I'm keeping this blog as a journal to keep track of the things I do to keep myself from going crazy living on a farm in the boonies. I expect it to consist mostly of motorcycles and music but one never knows.

This is my latest project, a 1973 CB175 that I've had for a couple of years but never put much time into. I traded my old Marlin 336 in 35 Remington for this old girl and managed to get her running but never did much else. I recently decided that I'd like to get into vintage motorcycle racing so this is where I'm starting. This is how the bike looked a week ago, basically bone stock aside from the Andrews coil I installed last year to cure some ignition issues.

The CB175 in all her 70's glory

Last week I stripped the bike down to the bones and dove in, grinding the unnecessary bits off the frame and giving it a quick squirt of primer and silver. I ground off the rear mud-guard, seat mounts, steering lock and helmet hooks but decided to keep the original footpeg mounting plates to make fitting an oil pan easier in the future. I had painted the tank red when I got the bike years ago, the original color was a gloriously 70's gold under years of bad resprays.

The keepin' stuff pile

The junkpile

Here's the bin of parts that are not going back on the bike. The bin will get a lot heavier as I remove the starter, stock mufflers, handlebars, side and center stands etc.