Joined
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696 Posts
Had so much fun last year, thought I'd give it another go this year. I was bouncing a few ideas around, trying to clear out a few projects taking up space and collecting dust when I got a phone call. A little back history is in order:
I was bartending a few years after college, surfing craigslist and I saw an add that said "Ninja 750, $300. Needs work." I happened to have $300 in my pocket at the time and before I knew it, there was this ravaged mass of metal in the back of my truck.
Naively I believed it would only take a few weeks to get it back together and I'd be riding all over central Ohio. Two years later, I cleaned the carbs, changed the oil, slapped a gas tank on it and fired it up for the first time.
Fast forward a few years, and I'm elbow deep into motorcycles. It's a full blown addiction by this point. I'm working at a motorcycle shop selling parts, I own a few bikes, and I've got a shed full of parts and projects. The ninja is my daily rider, and one day at work I thumb the ignition and nothing happens. No ragged purr of an old, worn inline four. No bark of an exhaust as it coughs up a few more strands of packing. Nothing.
The starter idler gear had decided to annihilate itself. The only way to replace it was to tear the motor down and split the cases. Two friends of mine had just started a motorcycle shop of their own, needed business, and I had a broken bike. Match made in heaven. They agreed to do the whole thing at cost and I let them know to not let it get in the way of more profitable work. Life happens, and suddenly it's last friday and my phone is ringing.
"I don't know if you've heard, but we had to close down. We've been trying to finish up the last few projects, but we're out of our garage and we don't want it to turn into two more years of you waiting to get your bike back. Do you still want it?"
I was bartending a few years after college, surfing craigslist and I saw an add that said "Ninja 750, $300. Needs work." I happened to have $300 in my pocket at the time and before I knew it, there was this ravaged mass of metal in the back of my truck.

Naively I believed it would only take a few weeks to get it back together and I'd be riding all over central Ohio. Two years later, I cleaned the carbs, changed the oil, slapped a gas tank on it and fired it up for the first time.

Fast forward a few years, and I'm elbow deep into motorcycles. It's a full blown addiction by this point. I'm working at a motorcycle shop selling parts, I own a few bikes, and I've got a shed full of parts and projects. The ninja is my daily rider, and one day at work I thumb the ignition and nothing happens. No ragged purr of an old, worn inline four. No bark of an exhaust as it coughs up a few more strands of packing. Nothing.

The starter idler gear had decided to annihilate itself. The only way to replace it was to tear the motor down and split the cases. Two friends of mine had just started a motorcycle shop of their own, needed business, and I had a broken bike. Match made in heaven. They agreed to do the whole thing at cost and I let them know to not let it get in the way of more profitable work. Life happens, and suddenly it's last friday and my phone is ringing.

"I don't know if you've heard, but we had to close down. We've been trying to finish up the last few projects, but we're out of our garage and we don't want it to turn into two more years of you waiting to get your bike back. Do you still want it?"