A Beautiful Encapsulation Of My Childhood

I was looking through my late mother's old photo albums at my sister's house, and found a treasure trove of old family pictures that I have never seen before. Almost immediately, to preserve the memories, I began to digitize some of the old photos for restoration.

If there was a picture that would bring back great memories and encapsulate the essence of my childhood, it would be this image. 

This picture is the epitome of my childhood growing up as a kid, when everything was seemingly perfect. In my opinion, and in my personal experience, the late 1950's was the greatest time to be a kid.

I was around 4 years old when this picture was taken. This photo evokes in me a sense of calm and feelings of nostalgia; and transports me back to the best, simple carefree days of my life.

Which is why I love photography so much, old family photos in particular. The power of photographs lies in their ability to transport us back in time, evoking memories and emotions that might have otherwise faded.

Minutiae of My Restoration Project

To be honest, I feel more comfortable building a motorcycle engine than dealing with the intricacies of the motorcycle chassis. When it comes to working on a motorcycle frame, I rather leave it to the experts. A man's got to know his limitations, but I digress.

The Kerker exhaust system arrived from the United Kingdom in less than a week, it is in excellent condition. And I found an original brand new seat on Ebay this week.

Working on this project has been very therapeutic for me. If things go well, my bike should be ready for the next vintage event April of 2020.

It's Been Fun So Far

Went to the garage yesterday to check on the bike and while I was there spent a couple of hours removing the carburetors, the stock exhaust system, replacing the handlebar, and installing both handlebar control switches and the front brake master cylinder.

I am at a crossroads, undecided on retouching, painting the whole frame or have frame powder coated. I am more leaning towards retouching the whole frame, with the expectation to have the bike ready before next vintage motorcycle event April 2020.

In other news, it was a matter of sheer luck or planetary alignment was in the works for me. Last week, I found a Kerker 4-1 exhaust system in excellent shape and reasonably priced advertised in a Facebook vintage group. It's been shipped from the United Kingdom and should be here by the end of next week. Nowadays, these Kerker exhaust systems cost an arm and a leg. I found a real bargain.

So far, it's been a real fun project tinkering with this iconic bike.

Step-By-Step Journey To Rebuild :

1) Let The Restoration Begin

2) Parts Have Been Ordered

3) It's Been Fun So Far

Parts Have Been Ordered

This weekend I ordered several parts to start the restoration process. I am glad there are sites like Z1 Enterprises dedicated to offer OEM vintage japanese motorcycle parts and links for other services.

I know what direction I want to go in with this bike. It's just a matter on focusing and concentrating on cost effective changes. One thing at a time. It could get expensive pretty quick if I spend money on parts, and later on change my mind. I want my bike cosmetics to look somewhat similar to the image posted above.

I was planning to wait until winter to start working on it, but I've been bitten by the restoration bug. If all goes well, maybe I could get the bike ready before next riding season. Can't wait to see it finished.