My thoughts as to how to approach the restoration of this bike are a bit different than those that I have done in the past. I had to determine how much of this machine was beyond repair and the availability/cost of obtaining replacement parts. I decided on a wheels up approach as the parts I was most concerned about were the ones that spent the most time in the salt water. As it turned out there was a water line visible about 1/3 of the way up the air cleaners, so it appears that the bike was not completely submerged.
When I picked up the bike the wheels were both locked up. I was able to partially free up the front but the back was another story. As it turned out the chain had basically solidified and once cut up and removed the bike would at least partially role. I thought that the axles would be rusted in place but that was not the case and they both came right out. The same for the wheel bearings. The biggest headache was the rear wheel sprocket bolts as they had both frozen to the sprocket and the wheel damper bushings. A liberal does of PB B’laster and several days of waiting freed them up. The rear wheel has been disassembled and the hub and rim were polished. There is some pitting on the rim but I prefer to keep it on the bike. The spokes can be brought back but due to the labor involved and safety concerns I will most likely replace them with stainless steel ones from Buchanans. There was quite a bit of rust on the center stand and swing arm. Took a lot of work to get them down to bare metal but both are sound with just minor surface damage. The tool kit was rusted through due to all the papers that were crammed inside that held the water. Among these papers was a transferable registration. There were some real difficult pieces to remove. First was the drive chain cover as the shift shaft had bonded itself to the cover. Again PB B’laster and patience were the key and the cover was eventually removed without any damage. The steering damper was another problem. Even on “normal” bikes I’ve seen the damper shaft bond to the lower bolt. In the past I’ve just broken the shaft off by brute force. For this bike I decided to drill through the top adjuster know and free the damper shaft from the top. As the lower bolt is still available I can now use a piece of new threaded rod and reuse the adjust knob. Another issue was the front forks as the unplated parts under the fork ears were very rusted and had bonded to the top triple tree. The only way to get the forks out was to break this bond. Took a bit of fiddling but eventually I was able to drop the forks.
On to some good news. For some reason the gas tank is in excellent shape. The outside cleaned up very well and there is hardly any rust inside. The same goes for the side covers with some slight rust on the bottom of one. Both of these can live on with the original paint and I would rate them all as a 8/9 out of 10. The mufflers are also in unbelievably good shape. There is no pitting or rust at all. I saw very little rust on the inside either. Very strange as they were under water. Both fenders are also in excellent shape. I guess that the chrome plating in the late 1960’s was better than in the early 1970’s as I routinely see the later items pit under the chrome over time.
Now back to the bad news. The carbs are toast. Hours in the ultrasonic did nothing to free them up and the float bowls have literally disintegrated. The engine itself is seized tighter than any I have ever seen as the salt water entered the cylinder with the open valves. I’m not worried about either of these issues as the parts are out there.
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