Another 71 400 Cross Resurrected

[Crashaholic]

Ten months ago I started restoring this classic beauty and I'm getting close to finishing it so I thought I'd post some pictures. Heres what I had to start with more or less.

Everything was in good condition considering some of the thrashed race bikes I've seen. The frame or pipe didn't required any welding repairs, just disassembly and paint.

Looking at the empty cases pictured on the work beanch you can see why these motors were referred to as the pumpkin motor.

 

[Crashaholic]

Heres the motor in progress. Cases barrel and head were bead blasted and blown off with compressed air, all threaded holes were cleaned out with a tap (I love assembling an engine I can screw bolts in without binding) then washed in alumi-prep and rinsed blown off again and dried before painting. I used VHT black semi gloss cured on the BBQ.

Kick starter foot-lever was zinc plated. Carb was disassembled and dipped in carb cleaner over night then rinsed and blown out with compressed air then the main body, cap, and bowl were bead blasted.

New gaskets, seals, piston, bearings, clutch plates, etc. Leak down test was also performed and the timing was set to factory specs with a dial indicator.

 

[Crashaholic]

Frame paint is a custom urethane created by hand from an NOS swingarm. It may appear more gray than most which tend to lean towards silver.

Handlebar clamps were bead blasted and the black m6 allen screws are coated so they don't rust. In the past I've found that plain black oxide screws rust over time just sitting in the garage.

Steering head bearing races are zinc plated as are all the Bufo bolts. The secondary coil was bead blasted and sprayed with a clear coat, mounting tab was masked off for a good ground.

The silencer wasn't a stock option on this bike but it was a Husky option that could be purchased separately. I felt fortunate to have an exhaust in such good condition.

Girling are the correct length, bushings are excellent. Springs are the correct 75lb rate.

 

[Crashaholic]

New nipples and stainless spokes. I tried to have the original spokes and nipples zinc plated by two different plating outfits and both times they looked like crap so I went with the aftermarket stuff.




Tank was done by Vintage Husky, chrome, paint and decals cost $800 with including shipping . Looks nice though. The color in the photo is a little more orange than in person, which is red.




And then I #&$! it up!




I had the tank resting upside down on top of a bucket, with a towel as a cushion no less, and the top of the bucket caused the paint to move. I was de-rusting the inside and had to turn the tank upside down because I didn't have enough de-ruster to reach the top. I sent it back to LeFevre and should have it back this next week. For those of you who aren't familiar with tank a resto, the chroming process causes rusting inside the tank so the best time to clean it out is after re-chroming and before painting. The tank sat for an entire month after I got it back the first time so I thought it was cured, after all it was 95+ degrees and 9% humidity the entire time.

 

[Crashaholic]

The forks were washed, bead blasted, painted, new slider seals, and copper washers on the m7 allen screws that fasten the spindles and new copper washers on the oil filler screws on top. Caps and washers were zinc plated. Notice how nice the bottom of the forks are. Theres no battle scars from rocks. I didn't re-chrome or replace the stanchions because they are in good condition and its a big expense.






Ignition bead blasted.

 

[Crashaholic]

Bars are the early narrow style that were mainly pre-71 but the guy who I'm doing this build for liked them more than the later wide style. I didn't polish the lever clamps because my experience is they just oxidize in a of couple years. New Magura grips. Refurbished original Magura throttle.







MORE TO COME

 

[oldbikedude]

Coming along nicely. Keep the pics coming.

 

[loony888]

nice job mate, looking good!

 

[Bigbill]

Another one saved great job.

 

[DeathFromAbove]

That is very nice. The tank faux pas is familiar. I put a freshly painted zrx tank on a bucket (only for a second), .5 seconds later It rolled across the shop floor... i said to myself...self that's gonna cost ya. It did.

 

[Crashaholic]

Ouch!

I finished this bike 18 months ago where soon after its new owner pick it up, whom had previously contacted me asking if I had one of these I would part with. Little did I know the bike has roots in the Hollywood stunt business. A year and a half later the new owner decided to put it on Ebay. Two days after it was listed he added the vin number to the listing and the bidding took off.

I must admit its a bit painful to have passed up a substantial sum of money all because I wasn't prudent in educating myself on the history of one of my bikes.

 

[DeathFromAbove]

What was it famous for?

 

[jimspac]

Was it one of JN Roberts' bikes?

 

[Crashaholic]

What was it famous for?

I don't know what particular movie(s) it may have been in. Viking Mtrs responded to the Ebay sellers request for documentation with a statement that said "I found the registration card on 7-14-1971. On line 5 that reads for what type of riding is this motorcycle used for the fun box and trail riding box is checked and riders comments STUNTS is spelled out. So maybe the bike was purchased for stuntmen for film work?"

It was also said it was originally sold to Mel Shapiro of Burbank. Seems he was a motorcycle racing enthusiast. So at this point I really don't know what the attraction is.

 

[DeathFromAbove]

You never know some ones motivation when they buy something, someone bought a potato chip that looked like the pope for a lot. I've also seen people bid a bike up to high levels only to see it on craigslist 2 months later for less than a quarter the highest bid. Sorry for your loss.

 

[jimspac]

I don't know what particular movie(s) it may have been in. Viking Mtrs responded to the Ebay sellers request for documentation with a statement that said "I found the registration card on 7-14-1971. On line 5 that reads for what type of riding is this motorcycle used for the fun box and trail riding box is checked and riders comments STUNTS is spelled out. So maybe the bike was purchased for stuntmen for film work?"

It was also said it was originally sold to Mel Shapiro of Burbank. Seems he was a motorcycle racing enthusiast. So at this point I really don't know what the attraction is.

Mel Shapiro may have been an alias of Malcolm Smith

 

[suprize]

a mates wife bought him a special order 1971 GT falcon off the original owner for his 40th birthday.. after a substantial $$ resto and a few years, he had a bloke approach him about selling it..told him he had always liked the car had followed its history always wanted to own it yada yada . Ol mate pulled a number out of his head that was much more than it cost and the bloke said "done'...3 weeks later he gets a call from another bloke who has just bough the car...3 x the price!!! Ol mate was savage..... its pretty hard to keep on top of this stuff....unless you sold the scoot for a loss you just have to move on and not get to involved or you will go nuts

 

[oldbikedude]

But what if your already nuts?

 

[suprize]

that will explain ....Everythiiiinnnggg

 

[Vinskord]

There was a discussion on this topic on another forum. They pointed out that the bidding was not the norm for eBay. Just three bidders, one with only 1 prior eBay feedback and another with only 2. The eventual winner did have 751.

Although a top notch restoration, the comments on the forum were also questioning why the bidding went so high. There have been other bikes with documented ownership (courtesy of Viking Mtrs) by Husky factory riders and other celebrities that have not sold for half that or less.