New member to the forums, although I've visited from time to time when something would pop up on a Google search.
So (boring history part you can skip if you like) my first two bikes were CB 750s. Thanks to a mom who was an ER nurse, I grew up believing bikes were evil. Looking back though, I'm pretty certain a lot of her stories were enbellished to insure I never even thought of buying a bike. After I arrived at Ft. Devens in '83 I needed transportation. I purchased plans from Popular Mechanics to build a "car" using a Volkswagen front end and a KZ650 rear end. The body was made from fiberglass over building foam, with an aircraft style plexiglass cockpit. The article said you could pretty use any bike, so I purchased the first suitable bike I could find - a '76 CB 750 Super Sport. The one with the yellow tank. The thing was cherry. I bought it from a cop about twenty miles from the base who was kind enough to give me a quick lesson. My first ride ever was trying to negotiate that beast back to the base without getting killed.
Ultimately I made it back, and the smile on my face was proof this bike would never become a car. During the next few days began practicing for the mandatory motorcycle safety course the Army made us take. That's when I dropped it for the first and only time I've ever dropped my bike. (Unless you count T boning two cars, both times on V65's) Well, the muffler cracked, and it sounded so good I eventually removed it completely.
Shortly thereafter I bought my second CB 750 - a '78 model. I spent every moment catching up on a lifetime of not knowing a thing about bikes, and decided I wanted to build a cafe bike. Stripped everything off rear of the gas tank, and made a little seat out of wood and foam, much like the brat style today. The Clymer manuals back then taught you how to build a Stage I, II, or III bike. I started tearing it down with little more than a crescent wrench and a screwdriver (later I discovered the Automotive garage on post) and started storing dismantled pieces of the bike in my wall locker. The '78 model was not my cup of tea (king and queen seat and a Windjammer) but I was running out of room in my wall locker, so I bought a brand new V-45 Magna. Three bikes in less than a year - not bad. The joys of being able to blow your paycheck every month...
About that time I received orders to go to Berlin, and I was only authorized one vehicle. The long and short, I sold my both my 750s to take the V45 with me. I have regretted it ever since.
I've been through an assload of bikes since then, but recently purchased a '79 CB 750K to try to finish what I started 31 years ago. It's not the style I wanted (I hate Comstar wheels) but the price was right, and I'm pretty handy with a cutting wheel.
Here's where you can start reading again: I'm sure to need a lot of help in the coming months, starting with reshaping the tank. I know this'll probably be more of a challenge than building my chopper - instead of starting with raw materials and shaping them the way I want the first time I'll have to take the ugliness off this bike and rework it quite a bit.
So that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
I put the "G" in Jihad.
Locked
