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Cheaper than Dirt - $300 or less Build
as it sits April 2011
This is the story of a 87 FZ700
I borrowed this bike from my friend. It was his pride and joy. Wheelies, stoppies and sunday rides; these were his to enjoy. Then, one fateful summer day I asked to borrow it to take a ride to Spokane...6 hours away.
Had a great time! It was the first streetbike I ever rode and was pretty quick compared to my old 400 cruiser.
Well I met up with some pals over in spokane and the next thing you know Im doing 110mph just after midnight down a road i dont know.
I see the 15mph hairpin turn sign too late. Off the road I go into the railroad tracks where I taco the front rim, bend the forks back so the wheel is in the exhaust and get launched off the bike.. seeing the moon then black and the moon and black means im pin wheeling through the air...thank God i just changed out of shorts and a t-shirt into some carhartts!
I landed on my back in loose gravel..slid into some wild rose bushes and stopped. I heard a crash and then after a split second the bike came down a second time.. and I felt the impact as the rear wheel slammed into my helmet and upper body, pinning me to the ground.
The speedo was at 110 when i tried to hit the brake.. who knows how fast i was going when i hit the tracks... the damage to the bike was horrendous, the gas tank was ripped off, the plastic scattered for about 40 yards or so with misc other parts, rear section was bent and mangled
My first buddy reached me and was yelling like a maniac that I had been killed, he was hysterical. Finally when he shut off his bike, he could hear me yelling to "GET THIS THING OFF OF ME!!" He did and miraculously I didnt even have a scratch!
I loaded up the bike into a borrowed pickup truck and drove back home the following day.. I had to face my buddy. He walked out the front door as I pulled up and looked like he had lost his best friend He almost broke down into tears as I threw the carcass out at his house. I bought him heaps of parts to fix it and ended up buying him a Honda Interceptor to replace it, but he was never the same. He still gets that look in his eye.
That was summer 2004 and summer 2008 he gives me the pile of parts and broken plastic for my birthday present. So i hauled her home and started putting on all the parts I had bought, fiberglassing here and there.. straightening bent metal... And after some days of work on the engine, she fired up and sounded like she was ready to stretch her legs! Had a long way to go though...
Then as I was looking for parts, I found this website and thought..What am i doing to this old piece of crap? Man for $300 or less I could build some crazy machine! And so it began.
Stripped her down and started thinking of all kinds of ideas so I tucked all the rear wiring away and chopped off the back
Then I grabbed a rattle can and my can of brake cleaner to use as a template and made some headlights
Something like that.. im looking at some PIAA fog lights or something..any suggestions?
Then I got my cardboard box and went to work on the rear.
I think I might scrap this idea and go with a R6 tail maybe? At least need to raise the tail section a few inches.. hmm Anyone have any suggestions? Im also wondering about this exhaust.. it is nasty.. thought about running it out the tail with a cbr600 exhaust, but not sure about what happens with carbs and jetting and air flow with all this kind of stuff. Never worked on bikes before, just jeeps and its a whole different ballgame!
Im enjoying it though. Love the website, already lost all my cash in the casino! As far as bikes go..Im a noob so go easy on me. I know zero about motorcycles compared to you folks. Looking forward to learn something new!
Cheers

as it sits April 2011
This is the story of a 87 FZ700
I borrowed this bike from my friend. It was his pride and joy. Wheelies, stoppies and sunday rides; these were his to enjoy. Then, one fateful summer day I asked to borrow it to take a ride to Spokane...6 hours away.
Had a great time! It was the first streetbike I ever rode and was pretty quick compared to my old 400 cruiser.
Well I met up with some pals over in spokane and the next thing you know Im doing 110mph just after midnight down a road i dont know.
I see the 15mph hairpin turn sign too late. Off the road I go into the railroad tracks where I taco the front rim, bend the forks back so the wheel is in the exhaust and get launched off the bike.. seeing the moon then black and the moon and black means im pin wheeling through the air...thank God i just changed out of shorts and a t-shirt into some carhartts!
I landed on my back in loose gravel..slid into some wild rose bushes and stopped. I heard a crash and then after a split second the bike came down a second time.. and I felt the impact as the rear wheel slammed into my helmet and upper body, pinning me to the ground.
The speedo was at 110 when i tried to hit the brake.. who knows how fast i was going when i hit the tracks... the damage to the bike was horrendous, the gas tank was ripped off, the plastic scattered for about 40 yards or so with misc other parts, rear section was bent and mangled
My first buddy reached me and was yelling like a maniac that I had been killed, he was hysterical. Finally when he shut off his bike, he could hear me yelling to "GET THIS THING OFF OF ME!!" He did and miraculously I didnt even have a scratch!
I loaded up the bike into a borrowed pickup truck and drove back home the following day.. I had to face my buddy. He walked out the front door as I pulled up and looked like he had lost his best friend He almost broke down into tears as I threw the carcass out at his house. I bought him heaps of parts to fix it and ended up buying him a Honda Interceptor to replace it, but he was never the same. He still gets that look in his eye.
That was summer 2004 and summer 2008 he gives me the pile of parts and broken plastic for my birthday present. So i hauled her home and started putting on all the parts I had bought, fiberglassing here and there.. straightening bent metal... And after some days of work on the engine, she fired up and sounded like she was ready to stretch her legs! Had a long way to go though...
Then as I was looking for parts, I found this website and thought..What am i doing to this old piece of crap? Man for $300 or less I could build some crazy machine! And so it began.
Stripped her down and started thinking of all kinds of ideas so I tucked all the rear wiring away and chopped off the back
Then I grabbed a rattle can and my can of brake cleaner to use as a template and made some headlights
Something like that.. im looking at some PIAA fog lights or something..any suggestions?
Then I got my cardboard box and went to work on the rear.
I think I might scrap this idea and go with a R6 tail maybe? At least need to raise the tail section a few inches.. hmm Anyone have any suggestions? Im also wondering about this exhaust.. it is nasty.. thought about running it out the tail with a cbr600 exhaust, but not sure about what happens with carbs and jetting and air flow with all this kind of stuff. Never worked on bikes before, just jeeps and its a whole different ballgame!
Im enjoying it though. Love the website, already lost all my cash in the casino! As far as bikes go..Im a noob so go easy on me. I know zero about motorcycles compared to you folks. Looking forward to learn something new!
Cheers