Born Again Bikes completed Honda projects

This was my first cafe racer build, bought in early 1979. It's a '75 Honda CB550 that I bought from a fellow sailor stationed at NAS Corpus Christi, Texas, the DAY BEFORE he was scheduled to be be transferred to the East coast. It was a bit weathered from the salt air, but ran well and had a title.



(off topic, but that's my Pontiac Sunbird that I converted to a "mini Trans Am")

The bike came with a Kerker header, King & Queen seat (pretty unique, as it made a great bum-stop seat), and a really nice set of pull-back custom heavy chrome handlebars. Apart from that, it was stock.

I had a friend in welding shop in the AIMD hangar make me a nice rear grab rail from stainless tubing (I think I still have that). I also upgraded the front brake master cylinder to a chrome Hurst/Airheart unit. I rode it like that 'till I got my discharge in October '79.

It went through several transformations...

First time around, I repainted the header & sidecovers, swapped out for a better gas tank, and polished the engine covers



Next time, I tore the bike apart, painted the frame,installed a Pops Yoshimura 590 kit, Kerker muffler for the header, better rear shocks, Thomaselli clip-on handlebars, and had my friend Joey paint the tank, sidecovers, and my helmet in matching Silver Imron.



This was the peak of the 590's life. Too bad I didn't have a better camera (disposable Kodak 110)...



Final specs also included Accell plug wires, new exhaust system, Andrews coils, Martek electronic ignition, S&W valve springs, Barnett clutch plates, Emgo quarter fairing and bullet mirrors, carbs from a 750, bobbed rear fender, K&N air cleaner in original airbox, tail section with grab rail & tail light from a Kawasaki 350 triple (slipped right over the pillion section of the seat as though it were designed for it), oil cooler that I fabricated from a '71 Mercury Monterrey steering cooler and made a rectangular scoop for (out of a One Way sign), Barnett clutch plates and springs, braided stainless front brake hose, reworked forks with springs & spacers, and had Joey re-paint everything in Imron Antique Gray Metallic.

This bike could take my 1980 KZ1000 off the line and stay ahead of it ALMOST to the quarter mile, then the big KZ would slowly walk away; but, it couldn't run away in the twisty bits!

I still FREQUENTLY kick myself in the butt for having traded this bike in...

Client restoration - 1982 Honda Magna 750

Although this bike looked and ran decently, the owner had it from new and wanted it to be new AGAIN!

BEFORE



AFTER



Nothing out of the ordinary at all, I used all OEM Honda parts and restored it to factory specs. The engine was in excellent shape and wasn't overhauled just carefully flushed, checked for wear, and reassembled.

It did get new clutch plates, a few seals, and all the engine cover gaskets and o-rings were replaced. The seat was reupholstered, and the paint was resprayed in original PPG color match. Alloy parts were polished, a few chrome parts were rechromed, and most of the fasteners and small parts were cad plated.

The new hand grips were installed just after the above photo was taken!

1974 Honda CB360 Cafe Racer project, 2006

I acquired this rough (barely) rolling project at the Irv Thomas Honda/Suzuki Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation fundraiser "Shine & Show" in Corpus Christi, Texas in 2005. Irv had parked a rusty chassis with no engine in the parking lot out front with a "Start Your Own Restoration Project, FREE" tag on it. I couldn't pass it up.

I managed to find an engine for it and got it to this stage...



Then, in 206, at the Irv Thomas Show & Shine, I won a "Flame Job" pudding bowl helmet as one of the $1 raffle prizes. After the show, a guy walked up to me and asked if I'd sell it, or maybe trade for something else. I agreed to have a look around his garage and spotted a complete Paul Dunstall bodywork kit (fairing with windscreen, gas tank, and seat/tail). Surprisingly, he agreed to the trade!

So, I got the bike running and installed the bodywork on it. It went to Utah in a "twofer" deal with a nice but unfinished Triumph chopper project; "he made me an offer I couldn't refuse"...

1967 Honda CL77 305 Scrambler

I got this bike in trade for a pile of old Triumph parts at a swap meet in Houston in 1995 just as I was about to load up and leave as the drizzle started turning to rain. The other guy and I looked over each other's stuff, shook hands, and started unloading and re-loading.



The seller told me the engine had "a problem with the kickstarter"; THAT turned out to be seized pistons. It took weeks of pouring stuff into the spark plug holes, kicking and fiddling, till I finally broke down and took the top end off. I had to beat on the pistons with a chunk of wood and a 5# sledge hammer to FINALLY free it off. To this day, I don't remember how it came about that I had a new set of replacement rings on the shelf!

I rebuilt the top end, re-assembled it, and rode it a good while here on my family's property where we have about 100 acres of flood plain / creeks and a bunch of old cow trails; it was perfect for that.

I didn't actually do a lot more to it apart from replacing a few parts and a rattle-can paint job to make it look more original.



I sold the bike on e-bay a few years back after getting a more original one as partial payment on a Triumph overhaul.

1967 Honda CL77 305 Scrambler

This was my second CL77, I got it as partial payment for a top end overhaul on a client's Triumph. It didn't look like much, but was totally original apart from the blue paint job. It was missing a seat, but I found one in excellent condition after buying one that was less so...

BEFORE



The bike was running when I got it, but I overhauled the carbs & forks, flushed the engine, painted everything matching, and swapped all the better parts from the other bike. After that, it got rave reviews everywhere I showed it!

AFTER



I sold the 305 a couple of years ago. Probably a mistake, but I wasn't riding it, so...