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Project Listing |
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link ***NEW 2/28/05*** |
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| link ***NEW 3/7/2005 | Forgotten Project Photos |
This page introduces my classic Super Sport. This is the same model I bought as my first bike back in 1985. Loved that bike and ran it into the ground. I changed the front drive sprocket from 17 to 13 and started pulling wheelies, burning the rear tire off in 2nd and 3rd gears... loved it. Luckily I am still here to tell these stories! I was 19 when I got it.
So I am 39 now and see this one on Ebay and start toying with the bidding trying to run it up.... I wind up winning it at $1175.... I only paid $500 for my first one! Ha ha ha... The real catch is this bike was in Wisconsin.... Milwaukee to be exact. I live in Texas... After pricing carriers, renting a U-haul, a convertible to throw the bike in the back, and everything I could think of, it made sense to fly up and ride it back. Plane ticket was about $90. I had the sellers assurance it would make it. He said the tank had some leaks in it but he had them plugged up with putty and the tank once had a liner installed... this thing was puttied all over and leaked like a siv! I had purchased a tank before I flew up there but he really didn't think I would need it.
The bike is touted as only having 6700 original miles on it. The chain was about toast and rattled like crazy, he was spraying everything down with WD-40 when I picked it up. He actually met me at the airport with the bike in tow. The throttle could hardly be turned. I left Milwaukee right about 12:00 p.m. By the time I got into Illinois, my forearm was getting numb. By the time I got to Missouri, my arm was dead!! I stopped at a gas station and tore the switch assembly apart, bought a small can of WD and went to town on it. I got it loosened up a bit and thought, Okay... now I am GOLDEN!! I can make it home with it working like this... nope. Got on the road and my arm had had enough already. This is after holding that thing for about 8-10 hours. I start thinking how I can get this thing so I don't have to hold it...you know I bought a Throttle Rocker off of Ebay for it, but it came the afternoon after I flew out. Should have been there on Wednesday according to their site, they ship as soon as they get payment... they waited three days!! Bastiges...
So I stop 15 miles down the road and break out the tool bag and electrical tape I had brought along to rig up the radar detector that I never did use, I taped a small screwdriver piece to the grip very securely and then used the large nut driver piece and taped it on top of that... I had now created a palm throttle! Sweet! Good to go.
Got into Oklahoma about 12:30 a.m., stop and fuel up again in Vinita, had some coffee and started on my way. Took 66 to 69 South which brought me into Muskogee. I left a traffic light there and WHAMMO!! There goes the chain! Slipped off the drive sprocket and broke off the chain guide which is part of the sprocket cover. This is 2a.m. I call my wife and tell her I may be bedding down for the night, I am exhausted and the bike is broke. I tell her I will call her after I assess the situation. I get the chain back on and adjust the tensioners all the way back. I still have an inch and a half of slack in the chain... but should get me home. I lay there on the asphalt of a parking lot and dozed off for a few minutes. It is amazing the traffic that is out this time of night there.
This next leg was the longest stretch of the trip, through the dark back towns of Hwy69 around Eufaula and McAlister. I finally make it to Durant and fill up and get some coffee and donuts. I cat nap in the booth I am sitting in for about 20 minutes and I am good to go. It is about 5:45a.m. I arrive in my driveway in Plano at 7a.m. 20 hours after I started and 1001 miles. I slept for 10 hours after that and came back to life on Sunday and went out and looked at my purchase... gonna be a fun rebuild but now I know she is a good runner...
My 14 yo daughter and I already have replaced the chain and sprockets, front forks, and am sanding down the new tank for my buddy to paint...CLC Customs in Garland TX (www.clccustoms.com). I found a decent stock muffler and bought it at a price! $335 form a yard in AZ where things do not rust! LOL It is coming along nicely. We detailed and cleaned the rims and spokes as well.
Found a green ground wire that is burnt coming from the rectifier all the way through the harness, so I have purchased a harness from Ebay for $43 and am getting a rectifier and regulator off of there soon ....I hope. I need to find a cause for the current draw through this ground wire if it is still there and fix it... then replace the harness. Found a great source for schematics online for older bikes at http://www.smokeriders.com/diagrams/ .
The bike is yellow and I call it cheese because I told the kids I was flying up to Wisconsin to bring back some big yellow Cheese... so it has stuck with them that this bike is now Cheese! LOL
Gonz