My Little Iron Pony - '76 cafe build

[reidransom]

Like 2 years ago my brother and I went halfsies on this '76 we found for $500 thinking we'd have a project to kill time with, but like so many other unfinished projects, we did a bit, then left it to sit after pulling a few bit and things off. I'm back at university, he was working long hours, no time basically. Got it to about this point when we gave up.



A bit earlier this year I decided to pick back up on it after finding some inspiration on what to do with it. Part of that was some of the rad builds I found on GIS that kept leading me here. The other bit of inspiration, well, I'll get to that later. So I start tearing it down.









Found a few problems...



Picked up a replacement for that, obviously.

Hosed down the engine to get ready for paint, which is in fairly decent shape other than the usuals, timing belts, etc... and have been painting on bits and pieces getting all that ready to go back together.



All coming along pretty smoothly so far. Right now I'm waiting on new carbs to arrive; the PO seems to have done a hack job trying to rebuild them, leaving me with a couple broken pivot posts and some badly stripped threads on a couple of the float bowls. The set I ordered was pretty cheap and condition unknown, so I dunno, maybe they're fine, or maybe I'll have to piece a working set together from both. Other than that, got me a seat on the way sometime soon from hotwing, and the frame is going off for powder coat some time in the next few days when I find some time. Been fun so far, but I've got lots to learn yet.

[gregforesi]

That looks really sharp. Did you check the swingarm area of the frame? It's another area subject to weather damage and cracking.

[sunnbobb]

Looks like you caught the wind in your sails!

[reidransom]

That looks really sharp. Did you check the swingarm area of the frame? It's another area subject to weather damage and cracking.

Yeah, after I saw how bad it was on the subframe member, I gave everything else a closer inspection. All clear. Just a bit of surface rust.

[reidransom]

In the interests of trying to stick to a tighter budget, I've decided to paint the frame myself rather that having it powder coated. My money is unfortunately more valuable than my time these days. I know it's not as durable and won't last like powder, but other expenses have come up and I'm a fairly broke college student. Like Teddy Roosevelt said, "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."

Still deciding on a color, though. On the shelter, sides, seat I'm going with 85% Pantone 2905 C, which looks more or less like this:



But I was thinking red for the frame. Like this Pantone Red 032 C, which looks a bit washed out on a monitor, but is way better as paint.



Now I've been thinking though, maybe a blue, like Process Blue C.



Just not sure about blue on blue though. It may look better with the contrast on the red. I dunno. Gotta figure this out.

Also, an unrelated question for some of you who have been riding these things for a while. This is my first bike. I've ridden before, but I'm far from experienced. What can I expect from this bike when I have her running all proper like again? Are they pretty forgiving, or did I make a bad choice for a beginner?

[gregforesi]

Asking for advice on paint color is like asking for advice on oil and tires. Everyone has an opinion. In the end it's your bike and it should look the way you like it. There are a couple of red framed bikes in the gallery. (I went the "hard to ignore" route.)

A motorcycle safety course can really help your confidence level. These are large and fairly heavy machines. Going down the road is easy. Low speed manuevering and negotiating intersections are the hard part. I've done a lot of snow skiing. I saw a sign once that struck my fancy - "Skilful skiing is more fun - take a lesson." The same can be said for motorcycling.

[tirejoe]

I like the red and dark blue !

[Track T 2411]

I'd stick with the higher contrast, i.e. blue w/red. Unless you dig monotone...

chrisssilverbikegoldwing007.jpeg

[reidransom]

Ahhh... another problem I found. I don't have a center stand, and wasn't aware where it mounted. Turns out that's why I don't have one; bits of the mount were cut off. Having never examined another one for reference, I wasn't aware there was anything missing til I got poking around here a bit more. Ah well.

[scootsx2]

+1 on the MSF class. The Basic Rider Course is money well spent. It can save your life.

[gregforesi]

Not having a centerstand is a setback. Even the oil is supposed to be checked when on the centerstand. Did you tap the frame here and there with a little hammer? The right side lower rail might be an issue if the left side bracket was rusted.

[Track T 2411]

It's possible that the reason the centerstand was removed was because of rust issues as well. My '82 frame was in bad shape, which I didn't find out until I started looking for my center stand... The swingarm mounting area of the frame ended up with Quarter sized holes around the pivot bolt, but looked like light surface rust before serious probing. I hope you fare better...

Good wrenchin'
Todd

[reidransom]

Not having a centerstand is a setback. Even the oil is supposed to be checked when on the centerstand. Did you tap the frame here and there with a little hammer? The right side lower rail might be an issue if the left side bracket was rusted.

It's a disappointment that I won't have it, that's for sure, but short of replacing the frame, I'll just have to deal with it. My fabrication skills aren't nearly up to the task of repairing the bracket. Definitely looks like it was cut off. Why, I do not know. Damaged, maybe.

Rust-wise, the rest of it seems pretty sound, though. I took an angle grinder and stripping wheel to it the other day and the worst I found beyond minor surface rust was a bit of pitting here and there, but nothing particularly bad. Probably not a bad idea to go around with a hammer just to be certain, though. I've got a few hours tomorrow for a bit of wrenching, so I'll be doing that.

[gregforesi]

The frame members aren't weather proof. They have holes where water can get inside. They are supposed to have holes where the water can escape. If the water-escape holes got plugged with rust flakes, then the inside of the lower frame members can rust heavily. Please check the frame thoroughly. This is a significant safety issue.

[reidransom]

Frame thoroughly inspected. A-OK.

And equally important, my carbs finally came in. Dirty as all hell and missing two floats, but otherwise complete and very serviceable. Not bad for $50. Now just gotta clean em up and rebuild em nice and proper like.