The 520 Chain Cafe: July 2009

7/31/09

Barn Bikes

I'm a sucker for cheap old barn bikes, with the emphasis on cheap. There are old bikes sitting in corners of barns or garages all over. If you get something cheap enough, at worst you will part it out and make a little money to fund other projects, and help others get parts they need to keep their bikes running. Sometimes you find something really cool. The bad thing is that many "barn bikes" have the titles lost over the years. I bought two bikes this week.

The first is this '82 Yamaha Seca 750 I got from a retired farmer. It had a dead battery, but was supposed to be a runner. I stuck in an old battery and it fired right up! This one will be parted out. Need any Seca parts?

This one I bought today. I was going to look at an "old Honda", which I'd thought was a 500 of some sort. It was a 1974 CB750. Cool! Arguably the most influential bike in history, and I've always wanted one. This one has been sitting for quite a few years. It was given a mild "custom" treatment with some goofy handlebars and a "king and queen" type seat, but mostly original.

And came with a large box of parts.

I gave it a quick wash, and it looks like a very solid project bike. Other than some surface rust, even the pipes are solid. Not bad!

As with the Seca, the title is long gone, so I'm thinking I'll do some research on the best way to get one. I'd hate to part this one out.

7/28/09

Cool pic...

...from here: http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~ir2t-ab/kssm5/index.html

7/27/09

Indian

7/26/09

Badland

http://badland.net/index.html

Tires

Garage Pix

7/25/09

Turbine

Precision

http://www.moyermade.com/chevyV8.html

Benjie's

Beautiful customer bike from: http://www.benjiescaferacer.com

Backyard Jet

Racing Pix

Great pix indeed. http://racingpix.im

North Bros

http://www.northbros.jp/custom_sportstar.htm

Junk Ride

http://junkride.com

7/24/09

Suzuki

An excellent site for all sorts of cool Suzuki stuff: http://www.suzukicycles.org

7/22/09

XR1200

From the 2009/7/19 Sportster meet at http://www.shin883.com.

7/20/09

XR750

For sale: http://www.power-drive.jp/bike/bike-detail.cfm?StockNo=142

7/19/09

7/18/09

TT

7/17/09

Berry Bads...

...is very cool. http://www.berrybads.com/index.html

Chanute Air Museum

Today I visited the Chanute Air Museum in Rantoul, Illinois. It is on grounds of the old Chanute Air Force Base. It is a small museum, with a big heart. Really lots of dedication and effort put into keeping it going, and little budget. Well worth a visit if you are in the area. Chanute was an Air Force training base. Although the base is a ghost of it's past, it is easy to picture how active it would have been years ago.

More pictures from my visit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/speedfourjoe/sets/72157621607446510/

The museum website: http://www.aeromuseum.org/

7/16/09

Santiago

http://www.santiagochopper.com/media/Santiago_Chopper_Revised/bikes/classic_racer/index.html

7/15/09

Living La Vida Loca

http://www.american-v.co.uk/custom_bikes/001_sxl/index.html

Perfect

I love this one. http://www.winni-scheibe.com/ta_sport/hd_stanick.htm

Cafe Racer Magazine

It's a great mag, so check it out! http://www.caferacermag.com

CB450 from the gallery.

Improvised wheel

Not exactly the proper way to build a spoke wheel, but you've got to admire what some have had to do to keep a bike going. From http://www.changjiangunlimited.com/Jim-IoM-Beijing.htm.

7/11/09

Piston MC

http://www.piston-mc.com