Complete newbie from Indiana, going on a journey.

Hello, my name is Jake.
I'm from north eastern Indiana, and have stumbled through the internet to finally end up here. I have a couple of questions.

A little bit about myself, I'm a student at a local university studying Graphic Design and Webpage Design. I've been an avid mechanic ever since I learned that fixing your own vehicles is much more rewarding and that most mechanics I feel, can't be trusted. I've dealt mostly with repairing automobiles from transfer case swaps, alternators, starters, and everything in between. But now I've got this itch to do something a little more unique and while still living at home, space is limited so a rat rod is out of the question.

While attempting to sell my uncles 1977' MG MGB for him, we got onto the topic of cafe style motorcycles. I've never ridden a motorcycle, but have always wanted to learn as well as ride something a little more unique. He mentioned that he still owned a 1967' Honda 305 Scrambler up in Iowa that he had to leave behind when he moved (10 years ago). He told me if I wanted to go get the bike (10 hour trip, one way) that I could have it. From talking to him about the bike, the bike is 3/4 of the way complete towards a "restoration" that he had been working on. In general, I am unsure of the condition of it especially after 10 years of it sitting in a friends garage.

My main question for you all, is there any way the bike would fit in the back of a 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited? Is purchasing a hitch carrier a reasonable idea? Originally, my uncle said the bike was in pieces. But from talking to him about it, I believe it is in a rolling condition.

I look forward to pestering you all!

-Jake

If you've got help, I imagine you can do it. Bring tools. Take of the wheels and forks, exhaust, maybe the tank and seat. That stuff is easy and self-explanatory for the most part -- less so if you try to take off the triple tree. If you've got a friend, you can likely get it up into your cargo space with that stuff removed, and then just pack in everything you've taken off.

These are great bikes, I've wanted a CB77 for a while -- you'll find that the CLs are geared down a bit, slower top speed, but this is a great opportunity for a cool bike with the adventure of a road trip thrown in.

hey jake, I like in north central Indiana just outside of south bend.
the hitch carrier thing is a great idea especially if you can borrow one from someone.
I think that is a better idea than trying to get it into the back of the jeep.
I am also working on my first project.
it is a 1976 kz400 I am turning into a cafe racer.
pick that thing up and just start tearing into it.
do what you want because there are really no rules.
and remember if you have an idea just do it and have fun.

Thanks for the warm welcome!

I'll be bringing my girlfriend most likely, so I'm not sure how much help she will be. Haha. I'm a pretty big guy, (6'2" 250lbs) so I could probably wrestle it into the hatch, but I believe that his friend would most likely help me if I needed it. Knowing my size and the engine displacement, I hope I don't look too strange learning on such a small motorcycle. Haha. Are there any special tools needed for the bike? I've got a pretty decent tool box, so hopefully I'll have everything I need. I've never worked on a motorcycle before, though.

Alright, I just measured the Jeep cargo area and It's about 34" top to bottom at the opening of the hatch where the weather stripping is and 37" top to bottom after the lip. From some research, mainly Wikipedia, the seat height of the bike is about 31" with the tires on. Would removing the tires help me gain the clearance needed? Possibly 6"-10"? My uncle also said the bike has drag-style bars on it.

Ideally, I'd rather build a platform from wood to keep the bike sitting upright in the cargo area for transportation, I'll have to research a bit more. My uncle says that he does have a hitch carrier, but I don't believe it was built for a motorcycle, and the 350-360# weight of the bike may be a bit much. I'll start asking around to see if any friends of friends have the proper carrier.

I actually live in Logansport, south from you, near Peru and Kokomo.

Thanks,
-Jake

that's pretty cool, there doesn't seem to be many cl77's in indiana according to my research of looking at a lot of craigslist
those are really neat bikes. they were cool enough for jim morrison back in the day: http://www.midamericaauctions.com/motorcycle/honda/honda-cl305-jim-morrison/

You can always rent a motorcycle trailer from U-Haul if you've got a hitch, they're about $15 a day.

Where abouts in Iowa?

According to the U-Haul website, a motorcycle trailer isn't available "for my move" in Cedar Falls or Ft. Dodge. They have another open trailer for around $115 and an enclosed (most likely not intended for transporting a motorcycle) for $102.

I believe somewhere around the Holstein area in Iowa, not sure of the exact location as of yet.

I was looking at these motorcycle carriers from Harbor Freight and Discount Ramps. Anyone have any experience with these? We'll be staying the night in Iowa at a hotel and leaving the motorcycle unattended kind of freaks me out, but then again I'm not very trusting. The ramp would probably only be used a few times as well, long term plan is to eventually get a CB750 and that is a bit over the weight limit of this carrier.

Welcome and DAMN! I'm in Fort Wayne and I would kill to have that bike, Where do you live exactly? ;D ;D

Seriously though that is a bike I would really like to have. Definitely worth the trip for that bike and free... My friend used one of those dirt bike, front wheel haulers (I think from Idaho and back to Indiana) and it held up well. We used it for about 100 bikes after that and I even picked up this '64 bsa lightning rocket dual carb model with about a 3 hour drive one way and that thing is a heavy beast... He used his mini van and I used my Impala. Never had a single problem or damaged car or bike...

I can't wait to see some pics of that thing. Maybe look at it in person.

You should swing by Iowa City and grab a beer with me.

The warm welcome here is awesome, it seems that the CL77's are slightly unusual?

I'm hoping to take the trip sooner, rather than later. I have to be careful about how much I pester my uncle, he is a busy man, and I don't want to irritate him too much. I'm shooting for around the beginning of October. Id rather not deal with any weather changes in the north. (Haha).

As of now, the U-Haul will be the way I'm planning on going. Though I've been brainstorming other options.

