True Confessions:

You can say that again! This one was a huge gamble and i lost big time. I just hope I can get it straightened out.

 

Sorry to hear that Jim but sometimes we dig holes for ourselves and spend a lot of time trying to dig our way out again. Imagine if you couldn't do the work yourself, I guess you could have parted it out and got some of your money back, good fairings and tank have to be worth a bit.

 

I am pretty sure, if I didn't have the skills to set it right, I would never have bought it in the first place. There is something about this bike. Sometimes they speak to you. I can't enplane why I wanted to fix it. I looked at it on Craigslist for over a month before contacting the owner. I let it go once when he said it was sold and went to look when he contacted me that the deal fell through. I paid the guy $1250 even after i heard the honorable sound it made. I guess there was just something about that bike. It is going back together pretty well so we will see if it is keeper.

 

It is coming back together. The shelves and bags are emptying of parts, plugs are finding mates and it is starting to look like a bike again.

 

I'm glad to hear its coming back together, I hope you get it running soon.

 

I'll be getting it running sometime Saturday, if I can. We have been hit with drought ending rains, for which I have no complainant, but it does put a damper on outside activities. It will be a good weekend to be in the shop.

 

An we'll gonna hold ya to it. Got to have video with sound or it doesn't run, just like no pics it didn't happen. ++ to ya

 

It lives.

[video=youtube_share;eG4HBrMF4XA]http://youtu.be/eG4HBrMF4XA[/video]

 

That it does! Nice job man.

 

Well done there Jim, now the questions, was it worth it and would you do it again, knowing what you know now? :glee:

 

Now that's what we're talking about. Good job! Doesn't it feel great? Ride time.?

 

I have thought about this. The starting of the engine signals the end of the project. This rebuild has felt like a journey to rival some of my best motorcycle trips. It was a journey of discovery, a journey of steps and stages and a journey with a goal in mind. Having reached the goal (or almost having reached the goal) I realize how much I have enjoyed the adventure. This was a project for me. I didn't build it for money or because I had to. I built it because I wanted to and it is rare that we get the opportunity to do anything purely for ourselves. From a purely selfish perspective, "yes, it was worth it." From the monetary point of view, given its value as a running motorcycle, I have made a little money but not enough to cover my time. Next time I will not pay as much for my project.

 

Kudos, Brother.
















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I have one tiny drip of coolant under the engine. It is coming from the nest of plumbing between the cylinders. I have decided to pull the tank again, pull the front and rear valve covers and check my chain tension and my valve clearances. It is as good a time as any to set the valves. Before the tear down the front cylinder valves were just a tad tight. While I am in there I will look for the water leak. I got nothing else to do until it dries out and I can actually get a bike to the road.

I was over at my dad and mom’s tonight. He wanted to know it is ran since he has been following the project. I pulled the video up for him and he was so surprised. “That’s you!” he kept saying. I guess it was like I was on TV and being on TV is a big deal. He said it sounded loud. He has no idea. The video dose not do it justice.

 

I admire your patience and skill, well done.

 

Actually I did it to put off having to put a thermostat in the VFR!

 

So Jim how would you ever determine what a good price was to pay for something in the future in a situation like this. There is no economic sense in it so it is only for the pleasure of saying I did this, pride, but at the end of the day I guess once you have dug a hole you have to try and get out of it. Well done

 

It's kind of like I was drawn to this bike. I saw it on CL, contacted the owner who told me it was sold. Fine! I didn't need it. Then I got a text that the deal feel through. OK, no harm in having a look. I kind of fell for the bike. You see VTRs in red and sometimes yellow but the smoke gray looks like nothing I had ever seen. Even my wife, who is not taken with bikes as a rule thinks it is really pretty. Remember I didn't think the problems were that serious at the time. The journey of discovery was part of the fun. The video I made showing the rod problem and the junk in the pan was almost as big a rush as the one showing the engine running.

As for the price of the project, I just wish I had haggled a little. I just paid his asking price of $1250.

 

I got the fairing back on. It's too sloppy wet to get the bike across the yard. So, I moved it around the shop and set it in front of the door ready to go. Then I just sat and looked at it. I can't think of one more thing it needs except a tag and state inspection. That will come next week if the rain holds off for a while.

 

I rode it up the road, to the service center, about 5 miles, to get my state inspection so I can get my tags. I put an old tag on it just to keep from being stopped. My lack of bonafide plate keeps me on a short tether.
My first Impressions of the 2005 VTR1000 Honda Superhawk
• Fast!
• Handles like it is on rails
• Fast!
• Engine still sounds tappy (I still may pull the valve covers and check everything.)
• Idle increased about 500rpm after ride
• It gets all the gears
• Engine sounds like a sewing machine (not what I expected.)
• Fast!
• I saw an indicated 90mph and wasn’t pushing it.
• Lots of torque right off idle
• It likes my dirt road better than my VFR
• The riding position kind of hurts my neck but I think I am not used to it. (The VFR is more spacious and relaxed.)
• It's going to be fun.