its had a string of novice riders who have learned on it, dropped it, not maintained it and then sold it on. Some joker even had a go at respraying it! I've had it about 18 months or so, and I've done all kinds of maintenance to undo 15 years of neglect. When I first bought it, I had that sinking feeling.......you know the one "Why did I just buy this piece of garbage?!?!?". After 18 months of riding it, fixing it, maintaining it and watching it sit in the work parking lot getting rained on, this bike is worth more to me than the VFR! I've never been afraid to 'have a go' at fixing it, because in the end, its a cheap bike that has scratches and dents, so whats one more?  And like you say, the more you work on it, the more you fix, the more you make it your own, stock trim or otherwise. I never learned this much on all my other bikes combined because I was too afraid by the complexity or scratching the pretty paint. Geez, I'm getting teary eyed here.........Hah!

Man, I had a 1991 Goldwing for a season, it took me 3 weekends to do the 24000 mile service. Believe it or not it took 7 hours just to take off the body work and doo-dads and replace them afterwards!?!? That bike didn't last long. Waaaay to complicated, and heavy. Now carbs, cable operated things, drum brakes, non-abs linked disk brakes, these are things I can work on and understand.

All this talk of Nobly rescuing a dieing bike........you guys are not making this easy for me to put off for a few months! There might be a bike out there that needs me!

[Noel]

There might be a bike out there that needs me!

There is. Go forth and do your duty, young man! 

[Paul Bater]

You're killing me!

[dusterdude]

you`ve heard the calling,now go forth and answer the sohc gods.

[tsflstb]

I can hear this one screaming...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1975-HONDA-CB550-DIRT-BIKE-CB-550-CB500-CB650_W0QQitemZ4629840847QQcategoryZ80647QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[dusterdude]

that one is just about close enough to keep an eye on.

[Paul Bater]

"Honey, I had to buy it, the SOHC Gods told me I had to..........Can't you hear them rejoicing?"
"Sure its rough looking, but its a 1969 sandcast......"

Hmmmmmm, I'm going to have to work on my delivery.

Geez, I've been going through the FAQ's and old Forums......there's all kinds of info in there! This place is gold mine!

[bill440cars]

                 There it is. It sounds like you already know what you need to do and basically you have
       already been doing the same thing on the other bike. Come on, you canalready feel the tug and you
       haven't even bought "The Beater" yet. Check em out, pick 1 and go for it. It was meant to be.
                                          Good Luck, May The Gods be With You and I'll catch you Later on, Bill


                Also: Keep us posted with info & Photos, okay?

[Noel]

I can hear this one screaming...

Ayuh. Looks like a lot of work though.

How to read an Ebay ad:

"The turn signals were removed." I fell over and broke the signals.

"a custom wiring harness was made for it." The old wiring harness melted. I replaced it at Radio Shack. All wires are now the same color.

"extra large sprocket on the back for great torque and acceleration." I redline this bike constantly.

"The carburetors are freshly rebuilt." Either --- I rebuilt the carbs. Now the bike doesn't run. So it's for sale. -- or -- I rebuilt the carbs knowing I would sell the bike. So you can imagine how much effort I put into it

"I took the air box out with intentions of putting on cone filters but never got around to it." I couldn't figure out how to put the airbox back on. So now you can check the condition of the cylinder walls with a flashlight.

"It was not run in the dirt without filters." It was run in the dirt without filters.

"The bike has a tachometer but no speedo, so i am unsure of the original mileage." The bike has 100,000 miles on it, and I didn't think it would sell if people knew that.

"It has the usual dents and dings from off road use but nothing that effects its riding performance." The bike looks like used tin foil. It still runs, though. Technically.

"It does burn oil on the #2 cylinder though it has for a while but doesnt seem to effect its performance in the least." The bike looks like dirty used tin foil. It does run though. Technically. Just carry a fire extinguisher.

"This is due to a leaking valve seal on the exaust valve." I haven't the slightest idea what it's due to.

"The rear tire is worn down pretty good and leaks air somewhere so it could probably use a new one or a patch." The rear tire is original. Just like the oil.

No charge for the translation.  

[Noel]

Oh, forgot one other bit...

"Title:  Other" Salvaged. 

"Exterior:  Orange" Spray painted.   

"VIN Number:  99999999999999999" Stolen. 

[Noel]

Can you tell I'm not an Ebay fan? 

[bill440cars]

            Hey Noel, Sounds like you've been the full route with no detours

[Noel]

I think Ebay is a good tool for locating bikes that are within driving distance.

I can't think of a circumstance where I'd buy one sight unseen from Ebay, with the possible exception of a $100 parts bike or somesuch.

Overall, I'd much rather buy from Craigslist, Cycle Trader, etc.

There's just so much BS going on at Ebay, both from the participants and the management.

[Noel]

And just for a fun little twist, we've got a local fellow (Tom Truong, for those of you perusing listings from Westminster, California) that buys from Craigslist, Cycle Trader, Cycle Buys, etc. and then relists on Ebay for twice the money. And somehow, all the negatives listed in the original ad are magically fixed in the four or five hours it takes for the bike to reappear on Ebay.

There was one local bike that he bought out from under me a month or two ago. Original seller wanted $600 for a CB750 that was abslolutely pissing oil. Tom sold it on Ebay for $1100 and not a mention of the leak.

How'd you like to be the poor bastard that bought that one, eh?

[Paul Bater]

Oh, I know what I HAVE to do alright! Its too sad, there's already a picture of a 1972 500 in Ohio I saw on Cycletrader. Only problem is the "it hasn't been run for a while" phrase in the ad. Still it looks mostly complete. I'm not sure if its any good. But for $400 I guess you can't ask for too much!

Must sell the VFR first, Must sell the VFR first........

I only recently even started looking on ebay. It seems like there's some good deals to be had if you know what you're doing. But buying a bike unseen, that you can't even see and prod.........too risky for me. I was looking at getting another motor for my Nighthawk, so I could rip it apart and see how mine works without the pain of my bike being out to commission. I saw one there, seemed to fit the bill, in fact it was almost two engines advertised as for a Nighthawk 750. I'm thinking this would be great. Upon closer inspection, I have no idea what the engines are from, but they look nothing like mine, so I opted out. I think 'buyer beware' should be Ebays moto. But its probably no different from buying anywhere else, really. I did notice when I bid on a Corbin seat, that you can easily get carried away with the bidding. I set a limit of $100 for the seat, but was quickly outbid. Its up to $200 now including shipping, for a slightly torn used Corbin seat!?!? You can buy a brand spanking new one for $270! 

I'll keep my eyes open for my next Noble steed.