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drhach
Guest
Hey everyone. I've been reading so much about the work that others are doing on their bikes that I thought I would brag a little about my own bike. I posted a couple of pictures in another thread, but I thought I would start my own where I can post updates if anyone cares to see them. I bought this bike a couple of years ago while I was stationed in Louisiana. I bought locally on e-bay for $200. I thought I had ripped the guy off. Man was I wrong. The bike was origianally set up as tourer but it had been sorely neglected for a long time. It had no battery and the tank leaked like a sieve. The guy I bought it from lived in a trailer park and had just leaned it against his house when he bought a new bike. I put it in the trailer I had rented and brought it back to Ft. Polk with dreams of having a great superbike. I got it running but it was in bad shape. The fork seals were shot and it was like riding a waterbed. I had no indoor work shop and I had to do everything in a gravel parking lot. Needless to say, I really didn't have the right environment to do what needed to be done. I cleaned the carbs in my barracks during a holiday weekend when everyone was away. I also lapped the valves that weekend. Unfortunately, they were too far gone to be lapped. I put the bike back together anyway and tried to start it. It never did develop compression and I finally gave up. I decided that I wanted to ride a bike, not work on one. So, I bought something else. Eventually, I got transferred off of Ft. Polk. I left the bike in the parking lot, but for some reason, I kept the title. A few months later, a buddy of mine called and asked if I still wanted the bike. He said he was coming back to the area and that he had room in his trailer. I said "sure, why not." At least this time, I had a house with a garage and a little more money. I started disassembling hte bike again. I sent the head out to be rebuilt and had it done right. I went completely through the top end and I had the frame powder coated. So far, I've rebuilt the forks, gone through the wiring harness and replaced any bad connectors. I've also done a ton of painting and polishing. I still need to go through the brakes and the carbs again. I have to say, the whole time I've been working on this, my prevailing question has been "Is this thing actually going to run." We'll see. Right now, I figure I'm about two weeks from the moent of truth. It won't be rideable but I can at least see if it will start. Everything after that is gravy as far as I'm concerned.
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