I am for now the proud owner of a 81 Special. 2 years in the making. Story on the purchase. 2 years ago went on a local November 10th ride. Ran into a old friend I had not seen in many years. Got to talking to him and mentioned I was messing with 650 Yamaha's. Turns out he has 2 Specials he would like to get rid of. Both have titles Asked how much, he wouldn't put a price on them. No price no real interest. Plus not big into Specials. I would run into every now and then and same thing no price. About 6 weeks ago he stopped by my house. Said he wants to rid of them. He's got too many projects. He finally put a price on them. Ok I'll come look. Few days later rode up to his house and took a look. They are barn finds. Neither will run. He said he had the 81 running the day before. Like I said not much into Specials. So I shot him a price. No go. Dodged a bullet. Trouble is the 81 intrigued me, odometer showed 973 miles. Ran into him last week on the November 10th ride. Got to talking and shot him a price on just the 81. I'll be damned he took it even said he would deliver it.
He delivered it this morning with title in hand. Title matches the bike. Good shape but very rough. Bone stock I think. Even has keys not 1 but 2. The chain is still in the lower right side compartment. It is unmolested. Tank has some rust in it but I've saved far worse. I have to believe the odometer is correct. 973 miles.
So now what am I going to do with it?
1 of 2 things. First if anyone wants a rough but very low mileage 81 Special PM me. I'm working on another project. If I still have it when I get caught up on the other project I'm working on I'll give it a very sympathetic resurrection. Rebuild the brakes, new tires, clean up the rust as best it will, rebuild carbs and spit and polish everything else. Try not to spend money except on mechanical stuff and try and to keep mission creep to a minimum. In other words end up with a nice running Special that mechanically needs nothing.
He delivered it this morning with title in hand. Title matches the bike. Good shape but very rough. Bone stock I think. Even has keys not 1 but 2. The chain is still in the lower right side compartment. It is unmolested. Tank has some rust in it but I've saved far worse. I have to believe the odometer is correct. 973 miles.
So now what am I going to do with it?
1 of 2 things. First if anyone wants a rough but very low mileage 81 Special PM me. I'm working on another project. If I still have it when I get caught up on the other project I'm working on I'll give it a very sympathetic resurrection. Rebuild the brakes, new tires, clean up the rust as best it will, rebuild carbs and spit and polish everything else. Try not to spend money except on mechanical stuff and try and to keep mission creep to a minimum. In other words end up with a nice running Special that mechanically needs nothing.
