The Ballad of Mary Jane:
It all started when my wife Jessica traded her Marauder for a first generation Katana 750..
I was in love the first time I rode it. So I set out to find one for myself. Enter non-running bike one:
$150 bought me an ex stunt bike turned someone else's long term project turned dad wanting it out of his garage. Lots of new parts installed 10 years ago, but no where near as nice as the pictures make it out to be. We will call her Katana To Be Named Later or KTBNL.
Less than an hour later we were looking at this non-runner... Owner said a friend over rev'd the motor while riding it and blew it up, but it was a recently running bike with a ton of new parts. We paid $250 for this one delivered.. So I helped him load it into his ranger pick up. As I approached the cab to get in for the ride to our garage I was met with a STRONG oder of Pot... we shall call her Mary Jane..
Did I mention it was bent a bit...
Lots of disassembly and parts swapping. KTBL provided the frame, engine and some plastics, Mary Jane provided the harness, all electricals, some plastics, brakes and everything else.
I also had a bunch of unused parts, which I sold off for $350. That gave me a running riding bike for $50.
Then it was time for her to get cleaned up and claim her name. From the first time I called her Mary Jane I envisioned WWII and Bomber nose art.. time for a concept sketch!
Lets put that vision to work.
Still have a few things to finish up, and she is a 20 footer, but may I present Mary Jane! All in I'm at about $500 for this build.
I love the air cooled Suzuki’s.
The original rendering is well on the way to bringing new meaning to the term crotch rocket.
Nice horse trading! How much is the typical bike of that model/year going for?
In reply to Patrick :
She’s kinda sweet on you too....
In reply to Agent98 :
Anywhere from $150 to $2500.. I’m chasing another pair at the moment for $400. Lightning strikes multiple times.
Somehow not feeling the Helmut Muth thing
Old guy reference for those over 45
In reply to twentyover :
Its not everyones cup of tea. :-)
Before settling on Painting Mary Jane I did take a detour into Vinyl Wrap. While I kind of enjoyed doing it, I found it to be slow and expensive. I do plan on doing it again at somepoint though.
This 3M wrap looked super cool and was really easy to work. Unfortunately, it wasn't in my budget.
Then I tried VVivid. It was harder to work, but not bad. and at half the cost of 3M a good option. in the end though, I wasnt happy with my installation. Im sure the wrap itself in the hands of someone better would have been fine.
So.. The project is regressing very nicely. I took it for a little test ride over the weekend and was rewarded by pushing her home. Off with the carbs, time for a rebuild and new intake boots. At least I have a decent work shop now. :-)
Reupholstered the seat in brown for more of a vintage leather look. I think it came out pretty good.
1 year ago today, Mary Jane ran for the first time. Saturday, I got the carbs put back together ( for the second time.. don't ask... ) and it fired up on the 3rd crank. I need to check the carb Sync, but I'm calling it done for the year.
From here...
To Here.. In 365 easy days.. LOL
The Weather has been beautiful here, so Mary Jane has been coming to work with me, its a 90 mile round trip. So far she has been perfect! In other news, both of the new bikes run on starter fluid.. :-)
