Hello Pelicans....
I wanted to share with you today yet another story of generosity by a fellow Pelican.
Aaron, who's Pelican handle is "BlueSkyJaunte", is that gentleman.
A week or so ago, I was contacted by Jim, (aka "Superman") who said "Call Aaron - he has some parts for you." And gives me Aaron's number.
Aaron ran into some password issues years ago but still peeks in from time to time and apparently had seen some of my posts in the Motorcycle thread regarding the Honda Interceptors I collect and work on.
So, I call Aaron and he tells me he has a whole motorcycle he wants to give me, if I will get it going again. The only expense on my end would be the transport from Arizona to Florida. It's an '86 Honda VFR700 Interceptor. The bike hadn't run in a while - partly due to Aaron picking up another bike (a Triump), which he started riding more - plus he also has a Ducatti. So this one sat for a while and Aaron said reality set in that he just didn't have the time to do anything for it anymore.
I told him I was "in" - so he sent me a photo of the bike. Well....it's a Blue & Silver Interceptor - Honda didn't make those until '87. Hmmm......
So I asked for more photos and then saw something that helped me figure it out. It had the round gauges. So that plus the Vin plate and Color code sticker verified this was indeed an '86 - but it was an EARLY '86 before they changed the gauges from round to square shaped. And that model only had one livery...Red, White, and Blue. Apparently a previous owner had removed all the factory plastics plus fuel tank and replaced them with the '87 Blue/Silver versions. Even down to the front fender! This was a first for me!
Long story short, I arranged for transport and the bike was dropped off to me last Wednesday afternoon. I didn't do much that day but returned on Thursday to strip everything off it that would either be replaced or restored.
And then on Friday I removed the carbs, clutch slave, and 1 front brake caliper. I will get the other next time (stubborn allen head fastener I didn't want to bugger up).
I already have in my spares all the pieces needed to return the bike to factory specs, which as a purist is what I intend to do.
But Aaron also gave me a bunch of new rebuild kits for most of the hydraulic & fuel components plus 4 brand new turn signal stalks. I've already replaced those and the original turn signals and mirrors will be re-installed on the bike. I cleaned everything else I removed because they are all re-usable for other bikes. The Blue fuel tank is sitting in my clean out space right now filled with EvapoRust.
I wanted to start this thread apart from the Motorcycle thread because it's more a story of one Pelican doing something for another Pelican than anything about motorcycles.
I will have more to post going forward as I continue the restoration work, for those interested, including Aaron and Jim. I think this is what Aaron had in mind. That the bike go to someone who will give it the proper respect and care it deserves. And I can say without a doubt he succeeded.
Now one last thing that I think is important. This isn't the first time Aaron has reached out to a Pelican to gift them one of his machines. Some may remember Superman's thread from 16 years ago:
https://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/530651-70s-honda-cb-750-a.html
Jim wanted me to remind you of that ^^^ thread and Aaron's generousity.
Here is a photo of the bike as it arrived, one of it taken Friday after removal of said components, and a stock photo showing what it looked like from the factory. Which is what it will look like when I am finished.
Thank you Aaron....thank you Jim......and thank you Pelican! More to come......
