So I had a few bikes back in the day, streetwise started out with a '83 500 Shadow, then did a quickie cleanup/restoration on an '81 GS550, then had a kid, and shortly after fell off the GS. So, in the interest of responsibility and maturity, sold the bikes but promised I'd get another when my son turned 18 and was established in college. So here we are, 18 years later, and I'd been looking for a project for about a year(I was looking for something "different", looked at old HD, BMW, repro Royal Enfields, Trumpys, etc.) Criteria was pretty simple- 650cc or better, spokes, and a kick starter. A very good friend had an early '80's Special when I had my Shadow, and I always liked that bike, so when one popped up, I grabbed it. Picked up a '74 XT, running but tired and semi adulterated(hack job on wiring, why, I have no idea.) Got the bike home in mid-March of this year with all intentions of having it done and rolling by mid summer. But- my '70 AMC AMX must have been jealous b/c about a week later it decided to suck a bunch of rock hard valve stem seal fragments into the oil pump and destroy the timing cover, distributor drive gears, and oil pump drive shaft. So April and May were lost while I dealt with that issue. But- it's fixed and happy so back to the bike. I've basically finished the back half, sanded and painted the frame, polished up the drum and back rim, etc. The tank had about 9 layers of paint on it(some must have been latex, would not sand w/o gumming up the paper), so I stripped it down to bare metal and found several spots of Bondo- so now I'm working on filling and sanding to get it happy again. Eventually the tank and side covers will be shot by me with 99 cent/can Wal-Mart lacquer(I'm a cheap s.o.b., and I like to show folks what can be done through effort and skill vs. a fat checkbook). Currently getting ready to dive into the front end, forks need polishing and rebuilding, steering head may need bearings, and the electrical rats nest needs to be sorted out. I hope to get the bike on the road by late summer, do some proofing, and pull the motor over the winter for detailing and/or any internal work that needs to be done. Also hope to re-spoke both wheels over the winter. I gotta say, this forum is fantastic for technical material, as well as the fact that there seems to be a minimum of drama here. I've scored a few parts from the classifieds, and everyone has been fantastic to deal with. What I will be asking for at some point are some detail photos of the seat mounting set up, mine was only held on with one pin, a few of the hinge points are gone, no helmet lock, it's been hacked up, and I have no good reference at hand to see what it is supposed to look like. This will not be a "stock" restoration, but I won't be deviating from the basic platform other than some small details. So that's the deal, glad to be here, and updates will follow as they occur.
Pat D.
Pat D.
