Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/1534665
May 2025 35 To my surprise, I woke up the next morning to a message from the seller asking me to give him a call. With adrenaline pumping, I sent a deposit and was soon headed his way When I arrived, completely unaware of the finan- cial rabbit hole I was about to fall into, he led me into the garage. But there was no bike. We stared at each other awkwardly for what felt like a full minute before he finally asked if I wanted to see it. I nodded eagerly, and we walked toward a dusty old toolbox in the corner… That's when it started to sink in. Out of the corner of my eye, I spo ed the cylinder head si ng on a shelf next to a mix of lawnmower parts, woodwork- ing tools, and old paint cans. He opened a squeaky drawer in the toolbox and peeled back an old T-shirt, revealing a greasy pile of transmission parts that somehow looked both oily and rusty at the same me. It was then that he explained he had updated the ad to include a small detail: the top end had failed years ago, and he'd started disassembly already. At that moment, I realized why everyone else ahead of me in line had passed. This wasn't a bike—it was a jigsaw puzzle in a box. I did my best to take inventory as he told stories about the abuse the bike had endured during his ownership. Trip a er trip, I hauled parts from the dark, clu ered garage to my car. Each scan of his garage revealed more obscure components that were selling for small fortunes on eBay. By the me I finished loading up, my car stank of burnt premix and transmission oil—but I couldn't stop grinning. Back home, I set the frame up on a stand to inspect the punishment that I was in for. I sorted everything into two piles: parts that could be reused and parts that needed to be replaced. It ended up being a pre y simple split—the frame in one pile, and ev- erything else in the other. The rims were so corroded that the aluminum crumbled into powder once I removed the petrified res. The frame was beat, ba ered, and showed every one of its 30+ years of hard abuse. The engine cases were covered in scratches and gouges, with screwdriver marks, stripped and broken bolts from years of improper "maintenance". The cranksha was rusted into the main bearings, and the threads were peened over from hammer blows during an unsuccessful removal a empt that likely halted progress and sealed the motor's fate inside a forgot- ten toolbox drawer.