1985 Indy Mile



When I saw this at the Barber Museum it brought back some good memories.and a few sad ones. In 1985, Brian Taylor and I rode to Indy to see the Indy mile. It would be the last ride before Brian left for the Navy.We arrived early, about 8 am, and we were the only ones sitting in the grandstands, when a security guard told us to get out of the stands and back to the pits. We didn't argue, we went to the pit area. Since I was riding a Honda we went to the team Honda tent, where they were setting up for Ricky Graham and Bubba Shobert, we started talking to the mechanics and asking some questions. They told us to grab a couple of chairs and we ended up spending the whole day there.

A few years later I was in the Air Force stationed in Monterey CA. During the USGP races they would ask for volunteers from the Air Force to help at the track. Brian was in the Navy stationed at Long Beach so he came up for the race and a couple of my friends from Indiana came out also.  We had a great day, we were allowed full access to the pits and just about everywhere else. We were hoping for a good finish for Bubba that day and had checked out his bike before the race. The race went pretty good, I don't remember where he finished but I do remember the crash on the cool down lap.
A few more years passed and I stayed in Monterey after leaving the Air Force, I was working on a project in Salinas and ate lunch at a little grocery store/deli on River Road . They had a picture of Ricky Graham on the wall and a guy working there told me Ricky stopped in from time to time and that he had gotten his career back on track. A few weeks later I stopped in and he told me about the fire.

Merry Christmas

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the shop, not a creature was stirring.........

Cafe Racer Under Construction.

Looks good from behind.

New gas cap. I have been wanting to do the flush cap on a cafe racer.

I have the basic design done,now I need to make the oil tank and the under seat pan for the battery, etc.

Mark is also working on one of his creations and I will post a few photos of it once it starts taking shape.

Cafe Racer Frame

I finished up the engine and now it's time to start on the frame. I will be making several custom parts on this build, so I started making some patterns and doing some measuring of parts today.

XS650 Finds A New Home

It needed a new home, so I took it back to the shop. As much as I like the Honda CB750s, I need to build something different. I think the XS650 is a great looking motor. I am looking forward to the next 3 months and working on some of my personal projects.

Fresh CB750 Engine

I usually build the engine last, but I wanted to get this one done right away.

Montesa On Again

I was discussing a couple of upcoming projects today, and decided to finish the Montesa before starting the XS650 project. As usual a CB750 cafe racer is being built as well.

Top tube is the original, bottom NOS.

Cafe Racers Going and Coming Soon

Today was a busy day for cafe racers. The red cafe racer was picked up and on its way to Arizona, and the next cafe racer engine is being reassembled.

This was my favorite one to date. Hated to let it go.

Blasted Parts

Just finished bead blasting some parts. Getting ready to buff and repaint.

I checked the cylinders and they are as good as they get. Then I checked the head, these cb750s are known for weeping a little bit of oil, even when they were new. It was a bit out of tolerance, so a little was taken off and now it is perfect. The valves pulled 100% and now all it needs is new valve seals.

The surface on this head is better than factory original, thanks to better machining equipment. I think I will put this finish on all future heads even if it is within tolerance.

Next Cafe Racer Engine

Pile O Parts ready for cleaning and inspection.

This engine has so few miles on it, splitting the cases would probably be a waste of time.

I will replace all of the gaskets and seals and some fresh paint and it should be just fine.

Honda RC-E

I know this is an electric bike, and the sound is as much as the visual part of a motorcycle, but since the first time I saw this, I thought it looked great. Besides I didn't have any good photos of my projects to share today.

Waiting for 30 Years

                                This engine has been waiting for at least 30 years to run again.

It won't have to wait much longer.

Cafe Racer Revisited

This build found a new home before I could post many photos. I really liked the seat section and plan to use a similar one on the next build.

Happy Thanksgiving

Next Cafe Racer

The next cafe racer is just beginning. I will pull the engine tomorrow and prep the frame. I sat a tank and a tail section on another frame and started  measuring for some parts I plan to fab. I am going to try a few new things, but plan to keep this one as clean as my other CB750's.

CB750 Cafe Racer Engine, Very low miles.

              
               The engine for the next cafe racer is the lowest milage engine I have ever started with.

I can't believe the condition of these wires, even engines with 10,000 miles have wires that have seen alot of heat and are usually brittle. I was wondering if the odometer was correct until I saw these. I can't wait to pull the upper end of the engine to see the condition of the pistons and cylinders. Not bad for a 1974 CB750.

