FAQ for vintage bikes

[Coffee]

What are the basics of vintage bikes?

Someone finds a cool bike at a garage sale - then what?

Sort of an open ended question because I really would not know what to do, and perhaps others don't.

 

[HuskyT]

What are the basics of vintage bikes?

Someone finds a cool bike at a garage sale - then what?

Sort of an open ended question because I really would not know what to do, and perhaps others don't.

Assuming we are talking strictly Husky's, The first thing to do for someone that comes across one (in my mind) is to identify it.

Frame Number and Motor tag number usually do the trick..... however - Husky's have notoriously been mixed and matched , modified and bastardized over the years due to the good, yet simplisitic interchangeable design styles.

Phillip has a great link here for this purpose -
http://www.husqvarna-parts.com/page/page/3895714.htm

After that is try and get a history of the bike from the current owner. Find out who owned it before him or her and actually get the name of previous owners. Contact them if possible. Sound's a little wierd but I have not ran across one person who did not like to talk about "Their Old Husky" from way back when.... lot of interesting stories come out...

T

 

[Coffee]

Yes lets keep it a Husky discussion for simplicity. I'm sure there are similar steps and resources for other brands.

I'm not going to make a lot of posts in this or any other vintage thread cause I'd rather not dilute things.


Once the bike has been identified, memories picked over, then what? Things like

• Registration - I think in CA if a vehicle has not been registered for 7 years it completely drops off the DMV charts, I know a person needs a bike registered to use it in certain places, any clue how to register a bike that they were given outright with no bill of sale, title, etc?
• Anything to avoid doing? e.g. I know some antiques should not be cleaned.
• What type of headings to look under in the local yellow pages to do that fantastic work you keep doing such as stripping parts? I just looked under "Strippers" - not what I expected!
• And I'm sure a bunch of other things that people should know... like how much time & $ is a bike restoration? When you have a fully restored bike do people ride them?

You put up stunning pictures and I'm really not sure where to begin, and I keep thinking there might be others curious what might be involved as well.
.

 

[HuskyT]

Metal Finishing or Metal finishing Sources may be a better search than Strippers although considerably less entertaining.

I can post up some registration information after I make a few calls to my local non government DMV Registration guru.

Cost- I'm trying to do a very slow, ultra low cost, but technical oriented restoration - improve the original type thing...... but I have access to many finishing shops and metal suppliers that "Hook me up " due to the production work I send them from my work ... therefore my costs are predjudiced on the low side for right now.

I personally feel that the Vintage parts thread should be made a sticky and if possible add a sub - section for Vintage Restoration Process Finishes, Tips and Techniques and Sources .....with detailed information required by the poster that includes a minimum of name , process or tip, contact number or address, e-mail and phone etc.... that way if one of us need smore information we know where to go.

Everyone will have a different idea of what is cool and what is not... some people may hate what I'm doing... I just keep an open mind..... some people are purists and would never even think of restorations other than stock....

As far as organization, I'm trying to post up Threads relevant to the year and what is being done e.g. my 83 Front DLS rebuild that first starts with the detail schematic and parts list and then goes through rebuild step by step...... this is what I find to be lacking..... good technical information that you can actually read and understand and see a picture of that is of good enough quality to understand what is being shown.... I guess this would be considerd a technical rebuild or restoration...

T

Yes lets keep it a Husky discussion for simplicity. I'm sure there are similar steps and resources for other brands.

I'm not going to make a lot of posts in this or any other vintage thread cause I'd rather not dilute things.


Once the bike has been identified, memories picked over, then what? Things like

• Registration - I think in CA if a vehicle has not been registered for 7 years it completely drops off the DMV charts, I know a person needs a bike registered to use it in certain places, any clue how to register a bike that they were given outright with no bill of sale, title, etc?
• Anything to avoid doing? e.g. I know some antiques should not be cleaned.
• What type of headings to look under in the local yellow pages to do that fantastic work you keep doing such as stripping parts? I just looked under "Strippers" - not what I expected!
• And I'm sure a bunch of other things that people should know... like how much time & $ is a bike restoration? When you have a fully restored bike do people ride them?

