The Bike

On a whim, I decided I should have a winter project. Building a Triumph hardtail seemed like a good idea, so I started looking on Craigslist for an old Triumph that was already in a rigid frame, or one that I could make a hardtail (more later on how ill-equipped I am to do this). With an '04 Springer, an '06 Ducati 749, and a 125cc scooter already in my garage (read: shed), I thought that allocating anything more than $3,000 to this potential-abortion was fiscally irresponsible. So I set my total project budget at three grand, with no more than $2500 going towards the donor-bike. There was no science or anything resembling research involved in that plan, the numbers just looked "reasonable".

After an hour on Craigslist I hooked up with a bike builder in PA named Ron Gibson, who specializes in Brit bikes. In the nicest way possible Ron told me that my budget was laughable, but invited me to a swap meet in York, PA that he said should have some potential project bikes for me to look at. That weekend I headed up to York from Washington, DC with my girlfriend, my trusty trailer and three grand in my pocket. After five hours of sorting and sifting through "bikes" with varying degrees of terminal rust cancer, I threw in the towel and we headed home. I just couldn't find anything that was in my price range, or interesting enough to dedicate my time and money to, even with all that cash burning a hole in my pocket.

That night, dejected and drunk, I searched on the interweb and came across a 1972 Harley Ironhead Sportster on eBay. The bike was located in Manasses, VA and looked to be in good shape. It ran, had matching numbers, a clean title, and was only about an hour away from my house, so I emailed the seller and asked if he would end the auction early and sell me the bike outright. The bidding was at $500, so I offered him $2K. He emailed me his phone number, and after a call and a few text messages we agreed on $2500.

I drove out the next night to pick up the bike at this dude's house. When I got there it was 20 degrees outside but the bike fired right up. He had five bikes at his place, four Ironheads and ironically, a Triumph hardtail project he was working on. We did some paperwork then pushed the bike out of the shed. When I got on it and pulled in the clutch he said "It lurches when you drop it in gear, the clutch needs adjusting". I nodded and looked down at the shifter (which was actually the rear brake, because the brake and shifter are reversed on this year bike, unbeknownst to me). He saw me look down and said "It will probably stall out when you put it in gear". I again nodded. He said "The clutch needs adjusting", yelling slightly. I looked up and said "I shouldn't ride it?". He shook his head from side to side like people do when they want to imply you're dense. I turned off the bike and we pushed it out to my trailer and loaded it up.

So, just like that, I started my Brit bike winter bobber build with a '72 Harley that may or may not have a transmission, but runs very strong (I realize that makes no sense, this is my fucking blog, just accept it and move on).