zardoz builds a bike in Nova Scotia
Moderator: rztom
zardoz builds a bike in Nova Scotia
Hi folks, thought I'd take a few minutes and introduce myself. I'm an ex army mechanic with about 10.5 years service. I was forced to retire due to a botched back surgery... been retired since I was 35 (47 now). I'm a LEGAL medical marijuana patient, I use pot to help regulate chronic pain.
I've had nine motorcycles until now, I bought an 82 RD350LC on the weekend, so now its ten bikes :) . It has about 25k on it and seems to be in reasonable condition. The bike came to me with new tires, chain and sprockets. I have to remove the front fender and figure out whats going on with it as it seems to be way out of alignment... there is evidence that the front forks have compressed far enough to impact the fender with a bolt coming from the bottom of the trees. The bike is filthy and I'll be spending the next couple of days cleaning it... so no pics till it's at least a bit more presentable.
I picked the RD for its riding position, I wanted a bike with a relatively narrow seat and a "leaned forward" style as my back can't handle anything more "cruiser" like. I test drove a K75 bmw... an older interceptor and a few others.
The K75 REALLY caught my eye and I really wanted it... till I rode it. The very first thing I noticed was the seat is really frickin BIG... felt like a tiny cheerleader being abused by a linebacker ... for the life of me I don't know how folks put in a full day of riding on those things.
The interceptor was SCRAP, not cared for at all and it showed... heck the kids dad did a spray bomb job on it to help the kid sell it easier and honestly he should have left it alone as he didn't mask very well and the over spray was EVERYWHERE.
So a couple of days later my buddy and I went to look at what is now my RD. I drove this bike about 4 years ago, my buddy asked me to look it over and help him decide if it was worth purchasing. It had two flat tires (the rear was actually showing the tires internal belting) Also there was a fair bit of chewed up wire behind the battery cover. Despite these obvious flaws the bike ran great so I told him to go ahead and buy it. My buddy owned the bike for 2 years and never rode it once... not even around the block.
My bud has never ridden a bike before and was kinda nervous about riding the RD so he sold it to another fella he knows. The last owner spent some time and money on the bike to make it fit for the road, then gave it to his sons as a "starter bike" prior to them getting a couple of really nice sport bikes.
Now it's mine and the work begins lol. To date I've put on a new set of grips and bought a new battery for it. I need to look around and find a center stand (missing). I'd like to get some decent pipes for it, maybe a tiny after market bullet nose fairing and would love to get a one up seat for it. The front forks need attention for sure, they bottom pretty easy and I suspect they need oil and likely the spacer/washer treatment.
I picked up the bike for $1100, so far I'm happy with my deal and am looking forward to doing some light custom work on it.
Glad to have found this site! There is a TON of information here and I've spent hours already and still have a lot more bookmarked to read later. I look forward to hearing from anyone that might have ideas or parts they want to sell.
Well I've rambled long enough for now and the rain is making my back ache.. so I think it's time to medicate
z
I've had nine motorcycles until now, I bought an 82 RD350LC on the weekend, so now its ten bikes :) . It has about 25k on it and seems to be in reasonable condition. The bike came to me with new tires, chain and sprockets. I have to remove the front fender and figure out whats going on with it as it seems to be way out of alignment... there is evidence that the front forks have compressed far enough to impact the fender with a bolt coming from the bottom of the trees. The bike is filthy and I'll be spending the next couple of days cleaning it... so no pics till it's at least a bit more presentable.
I picked the RD for its riding position, I wanted a bike with a relatively narrow seat and a "leaned forward" style as my back can't handle anything more "cruiser" like. I test drove a K75 bmw... an older interceptor and a few others.
The K75 REALLY caught my eye and I really wanted it... till I rode it. The very first thing I noticed was the seat is really frickin BIG... felt like a tiny cheerleader being abused by a linebacker ... for the life of me I don't know how folks put in a full day of riding on those things.
The interceptor was SCRAP, not cared for at all and it showed... heck the kids dad did a spray bomb job on it to help the kid sell it easier and honestly he should have left it alone as he didn't mask very well and the over spray was EVERYWHERE.
So a couple of days later my buddy and I went to look at what is now my RD. I drove this bike about 4 years ago, my buddy asked me to look it over and help him decide if it was worth purchasing. It had two flat tires (the rear was actually showing the tires internal belting) Also there was a fair bit of chewed up wire behind the battery cover. Despite these obvious flaws the bike ran great so I told him to go ahead and buy it. My buddy owned the bike for 2 years and never rode it once... not even around the block.
My bud has never ridden a bike before and was kinda nervous about riding the RD so he sold it to another fella he knows. The last owner spent some time and money on the bike to make it fit for the road, then gave it to his sons as a "starter bike" prior to them getting a couple of really nice sport bikes.
Now it's mine and the work begins lol. To date I've put on a new set of grips and bought a new battery for it. I need to look around and find a center stand (missing). I'd like to get some decent pipes for it, maybe a tiny after market bullet nose fairing and would love to get a one up seat for it. The front forks need attention for sure, they bottom pretty easy and I suspect they need oil and likely the spacer/washer treatment.
I picked up the bike for $1100, so far I'm happy with my deal and am looking forward to doing some light custom work on it.
