Wow, that's gorgeous and spotless! And it's the exact same colour scheme as mine was.

I had my KR-1 for 7 years, only really riding it for a couple of months a year apart from the last year where I rode it all year round, in the worst of a Glasgow winter and it never needed to be rebuilt.

 

Are you going to do it in a wet t-shirt?

Quote from: Dom1 on January 31, 2014, 09:20:43 PM
Going trail riding on Sunday with Neil & Millhouse.

That should do it.

Now that's just cruel...

Have fun, guys! 

I think that's two weeks away yet.

I still love the look of 916s. I would also love a KR-1S. I used to have a KR-1 but would have loved that extra 5 bhp. The sound, the smell, the powerband, the massive grin on my face after every ride. 

I'm needing a biking fix. I was going to work on my bike this weekend but the part I need hasn't arrived back.

Is there any bike-related event in London tomorrow or Sunday? Whether it's a show, gallery, get-together of some description. I just need to be around bikes. 

I'm thinking of hiring a Z1000SX this time.

Quote from: MOz on January 10, 2014, 08:19:28 PM
The quality of your locality roads-wise is a massive factor.

Absolutely. I lived in Scotland for many years and love road riding there. I can't wait till the memorial rideout. It is so much fun every year. I enjoyed some really good battles with dq on his 400 while I was on a hired ER6F. 

Whereas, living in London as I do now, it's harder to get that thrill from riding. A few years ago on my birthday, less than a year after moving to London, I decided to head out to find what a member here had described as the best biking road in Essex. It was utterly shite. Too much traffic, about six instances of roadkill on bends, potholes, and too few bendy bits. I came home thoroughly depressed. I've ridden about 600 miles in England in the last year.

I've done a few trackdays too, and they're a lot of fun but on a really good day, riding with your mates on the best roads in Scotland, it's really hard to imagine anything better.

Never 'eard of 'im...

There are a bunch of cool bike vids here. Some are arty, some are simply cool. And there's one by me that's neither. Fill yer boots.
http://thebikeshed.cc/2014/01/04/motorcycle-video-library/

Yeah, that's something I'd love to do at a later date. It would open up the triangle under the seat. I gather I'd need to increase the jets a couple of sizes to level out the fuelling, and relocate the battery and fuses either to a box in front of the swing arm or to underneath the fuel tank. But it would have to be replaced with a small, lithium one to fit there.

One thing at a time.

Around summer 2012 I started to get interested in the new wave of custom motorcycles. The sort of stuff you see on Bike EXIF. I spent many hours looking at what other people had done. I considered many options. I mulled over buying an old bike and bringing it up to date with tasteful modifications. But I eventually ruled that out because if I had a nice, original, old bike I would feel like it was sacrilege to chop it up or do anything other than a full, original restoration. I bid on one or two part-finished projects on eBay where the sacrilege had already happened but where I could make my own mark on it, making it my own. But I didn't win those.

So I started looking for newer retro-style bikes that would have better performance, braking and handling than the older stuff but still have potential to create something interesting with a definite retro vibe.

So, fast-forward to May 2013. I bought a non-running 1996 CB750 with light accident damage for £600. It had been standing unused in a garage for the best part of a year. I wanted a cheap bike that I could take an angle grinder to and not worry if I fucked something up and this fitted the bill perfectly. My aim is to do something interesting for as little money as possible. So that means I'm not planning to replace things like the exhaust. It's to see what I can do on a budget.

This is it when I got it home.



I've not really done anything to change its appearance yet, apart from cutting off that rack which was rusted in place and replacing the pink indicators. I jump started it off my flatmate's car battery to get it running and then I replaced the worn-out battery a couple of days later, blowing the main fuse in the process. The terminals in the new battery were the opposite way around to the one I took out. I replaced that, then straightened the fork in the yokes (the previous owner thought they were fucked but they were just twisted), replaced the indicators (two didn't work) and put it through its MOT.

I then replaced a leaking oil feed pipe which was a pain in the arse to do. Even the carbs had to come off. That took me 10 hours.

The brakes were binding a bit so I started overhauling the calipers just before Xmas. When I got the pistons out they were so flaky I decided to replace them too but the company I ordered the new ones from sent me three of the correct type and one wrong one. When the correct replacement arrived it was too late for me to finish the job. So the calipers are currently in my kitchen in London while I'm in Northern Ireland for Christmas.

Anyway, I was bored yesterday (did I mention I'm in Northern Ireland?) so thought I'd do a bit of Photoshopping. This is the before and after of what I would like to do to it. My base bike is scruffier. I intend it to make a feature of that. The tank will be sanded to bare metal and lacquered, keeping the dents visible. The paint is flaky in a few places. I'm thinking of calling her "Tina" because she has a definite patina.



I'm not doing clip-ons because my back won't allow it. I've got some Renthal low bars waiting to go on, that's as low as I dare. I've already got the tail light, I'm planning to chop down and recover the original seat with stretchy, tan vinyl and respray a couple of bits black. I'm still trying to find the perfect rear mudguard but when I get that, I'm ready to start the cosmetics.

Partly, this thread is so that you lot can nag me when I haven't done anything for a while!

Quote from: Coxy on October 07, 2013, 12:27:35 PM
Watching this thread with interest.

CB750 Ray, you got any pics of it iin it's current state?

This is it as I bought it. I've not done anything to change its appearance yet, apart from cutting off that rack which was rusted in place and replacing the pink indicators.


And I was bored yesterday so thought I'd do a bit of Photoshopping. This is the before and after of what I would like to do to it. My base bike is a lot scruffier, though. I intend it to make the most of that. The tank will be sanded to bare metal and lacquered, keeping the dents visible. The paint is flaking off the engine some other places. I'm thinking of calling her "Tina" because she has a definite patina. :lol:



I'll probably start a project thread so it keeps me motivated to keep going.