This weekend I found another water buffalo--a 1977B. This one wasn't planned; I just got lucky.
Several years ago when I bought the 1974L parts bike the guy mentioned seeing another water buffalo in his neighborhood and described the trailer where it 'lived'. I managed to find the trailer and left my Prince George Vintage Motorcycle club calling card in the door jamb. On the back of the card I wrote a note to call me if they ever wanted to sell the GT750. I looked up the guy a couple of times but when he told me in no uncertain terms that he wasn't interested in selling I kinda forgot about it.
Well, last week the guy called me out of the blue. He had decided to that he was too elderly to ride and still had my card stuck on his bulletin board. (he's 83 and uses a prosthetic leg to get around). He said bike was mine if I wanted it. So this last friday I paid the guy his money and rode the bike home.
The guy was the original owner, having bought the bike brand new from Tom Martell Suzuki in 1977. The bike is a little bit crusty but has only 8100km on the clock. The gearcase vent is spewing oil, three exhaust baffles are missing, the steering head bearings are shot, the front fork seals are leaking and the carbs are overflowing.
But, the engine runs, brakes work as do the all the lights and LED gear indicator. The bike has never been crashed. The engine has never been out of the frame and has never been apart. The chrome is for the most part in very good condition.
Of course the ugly fairing is de-installed already as are the bulbous saddle bags and top box. I'll have to source some turn signals and a set of exhaust baffles (or try to extract the ones from the 'L' parts bike which has been crashed on both sides). I'll also have to find the reason for the gearcase oil sputum which probably means an engine strip and if I go to that effort I'll replace all the seals and o-rings. The steering head bearings should be a cake walk now that I've acquired the appropriate tools.
It's all good--in winters I have nothing but time. Looking forward to it.
Olaf
