Hey guys, new here, and with my first vintage build. I'm hoping to find a lot of information to hopefully make this a smooth process.
As for the bike, I'm supposed to pick this up on Saturday (it's out of town).
The story I've got is that the guy I'm buying it from is the 2nd owner, and bike's been sitting for about 10 years. He said he bought it somewhere around 1980 (issue date on the title is May '82) and rode it until he started having an issue with the brakes. Said he started tearing into it to find pitting (either in the master cylinder or caliper piston, couldn't tell which from what he was saying) and ended up losing interest after not being able to find parts at the time.
I'm really not entirely sure what my end goal is going to be on this. I'm leaning towards a period-correct cafe build, though I also think it'd be pretty cool to build a scrambler out of it. I definitely want to get it running and rideable, but I also kind of want to go the "resto-mod" direction and fit newer suspension, brakes, and tires so that it can handle like a new bike. Only plan for the engine right now is a digital ignition, though we'll see once I find out what condition everything is in. If the carbs are worn out, probably going to go with a set of Amal Premiers.
As with most bikes/cars, I'm assuming that the further the engine gets from stock the less reliable it's bound to become, and reliability is higher on my priority list than straight power.
As for the bike, I'm supposed to pick this up on Saturday (it's out of town).
The story I've got is that the guy I'm buying it from is the 2nd owner, and bike's been sitting for about 10 years. He said he bought it somewhere around 1980 (issue date on the title is May '82) and rode it until he started having an issue with the brakes. Said he started tearing into it to find pitting (either in the master cylinder or caliper piston, couldn't tell which from what he was saying) and ended up losing interest after not being able to find parts at the time.
I'm really not entirely sure what my end goal is going to be on this. I'm leaning towards a period-correct cafe build, though I also think it'd be pretty cool to build a scrambler out of it. I definitely want to get it running and rideable, but I also kind of want to go the "resto-mod" direction and fit newer suspension, brakes, and tires so that it can handle like a new bike. Only plan for the engine right now is a digital ignition, though we'll see once I find out what condition everything is in. If the carbs are worn out, probably going to go with a set of Amal Premiers.
As with most bikes/cars, I'm assuming that the further the engine gets from stock the less reliable it's bound to become, and reliability is higher on my priority list than straight power.