I told myself...

Did we thread highjack all to hell? lol
Sorry Capt!

 

Short test ride and a stop for a "sound check"

 

looks and sounds great !

 

Only bike I did this on is my Africa Twin when I had it, it was so tall I HAD to cowboy mount it. But....I put on a camel adventure heavy duty side stand for that reason.

 

OK... finally got a REAL ride on Saturday, about 100 miles. New chain / sprockets feel great. The thing boogies and sounds great doing it.



Same ol pic. This is down by the river at one of our stops. Buddy says exhaust is not stupid loud and I agree. Like I said before, it can be short shifted into the reasonable.

The radiator reservoir appears to be big enough, but we'll see come Summer. But it was up to the mid 70s in the Seattle areas this weekend! Now it will rain in the high 40s for a month probably.

 

Surprised to see you weren't warming up sausages with the MuffPot on the exhaust

 

That's the other Hawk!

 

On the wet weather days I use to stuff spare gloves in the "V" of my 86. It's seen a sub or two too.
But I got on the bike from the left, hand full of brake, leg over, stand bike up kick the stand. Then engage clutch, wait 2 sec...depress and embrace the clunk! The clunk of success. The old CB 750's and 550's use to sound like you just dumped the crank all over the pavement...haha

 

As of last night... This HAWK was officially "free".

I have made back the full investment and still have a way to go. So technically, with a little more "work" selling some more stuff, I will actually have been paid to take it and still end up with some very cool extra parts and valuable spares to boot.

 

Congrats! Timely post. I've had thoughts lately about how far to go in spending for parts and spending time before you're past being able to recoup the investment.

For example on this '84 first gen....new Honda brand insulators and clamps run almost $300.

I guess look for the best deals possible for quality parts, keep track of everything, and add it all in on the selling price would be one approach.

Sorry don't mean to hijack your thread with the drift here........this topic probably deserves it's own thread...

 

You can keep track to see where you are, but the bike will be worth what it is worth. "But I spent all this money to make it work" usually won't make it (much) more valuable.

I don't carefully track what I put into my bikes because it is mostly irrelevant to me. Not that I'm rich and doesn't matter (I'm not), it's just that I want my bike to work and look how I want it to. If / when it is to be sold, it is what it is. I'm not buying bikes to flip (usually). I've done it twice I think. But they were part of a plan to get where / what I wanted. Not just, "I could make money on that." I don't have time for that. Same reason I don't work on "customer" bikes for money. It sucks the passion right out of it and is not satisfying.

Now real upgrade mods with quality parts and workmanship like aftermarket shocks, better forks, quality exhaust, better / bigger brakes, etc can make a difference. But carb boots and gaskets, brake pads, sprockets, etc are just what makes it a rideable example of a certain model of motorcycle.

 

Agree 100% - except the reason about working on other people's bikes - I don't because I'm not good enough to do so!

The guy I met on Monday though (whom I bought all those fairings from) - he had an '84 on a trailer and was considering a restoration. For that bike....no one would ever get back what it needed - so it'd be a labor of love. And I did provide to him where I was buying the stuff I got to do mine so was happy to pass some info along. He's a mechanic by trade so he has the ability to fix it himself.

Friend of mine's brother did some work in car sales and I remember him saying the profit is always made on the purchase...not the sale. Makes sense....

 

I track every penny I spend on my restos. Sometimes I wish I didn't.

 

You also sell (did I spell that correctly?) some bikes.

I truly don't wanna know either on some bikes. I've loosely tracked a couple I built when I know it's gonna be a stupidly low number for what I end up with. Like the 92 VFR.

 

Same … tracked it once. Just once.
I do it for the love of bikes but I am careful of the expense.


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Took yesterday off just cuz. Well... I was sick of listening to the machines and I was caught up. So I'm fucking going riding...



Man, this Hawk RIPS!

 

Beautiful...the Hawk, not the background. lol
Excellent pick up dude!

 

And speaking of valve cover gaskets...



Jesus christ. And the 1000R is on the lift so this is some floor work. Gonna check the valves of course, so I GOT to pull the carbs too. And the cooling system. I had JUST restored the radiator, and then I have to take it right back off.

Receipts show Megacycle cams, and there's some revised valve lash notes in the engine build folder.

I do have a couple subtle changes for the bike too that should look pretty sick when it's back together, hopefully this week.

 

Wasn't there a site for an aftermarket tail section in Europe or something? The tail on my son's bike is getting pretty shabby, even with the new supports, epoxy, and paint.