Fin

Wow, 7 years goes by so fast.

In October 2011, I started with this:

And there was a lot of work in between.  Powder coating.  Swing arm bushings.  Forks by Frank.  Buchanan Wire Wheels.  Wheel truing.  Atlas chrome plating.  A few attempts at paint.  An aluminum seat by a guy that is no longer in business.  A rebuilt gauge by my guys at North Hollywood Speedometer.  A 3rd overbore piston (thank goodness).  And so much more.  To finally get here:

The rain has stopped, and the sun is out.  I think I'll go for a ride today.

Inching closer - it looks like it may breathe fire in 2018

Got a call from Andre (the mechanic) on Thursday.  He got all the parts back from paint - Tank that was chipped, seat that was scratched, fender with drippy drippy clear coat.

Apparently, the body shop that I took it to initially completely ignored the paint request I made, as the blue that was spec'd by Bultaco was way darker than everything else.  So - the paint guy matched it and sprayed it the same metallic blue I had before.  I like how it came out.

Also - the bike is almost back together.  Harness is mostly built.  Kill switch is installed. New chain.  Bike gets compression when you move the kick starter, and shifts though gears.  There is a leak on the transmission case, but Andre will sort that.

A few more weeks, and it may run!!

Very exciting.

April Update

Talked to Andre today.  He's gone through the engine, and he thinks it is sorted. He flushed the transmission and he thinks it is working correctly again.

The tin is off the bike and back at paint again.  He has a box of wire, and is going to start working on the wiring harness.

Maybe another month....

Spring Break Update

I called Andre last Friday for an update.  He hasn't started yet, but claims he will start soon.  I still have hope that he is done by my birthday.

We'll see.

Surrender

OK - I've finally decided that if this bike is to live again, that someone else needs to finish.  I've given up.

Today - I took the bike to Airline Motorcycle Center.  Andre (the owner) thinks he can get it to breathe fire again.  I'm hopeful.

Loaded it on a trailer that I borrowed from a friend.

Holy cow.  Houston traffic sucks without a trailer.  With one, and with the  crappy roads - terrifying.  I had to stop about 2/3 of the way there to get the bike re-settled.  It still moved later, so I'll have to have a better way to strap it down when I bring it home.

But - Andre has it now.

He thinks he can get it done in a couple of months.  I am hopeful.

Time Flies

When you are getting crushed by life.  Wow - 2 years since an update.  Yeah - I suck.  At the same time, since the last update:

I had my Porsche painted and a ton of work done to it, so now it is just a driver.
I bought a Ferrari 308, and I love it.
I renovated the garage to be able to hold 4 cars and 2 motorcycles.
I spent 15 months replacing all the vac lines on the Ferrari, as well as having all 4 carbs rebuilt, and the seats and steering wheel recovered.  It's pretty now though.

So, it's not like I spent the whole time doing nothing.

I'm back to work on the Bultaco now though.  I hope to have it running by the end of this year.  Electronic ignition is in the mail.  New exhaust is in the mail.  Stuff to fix the seat is in the mail.  Tools to do the timing are in the mail.  It will run.

Updates - I don't need no stinkin' updates

Especially when no work is getting done.

Yeah, the poor Bultaco sat and sat.  When I finally got the parts back, it was with mixed emotions.  On one hand, everything is better.  The dent is out of the gas tank.  All of the rust is gone from the undersides of the fenders.  The bodyshop did pinstriping just how I wanted it.

The bad is - they didn't prep all the parts right.  So, there are bits under the paint that you can tell weren't sanded right.  Plus - on some of the parts, the clearcoat was applied really thick.  Drippy thick.  But, what do you do?

So, I started installing parts.  Got the fenders on and tightened.  Got the tool box on.  Need to do some work where the lock goes on the box.  They didn't paint the license plate holder like I wanted them to, so I ended up painting it black.  The biggest deal, they messed with the seat when I had them paint it.  So, the vinyl on the seat is all messed up.  Dropped it at an upholstery shop Saturday, so hopefully they can fix it.

So, as it sits right now:

I need to finish the electrical wiring.  I'm still worried that there is something wrong with the shifting fork.  And I'm going to take it to a 2 cycle exhaust expert to help me with getting the exhaust mounted.

The goal for 2014 is to have a working motorcycle.  But, it'll never get there if I don't work on it.  So, I better remain motivated.