Various bikes bought & sold by BAB

grandpaul

Author, "Old Bikes"
DTT SUPPORTER
DTT BOTM WINNER
Over the years, I've bought and sold over 100 bikes, besides the collection I have now, and not including client restoration projects in the brand-specific threads I've already posted. Some have received no more than an oil change and battery, others have had significant refurbishing and repairs before selling. Still others were basket cases and/or various parts lots that finally came together in the form of rolling, non-running projects. I am going to restrict my entries here to those bikes that at least have/had the reasonable potential of being able to Do The Ton.

Starting off with this 1980 BMW R100RS that I traveled to Greenville, SC to pick up from the late father of a friend of mine. I had known him many years as he and my Dad used to consult together (my Dad was a mechanical Engineer, Art was a commercial HVAC contractor). Sadly, Art passed on not long after selling me the bike (I think he knew his time was short).

412750382.jpg


This poor old Beemer had been sitting under some pine trees for at least 5 years, and was in a sorry state. I flushed and refilled the forks, engine, tranny, rear gearbox and gas tank, overhauled the carbs & brakes, swapped the spark plugs & battery, and adjusted the valves. It fired up almost instantly, and rode decently (tires were shot, so it took it VERY easy).

It sold on ebay after sitting for almost 2 years; I was too busy to do anything with it, and it was just too big for anything other than highway touring. The seat was scruffy, but quite comfy. It came with a matching Windjammer fairing, but the buyer didn't want it (I still have it). It also had the sidecovers, but they weren't installed when I took this photo.
 
1976 Yamaha RD400

My older brother, David, bought this bike brand new from Kasson Yamaha in Austin, TX in 1976; it was Green originally. He used it for a couple of years while he was attending the University of Texas, during which time he loaned it to a very close friend, Rick, who wrecked it and bent the swingarm. My late younger brother, Zed, bought it from him and had me replace the swingarm and get it cleaned up and running again.

Later, Zed had me purchase and install a set of DG expansion chambers and a Martek electronic ignition for the RD; he rode it a while, then decided it was too loud and had me re-install the original mufflers. So, I rode my Honda 590 to Austin in near-freezing / drizzle conditions, with the mufflers slipped over the passenger pegs, sticking straight up, and my toolbox strapped between them and bungeed down tightly. Just outside Laredo on I-35 there was a shivering hitchhiker looking miserable in the cold drizzle, so I pulled over. He was happy to take a ride without a helmet, so we unstrapped everything and he climbed aboard with one muffler under each arm and the toolbox on his lap (we were rather uncomfortable, I must say). When we got to San Antonio (150 miles), he had icicles in his mustache and his nose was red as a tomato; I dropped him off at Denny's for coffee.

Soon after putting the bike back to stock, Zed sold it to me. I immediately put the chambers back on it, installed a set of clip-on handlebars, and a nice new set of flat slide Mikuni carbs. It took a while to get the jetting sorted out, but the bike became a fire-breathing BEAST after that. I had my friend Joey paint it White, and rode it for several years...

183144082.jpg


A friend of mine, Ray, needed transportation, so I put the stock mufflers and carbs back on it, and sold it to him. He rode it for a couple of years, then sold it back to me. Again, the chambers went back on the bike and I rode it very infrequently until I decided to give each of my two older sons pick of 3 bikes each from my collection. I had them both submit their "Top Ten" lists to me, and my older son Jason picked the RD as his #1 draft choice. Jason and Zed were very close, and so it was his sentimental favorite of my collection. He still has it, but so far has not cleaned it up to street-legal condition...
 
1968 Yamaha YDS3C 250 Grand Prix replica

I once traded my friend, Keith, a complete used central air system with ductwork that I installed in his attic in the summertime, for 5 bikes including a rolling chassis of a Yamaha YDS3C Catalina 250; it came with a really nice alloy gas tank, and a full fairing and bum stop seat.

I found a nifty set of adjustable clip-on handlebars, and a reasonably complete engine under a neighbors house, and set to work turning it into something. Joe Gregory's motorcycle salvage had a pair of carbs for it, as well as a set of Big Bear scrambler pipes. A couple of weeks goofing with it, and I had it running. It took some doing to "unscrew" the strange rear brake linkage, but it was meant to be, and it conveniently allowed the pegs & brake pedal to mount in the passenger peg location, serving as rearsets.

