The Double Shot

It sat like a carcass under a grey tarp in the alley for nearly eight years. I had walked past the old bike for a very long time but never really gave it much thought. I may have peeked under the cover a time or two, if only to satisfy any curiosity. One summer, by shear chance, the owner was in his back yard, painting his fence while I was on my way to my grandmothers apartment up the lane. I usually parked down by the park and walked up the gravel road to the rear of the building to arrive at her home, and every time, there, tucked away, was the grey tarp and the bike that has lead me to the Bonneville Salt Flats this August. I asked the owner how much he wanted for the bike. I didn't ask if it ran; I already knew the answer judging by the look of it. "200 bucks", he said.

Long road to recovery

I called my father up later that day with the idea that we would jointly rebuild this bike. He had also looked under the tarp and had wondered about the vehicle. He agreed to the plan and by the next day, we had loaded it up on to his trailer and brought it out to Okotoks to begin the long restoration and eventual custom build that resides outside my home today.

The bike was a 1979 Honda CB400T. An inline twin engine that at this point worked better as a boat anchor, than something that would take us down the road. My father had plenty of experience rebuilding engines; I had none. We soon discovered that the engine had seized and would require a complete rebuild. We weighed the options and finally came to the conclusion that replacing the engine was less costly and easier than rebuilding the stock 397cc engine.

A quick call to the good folks at TJs Cycle and we were able to secure a 450cc engine from an earlier model Honda Nighthawk. The compression was really good on each of the cylinders and the price was 450 bucks. Heck of a deal as the engine mounts from the 79 matched the mounts on the 84 we pulled the engine from. Pus we would be able to squeeze a few more horse power out of the bike. Always a good thing.

The bike went through many adjustments and tweaks till it was ready to fire up for the first time. A noise I'll never forget. Dad and I worked many long hours on that bike. Traced countless miles of wire and spend endless days reading the manuals trying to figure out what the folks at Honda were thinking when they made this bike. The wiring was by far the worst. It took some time to realize that the Honda factory simply plugged a common wiring harness on their bikes to minimize manufacturing. The trouble was, most of the harness didn't do anything. Redundant wiring was the bane of our existence for some time. Eventually, the entire harness was scrapped, and a complete, new harness was built from scratch.

That noise. Like two doctors standing over a patient in need of the use of a defibrillator. A long series of chugs. Quick at first, then as the battery drained, slower. Then, a puff... and another... then two at once. Then, like a jolt of lightning. VROOM! It came to life. Remarkable. High fives all around. We were jumping around like school children. Such a great moment between a father and son. Slightly cliche, but great none the less.

Years had gone by since that day. The bike went from a residence at my parents house, to it's current location, sitting patiently in my shed, awaiting some final work before being loaded up in a few months and taken to hallowed ground. Dad had gone through a few other bikes since then. His dream bike was a Virago. He just bought one last year and will be taking it with us down south, along with seven other bikers. Quite a trip I suspect. My wife has even acknowledged that it could be something that my son and I repeat years from now. Pretty cool tradition if you ask me.

I've used the bike a time or two in a photo shoot

The bike is now classed as what is known as a Cafe Racer. A term used during the late 50s and 60s to describe the type of bikes guys would chop and modify to emulate the early days of motorbike speed racing. In fact, the term "chopper" owes it's namesake to the Cafe Racers. I of course didn't know this at the time. I'm a learn as you go kind of guy. I became interested in Cafe's back in 07. Now the term Cafe Racer has reached a high level of popularity and as such, you can find them everywhere. Doesn't really matter to me. I walk to the beat of my own drum, if people want to follow that notion, who am I to stop them. Besides, it's good to meet like minded people.

I build this bike to emulate some sort of relationship between father and son, and also for the fact that it's just plain cool. Now, lets get this show to the speed trials.

The "Double Shot" 450cc modified

You can read about the entire build here at dotheton.com