These bikes bring out the nice in people. Had many honks going to the dmv for a vin check. 
 

Am I going to regret this?

I had decided I would not sandblast and repaint anything on this bike. I was simply going to tear it down, clean everything, replace all seals, gaskets, brake shoes, etc. I got it from the original owner, and they are only original once.

But I find it hard to put it back together with so much raw exposed metal from many years of hard use. For example, I think this bike has a story to tell, and I think it involved a barbed wire fence getting wound up in the chain, sprocket, swing arm, rear wheel…..

I'm going to stick to my original plan, but sure could use some encouragement to stay the course…..

EDIT
Sorry. I should have started a new thread instead of replying to my original post from when I acquired this bike… Feel free to pull it, or move it, or delete it,

 

Schu, I'm going through the same thought process. My CT-1 is much rougher cosmetically than yours, but I was just going to get it mechanically sorted out, and leave everything else as-is.

However, I somewhat buffed out the cases while I had them off, and just yesterday put a new chain on, and as I was putting the old chain guard on, which was about 80% rust, I decided to strip it down and repaint it with DupliColor DE-1615. It looks so nice, I'm really tempted to paint those fenders too... but the tank, headlight bowl and ears would need to be repainted as well, and for that reason, I'm going to hold off for now. Frankly, the rust on the tank, frame and fenders doesn't bother me that much, so I think I'll just leave it as is, and continue to get the engine running well, and I've also ordered new tires and tubes. But that chain guard was just one ugly piece of rust, and I could not put it back on the way it was.

By the way, I didn't want to go too far buffing out the cases, because if they were too shiny, they wouldn't look right on the bike.

 

I call bikes like those "Preservations" not "Restorations". Like my RT3 I got from the original owner. 

Plus 1 on only original once.

 Someday my shed will be somebody’s barn find

I volunteer!

I second that!!!

Great dirt day yesterday.  

Is that picture looking towards the spring or away?


Never mind, I will ask when you show up today.

Blow up the pic, I see the highway now.
South east

Great Pics, Guys!

I have a '69 CT1 that I call my "resurrection" project. It was a shed-find, complete bike. It had been sitting for years, partially in the weather. After 3+ months of accumulating parts and lots of shop time, I got it running. I recently got the title and registration sorted and complete. Still waiting for the title doc to come in the mail.

Everything works - right down to the neutral indicator light and high beam indicator. I did use some aftermarket parts (left switch cluster, bars, shocks, etc.) I did repaint the frame, fenders, forks ears and headlight bucket, because I buffed the surface rust off and didn't want to leave the metal bare. 

Anyway, it will be going up for sale soon. I won't try to make a killing on the price - I just want to recover most or all of the parts costs I incurred.  I'm in NorCal. I'll start a new thread when it's ready to go, if anyone is interested...