Stew's Classic Motorcycles
Brought to you by: Manic Mechanic Mount Dora
This site is dedicated to our story and the restoration of two first generation classic Honda Magna motorcycles and a second generation classic Super Magna .
A couple of late comers, another Magna and a Shadow.
And don't miss our latest additions to the fleet, Ann's new
Harley Sportster! And Nick's (new to him)
Suzuki RS175.
And so it begins...
The saga begins late in 2004. My son, Nicholas, came to me with an ad in the local neighborhood flyer, the Wekiva Treasure Chest, for two classic '83 Honda Magna motorcycles, a 750 and an 1100, in parts, in boxes - $300. He was very excited and my wife, Ann, gave me that "humor him" look. It was already late in the evening and I was reluctant to call about them, let alone go take a look at them. But something told me we should, so we did.
We arrived at the seller's garage, filled with a dune buggy and dozens of cardboard boxes full of motorcycle parts, frames, wheels, etc. Nick was in heaven, and I must say, so was I. As I crawled around this guy's garage, sifting through box after box of parts, trying to identify all the major sub-assemblies, it brought back fond memories of my teenage years when my parents bought me a Honda SL125 on/off dirt bike, in parts, in boxes, for Christmas.
It looked like everything was there to put together two motorcycles, but I still wasn't ready to buy. I was about to tell him I needed to think about it, or maybe I did, can't remember. To add to the pressure, he told me a motorcycle salvage dealer was coming with a trailer to haul it away if I wasn't interested. Nick had that "Please Dad, I'll do anything" look and $300 really isn't that much, so... I bought and resurrected them from the dead, or at least the many cardboard boxes of parts they came in.
Well, those boxes just kind of sat there in the garage and stared at me for awhile, or rather I stared at them everytime I walked into the garage. Then one day as I arrived home from work my daughter Courtney's friend, Jared (Jay), had assembled the 750 frame, forks, swing arm and wheels enough that I was staring at the start of a motorcycle, not just a bunch of parts staring at me. Jay was there at the house almost every night when I got home, looking at this, tinkering with that, so I had no choice but to get serious about restoring these classics. This was the catalyst, the spark of motivation I needed to prod me into action.
The next steps...
We went and bought some of those big plastic storage bins in various size and I sorted and re-boxed the motorcycle parts into sub-assemblies. I soon discovered that the upper crankcase (with the cylinders) to the 750 was missing, along with the crankshaft, transmission mainshaft, shift drum and shift forks. All I had was the lower crankcase with the transmission countershaft and gears. Damn! Thought I spent enough time digging through the parts and looked close enough BEFORE we bought to make sure this didn't happen. Oh well, just one more thing to think about.
The bigger issue: the garage was in no shape to work on anything and still quite a mess from the 2004 hurricanes (Charlie, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne). Plywood everywhere! Jay came up with a brilliant idea of how to re-arrange the garage to maximize space. Nick and I were soon off to Home Depot to buy wood, screws, shop lights and nomex to build new benches - 25 square feet more bench space. This allowed us to further sort screws, bolts and other miscellaneous small parts into the new bin boxes on the new benches and see what we were working with.
We also took a trip to Harbor Freight Tools to get the tools we would need to clean and rebuild the 1100 motor we did seem to have all the parts for. Nick got a new socket set and I got micrometers, bore gauges, a parts washer, degreaser, O-rings, circlips, E-clips, and new combination wrenches. Of course, now I needed a new roller cabinet/tool box to store all these new tools!
It was down to business. I did extensive online research looking for more information. These search results somehow always included eBay. Imagine that! Anyway, got a somewhat helpful Haynes manual, but as always, it left off just about where I needed to know more. At least it let me get started. I managed to eventually find an original Honda shop manual for the 750 and a PDF version for the 1100 on eBay and was all set. Well, almost all set...
Legal issues...
I was all set to restore these bikes, but wasn't anywhere near prepared for the
bureaucratic non-sense I was about to encounter. I bought these motorcycle parts
without the titles. I thought I did my homework, researched what I needed
BEFORE I be-bopped down to the local DMV. Follow the link above to read
about the troubles you'll run into if you didn't get the title.
GET THE TITLE WHEN YOU BUY!
