Black Beauty (!)

[Easter]

OK, I hear the snickers all the way down in South Texas. But if you remember the book (or the movie, you younger fellows) The beautiful Stallion Black Beauty gets sold off with the farm and disappears for many years. Then one day the kid, now a man (or woman, I am working from memory) stumbles onto a tired old cart horse that seems familiar for some reason. Low and behold--it is Black Beauty. Who then gets saved and restored to health if not youth.

Well, this is one tired old cart horse!! Along with a title I got a big book of maintenance history dating back to 1986 (maybe a second owner? since this is an '81) Scanning through it I see that the timing belts failed at over 200,000 miles and the heads were repaired. Some years later a newer engine with only 47,000 miles was installed. Now it is up to 129,000 miles. That means the frame has traveled almost 300,000 miles!!!

Maybe it isn't worth fixing up, I haven't had time to do anything at all to it except bring it home, but the price was right--FREE. (yes, a friend of a friend was looking for someone to pawn it off on and I am the lucky sucker.) "it was running, but not well, when parked several years ago" Brakes were locked so it was a real bear to get off the trailer and onto the porch out of the weather.

Supposedly it turns over with a battery and if so I will do a compression test. If that looks decent we will proceed. I am actually visualizing the bike painted a light tan color and I kind of like the running lights and Harleyesq look of the old horse so I may follow that theme.

[chewy999]

Should be interesting and you'll have lost nothing if it fails apart from your time.

Two things, think you mean the frame has almost done 300,000 miles, and it looks more like The Ugly Duckling, and you need to turn it into a beautiful Swan!

[Casper]

Love the blue air horns, is the black thing on the right side another horn? All you need is a set of Texas Long-Horns mounted on top the headlights and you are ready to rock&roll.

[Easter]

Love the blue air horns, is the black thing on the right side another horn? All you need is a set of Texas Long-Horns mounted on top the headlights and you are ready to rock&roll.

Long Horns-now that is an idea! Yes, I think that black thing is a horn. Will have to check more later. Meanwhile I have two other bikes at the ready-to-disassemble-and-paint stage so I really need to let this one sit for a while but it looks so forlorn setting there that I don't know if I can ignore it.

[gregforesi]

The black thingy looks like an alarm siren. High theft item there so make sure you wire it back up.

For just putzing around you have a good start on a decent rat bike.

[dl1000]

Old saying I just made up, " Anything you get for free is well worth what you paid for it "
Those horns are groovy baby!

[Old Fogey]

Well, it's a Wing........just about. And we've seen worse.............er........um......no.... maybe not

Wait a min..did you say FREE???????

Man, what a beautiful bike, a real treasure, jewel in the making etc etc etc

[TNTbefree]

I am curious as to what the guy who rode it looked like. In my minds eye, I see a guy who is about 5 foot 10 inches, and a hundred pounds overweight. He has a round face with a three day beard and a german style helmet covering his balding head. Over his beer gut, he has on a pit stained white T-shirt that is a bit too small, exposing his white belly, and has a few moth holes in it, with a pack of crushed Camels rolled up in the sleeve. His jean pants look dirty, even when clean, and the boots he wears need to be laced up, but the frayed strings flap around in the wind as he tools on down the road blowing his horns...

[Roady]

LOL! That's the guy.

Can't beat the price and the stories it could tell would be priceless.

[Neil]

Looks like someone loved that bike long time!

[UltraRunner]

That looks like a well used bike! They were made to ride, and this one certainly has been ridden! I like it- and I love the idea of the longhorns.

What is the lever on the left side of the bike, that looks like it is bolted onto the back of the tip over bars? Is it part of a heel shifter or something? I can't tell in the photos, but it could take a while to figure out that rat's nest!

[Easter]

Well, the guy that gave it to me was the last owner but his brother owned it up until the last few years. I didn't see the brother but the last owner was retired coast guard, slim about 150 soaking wet, in his 70's about 5'8". Very pleasant and polite. I am pretty sure he was the younger of the two.

It does have a heal-toe shifter. Those weird rods on the handlebars are what is left of a windscreen.

I am hoping to do a compression test today. That should tell much of the story. Have to steal a battery from one of the other bikes so nothing is ever easy. Speaking of rats nest, I took off the side cover over the battery and the wiring is going to take a computer to figure out. Wires stuffed in everywhere.

[Casper]

I just say gett'er running, make sure all the horns/sirens work, put on a nice set of Longhorns and either ride it, or perhaps sell it to the guy TNT described I also really like the front signal lights, it looks like the right points sideways, and the left one gives guidance to any low flying aircraft of your left turn intentions. But more on the serious side, assuming the engine/tranny/drive train are not as bad as the bike looks, it could easily just be a handyman special with a very nice bike coming out the other end,............. with or without the horns.

[Easter]

OK, I know many of you are going to be disappointed but the blue horns and the siren (Yes it was a siren and it still works!!) all came off today.

I borrowed a battery from the "Nightmare" and confirmed that the motor is not locked up, the starter works and with either in the intake, it fires up and makes a deep pleasant rumble until it uses up the vapor. Better yet the dry compression check ranged from a quite good 180 to an acceptable 155 psi. It has a weird electric fuel pump and seemed to be getting fuel but their was no evidence of ignition except when the either was present.

Because the brakes were locked up, I pulled (hammered) the calipers off all the way around. Now I can at least roll it.

One of the biggest things to sort out is going to be the wiring. I thought I had seen some messes but this takes the cake. Curiously almost everything worked as intended. No turn signals and I didn't check the brake lights but since the engine fired up and the fuel pump, headlights and tail lights all worked I guess the PO was at least able to make it work even if not very elegantly. I had a wiring harness from another '81 but I canabalized it for colored wire, so now I will need to track down another. As you can hopefully see from the pictures this harness is beyond help.

[Easter]

The Wings that came before. I am trying to figure out how to put these pictures in my signature box.