unitedguitar
New Member
Hello. My name is Ben and about this time last year a buddy and I decided to get into motorcycles. We have both been interested in them for years but never really had the drive to get on one and ride. So my buddy, Bob, picked up a Honda CB125 and we started tinkering with it. It didn't run and it was very small but we thought it would be a good place to start. It came with a bunch of extra parts including some "cafe parts." We tinkered with it for a while and eventually he sold it for a profit. He then picked up a Kawasaki KZ400 and we decided to get a little more into custom work beyond bolt on parts. We spent the spring of 2010 working on the KZ and came out with a pretty decent result.
After this I decided I finally needed to get a bike of my own. After doing a lot of research into what is popular and what parts are available for certain bike I decided I wanted a CB750. It just so happened that a small motorcycle salvage yard in the area had several of them. He told me I could have all of his 750 parts for 650 bucks. I had no idea what I was getting into. We ended up having a 20 foot flat bed trailer covered in bikes, engines and all sorts of other parts plus the pickup bed was filled with parts too. There were three whole bikes. A 73 750K, a 74 750K and a later F Model. I ended up harvesting parts off of the 74 for the 73 and I gave the F model to my brother. I spent the fall of 2010 stripping down the 750 and painting the frame and the engine and rebuilding the carbs (that is what we are doing in the background of the KZ picture). No part of this bike went untouched. This is The first time either of us had done such an extensive tear down and buildup. We finally got it to where it could be ridden just in time for it to get really cold out. However, I'm not one to let something sit in the garage just because it is cold. So, we ride through the winter. My bike isn't completely done but it is good enough to ride and I can deal with paint a small details when it gets warmer.
The KZ has since been sold and Bob got a CB750 as well.
We have now begun work on a 73 Yamaha RD350 which will have even more in depth modifications than anything we have done to date. New front end, stretched swing arm, different wheels, frame mods, custom seat and completely different gauge setup will be a few things that are done to the RD. it is being build for a friend of ours that liked what we were building and wanted one of his own.
Every time we do a new build our craftsmanship gets a little bit better and hopefully by the end of the RD build we will have a good set of skills to continue with building bikes.
After this I decided I finally needed to get a bike of my own. After doing a lot of research into what is popular and what parts are available for certain bike I decided I wanted a CB750. It just so happened that a small motorcycle salvage yard in the area had several of them. He told me I could have all of his 750 parts for 650 bucks. I had no idea what I was getting into. We ended up having a 20 foot flat bed trailer covered in bikes, engines and all sorts of other parts plus the pickup bed was filled with parts too. There were three whole bikes. A 73 750K, a 74 750K and a later F Model. I ended up harvesting parts off of the 74 for the 73 and I gave the F model to my brother. I spent the fall of 2010 stripping down the 750 and painting the frame and the engine and rebuilding the carbs (that is what we are doing in the background of the KZ picture). No part of this bike went untouched. This is The first time either of us had done such an extensive tear down and buildup. We finally got it to where it could be ridden just in time for it to get really cold out. However, I'm not one to let something sit in the garage just because it is cold. So, we ride through the winter. My bike isn't completely done but it is good enough to ride and I can deal with paint a small details when it gets warmer.
The KZ has since been sold and Bob got a CB750 as well.
We have now begun work on a 73 Yamaha RD350 which will have even more in depth modifications than anything we have done to date. New front end, stretched swing arm, different wheels, frame mods, custom seat and completely different gauge setup will be a few things that are done to the RD. it is being build for a friend of ours that liked what we were building and wanted one of his own.
Every time we do a new build our craftsmanship gets a little bit better and hopefully by the end of the RD build we will have a good set of skills to continue with building bikes.
