I see a lot of posts on this forum from someone looking at an old bike that needs love. I think it would be helpful to point out the pitfalls when trying to breathe life into a neglected bike.
Perhaps a bit of background would be appropriate at this point. I first started as a motorcycle mechanic back in 1971 working on Harleys. Later, at different dealerships, I pretty much worked on about every bike brand out there. I am factory trained on Harleys, Kawasaki and Suzuki's. The oldest bike I have owned was a 1914 Excelsior and I have restored about a dozen Indians and Harleys.
The above was not to brag, but to show that I have a bunch of experience and tools and even doing a decent, but far from perfect resurrection is going to cost far more than you estimate. It's okay though, you just have to learn how to justify the expense. I personally feel a great deal of satisfaction when I bring a motorcycle back to life and being able once again to put someone's long-ago dream back on the road.
Second I will try and write this with the perspective as though explaining this to a person new to the world of moto-masochism.
To start off, I am going to assume that you have done your research and what you are paying is commensurate with its value, I repeat, do your research. Always try to get a title if you can, or if you live in a state that doesn't issue them, or the bike comes from one of those states, get a notarized bill of sale. Before you dump a bunch of time, effort and money in it, get the title transferred into your name. If there is an issue over ownership this is the time to resolve it. Without a title and unless it is a super rare or highly desired bike, it is a parts bike.
Get a factory service manual and parts book if possible. The parts book will save you tons of time when sourcing parts and the service manual is self explanatory.
Buy tools! Guys if you don't have at least a decent starter type tool set, go out and buy some. If you live in a apartment with only a carport, you should rethink your life choices if you want to get an old bike back on the road. I will have say though, that I have rebuilt a few bikes over the years in a living room or two. I restored my Bonneville in my living room, but I also have an actual shop where I can do the dirty work. Clean your garage out if you have one and allow yourself room to disassemble a bike and store the various bits.
All the bikes I have were someone else's projects that were abandoned because the previous owner(s) gave up on them. If you have limited mechanical abilities don't take on more than you can. That being said, everyone starts from the bottom and learns as they go.
You will make mistakes and have to redo thing over again. I had the original Kehin carbs in and out of my Goldwing four times before I gave up on them and converted it to a single carb.
You need to develop patience if you want to own a vintage vehicle of any type.
After a few years hiatus, jumped back into the insanity and have resurrected three bikes in the last 2 1/2 years. One basically needed everything, one needed very little and the third was somewhere in between.
The easy bike:
Hands-down, the '79 XS650 was the easiest to bring back to life. I paid a grand for it and got a thousand dollar box of brand new parts along with it. The guy I got it from had torn it apart ten years earlier and started to brat bike it, but only got as far as taking it partially apart and losing a few parts. In 27 days I was riding it.
Buy the best you can; The lesson here is, while I paid more than I usually would for a near 50 year old bike that hadn't run in ten years, but it was a 12K mile and was basically a creampuff. It had been garage kept it's whole life, had two brand new tires, a newly reupholstered seat and wasn't rusty. It also had a clean Mississippi title.
Against that, it was missing the front fender, the center stand, mufflers and stock airboxes. The carbs were off and needed a through cleaning. To some people a center stand is viewed as unnecessary, but IMO they are essential to being able to work on your bike's left side comfortably. That alone was $55 plus shipping, the front fender was another $50 and I had a heck of a time finding stock airboxes, which is an item I insist on having if at all possible. I finally found a set for $80 plus shipping. the aftermarket muffs on it coast me $109 each, so another $218 to add.
Then there's paint. I have had to paint two of the three bikes and If I would have had to pay someone to do the job, it would probably been somewhere between $800 to a grand to get both done. Unless the paint is in good shape, or you can live with it's current state, you may have to factor that in.
This stuff adds up faster than you think.
Even with the bits that came with it and doing ALL the work on it myself, I still have an additional $1100 above what I paid for it.
As purchased:
30 days later out at Shiloh National Battlefield: It's hard to really see all that was done to it, but all in all it was an easy build. the trumpet muffles sound perfect on these vertical twins.
