Honda SL350

A friend of mine called today and said he had something I might be interested in, a Honda SL350. I went over, we negotiated and I now have a Honda SL350.It is a little rough but with a little bit of love this one is going to be a rider. I wanted an enduro to ride on and off road. I think this will do just fine. I will give a bit of cleaning and get some photos this week end.

Difficult to Find Parts



I forgot to take a picture of the entire side cover before starting



As I posted, some of the parts for the 63M Montesa have been difficult to find. The right side cover for the Cappra MX 250 was broken  and I looked for another nearly 6 months, but could never find one. I spotted a cover for a Montesa Impala online and it looked very similar to the 63M, but had a integral chain guard and was a bit longer. Well I bought it and the part numbers cast into the back were the same. I gave up and modified it today.

A shot with the chaingurad after I cut it off.

After some serious material removal and a polish , I think this will be just fine.

The Montesa Project

The Montesa 63M is underway, but finding a few parts is turning out to be difficult. The 63M had several one of a kind parts. The air box is similar to a Husky unit, the cylinder head is slightly different from other 250 Montesas, the seat is different from the more common VR models. The stock pipe is virtually impossible to find.so I think I will use a period correct down pipe. The one I have is also a white frame model, which I think looks great. I think this will be a great looking and rare bike when finished.
I have sandblasted and refinished the seat pan and the foam was in good shape, so Bob Snively will make me a new cover and have the logo silk screened on the back so it will be just like a new one.
I hope to have it all together by Mid Ohio vintage days, but it is going to be close.

Progress on the Montesa 63M

I am ready to hang some parts on the Montesa frame this week, I polished some of the aluminum and will finish it up in the next couple of days. I can't wait to see the polished parts on the white frame. I hope to drop the seat off tomorrow to get it recovered. I think I will take the seat for the Suzuki S32 also.

Noah waiting for a ride.

I ran across this photo of Noah, taken in 2002. We still lived in Hollister CA and he was waiting for me to go riding with him. It won't be much longer and we can ride together on seperate bikes.

Plumbing is a latin word

I'm not sure but I think plumbing is latin for- numerous trips to supply house in order to get the right part.

Please comment and let me know if I am correct.

Move along citizen, nothing to see here.

Nothing exciting this week, just work. Sandblasting, cleaning and some customer projects.I hope to have something photo worthy next week.
We did go to the drive in last night. We watched the new X-Men movie. It was pretty good, I will give it two thumbs up. Maybe I will start reviewing movies as a sideline.

Pre School Cafe Racer



In the beginning......

This ride was gone in one day. My granddaughter Annika, 1 1/2 years old spotted this at the shop Saturday, and it was gone. Maybe I should build these instead. 

Another Cafe Racer

I am waiting on a few parts for the 1970 CB750K0 I am putting back together as well as some Montesa parts, so I grabbed a few parts off of the shelves and decided to get another cafe racer going. I have the look worked out. It will be another CB750K model, some familiar parts, but an entirely different look.

Stay tuned for more.

Poor Life Choices, Answered George.

While laying under my truck, in the parking lot of my life long  friends very successful business, at the end of a very busy week, feeling quite exhausted, I asked this question to a  another friend, a very funny guy, who just happens to be a very competent mechanic, thankfully,helping me install a new starter that he just happened to have at the shop.

 What happened?  I am filthy, I worked constantly on what seems to be a never ending list of things to do. Yet Steve has gone home, in his practically new truck, just as clean as he was when he showed up this morning,

George replied, poor life choices, that is what has brought us to this moment.
We laughed, then I told him, I thought this day had turned out perfect. He had a new starter that I needed and we had it almost installed, and I wouldn't need to do it tomorrow.

I cleaned up, and the truck started perfectly. I was nearly giddy. I thought if poor life choices brought me to this, having a good time with a couple of friends, laughing and being happy that we diagnosed the problem correctly, I would do it all again.