183138308.jpg


After some years of the bike sitting in a corner, I stumbled upon an RD350 for sale in the back of a pickup. I pulled the guy over and bought it on the spot, just to get at the expansion chambers. The $200 price tag was more than fair, I sold the RD for $250 later! I did have to patch one of the pipes, but they mounted up well enough.

When my two older sons picked 3 bikes each from my collection, the YDS3 was Kevin's first choice. Although it's technically his, it's still sitting in my garage. Kevin hopes to detail it, lockwire it, and race it in AHRMA, with me on some other competitive bike (it couldn't run in Historic Production Heavyweight with my Bonneville)
 
1974 Moto Guzzi 850 Eldorado

While at my machinist's shop discussing a Triumph Bonneville head, he casually mentioned that he'd seen "some old rusty bike" sitting in the corner of a garage; I headed straight over there as soon as I left the shop. Sure enough, there it sat with flat tires and a coat of dust 1/4" thick. It turned out the owner worked with my younger brother on City Council in the recent past, and he was pleased to sell it to me for a very decent price.

412812909.jpg


I dragged it home, cleaned the carbs, flushed the gas tank and engine out, dumped in fresh oil, installed a new battery, overhauled the front brake and fired it right up. The generator mount needed a small weld, and I removed the horn from the front fender. Within 3 hours, I was out on the highway FLYING at over 90 MPH; I checked my enthusiasm on old tires and headed back home.

Very soon after getting the bike running, my wyfe informed me that we would be needing a sidecar! Very exciting news, after "not trying" for a baby for about 17 years. I found a fellow in Canada that was importing "Cozy" brand sidecars from India; we made arrangements for me to have one delivered. In the interim, I gave the bike a spiffing up and rattle-can paint job, adapted and installed two new solo seats, new rear tire, and a few odd bits & bobs. When the sidecar arrived, I immediately installed it and managed to "fly the chair" on my very first right-hand turn (unexpectedly!). The bike remained unchanged for a few years and we got LOTS of use out of it.

254795444.jpg


A few years ago I had to swap out the rear gear, as it had begun to clunk and rattle (it blew a few teeth). While it was down, I ordered a bench seat for it, polished the Instrument nacelle, front engine cover & rocker covers, and also found a very decent "toaster" tank that just needed a spray paint touchup on the sunburned topside. The convertible top is nice for cooler weather.

324489935.jpg
 
1983 Honda V45 VF750F Interceptor

One of Honda's "Milestone Bikes" for it's many innovations including the water cooled DOHC V4 with slipper clutch, perimeter chassis, and the 16" front wheel; it was homologated for SuperBike racing and the street version was VERY close to the actual race bike.

183138299.jpg


I found this bike for sale on the early internet in 2001, and it turned out to be less than HALF A MILE FROM MY HOUSE! Coincidentally, the seller was the cousin of a very good friend, so we hit it off immediately. It was a VERY happy day when he finally gave me the selling price (undisclosed).

These bikes had defective cams in the first batches; this particular bike had the warranty swap done from new, at the Honda shop where the previous owner worked (Dallas). It was successfully club raced a bit, with the D&D headers and a few other minor upgrades, exactly as I received it.

The biggest bugger was overhauling the carbs after the bike sat for many years. I broke a plastic crossover fuel inlet tube trying to siamese the carbs back together, and had to have a custom made aluminum inlet pipe fabricated before I finally got it back together.

My boys got to rack up some very fun miles on it, in the Texas hill country; we saw speeds in excess of 130, with more still on tap!
 
Enjoying the stories and information, as always! Thanks for sharing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
grandpaul said:
The biggest bugger was overhauling the carbs after the bike sat for many years. I broke a plastic crossover fuel inlet tube trying to siamese the carbs back together, and had to have a custom made aluminum inlet pipe fabricated before I finally got it back together.

Glad I'm not the only one.. I had to turn a new crossover for my 1984 vf1000f recently and for the same reason. Those v4 carbs are a real bear.

b1dca5dbe70fbb7fa311056b22281c81.jpg


e05cbda7434f6cd50fb93e0f2eb24862.jpg
 
Back
Top Bottom