Its (nearly) aliiiive!!!!!!

Tha Dance of the Rebels

My lovely hubby has been hard at work on the two parts bike Rebels. You may recall, we purchased a non-running 450 a year or more ago. The idea was it would be spare parts for the daily runner. Or, if we felt so inspired, a practice wrenching bike for me, or even better, a bike hubby could get going for us to sell. Of course, it sat for a while before any of those things came to pass. We did scavenge a few parts from it here and there though. Then, we purchased another 450 for parts. This one had been wrecked in the late 1990s but did have a running engine. No title with it but the first parts bike did come with a title. So, the new plan was to swap out all the good parts to make the titled parts bike a runner. That is where we are now. (And by we, I mean hubby.)
Above is the wrecked bike as hubby was preparing to remove the engine. The original owner (who I think bought it new) t-boned a car. The forks are mashed, the front fender was mangled (long since tossed by us), the gas tank has a massive dent in it where the rider landed on it (ouch!), and once the engine was out, we discovered a crack in the frame.

Below is the parts bike with the engine, among other things, already removed. Hubby thinks the engine is fine and that the starter might be bad. So, he is swapping out all of the keyed bits from the wrecked bike.

Both bikes came with trashed gas tanks. The parts bike had a tank from a 250 that was rusty and had many dents in it. I gave that to some one for the cost of shipping. The wrecked bike, in addition to the big dent, was also rusty inside. This bike had been stored outside since the wreck. Hubby said there was water coming from some of the parts as he removed them. All in all, the thing is in pretty good shape though. Mostly cosmetic issues aside from the wrecked issues. Between the two bikes, there is definitely a very nice running 450 in there. They both had very low miles as well. We'll need to replace the front tire but the rear was brand new when we got the parts bike. So, we'll leave that up to the next owner I think.

Below is the parts bike with the new engine in it. We plan to use the Tank brand gas tank that I bought new last year. (It's not attached yet.) They now have the console in stock so I should probably order one before they raise the prices again. I'll be glad not to need to do business with them any more. What a pain.


Oh, in the midst of this project, hubby also replaced the rear shocks on my daily runner with a pair from one of these parts bikes. He's so fabulous!

There's more completed since these photos were taken so I'll try to keep the updates coming. I'm hoping this blog will be a nice resource for anyone interested in buying one of these 450s. Hubby works faster than I can get photos documenting the job. :-)

Oil Leak

See the bolt to the left of center? See the drop of oil clinging to it? And the spot of oil below on the lever? It runs down the lever to the end and drips. Not a lot. That spot in the bottom image is after it sat all day. But, I think most of it comes off as I'm riding. You can see it all caked on the sides of the engine. It's also all over the front and underneath. Bummer. Should probably pay more attention to this. Especially since this isn't new. :-(

New rear tire!

Yesterday I got a new rear tire at Colorado Powersports. They have a deal that if you buy the tire there, you get free mounting and labor. My new Dunlop 404 was $123 out the door. The cost of the tire plus the disposal fee was all I paid. And it was done by 2:00. This place happens to be close to my office. I drop it off first thing in the morning (9am) and they get it done by the end of the day. Very friendly folks too. No snide remarks or turned up noses at the 86 Rebel. I have had other Honda dealerships do those things when I've mentioned the type of bike.

When I picked it up yesterday, I paid my ticket and the service guy said he'd meet me out front with the bike. So, I walked out to gate, which is a private gate so you can't see any of the bikes behind it. He fired it up and that familiar engine sound made me smile. It isn't a hum or even a whine but something in between. I've not heard other bikes sound like mine and it dawned on me that I've never heard any other Rebels running. Weird. Anyway, no matter how much I want that BMW, this Rebel sure does make me happy.

After I got home I kept looking at the bike because something seemed off some how. I walked around it, looked it over, and then it hit me. They washed it! The air filter cover and battery cover were both so shiny. It was weird. Hubby said maybe they just didn't want to get dirt on themselves. They didn't wash the whole bike just wiped down the tank, and some shiny bits.

Very cool shop if you are in the neighborhood.

Cool mornings

Ah, the past few days have been very cool and great for riding. Well, except for the late evening thunder and lightning storms. Could definitely do without those. Supposed to warm back up into the 80s the rest of the week.

I have plans to get a new back tire this week. I think I need to find a twistier way to work. I've still got lots of nice tread on the sides but not much at all down the middle. Bummer. Otherwise, it's a perfectly good tire. ;-)