2004 Honda ST1300

I decided that I wanted another bike since my current ST1300 is getting a lot of commuter miles on it. I started looking at wrecks at auctions, but they didn't seem too promising, so I just figured next year I would be looking at buying a new one.

Then, my son, Bobby contacted me one day and said there was a wrecked ST1300 on Craig's List. I took a look at it and emailed the contact in the add and asked him to give me more pictures. So he sent me the add pictures, which bigger, I could see a lot of the damage, but not all of it...of course.

I told him that there was at least $3,000 worth of damage and his price of $4,200 was too high. He said he would take $3,400, so I had to go look at it. I took Brett and the trailer up there and had to wait for him at the tow yard, but it was worth the wait!

From what he told me and what I could figure out, it looks like the 2nd owner sold the bike in November 2011, and the 3rd owner rode it for 500 miles and crashed it without ever registering it. The tow yard had it sitting there collecting storage fees and a month later they put a lean on it. The 3rd owner dropped the title by to pay for the fees and said they could do with it what they wanted.

The accident was probably a low speed spill where the bike spun around and went backwards on its left side into a rock or curb.

The tow yard owner played with the idea to fix it, but decided to sell it. He said he had a lot of inquires, but no one wanting to buy it. Until I came along! ;-)

So Brett and I loaded it up and brought it home. Since then I have been tearing into it and buying replacement parts from ebay. As of last week (3/15) I had replacement headers and mufflers, centerstand and shifter (shifter was from my wreck back in 2008.  The mechanic didn't want to replace the shifter, so I just hung on to it.) on it. For now, I'm just doing what I can to get it road worthy. I'll fixing it up real nice, later.  

What I have found broken, bent or scraped:

• Left muffler was pushed forward (in a 90 Degree bend), breaking and bending the step, bending both headers and the centerstand. -- I replaced both mufflers and headers from ebay.
• Left under cowl was bent broken and scraped so bad, it was toast. -- Being replaced with one from my 05 wreck (which has a crack in it).
• Left saddlebag is scratched up pretty good. -- Found a brand new one on ebay for too many$$$, but I got it!
• Shifter was scraped and bent. -- Replaced with new one from my 05 wreck.
• Center stand was bent. -- replaced with one from ebay.
• Rear rim has a good bend in it. -- Sent off and repaired and is now mounted.
• Left engine guard scraped and bent, cover was toast. -- replaced from ebay.
• Left valve cover is scraped.
• Left main cowl was scraped up good and busted up pretty good from the mirror that went into it. Also it was melted by the header being pushed forward. -- I bought a replacement off ebay.
• The right one is okay, with only a few minor scrapes -- polished out a lot of it, looks okay now.
• The left mirror cover and turn signal were missing and the mirror was broken and bent. -- new left mirror cover and mirror
• The right mirror cover has some discoloration, looks like something non accident related spilled on it. -- replaced with a new one.
• The instrument case and the instrument panel are both broken/cracked. The front and rear cases were replaced with some okay ones I had. Instrument panel was replaced with a new one.
• The upper cowl stay is bent. -- Bought a new one.
• The upper cowl is broken.   -- bought a new one
• The windshield cowl is broken. -- bought a new one.
• The windshield is scraped. -- Replaced it with the original one from my bike.
• The Kickstand probe is bent (the little dohicky that sticks out for you to get it down with).

I bought the bike  on February 28, 2012 and on May 28, 2012 I took it for a 30 miles ride!  So it took me right at three months to get it on the road. I still need to get the painting done and start adding other goodies (FARKLEs), but it can be ridden now.

Now that I have the major issues done, I will be putting on new tires this next weekend and then start adding the electronics, a fuseblock, Stebel Horn, Driving Lights, etc.

To check out my progress, click on the picture below.