Glad to have found this site! There is a TON of information here and I've spent hours already and still have a lot more bookmarked to read later. I look forward to hearing from anyone that might have ideas or parts they want to sell.
Well I've rambled long enough for now and the rain is making my back ache.. so I think it's time to medicate
z
Last edited by zardoz on Sun Jul 17, 2011 8:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- aaronmvrider
- -----
- Posts: 6607
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2008 7:44 am
- Location: Central Coast N.S.W Australia
Thanks for the welcome, already feel at home here. Forgot to mention... this is my tenth bike, the last time I owned a bike is over 25 years ago.aaronmvrider wrote:welcome to the forum... you will get plenty of help here for sure
in exchange for some of that medicine...i wonder if its purple cronic or just bush weed
doesnt matter really... enjoy it
Straight up chronic , I need this stuff for pain control so I grow my own in hydroponics (coco coir).
z
Thanks slinger, best be careful I just might take you up on thatslinger wrote:Hey welcome
If you need any help with the new bike I sould be able to help
Where about in NS are you from I'm porters lake area eastern shore.
There must be a lot of back problems in Nova Scotia
Glyn
I've learned this bike was in a barn for about 12 years, it's been ridden (as a driver not an ape bike) for a year since it was saved from the apes (apes got it fresh from the barn). After the chimps were done with it, it was "made whole" by the last PO.
I have a question, are all of these bikes "soft" on charging? Thus cutting short a batteries life?
Ok I have another question... should I forget the center stand in favor of the less weight? (don't forget... already missing the center stand...)
I'm gonna have more questions... so stay tuned folks
The new grips I slid on finally gained traction on the bars... thats a good thing
I pulled the battery and added a bunch of water and set it to trickle for the afternoon... (but I smell a new battery purchase... doh!)
NO clue when if ever this thing has been attended to other than the occasional oil change...
The last bike I tore down to bolts was a 68 CB350, granted a lot more complicated... but jeez... maybe I'm just getting old huh? Must be the dam rain, my back has been killing me for the last 2/3 days (of rain.......)
All for now, time for a beer
z
and now the fun begins...
OK so I got my RD and its fun. I want it to be a lot more fun!
To that end I've shopped for some parts... I have a 89 GSXR600 rear end complete and today I've picked up a rolling chassis 89 FZR600 for it's front end, rear will be for sale if someone is interested (I will offer it to local first).
I have a couple of ideas I'd like to explore, but I'm kinda whopped tonight so they are gonna wait for later
pics to follow when my internet stop messing around (eastlink SUCKS!!)
z
To that end I've shopped for some parts... I have a 89 GSXR600 rear end complete and today I've picked up a rolling chassis 89 FZR600 for it's front end, rear will be for sale if someone is interested (I will offer it to local first).
I have a couple of ideas I'd like to explore, but I'm kinda whopped tonight so they are gonna wait for later
pics to follow when my internet stop messing around (eastlink SUCKS!!)
z
Yep it's an addiction...
OK so I haven't loaded any pics yet (eastlink is still providing HORRIBLE rural high speed net... too slow to load pics to photobucket ). I traveled to the city and picked up yet another bike. This one is an 81 RD350LC, the po tossed this one and bent the front end. Aside from the written off forks there is a very small bend in the frame that might be fixable other than that the bike is in great condition.
The po tells me the engine was rebuilt about two years ago, there is a DG street exhaust installed that looks fairly new.
If my back doesn't come round soon I'm going to have to re access my intention of riding again Been wearing my back brace for the last two weeks and I gotta tell ya.. I'm pretty fed up!
pics soon I promise
z
The po tells me the engine was rebuilt about two years ago, there is a DG street exhaust installed that looks fairly new.
If my back doesn't come round soon I'm going to have to re access my intention of riding again Been wearing my back brace for the last two weeks and I gotta tell ya.. I'm pretty fed up!
pics soon I promise
z
dplb I don't kid about stuff like this This is a recent garden.... before we fully understood how coco works.... rest assured... subsequent gardens are MUCH more impressive.
That yard is my sons responsibility, he pretty much keeps up as we dictate.... but where the bike "bits" are is too close to the wood pile location to mow
z
82 RD350LC, 89 GSXR600 swinger, 89 FZR forks.... ongoing
dplb, this is my simple little garden... you oughta see the garden I set up a couple of years ago.... 35,000 watts in one room over 50 plants. Nope thats not a misprint 35,000 watts, the room was sooo bright you HAD to wear shades. I helped put a warehouse together for a massive medical grow operation, in total there were close to 300 LEGAL plants in the warehouse.
Those tubes are called "cool tubes" they allow the lights to be close to the plants, they are connected via 6 inch flex hose with a high velocity fan pushing cool air through them to help keep heat issues at bay, during winter we duct the "exhausted" air into the living area of the home thus completely eliminating the need for ANY other heat source for the home.
z
Those tubes are called "cool tubes" they allow the lights to be close to the plants, they are connected via 6 inch flex hose with a high velocity fan pushing cool air through them to help keep heat issues at bay, during winter we duct the "exhausted" air into the living area of the home thus completely eliminating the need for ANY other heat source for the home.
z
82 RD350LC, 89 GSXR600 swinger, 89 FZR forks.... ongoing