You put up stunning pictures and I'm really not sure where to begin, and I keep thinking there might be others curious what might be involved as well.
.

 

[HuskyT]

Money Laundering Made Easy, The 4 Step program
1. Buy an old Husky. Buy on emotion, not logic.
2. Research. The internet has made this easy. You can find Husqvarna history, forums & clubs, restorers & suppliers, NOS parts, bling etc. enough to fill your head with foolish ideas.
3. The three Rs. Rebuild, Restore, Replace every possible part. Buy that NOS fuel tank off E-Pay for $700. Buy every billet part available. Powder coat, chrome, nickle, or pollish every other part.
4. Don't count what you spend. Burn the receipts. If you don't know, you won't have to lie.


Seriously, one of the best things to do is take lots of pictures before and during restoration. It helps reassembly and adds to the pride when you can compare the old bike to the restored one.

This is all quite true. I actually don't want to think about all of the stupid Newbie Virgin Restoration things I have done over tha last 2 years..... but you have to learn somethings the hard way....

Buy good quality parts that have decent pictures on E-bay or at garage sales - Buy the whole bike if you can.... it is actually cheaper in the long run... As Steve states above " Rebuild, Replace , Restore....."

Old but good vintage is not necessarily better when you can get a new part with better material and better finishes.... unless of course you are a Purist.

Develop a list of everyone you ever encounter that has , builds or makes Husky parts. Talk to them frequently or whenever you need a part... they just might know where one can be found...or made!

T

 

[Coffee]

I personally feel that the Vintage parts thread should be made a sticky and if possible add a sub - section for Vintage Restoration Process Finishes, Tips and Techniques and Sources .....with detailed information required by the poster that includes a minimum of name , process or tip, contact number or address, e-mail and phone etc.... that way if one of us need smore information we know where to go.

Stuck the right thread I hope, if not let me know.

You can have the subforum - if you can come up with a short meaningful name so it looks good on peoples computers. Vintage Tech?

 

[Picklito]

Once the bike has been identified, memories picked over, then what? Things like

• Registration - I think in CA if a vehicle has not been registered for 7 years it completely drops off the DMV charts, I know a person needs a bike registered to use it in certain places, any clue how to register a bike that they were given outright with no bill of sale, title, etc?
  .

• 
  
  This is where my retoration is going slowly. I'm doing the "buy the whole bike" thing in order to get parts. I now have 4 430's in my garage, all piles that have survived various levels of piracy and swapping. Only one was current enough in the DMV system that it was a walk in transfer of title and registration in my name. All the others require a 'vehicle verification' (of course - there's a form) done by a CHP officer. Typically, they don't want to do the verification until the motorcycle is complete, ready to be registered and used. I prefer to have them run through the system BEFORE I start throwing $$$ at them so I know if I can actually register the bike once it's done. Imagine spending several $$$ on a restoration or even just rebuilding a rider then finding out you can't register it because the engine number has been changed... somewhere... sometime... for some reason. Understandable that the CHP officer doesn't want to sign off on a bare frame and an empty left sided engine case, but I'm not taking any bikes much farther than that before I know they can be registered (ie - sold).
  
  Problem number two is the the typical EVO and older Husky doesn't use the current 20-odd digit VIN number they expect to see now. We get "XN 01432" and they say "that's nice, where's the VIN? Same with engines. Earlier engines had riveted on plates that were stamped... that works fine. Later ones had raised pads/platforms cast into the cases and were stamped there... also fine. But, I'm finding these darn 81/82 430's are stamped a) very lightly, as in barely through the paint and not really into the metal, and b) right onto the cases (no pad or plate), and 3) right over the kick start gear that loves to crack the case right through the middle of the stamping. Two of my 4 bikes have barely readable engine numbers right through these cracks. Oh, this is gonna be fun.