Shed Deja Vu...

Looking at random shots taken over the past few winter months and came across this one taken through my 'office' window, of my tiny 'shed' (garage).

Through a dreary rainy winter day, the peeling paint and sway back roof, screaming for attention...

Kept thinking it reminded me of a picture I'd snagged from the web awhile back...

The shed where a mighty empire had it's genesis...

I'm sure everyone has heard the story about the contractor who had the HD shed bulldozed into oblivion during a yard clean-up, much to the consternation of the bosses. So, now it lives on in replica form and old photographs.

This weekend I need to assess the roof . My shed was built maybe 20 years after the Harley D shed, that was built just after the turn of the century. The roof on mine has some serious problems. As a friend of mine is fond of saying, 'Any hillbilly knows, the pitch of a roof, must exceed the sag...'. Unfortunately some city slicker must have thrown up this shed.  The fix will probably involve jacking up the sagging portion and adding some column supports under the woefully undersized roof members. Of course this will involve clearing out enough space to accomplish this task, looks like a project that will spill over into a couple of weekends.

The weather is fantastic here. My sister posted some pics at Facebook of her family enjoying a weekend of cross-country skiing in another part of California. I'm jealous, but I might be doing the same up Northeast of here next weekend. Maybe at Chipmonk Ridge at Loon Lake.

Chipmonk Ridge a couple years ago.

Decided it's time to see about getting these two Hondas running and back on the road.

Was looking at some earlier posts of these guys, time for some work.

The SL 350 needs some serious cleaning and re-painting. I've decided to turn it into a short distance 'tourer' for the summer. First I've got to perform a 'get running' as we used to call it at the shop. 

The 550 isn't in quite as bad shape, but needs attention to oil leaks, and paint. Both bikes need new rubber. Better drag them out and start making lists. I should probably go through the brakes and wheel bearings as well. 

The 350 will be going through the most renovation. Plan on installing a bigger gas tank from a CB 500 twin. Pulling the 'clip-ons' off and installing bars more suitable for touring. Going to change the gearing to a CB 350 ratio. Might actually change over to a CB rear wheel to accomplish this, which will mean going to a wider chain and front sprocket. I have a small windscreen originally made for a Sportster I'll probably install. The SL 350 has smaller carbs than the CL and CB models. The intake ports are smaller as well to suit these carbs. I'm not positive, but the cam timing may be milder as well. I'll have to look at this when I tear down a couple of other 350 motor projects coming up. The whole idea with this bike is to build something that will be good for shorter camping trips up to the mountains and fishing, and that gets good gas mileage, as it looks like the greedy b***tards at the oil companies plan on jacking up prices, as usual for the summer.

I miss having a side car bike, so have been thinking about hitching one to the 550. That means I have to design a subframe for it. I've had side cars on CB and SL 350's, on a CB 450, but never a 550. Actually looking forward to this project. A friend of mine had one on his CB 750. It didn't have a subframe and eventually it broke part of the frame. The original owner had used the rear foot peg mount as a sidecar mounting point, and it put too much stress on the frame. We knew it was a possibility. Some day we will help him get his outfit going again. I've picked up a few spare 750 frames  and we might swap his out and come up with a proper subframe as well. Other than the breakage problem his 750 was a joy to ride and handled great.

Time for breakfast and then get to work!!