I bought this bike back in '97 as a package deal with a super rusty but gorgeous '63 VNB roundtail. I brought both of them back to life then with a lot of modifications, but on a college student's budget, so some corners were cut. I gave this VBB to my dad back in 2000 and it's been sitting in a garage since then getting occasional attention. A few years ago we decided to bring it back to life the right way.
We've been lucky to have a family friend's hangar to work in, camping next to some amazing cars. Today I finally got to open up all 4 gears up and down the airport taxiway and it felt great.
This is the bike's journey, including all the strange choices I made along the way.
Here's where I started back in the 90s
In the dank garage I was renting in college. Seized motor out and the rest of the bike all dismantled. The VNB is just barely visible in the corner.
Skipping over some of the original paint job, but I had a connection to someone who painted hot rods and they shot a nice red/cream paint job for an amazingly low price. Paint has never been my strong suit so I was happy to have someone else do it.
I made some... questionable wiring decisions back then, including a custom instrument panel in the legshield. It worked great with a tach and fuel gauge, but was ridiculous in hindsight.
More of that wiring nonsense
Here's what it looked like when I first got it put together. The original 150 motor was within the realm of salvage, but I had an opportunity to pick up a cheap p200 motor and a 10" GL fork instead, and I went that route.
Later I swapped the GL fork for a PK fork with a semi-hydraulic brake. Here is the bike a few years ago after hibernating, safe in the hangar.
Taking things apart I'm finding all the corners I cut, like running loose wiring under the rear frame...
Lots of weird stuff going on here, including the remnants of vinyl lining behind the battery tray. Weird college brain tried to line the whole glovebox with it. Don't ask why, I took it out soon after I did it.
The PK fork was unceremoniously cut down to accommodate the VBB fender, but it was never quite right and rubbed against the body regardless of my hacks.
Weird college brain strikes again. Cheap fog light I found fit nicely in the horn well, and so why not mount the horn under the fender?
The 90s were wild, man. At least for me I guess. Silicone goop instead of a real gasket for the glovebox door.
I couldn't find a decent turn signal switch back then, so this is a cheap substitute I was able to source, crudely screwed into the handlebar.
starting to catalog all the wiring and re-acquaint myself with this nonsense.
I wound up replacing the ignition and upgrading to a lighter flywheel. The minute I started monkeying around in the junction box, the original wires just disintegrated.
Getting a good look at the strange mounting job I did with the VBB fender on the PK fork
Stripping it down
Motor out, and it's still in good shape. It'll have to be rebuilt sometime in the not-so-distant future, but that's a future problem. At least now it has a new cosa clutch and upgraded ignition.
