Restoring a loved 1983 750

Hi My name is Chuck i'm from upstate NY I was contacted by a guy I new in high school. He saw on Instagram that I had been working on bikes and other things. He wanted to know if I would be interested in a old bike his father had. It is a 1983 Honda Interceptor that he just wanted out of his shed. I never turn down something free or cheap so I agreed and gave him my number to give to his father. Really not thinking someone would just give a way a bike like that I figure the guy and the father were on two different pages, I figured I would never hear anything alts about it. About a month latter I get a call from the father we have a nice conversation and he tells me I would be the perfect person to give this bike too. The next night I hooked up the trailer and went in to town to pick it up. The guy is a little emotional as we are loading the bike up I know this is a big step for him. He bought this bike brand new, the year his son was born, it has 7000 mile on it and the last inspection sticker I see is 1988. He has had this bike in a shed for a long time. He tells me his wife has been after him to get rid of it for years. In 2013 the area was subject to major flooding I personally lost my house. The bike was under water for a half a day up to the battery box. I believe this is when it was brought back out in to the open for him. He fought me as I tried to give him a 20 dollar bill so he could go get a new title for me. he wanted nothing but a good home for it. We talked a little longer about bikes he had and he said good by, I paused and said I will be back but on the bike. I plan on restoring it to the best I can keeping the few scratches and such because you don't find 1 owner 7000 mile bikes that are 30 years old. I think I have one hell of a task ahead of me. I will post updates as often as I can and will probably as a ton of questions. Its nice to meet everyone.

 

What an awesome story, he paid it forward to someone he knew would bring her back to life and be enjoyed. Had an 84 red just like that one bought new.
Good luck and update us with your progress with pictures Chucky

 

Wow, that's pretty nice to give the bike to you like that. Hopefully you can restore it to original luster without too much pain and effort (or money). With that said, Welcome to The World Chucky!

 

Hi Chucky, great story, welcome.

 

Thanks I have found that a good forums are amazing community and im sure I will have lots of stupid questions

 

There is no such thing as a stupid question...BB may give ya some shit but thats to be expected. ...haha

 

There is hope, the hardest parts to find are the plastics and they look in good shape. How is the inside of the gas tank? That is a big issue, tanks are hard to find that aren't rusted. Carbs can be cleaned. I just finished cleaning mine up this summer. I replaced all the rubber parts from partzilla (seals, boots, tires), brittle due to age. Buy your self a $30 6" electric bench buffer and wire brush unit from harbor freight, great for restoring all the rusted nut & bolts. About $2k later! I had to buy new (used) tank, and I bought plastics to match.

 

Great history on the bike.

 

The plastics are in great shape the tank has some rust in it but has less the my 3 wheeler did. I filled that tank with vinegar and some BB's. It cleaned up pretty well. So I think this tank will clean up then I will coat it.

I looked at the oil tonight and started to clean mouse nests out of the air box. The oil doesn't look to milky so as soon as my lift is free I am going to drain the oil. And see if it will crank by hand

 

Nice find, and good luck. I have a tariff beating '84 700F in that same color scheme sitting in my shed, waiting for my attention. I put 49K miles on her before she went in the shed & I hope to put her back on the road again.

ACE

 

Great project! Keep us posted on your progress. Cheers.

 

Wow! You can see the High Water marks on the front fender!

If you take it back to the original owner let him sit on it and take a picture! Letting him ride it might be out of the question put sure would make his day if he is able and willing!

 

Thanks for the encouragement I do plain on getting a pic with him on the bike and I have his son looking for a old pic of him on the bike. I am going to take lots of pics and do a album for him in the end too. I'm not sure to what extent I am going to go to with it. There is some rust on it but I like that it is all original. So I think I am going to clean it get it running. I don't think I am going to restore it to original just yet.

I took the seat off and found that the lock isn't attache to anything. Took my son and i some work to figure that out. But we got it and took the tank off. I cant do much with it till my lift is free. A friend picked up a 250 ninja a few months back for $150 that we found had bad burn valve. we are putting that together then I can get a close look at this motor to see if I can crank it by hand.

Lots of mouse houses and a few chewed wires Is a good indication that this is going to be a fun project.

 

Holy crap, those little fookers will screw things up big time...good luck Chuck

 

I really want to hand crank it to see if it is free. So I can hook the jumper up to it to see if it has spark. I dont want to go and crank it and brake something.

 

Good luck on getting it going again. I'm still working on my 83 ceptor. If you can't find some bits and pieces you need, speak up here on this forum. There are some real good folks here. I would not have been as far along as I am had it not been for this forum.

 

Put it in top gear and give it a push, that will tell you if it will turn over

 

I have an 85 700 in the shed I bought brand new and haven't ridden in 10 years. I rode this bike to California and back to the east coast once so I understand the guys attachment. I could probably buy a running one for 1200 bucks but planning on trying to get it going this winter. If you find any good resource for info please share and I'll do the same.


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I just don't understand how you can buy a brand new bike....and just discard it into a shed for 10 years...

 

I bought it brand new in 85 rode it for 20 years then had kids but now I'm resurrecting.


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