The weekend following the rider class, I bought my first bike. I was hooked. I picked up a 2009 Vulcan 900 with the intention of turning it into a bobber. I was a carpenter at the time so thought I was good with my hands. I had no knowledge of building bikes or much experience working with metal. I decided to purchase a bobber kit through Blue Collar Bobbers and after a weekends worth of work in an empty space in my house, I had myself a bobber. I loved riding and tinkering. It became a way for me to put a smile on my face while I was dealing with the hand that I had just been dealt. As I became more comfortable riding and working on motorcycles I wanted to do a full build instead of just a bolt on kit. My brother Tyson, whose build was featured here a few weeks back, started tossing around the idea of building a café style bike and since I was already into the vintage look, I was immediately interested.
In the spring of 2014, I decided to start looking for a candidate for my build and settled on a 1974 Honda CB550 that I had found on Craigslist. I paid $250 for the bike so as you can imagine the condition it was in. I don’t have a shop or even a garage, but I do have a small 8’x10’ shed, a front porch, and a front yard so I figured I could somehow make it work. The neighbors might have thought that a frame hanging in a tree while it was being worked on was a little “redneck” but they were always cool about it and even became interested in the project.
I had been looking at many bikes online and had a folder on my phone of photos titled “Build This”. These were bikes that I had come across in my research that I liked the look of in one form or another. I didn’t necessarily love every bike in that collection, but each one had something unique or cool that I liked so that is where my design and inspiration came from.
The first thing that I did with the bike was take it to a trusted shop in Austin and see if the engine needed a rebuild. Because I had paid so little for it, I figured that it did, but I was hoping for the best. The compression gauge that we put on it told a different story however. Knowing that I didn’t have the tools or space at the time to learn how to rebuild an engine, I pulled the engine out of the frame right there in the parking lot and left it with Chris at Limey Bikes to let him work his magic. I then took the chassis home and began work.
I de-tabbed the frame and removed the rear section. I then built a new rear loop that would fit my needs and had a buddy of mine weld it in. Along with the wheels and other pieces the frame went off for a powder coat. I also totally reworked the rear fender, rebuilt the forks and brakes and put all new bearings in the wheels and frame. I also reworked the dash area of the bike with some leather from an old boot that I had. My mom used to make rodeo chaps and saddle bags back in the day so as a little tribute to her, I used an old Mexican coin concho (they were one of her trademark touches on everything that she made) right in the middle of the leather dash.
After about 3 months of work, it was starting to look like a bike again. I had the engine back from the shop and in the cradle and things were coming together nicely. I had installed an exhaust from Carpy’s Café racers, a seat from Toughside (which was later reupholstered to better fit the bike), Dunlop K81 tires, and many other parts from Dime City Cycles and eBay. I also got the phone number of a local guy named Czech who was known to be a great painter and took him my worn out tank and some ideas. Once it all came together, I took the bike back to Limey bikes and had them do the carb work and get her running.
The first time I took it out for a cruise was to get it inspected and legal, it failed me on the highway and I had to hitch home. There were some bugs to work out on the electrical side of things, but after a month or two of riding its been running like a clock ever since. I have now put over 4000 miles on the bike and continue to ride it weekly. I never intended it to come out as nice as it did so the compliments have been a welcome surprise. It has also been a great time taking the bike out and meeting new folks around the area who share the same passion for vintage motorcycles.
