Another Acquisition.

(Like any good vintage bike, my new Zook has already marked it's territory, as witnessed by a small puddle of gas due to a leaky and incongruent fuel filter. Seen at about 5pm off the front wheel is another drip-this time of fork oil-apparently, like the recently arrested on "Cops", the bike took umbrage at being bound so tightly on the ride home. Swept back handlebars were to no doubt accomodate the vintage fairing, and have to go as first order of business.)

Folks, feast your eyes-the latest in my long and storied history of low-cost motorcycle acquisitions. For a mere $395, I picked up this lovely 1979 Suzuki GS850G about an hour away in Berwick, PA. Of course, one must factor in the gasoline and time spent (I also enlisted the help of my good friend Jon to make the move, utilizing his van and tie downs-which will fairly and no doubt illicit a return favor), plus the cost of title transfer, etc. But it was a fun day, and surprises abound.

For example, we really weren't expecting the thing to start, but the previous owner (who had an impressive shop, boasting no less than five vintage Harleys in various stages of restoration and/or customization) was able to get it to fire with a bit of starting fluid. The bike had been posted on Craigslist, and the relatively small pic betrayed the garage-kept condition she was in. Mild oxidation on both the steel and aluminum was typical of a bike that had sat inside, but nothing compared to the outright rot I have seen on some of my finds in the past. With right around 9500 miles that were obviously well maintained ones, this baby was an outright steal IMHO. Also, the Zook came with a vintage 70's-style touring fairing. While laughable to some (myself included, if only on the surface), these are still highly desired by some riders (as they ain't makin' any more), and nice examples are often sufficient to fund the cost of a low-buck restoration-such as this one. I was going to completely 'rat' this bike out-that is, a complete treatment of flat hi-temp stove black from pretty much stem to stern, as well as chopping off all the unnecessary bits:


("Looks uncomfortable" Jon said, as I suggested this treatment prior to us actually seeing how nice the Zook was. From a few years back at a show, this one looks like it would be at home in the upcoming film Terminator: Salvation-actually being ridden by a Terminator, who, once the flesh is burned off, has no real ass to speak of nor get bruised anyway.)


However, the condition being better than expected, I think I am going to do a serious cleaning, wrap and paint the exhaust, remove the rust from the shocks, etc, and keep it as a mild resto-mod type deal. As usual stay tuned-there will most likely be a few projects needing finishing first, but the bike doesn't need too much, so I'll get it running and then the full resto will no doubt take place in the off-season.