The many bikes of Flynlow

Just thought I'd make a catch-all post for the various bikes that run through the garage, and as a way to share pictures with all you guys. Here are the three current bikes:

1991 Bandit 400:

2010 Shadow Phantom:

2008 SV650:

And the latest addition that I brought home yesterday, 1983 Honda Ascot:

Plan is to clean it up, rebuild the front forks (desperately needed), replace the brakes, and have it as a run-around and trainer bike for a couple friends that are looking to learn. The friendly power curve, easy ergos, and low purchase price will hopefully make it a good choice for new riders. Long term I'd like to throw a round headlight on it, some 50/50s, and have it as a dual-sport that edges more towards street bike than dirt, but can still run down gravel and utility trails.

Some of the past bikes, my first was a 1993 Ninja 500. Great little thing, I'd love to own another just for nostalgia's sake. I don't think I have any pictures of it anymore, so here's a google one that looks just like mine, 90's optimistic turquoise and everything: 

After that I had a Triumph TT600 that the previous owner had laid down and streetfighter'd. Didn't keep it long, because it had all the standard British vehicle problems. Oil and fluid leaks...check, wonky electrics....check, mysterious problems that break and then fix themselves with no rhyme or reason....check. Fun bike though:

And a CB750 that I owned for all of a month, got it running (barely), and was going to cafe it, but I was moving to a smaller shop space and needed to clear some room:

The Bandit was a cheap CL find with a very rusty tank and clogged carbs. I bought it, dragged it home, then acid-washed and POR-15'd the tank, and cleaned and rebuilt the carbs. At the time I was living in an apartment downtown between houses, and all my stuff was in storage, so the easiest thing to do was use my trackday toolbox that I still had and do the work in the living room:

Worked out brilliantly, aside from some strange looks bringing it in and out of the building. Picture a fancy entrance lobby, glass doors and tile, and me pushing a bike across the hall at 10pm. Building manager never gave me any grief though, as long as nothing leaked (which it didn't).

Got everything re-built and cleaned up, with only a couple of minor hiccups along the way:

And now she looks pretty and runs very well (the carbs weren't sync'd yet in this video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=cs8N4aWp3H4

Enormously entertaining bike. Very quick turn-in, light, and a 14Krpm redline that you can actually use on the street...think miata vs. Z06. Both fun on the track, but one's more likely to send you to jail on the street. On these bikes the powerband is kind of shaped like: _/, with the changeover at around 8, so below that it's a normal 400, reasonable power. Above that it just screams. It also came with an optional single-seat (I have the pillion seat), and an aftermarket windscreen I think looks pretty good. Also just in general, I think it's a VERY pretty bike. I like the exposed frame, tank shape, and overall look. I definitely didn't mind having it in the family room as a conversation/art piece

Will post about the other bikes later, I just came in to have some lunch and am heading back to the garage...

Cool bikes man! Welcome aboard

Loving the bandit Interested in your experience with the shadow?

I passed on a Bandit 400 years ago, and still regret it. Nice little collection.

The Shadow was my farewell gift to myself when I left Honda. Bought it brand new. I had only had sport bikes up to that point, and was interested in trying out a cruiser. I'm not one for chrome or flash, so the subdued styling and stripped down, simple aesthetics appealed to me, and I really liked the fat front tire, fuel injection, shaft drive, and Honda reliability for a bike to just ride forever. The projects are fun, but it's nice to have one that will always start and take you where you need to go .

Camping at Summit Point last year:

Wasn't sure I'd take to a cruiser, but I love the bike. As far as ownership goes, it's been trouble free. Change the oil and pile on the miles. Very comfortable seating position and ergos, especially compared to my other bikes. I've spent all day in the saddle on trips from OH to VA and it's great. Like most Hondas, car or bike, I wish it had one more gear for pure highway cruising at 70+ mph, but also like most Hondas, it's happy to go those speeds and just hold a higher rpm. Makes a great noise with the stock exhaust, without making your ears bleed or pissing off people around you. Just a nice deep, somewhat muted rumble. The thick tires and cruiser suspension handle most road imperfections (potholes, rr xing, etc.) without any trouble. I've debated getting some sidebags for it, and probably will eventually if I start doing more long-term trips on it. I would love to do a trip from Key West, Florida, to Bar Harbor, ME along Rt 1 when I can find enough time off work. If/when that happens, I may come back, or I may point the bike west and ride to Vancouver through Canada, down along the Pacific coast to LA, and then see where I'm at.

Like any cruiser, the lean angle, brakes, and power will be less than you're used to on a sport bike, but it's still plenty fast and spry enough to hold it's own . Dragging a peg round the on-ramp going home is always a good way to shake off a bad day at work, and everything is mounted high enough up that you don't have any worries there. The tank is a 4.5 (I think) gallon, and it's averaged 50-60mpg since new, 200+ mile fillups are nice if you're trying to cover a lot of ground in one day. No windscreen, fairings, or foot boards, and again, I like it that way for 99% of the riding I do. I might get a windscreen for really long trips, we'll see.

The SV650 was originally my college roommate's, he bought it about the same time I got the Shadow if I remember right, because I stopped by his house during the move from OH --> VA and we did a couple trips together. I told him at the time what a beautiful bike I thought it was, and it's true, if I was going to order an SV new, it would have been a blue bike with the black frame, non-S. Best of the breed, in my opinion.

