The dedication and hard work spent on these projects

wallster

XS400 Enthusiast
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I've just spent the entire weekend working on my XS400 cafe racer project and even though this is one of many bike rebuilds/builds/restorations, it always wipes me out. We all have seen those cable shows where these people grab all the parts off the shelves, cut this, weld that, and within sixty minutes it's all ready to get torn down. Meanwhile, a team of workers reweld all the new stuff, sand down the steel, bondo and paint parts, a chrome plater strips and chromes the parts, and by the following week these guys are bolting fresh new parts together. I'm not saying that they're not great mechanics or designers, I'm saying that in our world there's way more work that takes weeks worth of time to pull off. Case in point: I already had spent weeks getting to the point where I could fill and bleed the rear caliper. Everything seemed great except the caliper was hanging up and the rear wheel was very difficult to spin. I couldn't just grab another off of the shelf, that caliper was taken off, drained, then I had to pop the piston out and clean the entire caliper (inside and out). Then once it was put back together, I could fill the mc and bleed it again. This is just one of a thousand parts that needed attention before I could take the next step in completing this bike. These hours are only available after we all work our daily jobs, and finish our other daily commitments which place first over our projects. I want to acknowledge everyones hard work that I see on this forum since I know only too well how much work it takes to bring these bikes back to life.

Wally

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We do it because we love it:thumbsup: The best part is when you hop on and ride the heck out of it every summer:wink2:
 
The hardest thing is finding good parts:doh: Its another reason to love these things:laugh:
 
When I start getting low on parts I will stop selling because I will need them for my own bikes:wink2:
 
Well My bike wasnt intended to be a project,just fix a few things and ride.Then i join this wonderful site and it has inspired me to make it a project.:laugh:
 
I once built a custom out of a 750 maxim, a TX650, aftermarket parts, various stuff I had laying around, and no small amount of knuckle blood. I used to park it in a lot I could see from my office window. On several occasions I watched people go way out of their way to stand and stare at that bike.

I customized a Suzuki GS1100 GL several years ago. Many times people ignored $20,000 dollar motorcycles and focused on the $2500 rice burner I built.

A few years ago I built a really radical 60's style shovelhead chopper. One time I was in front of a club I go to, bent over looking at something. Two smokin' hot babes half my age walked by. One said, "Nice bike." The other said, "Nice butt too."

I have many, many such stories I could tell, but the bottom line is . . . ya . . . it's worth it.
 
Big money bikes don't have the soul of a hand built budget bike.

Wally

Agreed! Even just to have a running bike is very gratifying (I bet!). Can't wait to get things going on the rebuild. I think it's a great character builder as well! Same idea with the guys over at CustomFighters; bolt on "mods" are sterile and lack real character. The fact that almost everyone here dives right into fixing these things, whether they have the experience, tools, or money or not, with their eyes set on an awesome custom bike is greatest source of inspiration!

On a side note I think we need an XS400.com beer:cheers:
 
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