Perhaps a bit of background would be appropriate at this point. I first started as a motorcycle mechanic back in 1971 working on Harleys. Later, at different dealerships, I pretty much worked on about every bike brand out there. I am factory trained on Harleys, Kawasaki and Suzuki's. The oldest bike I have owned was a 1914 Excelsior and I have restored about a dozen Indians and Harleys.
The above was not to brag, but to show that I have a bunch of experience and tools and even doing a decent, but far from perfect resurrection is going to cost far more than you estimate. It's okay though, you just have to learn how to justify the expense. I personally feel a great deal of satisfaction when I bring a motorcycle back to life and being able once again to put someone's long-ago dream back on the road.
Second I will try and write this with the perspective as though explaining this to a person new to the world of moto-masochism.
To start off, I am going to assume that you have done your research and what you are paying is commensurate with its value, I repeat, do your research. Always try to get a title if you can, or if you live in a state that doesn't issue them, or the bike comes from one of those states, get a notarized bill of sale. Before you dump a bunch of time, effort and money in it, get the title transferred into your name. If there is an issue over ownership this is the time to resolve it. Without a title and unless it is a super rare or highly desired bike, it is a parts bike.
Get a factory service manual and parts book if possible. The parts book will save you tons of time when sourcing parts and the service manual is self explanatory.
Buy tools! Guys if you don't have at least a decent starter type tool set, go out and buy some. If you live in a apartment with only a carport, you should rethink your life choices if you want to get an old bike back on the road. I will have say though, that I have rebuilt a few bikes over the years in a living room or two. I restored my Bonneville in my living room, but I also have an actual shop where I can do the dirty work. Clean your garage out if you have one and allow yourself room to disassemble a bike and store the various bits.
All the bikes I have were someone else's projects that were abandoned because the previous owner(s) gave up on them. If you have limited mechanical abilities don't take on more than you can. That being said, everyone starts from the bottom and learns as they go.
You will make mistakes and have to redo thing over again. I had the original Kehin carbs in and out of my Goldwing four times before I gave up on them and converted it to a single carb.
You need to develop patience if you want to own a vintage vehicle of any type.
After a few years hiatus, jumped back into the insanity and have resurrected three bikes in the last 2 1/2 years. One basically needed everything, one needed very little and the third was somewhere in between.
The easy bike:
Hands-down, the '79 XS650 was the easiest to bring back to life. I paid a grand for it and got a thousand dollar box of brand new parts along with it. The guy I got it from had torn it apart ten years earlier and started to brat bike it, but only got as far as taking it partially apart and losing a few parts. In 27 days I was riding it.
Buy the best you can; The lesson here is, while I paid more than I usually would for a near 50 year old bike that hadn't run in ten years, but it was a 12K mile and was basically a creampuff. It had been garage kept it's whole life, had two brand new tires, a newly reupholstered seat and wasn't rusty. It also had a clean Mississippi title.
Against that, it was missing the front fender, the center stand, mufflers and stock airboxes. The carbs were off and needed a through cleaning. To some people a center stand is viewed as unnecessary, but IMO they are essential to being able to work on your bike's left side comfortably. That alone was $55 plus shipping, the front fender was another $50 and I had a heck of a time finding stock airboxes, which is an item I insist on having if at all possible. I finally found a set for $80 plus shipping. the aftermarket muffs on it coast me $109 each, so another $218 to add.
Then there's paint. I have had to paint two of the three bikes and If I would have had to pay someone to do the job, it would probably been somewhere between $800 to a grand to get both done. Unless the paint is in good shape, or you can live with it's current state, you may have to factor that in.
This stuff adds up faster than you think.
Even with the bits that came with it and doing ALL the work on it myself, I still have an additional $1100 above what I paid for it.
As purchased:
30 days later out at Shiloh National Battlefield: It's hard to really see all that was done to it, but all in all it was an easy build. the trumpet muffles sound perfect on these vertical twins.
Last edited:
