Hi guys, I've been lurking on the forum for a while now and I wanted to go ahead and introduce myself. Today I picked up my first ever bike, a '72 CL175 off Craigslist for a wopping $130 (originally asking $250). The bike itself, upon first glance, looks to be in pretty decent shape with little rust on the frame. The PO got the bike from a "friend" who attempted to rebuild the engine, but pretty much stopped after pulling everything apart and dumping the parts in a bucket, which collected rainwater. So... I'm currently in the market for a replacement engine.
So, like I said this is my first bike I've owned. I know what you're all thinking... I'm in over my head and should have just got a runner. There were plenty of bikes (CL175s, CB350s etc...) listed on CL in far better shape and running too. I could have easily shelled out the $$ to get a runner, but I figure this is something I've always wanted to do and I could learn the mechanics of the bike over the long haul it will take me to get this thing up and running.
I am a graduate student with 2 kids and a wife at home (in Atlanta), so this is going to be a long adventure to getting this thing running. So far the boss (aka wife) is ok with this idea and knows it's going to be a while, we'll see how that changes after I dump $$ and time into this thing. She knows that I've wanted a bike for the longest time... but it's always been postponed d/t life. I have a few buddies that have rebuilt bikes, can turn a wrench and know how to weld, so I'll be using them and hopefully you guys for advice and to get me out of the sh*tter.
My plans right now are to not even focusing on cosmetics. To me, there's no use in having a nice shiny bike until I can get it up and running. So first up is to locate a new engine (hit me up if you have one), get the carbs rebuilt and redo electrical. Also, does anyone know if there is an online version of the manual?
Here she is (excuse the mess in our storage shed... I mean garage):
So, like I said this is my first bike I've owned. I know what you're all thinking... I'm in over my head and should have just got a runner. There were plenty of bikes (CL175s, CB350s etc...) listed on CL in far better shape and running too. I could have easily shelled out the $$ to get a runner, but I figure this is something I've always wanted to do and I could learn the mechanics of the bike over the long haul it will take me to get this thing up and running.
I am a graduate student with 2 kids and a wife at home (in Atlanta), so this is going to be a long adventure to getting this thing running. So far the boss (aka wife) is ok with this idea and knows it's going to be a while, we'll see how that changes after I dump $$ and time into this thing. She knows that I've wanted a bike for the longest time... but it's always been postponed d/t life. I have a few buddies that have rebuilt bikes, can turn a wrench and know how to weld, so I'll be using them and hopefully you guys for advice and to get me out of the sh*tter.
My plans right now are to not even focusing on cosmetics. To me, there's no use in having a nice shiny bike until I can get it up and running. So first up is to locate a new engine (hit me up if you have one), get the carbs rebuilt and redo electrical. Also, does anyone know if there is an online version of the manual?
Here she is (excuse the mess in our storage shed... I mean garage):
