Friday 23 February 2018

One step at a time

From this:

IMG_20160411_095314411

To this:

IMG_20160509_095141753

To this:

IMG_0557

To this:

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And now, to this:

IMG_0593

When I acquired the two old and abused 1965 Hondas I had some vague notion of restoring both of them. But once I started the tear-down that notion went out the window; the damage was too great and the cash infusion that would be required was simply out of the question for what were, and are, small, old, low-powered bikes. But, I thought, I still might be able to create a little hybrid by mixing and matching parts where possible, and doing some rough fabrication of bits that were missing or damaged beyond repair. This is the result so far.

Because it’s not an “at any cost” build, I wanted to get a decent running version before investing too much into cosmetics, or even any superfluous extras like lights and a horn. Make it work before making it pretty was the philosophy, so Version 1 is really a basic, stripped down rat bike. And, who knows, it may stay that way for a while.

All that needs to happen now is for the snow to go so I can road test my little Frankenbike before deciding on next steps. Besides it's time to refocus efforts on the Kawasaki so it's ready to go when the roads are clear.

4 comments:

  1. Glad you mentioned it yourself: Frankenbike came to mind but its potential begins to shine through. Looking forward to its test run.

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    Replies
    1. Sonja - This project is in a constant state of evolution, so I too am interested in how it ultimately ends.

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  2. Wow, great job breaking it all down and getting it all back together into a running machine. Hope your snow melts soon.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks. It was fun. Still a long way to go before the snow and ice is gone, but these warm temps are helping.

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