Jim bought this little Honda XL75 brand new in 1977 from Walter Tadgell & sons ltd. right here in Strathroy. After years of riding it himself, he handed it off to his children to enjoy. This winter Jim’s wife Tracey decided this old bike with sentimental value needed to be brought back to life, and we think we did just that! Take a look at how we took this ol’ bike from tired and worn out to flashy and fresh!

As far as winter projects go, this one was different from our usual engine rebuilds and custom jobs. It’s an old bike, not extremely common. Finding parts wasn’t as easy as the typical motorcycle we get in on a daily basis. We spent a lot of time searching for the right parts because we wanted it to look exactly as it had when Jim bought it, but for an affordable price.

When we brought this little Honda into the shop it had been sitting in the barn for years. Jon got to work right away cleaning up the carburetor, We wanted to see how it ran before taking everything apart to be cleaned, polished or painted. After a carb overhaul, some fresh fuel and 4 kicks she fired right up! There was something really exciting about hearing this single cylinder come to life.

1.pull er’ apart.

So the little XL ran, but many years and a few generations of riders was really starting to wear on it on. Rust, Dirt, scratches and broken parts had taken over what used to be a shiny piece of machinery. Once we knew it would fire up, we began to take it apart. Piece by piece the honda became a yard sale all over our shop, each piece needing love and attention.

2. Clean, polish, powder coat and paint.

Eventually the honda was a skeleton of what was once a motorcycle. Jon took extra care in making sure each individual part was looked at, cleaned, polished and repainted. Every nut, bolt, washer, button and spoke was looked at. Jon even made sure to clean up the tools that came with it!

We decided what pieces could be saved and what needed to be replaced. Almost every metal piece had rust or signs of it including the frame, so we chose to take those ones to Chris at Crashburn cycles, He did the powder coating for us and did a kickass job!

Next up was paint, the tank, side covers and rear fender needed some serious TLC, they had scratches and dents all over. We gave our friend Ron at 22 Auto body here in strathroy a call and left these pieces with him, we knew they were in good hands!

3. On the hunt.

So all the pieces that could be fixed were on their way to fresh life and all the pieces that couldn’t be salvaged we’re put on a list. We spent countless hours searching and on the phones looking for the right parts! The honda is older, and not as common, so finding parts became quite tedious. Not only did we want Jim to have the best, we also did not want to complete break the bank for each part. For a quick brief of all the parts we had to locate, here is a list:

• Air filter element
• Brake lever pivot bolt
• Lever pivot bolt lock nut
• Fuel cap gasket
• Swingarm bushing
• Front rim
• Steering head bearing kit
• Throttle Cable
• Clutch cable
• Brake cable
• Font and rear tubes
• Front sprocket
• Rear wheel bearing and seal kit
• Complete engine gasket kit
• Battery
• Rear rim
• Fuel tank petcock
• Kick starter rubber
• Chrome side covers
• brake lever
• Clutch lever
• 5 spokes
• Fork seal kit
• Fork dust seal
• Oil Seal- Shifter shaft
• Oil seal- Kick starter
• Rubber mount
• Rubber pedal
• Front sprocket lock plate
• Front tire
• Rear tire
• Front fender
• Headlight rim
• Rear shock assy
• Dash cover- turn and neutral light
• All light bulbs
• Volt flasher unit
• Headlight screw, spring and assy.
• Front fork assemble-pair
• Headlight ring

4. Waiting game.

Once parts were found, it was mostly a waiting game. Each part coming from a different dealer, country or website. Each time we received a part it would go on and then we would continue waiting for the next one to arrive.
During this we got back all the parts from Crash burn Cycles and 22 Auto body, it’s safe to say we couldn’t of asked better guys to do these jobs for us, all of the parts came back in absolute perfect condition, looking brand new.

As we started to receive more and more parts, the Honda started to look like it’s old self again, every part has us more excited to call Jim.

5. Brand new motorcycle, same loved memories.

Finally after months we had everything we needed, Jon had spent countless hours on the bike and he finally got to put the finishing touches on it and show Jim the 1977 Honda XL75 that he had bought brand new so many years ago.

This winter job was complete out of what we normally work on and as a result we can truly say it was our pleasure to present the bike to jim when it was finished.
Thank you Jim, Tracey and family for putting this in our hands and trusting us.
– The Scotty’s team