New shoes! (itty bitty shoes)

I decided to get the rear tire out of the bedroom and get it slapped on the bike. The front wheel went smoothly enough but I had never taken a rear wheel off a bike so it took a bit longer and I had a few more parts to keep track of. I was able to get it on and off with minimal mechanical knowhow so I would think anyone glancing at this should be able to do it too. I woul have liked to swap out the wheel bearings as well, but didnt think to buy them before hand. Maybe this winter...

Well, one minor disaster was I had the bike on the center stand, which I'm not really familair with using as my last bike didnt have one. I removed the tire, had the new one put on and balanced, came back to the bike. Had my daughter roll it back under the rear fender as I lifted the bike for clearance. I think I could have snaked it in myself without lifting it now that I think about it. Anyhow, the bike lurched forward, the rear of the bike crashed to the ground resting on the tailpipes. Luckily the bike isnt toooo heavy and I was able to lift the bike to waist height and kick the centerstand back down. After that, it was pretty smoothe sailing.

Wheel coming out. Chain off, chain adjusters coming off, etc.

Daughter snapped a shot of the removal.

Here she is, new shoes front and rear. Ignore the dual handlebars. Installing

the clubmans will be the next project... I think.  I left the chainguard off as

part of my slimming down.

What the heck are you thinking?

As you read read this blog, you may wonder what my end goal for this bike is. Well, that's a tricky question. Right now I'd be happy with more or less as it sits, just capable of being a daily driver. Of course, I have to have a long term goal. A muse of sorts.  There are a few that fit that bill, all of them reduced of anything that can be taken off that I can live without. Minimizing all turn signals, brake lights, mirrors etc. Also, it'll surely consist of a full fledged cafe seat and rear. Once those are in place, possibly before, I'll also have to figure out how to change the clutch/shifter into a rear-set configuration. Not the most comfy or safe combination of parts but considering this bike is going to be more form over function, that's just the price of admission.

Anyhow, here's a few pics of things I like, just to give you an idea:

A little seat time...

Well, this will not do. The thing looks like crap and unfortunatly it was so rusted I had to cut the strap that goes across it. I'll be wrapping this project up tonight. Stay tuned!

So it begins....

Initially I pretty much resigned to not ride bikes anymore. No, I didn't have any horrific crash, no near death experiences or anything that life changing.... I just have a bum back. Technically it's a deteriorated disk at the L5-S1 that causes a lot of problems and a slightly bulging one just north of that. So, sitting on a cruiser bike, bobbing up and down with my spine vertical compresses the bad stuff and I feel like someone is pushing a bowling ball through my lower back. I keep threatening myself with an eventual spinal fusion, and I think that day is getting closer by the year, but for now I thought that possibly leaning over on a bike, taking the vertical stress off of it would help. So, here we are.

I start the usual searches that a poor man performs; Craigslist, maximum price of $500, local buys only. I come a cross tons of basket cases, plenty of rice rockets with no titles, tons of dirtbikes, then I find a gem.

74 CB200, looks decent, new pistons and rings, loss of compression at high speed (hah, high speed...), hasn't been run in a few years. I find this around noonish, one day after it was posted. I email, get a reply, then call, then after I make it home call again, then I finally hit the owner's house around 9:30pm.

I roll up in the driveway and two men are standing at the bike in the garage, looking it over, almost like they had never seen it before. One is the owner, the other is the neighbor. I introduce myself, we small talk, he shows me all the misc items that come with the bike, then we talk bike. The neighbor actually has two bikes of his own, an older BMW and a huge Harley bagger. We get the bike loaded on the truck, the owner says he'll miss the little bike and to swing back by sometime and visit with it... and that's what I plan to do.

Fast forward a week or so, I start tearing into the bike as best I can, get some help from my buddy Scott, start trolling Ebay for parts, completely drain Google Images of everything CB200 related. Over that course of time I:

Drain the old gas from the tank. I'm pretty sure this is not a good color:

I tried to run it with new gas, it fired for a bit and got me down the road, then died. Scott helped me adjust the carbs, diagnose bad plug wire caps, adjust the points, few other odds and ends. Fired up again and ran! We both drove it down the road but then the rear tire pancaked and that was the end of that.

The kick starter is broken at the shaft, so I ordered a used one:

Tires, neither holding air, ordered new tires, tubes and bands:

Can't get a good spark with the old caps, went to Hager and got a pair:

Ok, that's enough for now, will continue soon....