Cafe Racer Sold

Sold

SL 350 needs some attention

The Honda SL 350 I picked up in July has been a lot of fun to ride, but it is time to give it some attention.
 It stated leaking some oil about mid September. I think it is the cylinder base gasket, and maybe some other spots.

I thnk I will order some gaskets and a few other parts ,and then pull the engine.

1964 Rambler Station Wagon

Marks new addtion to the shop

Mark brought something new to the shop a few days ago, a 1964 Rambler 770 Classic. He trailered it over, after putting the rear end in and a new axle and a few other minor things, he is ready to roll. Next some body work and paint and he will have his new rat ride.

Accessories are everything

Julie bought this for Marks' newest project, I think she is trying to tell him something.

The ride is over, time to get back to work.

When the red cafe racer didn't sell on ebay, I decided to go for a ride, upon returning,I snapped this with my phone camera. I'm kind of glad it didn't sell. I love riding this bike. I am ready to build another one soon.

Thanks for the good words.

Cling on for dear life !!!: Bob Johnson - Old School Cafe Racer: I just came across Mr. Bob Johnson from old school cafe racer . His CB750 Café Racers are super classy, and looks like they are well made a...

Cafe Racer for sale on Ebay

I thought about keeping the red cafe racer for myself, but I decided to list it on Ebay today. I have started another one and have some new stuff I want to try, maybe I will keep the next one.

1981 CB750, a future cafe racer

Every once in a while a challenge rolls into the shop. I wrote about a bike with a rusty tank a few days ago. Well it took about 10 cycles through the sonic cleaner to get the carbs good and clean. A few parts and then I reassembled them and bench tested them for proper float adjustment and for leaks. The overflow for #3 leaked, the brass tube was split, I removed it and replaced it, installed the carbs and TAH DAH, it ran. Jorge came by and picked it up later so he could do some riding this weekend.
The next project for this bike is going to be a complete rebuild and then transformed into a cafe racer, scheduled to be started this winter.

Rusty Fuel Tanks Are Bad

I recently had a bike dropped at the shop for some work. It had multiple issues. The first was carbs that needed to be cleaned and rebuilt. Then after I got it running, I discovered the coils were breaking down when they got hot. I fixed that only to find out on the test ride that somthing else was wrong. Even though the passages all seemed to be clear they were actually clogged where they meet at the intermediate outlet. The carbs had rust deep inside of the passages and was affecting the mid range. Rust in the tank is very bad. A fuel filter had been installed but was not catching the very fine particles in the fuel.
This is why I only use very clean tanks on all of my projects.

Hello Russia

I have a huge amount of traffic from Russia recently. I mentioned once before that I speak Russian complements of a great language school and the US Air Force, DLI in Monterey California. If you are reading this in Russia drop me an email or comment.

Cnacudo

California Dreaming

The problem with taking a short trip, like last weeks to Barber Vintage Days, is that I want to keep traveling. I love to see new places and things. I want to go to England and parts of Europe before the kids go to college. The one place I always like to be is California, more specifically, the Monterey area. I lived there most of my adult life and it is definitely one of my favorite places. Maybe someday I will return for an extended stay, maybe 20 years or so.

It's hard to believe I drove by this nearly everyday for years.

Motorcycles and Race Cars at Barber

The Barber Musuem has some great bikes and cars. It is still hard to believe that this is one persons collection. I could write about it all day, but I will just post some photos that I took.

Dan Gurneys Indy Car

Folding Scooter made in New Jersey

The exhaust is also part of the frame.

Iver Johnson, I wonder if we are related?

Great Trip to Barber Vintage Days

They saved me a parking space. Right out front!!!!

The trip to Barber Vintage Days was a great way to end the summer of riding. I had planned to trailer down a couple of bikes with Mark, but we decided to ride. I figured, what is the sense in having a great looking cafe racer, unless you take it for a ride. What a ride it was, the weather was great and Barber Motorsports Park is incredible.
We left Indiana at 2 pm on Thursday and rode until we were in Athens Alabama about 90 miles from our destination. After a short ride we arrived Friday morning. We set up camp and spent the day checking out the swap meet and other stuff. I went to the Cafe Racer TV area and arranged to have my bike in their area, along with some other very nice builds.
Saturday I took the bike to the Cafe Racer TV area and met Jason from Dime City Motorcycles, nice guy, but very busy trying to keep everything going great. They had a band, Ace Cafe from London was there as well as Cafe Racer TV. Ed the producer of Cafe Racer TV, took a few moments to talk to me also. They seemed to really be enjoying what they are doing. That's what made the whole event great. I went to the museum off and on all day, I will post some pics and more words about that later this week.
We rode 1175 miles over the weekend. The cafe racer ran great, smooth as silk and fairly comfortable. We are already planning the next trip. Maybe back to California.





