I've been a car guy for a long time (Volvos mostly, oddly enough), but a couple years ago, I got bit by the bike bug. I found and rebuilt a '78 GL1000, and had a blast doing it.
I've packed about 17,000 miles on that bike in the year or so I've had it on the road, and after awhile, I got the hankering for something with a bit more storage for longer trips.
That lead me back to Craigslist, where I found a 1985 BMW K100RS in need of a little love. Bought it for a song, fixed it up, and now I have a touring bike with bags.
While I was finishing up that project, I caught wind of a 1972 Kawasaki H2 for sale as a project. The owner needed cash in a hurry and sold it for a fraction of what it was worth. Idiot. I bought it with the intention of doing a restomod.
I dug into that bike and started working on it in earnest, when someone else found me, and wanted me to build a bike for them. The H2 got shelved for a bit, and I started thinking about it. I never really wanted an H2...it wasn't a bike I just HAD to have. I was just in the right place at the right time to snap it up. I had always intended to build it to sell, but after some thinking, I realized I might clear 3-4k on it after parts, time, and jobs I'd have to outsource, like paint and powder.
I listed the bike for sale in pieces at what I thought was an exorbitant price. It was sold within 6 hours for only slightly less than I listed it for. So now, I can start looking for what I *really* wanted all along. An '81 or 82 CBX.
I trolled through some craigslist ads and came up with a couple possibles. After that, I checked the Facebook groups and found someone who was thinking about selling his '82. We exchanged a few messages and photos, and I put a deposit on the bike last night.
I'm extremely excited...I've wanted a CBX since I first saw/heard one and knew what it was...I had about given up on owning one though.
This bike is still in the care of the original owner...he uncrated it in 1984, and rode it for many years, eventually parking it about 15 years ago. It seems like life intervened a bit and he just ran out of time to enjoy it.
So I'll hopefully pick it up next week, and get it back to the shop. I'll have to wait to tear into it until I'm done with the bike I'm building for a friend, but hey, it's always nice to have something to look forward to.
Thanks for having me, I look forward to becoming part of this community and learning a lot from you guys.
