Newbie in Tempe

[parly029]

Whats up from Tempe, AZ! Diving head first into moto culture with only 3 months riding experience. Had it bad for motorcycles this past summer and sold my car for this Cl360 which serves as my daily rider/only ride. Have lots of plans for her, but no experience/confidence in my wrenching skills so drop a line if you have any tips, tricks, or just want to say hello!

 

[carnivorous chicken]

Welcome!

Moved last year from Tempe to Boston. First piece of advice: beat the heat.

Second: Stop by Bob's Salvage on Elwood (not Bob's the Harley shop on University). Biggest yard of Japanese bikes in the US, plenty of CB/CL stuff (I picked over the 350F and 400F bikes, however), great guys (might take a couple visits for them to warm up, including letting you scope the yard and pull parts on your own), and they've got a huge shop full of new parts for your bike too (carb kits, tune up kits, levers, etc.).

Third: dude named Brock runs a cool business doing fab work (mostly choppers, but he's open minded and has great welding skills): http://www.dunlopcustoms.com/ He also organizes a meet up, I think it's every Wednesday at the shop.

Fourth: Jeremiah at Love Cycles does an event once a year, usually in February or March. Again, it's Phoenix, so it's mostly choppers, but he's a good dude and open minded.

Fifth: Hit the swap meet every May at the Shriner's digs near the Chinese Cultural Center. Mostly choppers and Harley stuff, but I've found some cool stuff there too, and it's a great show.

 

[parly029]

Wow! Thanks CarnivorousChicken! I will definitely be checking these places out. Do you know of any moto friendly upholstery shops? I have a major tear in my seat cover I want to get fixed.

 

[DreadRock]

Welcome to DTT ! Looks like CC has you covered only other thing is a manual !

 

[carnivorous chicken]

Dunno. Bob's has these kind of generic seat covers that don't really look that great but will hold up. I've got a couple new seat covers for CB350F and CB400F bikes that might work -- PM me the seat's dimensions, including the dimensions of the pattern on top. There are also some Ebay auctions for them, but you've got to make sure you've got the right year. Otherwise, I'd ask the guys at Bob's -- Tyler, Eric or Rod.

 

[natesbikes]

I live in mesa.send me a message if you need any help or questions.

 

[carnivorous chicken]

I also forgot to add: Check out the yard in Rye (near Payson) at your own discretion. Dude up there is a crank, and I think it's a drug front. He had a fire a year or so back, but still has a ton of stuff (don't know how much was destroyed). But he charges absolutely astronomical prices, he or his wife or her sister will follow you around and hound you ("What do you want?! What are you looking for?!"), and he will berate you when you scoff at paying $100 for a dinged up, rusted out CB500 tank ("You should just shop on Ebay" -- to which the appropriate answer is "Yes I should, shit is overpriced there but still cheaper than you."). http://www.paysonroundup.com/news/2013/jun/30/all-bikes-all-gone/ I kinda think the fire might've been an insurance scam -- in one thing I read he claimed to have 20,000 bikes ...

Eastside Performance in Mesa is a pretty cool shop -- tons of old bikes in there, lots of Z1s and a 1969 sandcast CB750. He sold me a mercury-filled carb sync tool -- way better than those Motion Pro pieces of garbage. But he charges astronomical rates for work. http://eastsideperformancemotorcycles.com/ If you need someone to do work, go see French at Cycle Werks on the Scottsdale/Tempe border. Good dude, knows his old bikes, happy to work on old stuff, and very fair prices. He could also probably help you find an upholsterer.https://plus.google.com/115046866214629611388/about?gl=us&hl=en

If you want to pay big bucks for an upholsterer, the Haifley Brothers are located in Phoenix. They are pretty big-time chopper/bobber dudes, and just did a cooperative thing with the magazine Dice for their new issue. http://www.haifleybrothers.com/