Thursday, October 29, 2015

So It's Almost Halloween?

Let's start off by saying that I've been working my absolute ass off lately.
Secondly, I went to Austin for the WEC (World Endurance Championship) Race at CotA.

But! Just before I went, I saw an add for (I wish I had the screen shot) a 1988 BMW M6 in my home town. Ad read something like:

Car has been sitting; real M6. Owned it for a few years. Needs TLC and work to bring back to life


Ok not great. But the Craigslist details said it was blue, the VIN and a REAL M6. Ok ok I know I'd seen the car. But not in a LONG time and when I HAD seen it last, it was a very very nice car. Now, the car was posted on a Wednesday. I was leaving Thursday for Texas.

Knowing the asking price and what the car was, I asked the ol' parental units for a hand. They went to check out the car and talked to the owner. Car was mine, I'd pick up that Sunday - mind you my flight got back at 7AM or so Sunday. Eek!

So I show up to the business parking lot where he dumped it:



Ok it hasn't been treated well since I last saw it. But it's still a legit WBS (M) car. So I get it home:



 (How do people let a car get like this????) 

The M badge on the radiator was a nice touch......

I charged the battery and hooked it up. Saw the dash was lit up as if the key was on and then saw the ABS module go up in smoke and heard a loud whirring. Oh! It gets worse.

Saw flames down between the air box and PS reservoir. Eeeeeep!!!

Ran over and unhooked battery to investigate. ABS and cruise harness is pretty fried. Oh well. Maybe I can get it started soon.....

SO a month or so later (I've been working so God damn much!)  I finally get it started.

Well every light is on the dash (oil, abs, C.E.L. etc) not really a surprise since it sat for almost 2 years - gas is still old. It runs OK. Power steering is dead as shit. Valves need doing, throttle bodies need adjusting and I can hear a vacuum leak.....

Not to mention the body work and suspension work before I even drive it! Oh lord what have I done!!!


Ok enough of the 4 wheeled front.

As far as the 2 wheeled vehicles go, lots to discuss!

Since I last posted, I bought the GSX-R750 with the defunct motor. Not much has happened:
My daily CBR900RR blew the fuel pump and carb seals after having the valves and carbs done professionally. Bought the replacements and it is on the list....
The 1993 CBR900RR blew the same carb seals and I replaced them last month.....
I got the 1989 Kawasaki ZX7 running again to hook up the fuel system...needs a new petcock..

I did manage to buy a bike though!!


I saw it advertised on Facebook a town over from me: 1984 Honda VF1000F Interceptor. I know these bikes are fairly rare as they were a one year only model PLUS the engines had serious issues with cam shafts (the fellow I bought my 1993 CBR900RR from had one of these in his garage he also bought new that had a bad motor!)

This particular example runs great aside from a slight noise when cold which the PO had looked at by a Honda dealer and they said it was just a lazy timing tensioner and it's NOT related to the soft cam issue. Previous owner owned it for 10 years and put about 10k miles on it, bringing the total to just over 32,000 miles. He also managed to not extensively modify it. The only mod he did was a lower temp thermostat to keep it cool in hot temps. Other than that, it really is all original. (Warning: pic dump:)










So, given what I paid for it AND its rarity, I put it on eBay with no reserve. The market WILL set the price this time!

And finally!! I got the tank back for the Buell M2 Cyclone.

(Sorry for the shit pic, just got home and was so excited)


I'm hoping to get the tank on it, polish up the rest of the fairings and get it on eBay ASAP! 

Until next time,
See you on the road!

Thursday, September 3, 2015

Many Things To Report

Ok so where did I leave off?

Ah I had just gotten the Buell running. Shortly after, I pulled the tank and sent it off to get repainted. I'm still waiting for it but it should be done soon.

I digress. As far as acquisitions go, I picked up another 1998 Suzuki GSX-R750 from Craigslist:


As I'm looking, I notice the wheels and exhaust. I knew right away the wheels are not what they're supposed to be. Exhaust is a trioval Yoshi Titanium set up by the looks of it. I notice the body work is in good shape too. 

Ok so it's worth a text to the seller. Set up a time to see it. I get down there and bam:


Front and rear Marchesini wheels with almost new Pilot Powers. Plus the exhaust. Plus mint body work. So what's the story?

Seller is a Harley guy. Got it on trade for some work he did one a friend's house as is. Doesn't run but looks fairly complete minus the airbox. I make him an offer and he accepts. 

Get it home and hook a jumper pack to it. Turns half a revolution and stops. Hmmm. So I decide to pull the valve cover; results:



Ouch! Sounds like the timing is WAY out of whack. Now the problem is, with so many unknowns - I don't know if the timing failed when the bike was running or slowly deteriorated until he stopped riding. 

Ok so my current plan is to find another EFI motor to swap in (a carb'ed 750 motor needs some tweeking to work 100% but can be done.) If I can't find one, I guess I'll pull this one and take the head off. Not sure what else to do. But the bike so mint otherwise, it's worth the effort and investment. 


On the four wheel front, I bought a 1991 Geo Storm GSi. Why? Well the car was in California, one family owned and pretty mint (and of course, very very yellow!) 





And it featured fully functional air conditioning. All for under $1,500. What could possibly go wrong? 

A friend and I flew out on a Friday red eye to pick the car up. We had not much of a plan but places to be on certain days. 


Somewhere near Long Beach, CA



We hit the road


 Spotted!







Went to the Salton Sea. What a strange and neglected place. Beach sand? No it's made of bones. A sea that is so salty, fish die and wash up. 












  
Roswell, NM 





All three: Dallas, TX and Gas Monkey Garage! 









We did Tail Of the Dragon in a Geo Storm,




















Richmond was my favorite part of all! 
After Richomd, not much happened.. We met up friends in New Jersey for Bimmerfest. Drank some moon shine and then went home on Sunday - 9 days and 4200 miles with out a single hiccup. 


Anyway; the car was put on eBay cause I have no room for it. A guy from Vermont won the auction and is pretty excited about it! 


Until next time,
See you on the road!