Okay, so here I am just trying to help Adam in his quest to find the perfect motorcycle. I know the guy’s excited to get a motorcycle. Heck, I’m getting excited just helping him out! So I go to look at a bike for him… a 1972 Yamaha 350. What exact model is it, you may ask? The old one. I rode the sucker and, yep, it’s fast. And yep, it has drum brakes! Couple this with Nixon-era rubber, and you’ve got yourself one scary ride! Needless to say, I like Adam, so I “politely” told him to “pass” - “the salt”.

What’s next? Why, my cousin John kindly offers to let Adam borrow his mid-70s CL 350. It also has drum brakes. The difference? It’s not fast. Now we’re getting somewhere (slowly). What’s the rub, you may ask? Funny you should ask, because this bike does not run correctly. After taking the carburator apart at least twice, and removing and adjusting the float at least 4 times, we finally get it back together. The result? Crap. 8 hours later, it’s still sitting in my shop, while my Mustang sits untouched, still awaiting the convertible top removal, which should take me all of another 15 minutes.

Next up, John’s dad suggests that Adam borrow their 49cc scooter, aptly nicknamed “deadbeat dad”. Actually I just made that part up, but I WAS just reading the newspaper. Actually, I just made that part up too. Anyway, we think, “Hey! this will be easy! This actually runs!” Wrong. 2 hours later and still no farther along than a dusty little scooter with a dead battery and a penchant for starving itself of fuel.

Inhale.

Now, back to the CL 350. I told Adam to put new spark plugs in it, which didn’t seem to help one bit. However, it’s always nice to have new plugs in a bike. It makes you feel like your engine is so fresh, so clean. I still have one more idea, but it’s now 10:00PM and my gumption-meter has reached 1/8 of a tank, and it is famous for leaving me stranded more than once!

Thus, we are back at the beginning. My project is no closer to being completed than it was this weekend, and Adam is no closer to having a bona fide set of wheels to ride to work.

Now if I could only figure out how to post cool pictures on my sidebar like Adam and Steve do, then this would look more professional and journalistic. In fact, you would probably pay more attention because “credible sources” were telling you about motorcycles. And “won ton soup”.