Z750 Twin "tanooki" Project

Hello guys bike is about 90% done I suppose it's time to stop lurking & introduce myself & also to show how the bike got there.
Long story short, my gf's dad has an awesome set of tools & I had only dreamed of riding a bike until I met her family. Im 26 now & have tons of bills, don't make too much money working on E-bay making stickers but most of what I've always done in life is manage to make the most out of very tiny budgets.

My first bike was a 06 Ninja 250 100% stock, I even traded a guy on Craigslist for my main transportation[96 ford escort]. Guy is still getting toll road tickets, about 50 of em & they always send them to me.
Anyways the only things I changed on her were cosmetic but it was still a total makeover of trail & error.
Rode for almost a whole year daily before gf's car gave up & sold her for well more than "fair condition" to a younger kid who loved the look of it.

Bought a 84 300zx turbo..best car I had ever drove till engine blew a week later.
traded it not running to a guy with a 90's 300zx that ran like dog piss.
Gf got a older BMW from a family friend for $300!
Meanwhile I couldn't bear thinking of repair costs let alone registration fees for the new POS so in the heat of the moment I decided to send that janky thing to the JY rather than wait to part it out.

Collected my $500 & some pride about a new project. One with two wheels the only kind for me.
After paying more bills I was back down to $0.00 motorcycle fund.
Sold my last prized possession, A souped up Canon HD professional Camcorder setup for $400.
Found a Yamaha XS400 for $500 on Craigs & the guy said it had sat around pretty much but should run fine with a "little" work. :woohoo:

Well..four ignition coils, one pickup coil, a CDI box, a complete makeover from stock & about one month later it ran at a top speed of 10mph. Needless to say I always have a way of breaking only even steven. Sold that thing quick as hell for $700 & the search continued. After blowing money on diesel gas for the truck checking out a couple bikes I found what I could only describe as "the one".

I had combed four counties of Craigs listings over roughly four days but always said, "I guess I could make this bike work". Then I saw her & my mood changed. $800, damn. Nice bike I don't think he'll budge on that price. I was closer to $600 by this time [cigarettes & booze for a broken heart ain't cheap].:pinch:

With nothing to lose I called the guy & gave him my sob story unknowingly. He said he was moving & had her running great but she was in pieces as he was in the process of a bobber makeover, so $750 would be fine. I made plans to get her the next evening before another guy did, knowing that I was closer to $600. My gf's brother who is easily the best mechanic in a 5 mile radius drives me about an hour to meet the guy in Santa Monica & he's hella cool, definitely a dude I would hang with outside of the Craigs universe. He takes me upstairs & shows a build blog of his different bikes plus a video of the bike actually running. Wow I'm sold, before I can think of who to beg for the difference in price he says $600 is fine.
I thank him after we load her up trying to fight the tears of joy as he tells me to keep him updated of the bikes progress.

So after working on the bike & ordering parts for about 2 weeks, the only thing standing in the way of me riding again is a chain that should be here any day now. I figure I had to go through all that to be worthy & skilled enough to work on a great canvas like this bike. I can honestly say I am 100% more capable of maintaining a bike after building a couple as apposed to only having ridden & changed the oil.
Sorry for the lengthy post, hope someone enjoys this build!

Tj

Ninja 250. Before & after.






XS400. Before & after
.





Z750 Day 1.

That's quite the story.

Did he say what the tank is from?

damarble wrote: That's quite the story.

Did he say what the tank is from?

Yes sir I believe a CL 350, had to hunt down a petcock for it.

i like your style. :evil:


keep us posted,

leon

Ty Leon! same here brodah! Cut the new chain down & rode her for the first time today..wow this is what a real bike feels like. Lots more power than I expected!

a 750cc twin in a stripped down bike.yeah i bet it feels pretty spunky :woohoo: !

wheres the burnout pic :evil: .

keep us posted,

leon

Just found out today I'll need a second CHP inspection before I can get a plate. Time to rewire for signals, horn, need mirrors. The biggest problem..anyone have any mufflers I can BORROW? :blush:

Have you replaced the other stuff (front brake, lighting, fenders, seat, etc.) that's missing in your picture? Ed

Yes the bike is put back together with brakes head & tail lamps just the basics.

Good to hear! It always makes me nervous when I see bikes missing the front brake (having learned the hard way about braking dynamics when I was 16). Ed

:ohmy: Thanks Ed! Yeah I rode once without one..not horrible but then again I'm confident in my riding.
That said I was not comfortable knowing the first guy who cuts me off will have to let me carpool in his back seat when I fly through his rear window lol. Its kind of a blessing in disguise to have put the safety features back on, no biggie I know this bike runs damn good so shes worth the work. Just too bad I ditched all that wiring :pinch:

Heres a pic after my ride today.
Just need to have my inspection done to register now.