Tekla and Betty

[tekla]

Of course, I'm tekla and this blog will pretty much cover my life with "Betty", my newly acquired 1971 Honda CB 750. I'll toss her gorgeous mug in at the bottom of this post along with random others along the way. I grew up around bikes of every kind and after my hubby got his 06 VTX 1300R a few months ago, the urge to get one of my own hit like a brick to the face. Not just any bike would do and I didn't want something just off the assembly line (nothing wrong with those, though). I searched and search and this same style of bike always grabbed my attention. After finding it at an amazing price and seeing my hubby bring it home in the back of a trailer, my jaw dropped.
I have yet to take the riding course but it's on the calendar. Betty isn't leaving the garage yet, anyway. Her 4 carbs need a good cleaning and I'm in the process of tearing down the seat to redo the foam. I need to polish up the chrome and take it in for a paint job. Stay tuned to see how she turns out!

Everyone..meet Betty

[sharpmagna]

Nice! That bike looks like it is in really great condition.

[Scoutmedic]

Sweet! Can't wait to see and hear more as the work progresses. Like Magna said, it looks to be in great shape in the picture.

[fireguzzi]

What color are ya gonna paint it tekla?

It looks like a really good find! Hope ya get it runnin' soon.

[tekla]

Goo Gone, a dremel tool, razor blade, swearing, a giant bread knife, random tools, more swearing, and a few days later, the seat is finished.
Betty has a slimmer seat and I have to say, for the first time EVER working on a motorcycle seat, it came out pretty well. I was even able to save the original upholstery and put it back on, keeping some of the original look. I added some before and after pictures below and will have a few more of the whole ordeal online soon.
My next task is the kickstand. The former craptastical pot metal kickstand decided to bend almost in half. Lovely, eh? After finding a new kickstand for it and cleaning off 35 years of grease and dirt from underneath, I managed to get it bolted into place. Now the spring..riiight..that's a job for another day.
I did pick a paint color though. Once she gets the dirty work done that she needs, she's going in to ditch that red for high gloss pearl white. I'll be polishing the heck out of all the chrome as well. A friend is doing some great custom artwork for the tank but I'll need to rob a bank for that and find an artist who can copy it perfectly. At the moment, I'll just be happy to ride her down the street.

Before -


After -