-I do have a boss at my place of employment with a 72' Suzuki (somewhere around 500cc's, unsure of the model) who I will be asking for some measurements from the bottom of the forks to the top of the gauges. I've also got a friend with a 79' Honda CX500 Custom who I will be asking as well. I know the bikes aren't the same, but maybe it'll give me a decent ballpark as to whether or not it could ever fit in the Jeep?

-My brother has a 2003 Liberty that we just recently used to bring my cousin back from Sioux Falls, South Dakota this past spring. The cargo space has a bit more head room, but I believe the Liberty may be shorter than my Grand Cherokee.

-My father offered to let me drive his 90-something GMC 1500 with 270,XXX original miles. It's a single cab truck, so I'm not sure I'd want to spend 20-something hours in it or if I'd trust it. The Grand Cherokee, I know how it's been maintained.

-And of course, like I mentioned the U-Haul trailer. Is a wheel chock recommended for transporting it in a trailer? How detrimental will the effects of pulling a trailer, be on my MPG? I'm shooting for the 4 'x 8' size and I have actually never pulled a trailer before, let alone driven 600+ miles on a single trip.

gearhead231 - We may have to, according to MapQuest we should be swinging pretty close to Iowa City on Highway 80.

mark13018 - I may have to bug you into helping me sort the mess out, haha. I'm expecting the worse, and hoping for the best. I actually have some buddies that live in Ft. Wayne, I'm surprised to see the number of Indiana members.

JCrimson said:

mark13018 - I may have to bug you into helping me sort the mess out, haha.

Click to expand...

Sure thing.. I'd like to see that bike when you return... Just let me know what you need... There's plenty of knowledge on here and several dtt members in Indiana.

Welcome from another new guy (from SW MI).

CL77's are not terribly rare....if you know where to look. We had these three all at once in the shop last year:



On the coasts the CB77's were popular, but here in the middle of the country, the 305 of choice was the scrambler. Folks even took off the lights, oh and muffler, and even raced them in scrambles races back in the day!!

They can be worth some $$$ if complete and original and running. Have sen museum quality restos go for $8000, but that's a bit unusual.

SOme of the original parts in and of themselves can go for some bucks, so if you decide to customie it, don't just go and through any original parts in the trash bin!!

Thanks for the info CharlieT and mark13018. CharlieT, those bikes look great. I can only hope that the one I pick-up looks half as good as those. Haha.

Just a little update, its on for the weekend of the 18th.

I managed to sell my uncles 1977 MGB MG, for a cool $2400 last weekend. I made $200 commission to fund the trip to pick up his old motorcycle in Iowa. It won't pay for all of it, but it will help out a great deal. After selling his car, my uncle talked to me a little bit more about the bike and its location.

The man who is storing the bike has parkinsons, so I'll be taking the U-Haul after all. My girlfriend will not be going but my brother got the weekend of the 18th off of work, so we shall be leaving early Friday morning. This is my first time driving on a big trip, so we'll be dividing the driving time in half, possibly even in thirds if a friend decides to tag along.

As of right now, I'm getting the ol' ZJ ready for the trip. I rotated the tires this last weekend and this upcoming weekend I plan on replacing the brakes all the way around. Tonight i'll be replacing the blend door motor for some more climate control (broke a long time ago, has been manual for a while, you get HOT or COLD) and I'm considering upgrading the auxiliary transmission cooler to a bigger one from a Ram 1500 for a little extra insurance. The Jeep does have about 210,XXX "easy" miles on it.

Tonight is the night! After figuring out a game plan, my father agreed to go. We'll be leaving around 1:30-2:00am (the next hour or so) heading towards Iowa. We plan to drive straight there and back, but I can imagine that eventually the plan will change and we'll end up getting a hotel. It'll be an adventure. Wish me luck! I'll post some pictures of it as soon as I see it.

It kind of feels like opening a treasure chest, not knowing what the contents are. Well... hopefully a treasure chest and not a junk drawer.

Wish us luck!

Good Luck dude. Don't move to Fairbanks, Alaska cause there is nowhere closer than 10 hours from here. ;D

GodSpeed!

Hope the trip is going well. Anxiously awaiting some pics,

It kind of feels like opening a treasure chest, not knowing what the contents are. Well... hopefully a treasure chest and not a junk drawer.

We finally arrived back, twenty-four hours after we began last evening at 2:20am. Drove the ol' Grand Cherokee straight there andback, 1 hour of sleep in the last 40 and everything went extremely smoothly.

Without further ado, here is the bike I've been talking about. I believe that I would probably lean more towards a junk drawer as stated in my previous update, than a treasure chest but I suppose beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I think even with this bare skeleton and the long hours of work that await me, it could someday be something pretty sweet! The bike wasn't exactly what I had envisioned, but I wouldn't call the trip a waste, either.

My uncle informed me that he has the title, original manual and a repair manual for the bike. Over the last ten years, some things have gone missing from the bike. The seat pan, exhaust, rear tail lights, handlebars, and I'm sure other things will spring up. I do have three boxes with the bike though and have yet to dig through them.

As of now, the bike sits in my grandmothers garage a few houses down from my own, a work space that she has given me in return for the ownership of my soul. Literally, while cleaning the garage, prepping the space she said: "I hope you know, I own you now". Haha.

Now to slip into a coma, goodnight.

(My brother and father are the ones in the picture near the trailer)

Definitely a project but its a cool bike and that's usually how they end up getting parted out. Also a good candidate for a custom build since it's rough and missing original parts... It would cost 10x more than its worth to restore that to nice original condition... That will make a sick project though.

On a side note, if you lose interest in it I would definitely be interested in it if you're going to get rid of it and I'm not far from you either.