Monthly Archives: February 2014

Gords Garage Blog The February 2014 Website Of The Month

Posted on by motopsyco

Gords Garage Blog has one of the best subtitles I have ever read, “I am not a professional and I try things at home.” The is probably one of the most mechanically inspirational blogs I follow. If you are into metal working and motorcycles you need to go check this guy out. At the time of this writing he is just putting the finishing touches on a fantastic looking CB160 cafe racer. Gord has a well equipped home shop including machine tools and welding equipment along with a lot of talent & imagination so you are sure to find some good ideas for your next project if you look. Click here to visit Gord’s Garage.

 

 

 

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1985 Kawasaki 454 LTD Another Junkyard Dog.

Posted on by motopsyco

This one had been leaning up behind the fence in some guy’s back yard for a while…

<1985 Kawasaki 454LTD>

<1985 Kawasaki 454LTD>

the droopy turnsignals are kind of sad looking

<1985 Kawasaki 454LTD>

 

Back in 1985 Cycle Guide raced on of these against a 454 Corvette and spanked it good. But time has not treated this little Kawasaki well.

<1985 Kawasaki 454LTD>

<1985 Kawasaki 454 LTD>

<1985 Kawasaki 454LTD>

Somebodies kids tried to fill the tank up with dirt.

Notice the relatively low miles on the odometer, like so many motorcycles this was ridden for a while until the owner got bored with it or scared of it and it was left to rot. It no doubt switched hands a few times and had the same sequence of events happen over and over until finally something broke or the carbs finally gummed up and no one cared to fix it.

<1985 Kawasaki LTD 454>

<1985 Kawasaki LTD 454>

<1985 Kawasaki LTD 454>

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

<1985 Kawasaki LTD 454>

 

This side view below shows that these bikes had a fairly good looking profile but even then the writing was on the wall for the fast, good handling, and comfortable 2 and 4 cylinder Japanese cruisers. Lighter & faster was no longer fashionable, so the big four answered the demands of their American customers, who really wanted a 1960s-70s Harley but with Japanese reliability & no oil leaks. It’s a pity because I think it would’ve been interesting to see where these designs went if they had continued to combine cruiser styling with super bike technology.

<1985 Kawasaki LTD 454>

Here’s a little bonus picture, not really big enough be a dog, we’ll call this one a junkyard puppy. It got thrown in on the deal with the Kawasaki 454 LTD above. It’s a little Baja MB165 mini-bike. A friend of mine has one & I really enjoyed riding it, and wanted one of my own, but never could quite convince my self to buy one. This one was left to rot after mommy & daddy got tired of replacing clutches on it. Most people don’t realize when they buy these mini-bikes (or go-karts either) that the clutches are expensive consumables that have to be replaced on a regular basis. I going to put a torque converter on it, a bigger rear sprocket & some ATV luggage racks to make it into a modern version of the old Tote Gote.

<baja mb165>

A Good Day’s Update

Posted on by motopsyco

<project wAMMO Honda CM400E>

All went well today! Did I do everything I hoped to? Not really but I always tend to be overly ambitious anyway. Got that crazy four wheeler cranked up, now I need to fix the charging system on it.

<measure it at least twice>

measure it at least twice

<and cut once>

and cut once

 

Got the rear fender and the lighting mounts figured out for this old Honda. One of the things I learned in art class is that you sometimes need to step back away from the canvas so you can see what need to be changed or done next. With that in mind I backed this off of the table and rolled it outside in the rain for a few pictures. I think the basic shape is coming together and will be okay with a custom built seat to bridge the gap between the tank & the rear fender.

<roached out Honda Chopper>

Going to get that steak & beer now.

Peace Y’all

It’s Going To Be A Great Day!

Posted on by motopsyco

What in the world am I doing out of bed at 5:30 am on a Saturday morning? Hunting season is over and I don’t have anywhere to travel to, so why am I up, sitting at this computer, drinking coffee and writing to you? The reason that I am so excited is that today I get to go out to my shop and work on motorcycles! I have been incredibly busy doing such things as replacing the steering column in my old Chevy van, doing a bit of work at my place of worship, and setting up my web store that is attached to this blog. But today things are different and I plan to take full advantage of it.

There’s a new AGM battery hooked up the trickle charger in the shed, it and a couple of gallons of premium gas are going into a Kawasaki Brute Force 750 that I rebuilt the carbs on a few weeks ago. The new rear fender came in for Project wAMMO and I have the exhaust pipes welded up and ready for a trial fit. My main goal for today is to fit this rear fender and get it mounted into place. The owner didn’t really like the Fat Bob fender so I bought a new Electra Glide style front fender that will be turned around backwards and cut down to fit. I can already see it in my mind, and it looks good.

Somewhere along the way I picked up a seriously roached out 85 Kawasaki LTD454 that you’ll see in the Junkyard Dogs section of the blog soon. If I can talk my wife into it I’m going to teach her how to rebuild carburetors using it for a project. The guy I bought it from poured some gas into the carbs and it started up and sounded okay, but it really does look awful. If it runs really good, it might become a project, or even if it runs okay, it still might go to the VMA swap meet as a box of parts.

A while back Cycle World editor Kevin Cameron wrote a great piece titled “The Tyranny of Tools,” and he was so right sometimes having the knowledge and equipment can be a pain. You really wish you didn’t have the ability to do things, such as replacing the steering column in a van or repairing your homes heat pump, but even if your significant other can be convinced to let you sub a job out, the demons in your mind will insist that you do it yourself just to make sure it is done right. But on a day like today I am the tyrant and the tools become my army and we will conquer the tasks at hand. At the end of the day when the recalcitrant metal has been subdued and the projects are that much closer to completion, or in fact done, we will celebrate with a nice medium rare slice of dead cow served with a bottle of that Irish brewed nectar of the gods, Guinness Extra Stout.

Gee I hope I am still as happy at 6:00 pm as I am at 6:00 am….