Time to head back to Indiana.



Barber Vintage Days on a Cafe Racer

I have made a decision about Barber Vintage Days this year. We will leave Thursday morning, Mark is riding his big bike, and I have decided to ride my Honda CB750 Cafe Racer. We were going to drive down and haul a couple of bikes, but I figured the ride will be the best part, that is if I can walk after I get there. The furthest I have ridden one of the cafe style bikes I build is about 200 miles, and this is quite a bit further. I will try to post some pics just before we leave and maybe a couple while we are on the road.
Yes it is the red one I intend to ride,the one for sale, photo adjacent this post.

One Year Blogging and a Montesa Fender Bracket

Today is the one year anniversary of my blog. Today was a very busy day. I had to get a few estimates done and Tami needed some help at her store. She opened on Sept 15th at her new location. She still has some stock to move, but the store is up and running and doing great at the new location.

I did manage to get a few parts into the blast cabinet and hope to get them polished tomorrow. I received the fender bracket for the Montesa and need to send it to the chrome shop. I am getting dangerously close to having all the missing parts for this project. I better hurry or I won't get to ride it this year.

The elusive Montesa fender bracket has finally been captured.

Apollo 11 Customs Declaration

I ran across this surfing the web to find out where the satellite re-entered the atmosphere. I thought it was a cool piece of history.

Vintage Arthur Fulmer Helmet

                                                    What year was this photo taken?

Tomorrow I Ride

I have been wanting to go for a decent ride all week. I thought I would have time yesterday, but nooo, too many things to finish. I was sure I would wrap up a few things early today, but nooo.  I did squeeze in a short ride. But tomorrow no matter what at 2 o'clock, I drop everything and go for a ride.

The reason I can't have a mid life crisis

I had a couple of comments on my 100th blog, and a few other people have asked, why I can't have a mid life crisis.
The answer is in a post I made in Feb of this year.


Thanks for reading
Bob J.

Montesa Parts and the Endless Build

Restoring an old dirt bike has taken more time than expected. I have been trying to find the correct fender mount for nearly a year and last week, I found three. The air box, seemed nearly impossible to find and yet I found it. John at Rocky Mountain Montesa has been great help, and Jared Bates at Southwest Montesa has been a wealth of information and parts as well.
  It doesn't help that I keep trying to rebuild or find new parts for just about everything. I am not happy with the condition of the fork tubes, so I ordered another pair. This build is going on and on and on.

NOS Cylinder Head

Abused original head

I had to hang this on the frame just to see what it looked like all together. This is one of the pieces that I felt was very important for this to be as close to original as possible.

Abilities Thrift Store

    My wife, Tami, is the founder of a non-profit organization to benefit the developmentally disabled. She opened a thrift store 2 years ago in downtown Richmond IN. She has helped many young adults and the local high school to train these young adults so that they can find jobs once they leave high school and others that need a place to develop their skills and possibly move on to be employed by other businesses.
  After 2 years at her present location she is moving to a larger facility. The new store will be open on September 20th 2011 at 1813 National Road West in Richmond.
  She talked about doing this for years, and one day I told her she should just do it. I said do it within 3 years or forget about it. It took her about a 1 1/2 years to have everything in place and she did it, and now after just 2 years she has made the next important step. We have spent the last 4 days cleaning and painting the new location and hope to have most of it wrapped up by the end of this week and then start the move. I am very proud of my wife and think her new location will be very successful. Not many people have done what she has done, she had a dream and has made it reality.

Apollo at the Smithsonian



While I was looking at this at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, I imagined the courage it must have taken to go to the moon in this small capsule.   
Now that would be an adventure.

Another cool ride

100th Post

I started this blog on Sept 26,2010 and today marks my 100th post. I thought about doing something special like a contest or something. So I have decided that whoever might be reading this and can answer the following questions will receive some of the vintage junk I have in my desk. (See photo below)

Be sure to look for an even more spectacular gift on the one year anniversary of this blog.


The questions are:
1. What are the names of  2 of our 5 children that I have mentioned on this blog.

2. Where did I live before moving back to Indiana?

3. Why was I told I could not have a mid life crisis?

All of the answers are in posts from my blog,Motorcycles and Other Stuff.

If you can't answer the questions but are the only person to leave a comment you will still receive the fabulous prize as a consolation gift.

 Priceless Vintage Patch from the 70's