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Hope for restoration begins

Oldschool

Oldschool

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Aug 12, 2009
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Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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While digging around on the ADV site in the "road warriors" thread, I stumbled across a mention of a bike shop in Calgary that specializes in Old motorcycles. Old Motorcycle Shop Calgary | Customization - Repairs - Service - Restorations I checked them out, as I thought that I knew every bikeshop in town. I was wrong, and I was glad. They have been around since last February in the industrial park close to where I work. They listened to my woeful tale of charging system heartache, and replied, " that sounds like it is no problem, we fixed one of those this year already" "parts should be no problem". Well I was very excited and figured that by this summer I may have three working bikes in my stable. Time will tell! I am going to bring in some pictures and the serial number in the next week and see if they can source parts (that I was unable to). Then I will put in a fully charged battery (in the spring) and ride it down to their shop, after stripping the body work off. The FZ-1's older cousin may yet ride again!

NakedFZ600S001.jpg

An old picture showing the stock black header and without the plastic
FZ600S1a001.jpg

Another old photo of the 1986 FZ 600S beauty
leespictures190.jpg

From a couple of years ago before the inside of the garage was done
IMG_0314.jpg

FZtimes2.jpg

Fairly recent photos showing the FZs together
 
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Glad to hear you might finally be able to fix the charging issue on the FZ600. That bike is in great condition otherwise and I bet would turn a lot of heads once you get it back on the road. Definitely not something you're going to see on every corner ;)
 
Would you mind telling the story of how it got where it is now? Is this older picture the same bike or is the one that needs to be restored a new acquisition?
 
The long term plan

Blavenia said:
Keep us posted.
Click to expand...

Oh I will. It will need a little work as it has sat for two seasons (3 winters) plus now. Even though the bike was stored properly for what I expected to be long term there will be issues. My plan (as cash and time permits) is:

1.) Get the charging issue fixed. Do standard maintenance

2.) Upgrade the brake lines and put in new fluid.

3.) have the minor cosmetic imperfections dealt with. Most of these have been there for as long as I have had the bike. The fuel tank's very minor dents and paint chips. Repair the stress cracks and repaint the fairings for a total refresh to working show piece.

And Tony, It always did turn heads, especially the young guys on the crotch rockets that were staring as they passed me on the road probably say "wtf was that?!"
 
Hail said:
Would you mind telling the story of how it got where it is now? Is this older picture the same bike or is the one that needs to be restored a new acquisition?
Click to expand...

The older pictures of the bike were taken in the back yard of my house in Calgary about 12 years ago (about 2 years after we moved in). The picture of the stripped down one is the oldest picture taken before I built my garage and in early spring. I always stripped the bodywork to take it in for a tune up as it saves wear and tear on the delicate plastics and saves hourly charges.

The second shot was a year later, I think, but after the garage was finished, my daily (regular) rider at that point. I was working as a trucker at that point and daily was a stretch to say the least.

The bike has been known to me from the moment it came out of the crate in Winnipeg, Manitoba. In 1986 my best friend, his girlfriend, and myself all bought bikes from Wildwood Yamaha in Winnipeg at the same time. I bought an RZ 350 S;
RZ350S1986.jpg


He bought an FZ 750:
FZ750brochure.jpg


And his girlfriend bought the one that I now own;
fz-1.jpg
.

She was a totally green rider but had a good job and money so she bought the FZ and wasn't ready for it. Through lack of attention, while riding with my buddy (her boyfriend) she had a minor lowside at low speed. That crash scared her so badly that she never rode it again. I was called at work to come help retrieve the FZ. My buddy and I and his girlfriend all worked at the same hotel. After getting her and the bike back home it was repaired by replacing all the damaged parts with new. Then the bike sat until My friends older brother bought it. He also had a bmw and the little FZ was very under used.

Years past, and I moved to Calgary and one day in passing asked my buddy if his brother still had the FZ, he did. After a phonecall the bike was mine for a song. I flew to Winnipeg while my buddy had the bike taken to the shop that it came from for a carb rebuild. All the sitting took it's toll. I rode the bike home in what was an incredible 1300 km.,iron butt ride. It has been with me ever since.
 
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Lee I can see why you regret selling that RZ350. That was one beautiful looking bike. One day I'd like to own one of those 2-stroke beauties. The few that I have seen around are either beat up or very expensive (and lets not even talk about the RZ500!).
 
NJFZ1 said:
Lee I can see why you regret selling that RZ350. That was one beautiful looking bike. One day I'd like to own one of those 2-stroke beauties. The few that I have seen around are either beat up or very expensive (and lets not even talk about the RZ500!).
Click to expand...

Honestly the RZ was one of the (if not the) most enjoyable bikes to ride. The FZ 600 of mine is also a total blast and can hold it's own against all but the better riders on much newer 600's. I used all of the skinny bridgestones when it was still running, and dressed the part to.

motor006.jpg

Dressed in the time warp gear bought when I was 19.
anarchistmountain.jpg

Picture taken as I was stopping to turn around early in the morning, after totally missing my line for the previous corner.
 
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:tup::tup::tup::tup::tup:
Thanks Oldschool, I always enjoy your pictures. I wish I had decent pictures of my first bike, a 1989 Honda Hawk GT. Did you send those old pictures in to get digitized or are they just scanned?
 
Just one comment nothing to do with the bikes. On the second pic there, I'm disappointed to see that shelf unorganized and the dirty rags not folded Lee :) Really, even your lawn is spotless although I think I saw a blade of grass too long...you should see my garage right now...
 
EffZeeOne said:
:tup::tup::tup::tup::tup:
Thanks Oldschool, I always enjoy your pictures. I wish I had decent pictures of my first bike, a 1989 Honda Hawk GT. Did you send those old pictures in to get digitized or are they just scanned?
Click to expand...

Thanks, and I just scanned them (the pictures) at 600 dpi and cleaned them up with photoshop to get rid of the age fading.
 
EffZeeOne said:
:tup::tup::tup::tup::tup:
Thanks Oldschool, I always enjoy your pictures. I wish I had decent pictures of my first bike, a 1989 Honda Hawk GT. Did you send those old pictures in to get digitized or are they just scanned?
Click to expand...


Hopefully this helps! I owned a 1990 Hawk GT 648 for a while and I loved it! Thought this might bring you back to remembering the bike you loved. I basically brought it back to perfect original condition with only an exhaust on it.

Enjoy.
 
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