Well life happens, and I got a call one day asking if I was interested in buying it. Him and his wife were expecting their first child, and he'd decided to back off the motorcycling a bit to focus on parenting and make sure a soccer mom in an SUV not paying attention didn't end his career as a dad early during his commutes (perfectly reasonable). He also said he'd prefer it go to me, because 1.) We both tend to keep our vehicles pretty well kept, so he'd know it was in a good home, and 2.) He could come visit and ride from time to time . Which is pretty much exactly what's happened.

I like to think he didn't so much sell it to me as leave it in my safe-keeping for the time being.

The Ascot is another one of the bikes I've always kind of wanted to own, partially thanks to the member on here who showed what a clean-ed up one could look like:

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/sprockets/my-honda-vt500/14850/page1/

And because I thought it would be a good mix of everything: torque, good riding position, reliable, sporty, etc. Anyway, I'd been casually trolling CL for a while, and this one came up needing some maintenance. After a test ride, which reinforced my impressions of what a fun little bike it could be, I negotiated the price down a little, and took it home. The timing coincided nicely, my sister just finished grad school and is coming to stay for a while later this summer, one of the things on our to-do list is teach her how to ride, and I think this will be a good bike to use. So I got the bike:

Time to strip it down (I think I've owned the bike a little over 12 hours at this point):

When I say the fork seals are gone, I don't mean "oh it's leaking a little oil, probably should get to it within the next 1000 miles":

At first I thought the cables just needed to be re-run when it felt a little off moving the bars (I thought possibly they were binding), but getting it up on the lift confirmed that the head bearings are shot, so I'll do those too while the forks are off:

And I'm trying to breathe some life back into the paint, I washed all the plastics and tank, and am going to try to polish and wax them before I put the bike back together (already started polishing):

Anyway, that's it for now. Hopefully will take some pics/video when the Ascot's back on the road.

Friend of mine has an Ascot on 'perpetual loan'. He's a Harley guy, but rides the Ascot almost all the time for daily stuff. It kills him that he likes it so much.

I just can't get over the super high square headlight. It just kills the aesthetics for me.

Appleseed wrote: I just can't get over the super high square headlight. It just kills the aesthetics for me.

Yeah, but if you change it very good things happen;

Bringing this back from the dead, since I have two new bikes courtesy of secretariata!

Catching up from 7+ years ago, I sold both the ascot and bandit, but still have the shadow and SV650.  I added a Yamaha XS750, maybe I'll make a separate post for that.  I've been working from home since May, and live alone, so I was only a step or two away from talking to myself in a padded room.  When I saw the bikes for sale, I leaped at the chance for an easy project or two.  Would be nice to have at least one win in 2020.  I texted secretariata and it went like this (paraphrasing):

F: "Would you do a package deal on both bikes and the parts?  I can be there Saturday with a truck and trailer"

S: "I can do that"

F: "See you then"

And thus I actually had somewhere to go and something to do for the first time in months!  

Secretariata was a nice guy and had everything pulled out of the garage and ready to go, and I rented a uhaul 6x12 to save the trouble of loading non-running motorcycles up an 8" wide ramp into the bed of a pickup.  He helped me load up, we shared a couple of quick GRM stories, and then I turned around and headed for home:

I have to say, he takes care of his stuff, and I was blown away that he had literally everything (oil, filters, new battery, etc.) to do the clean up on the bikes.  (Thanks man!)

So today I started tearing into the bikes to see what I had.  The Ninja 500R, in particular, is essentially brand spanking new.  And as seen above, was a bit of a nostalgia trip for me since I had one as my first bike. 

First speedbump to progress was I couldn't get either fuel tank open.  Usually that means some water or condensation has gummed up the works.  Super common from sitting.  Also, there was some paint bubbling on the bottom corner of the bandit's tank.  Same thing, usually that means rust/pinholes (my '91 had the exact same issue, I ended up re-lining the tank with a POR15 kit).  So I hosed the crap out of both with CLP:

And the tank corner:

With the CLP and a rubber hammer, the Ninja's tank cap popped open, and there was some rusty fuel in it.  Will have a few pictures tomorrow, but the gas fumes had me high as a kite by the time I thought to document it.  Whoops.  Bandit tank is still stuck, but I took both off to clean up the bikes, fog the cylinders, and try to crank them over. 

I finished it off by washing both bikes, and they cleaned up beautifully.  Ran out of daylight to get more photos, but I am very excited to get both up and running.  I think a quick hit with the POR15 on both tanks, new batteries and oil, and they'll be ready to rock.  Well, and the CDI box rebuild on the Bandit.  And possible carb cleaning if the fuel in them has turned to varnish.  And tires. 

It's been a while since I've had good day working in the garage with some tunes and some beers.  It was sorely needed. 

Also, reposting the video of my old Bandit, because it makes me happy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=cs8N4aWp3H4

That Vance & Hines exhaust was so berkeleying loud. 

Glad you made it home safe & are already getting to work on them! Hope you get lots of enjoyment from fixing them up & riding them!   :)

Bumping just because I didn't want secretariata to think I'd given up:

I got the tanks cleaned, and ordered new OEM fuel lines and petcocks.  Unfortunately, that was weeks ago and I still haven't received parts.  I HAVE gotten twice-daily emails from the company telling me my shipment is delayed, so uh....that's good.  Hopefully running again soon!

Drat! I was hoping they were back on the road...but thanks for the update!

From this morning (they've gone from twice a day to once a week):

My son had an RF-600, waaaay too much fun.  Prior to that a GS-500e with a pin hole in the tank similar to yours.  I used Eastwood Metal Wash and then a gas tank sealer; looked like thick white juicy stuff that dried to a plastic tank liner, still holding today.

RF-600