I learned my lesson the hard way. In a nutshell, I had the 750 pretty much ready to roll but it took so long to obtain ownership, I ended up buying a second generation Super Magna from my best friend while I waited to get the titles. It sat in his garage in Satellite Beach for two years, slowly wasting away in the salt air. He sold it to me for what he had put into having the shaft drive rebuilt before he parked it when leaving for Afghanistan.
It was a bargain at $700. Even after I found out the transmission countershaft should have been rebuilt, not the shaft drive. What was left of the 700 countershaft bearings fell out of the engine and onto the floor when I opened it up. It's a big, fat, hairy deal to replace the countershaft bearings. You need special locknut tools, new locknuts, bearings, a press, the guides for the press, etc.
The fickle finger of fate...
Turns out having just the lower half of the 750 engine was a blessing. Even though they have different part numbers, the countershafts are identical in measurement between the first generation 750 and the second generation 700. So I took the extra 750 countershaft and swapped out the gears from the 700 and put it back together.
I lucked out, but at least I could spend my time restoring the motorcycle, not spinning my wheels in line at the DMV for the sixth time. Nearly $13,000 and four years later I have five complete motorcycles, worth between $2000 and $3500 each. Okay, so it was break even on the first two in parts and I could have bought them outright, but that would have been too easy, and I wouldn't have the confidence that they would keep running.
I enjoyed riding the two V45s and was looking forward to riding the V65 before Christmas (2006). Santa was getting a new sleigh, so to speak. Then Happy New Year (2007). Well, it's almost Christmas (2008) now. After fixing the fuel leak and adjusting the carb floats for the third time, the 1100 runs much better, but I'm not finished yet. Well, there are a couple other things, but the major one was the carbs.
Ann jumped on the back with me on the V45s and enjoyed riding as much as I did. She decided to take the Motorcycle Safety Foundation course to get her motorcycle endorsement. It's the same course I took and I highly recommend it. Granted, you may not be able to sign up for the one here in Orlando, but there's probably a motorcycle dealership near you that offers something similar. It used to get you a discount off your insurance, but not since they repealed the helmet law here in Florida.
Unfortunately, she dumped the bike during the quick stop, which means immediate failure. She could have gone back to re-test later and I said she should keep in touch with Orlando Harley, just to keep her foot in the door, but she wanted to get some practice before she went back. She tried but didn't feel comfortable on the V45s so we had to find something else. It's a long story, but it goes something like this...
The Reader's Digest version...
With the latest additions, a 1985 Magna 500 (V30) and a 1983 Shadow 500, my garage is full (and my wallet empty). We didn't buy them for me, we bought them for Ann to practice with. We bought the V30 first, only to get it home and find the block was cracked and wouldn't hold water. So we bought the Shadow as a daily rider from a local student, but it needed work too.
It took me awhile to get one of those 500s running well enough to ride, so it got beyond the month or so they'll let you wait to retest. Now she's thinking just pay her $5 and go take her test at the DMV. Actually, she would rather re-test at Orlando Harley than the DMV. At least they let you practice a couple times before having to do it for real. She got her permit, good for 90 days, and did better everytime we went riding. I'm very proud of her for keeping at it.
We rode just about every weekend until she had renewed her permit the maximum number of times. Nick had a job at the Vac Stop in Mt. Dora, taking apart vacuum cleaners, servicing and cleaning them, and putting them back together of course. Ann and I rode out there to drop him off or pick him up. It's about a 40 mile round trip on scenic back roads. Heaven.
The price for the class was reduced from $279 to $199, so Ann just took the class over again. This time together with our daughter Courtney and they both passed. We've taken a number of 'family' trips together and with her friend Jay. Woohoo! Now the whole family rides, even if Nick has to ride two up (for now). Even her boyfriend, Es, is learning to ride. Ann and I got him a gift certificate for Christmas 2007 to take the basic ride course.
Hopefully he'll take it soon since we get a free advanced rider course when he signs up for the basic course. Ann and I are both going to take the advanced course. With her recent purchase of a Harley Sportster, her confidence level has really grown and we both feel it's time to learn our limits and the bikes'.
The Heritage 441 Run...
(20 August 2008)
Our latest adventure was the
Heritage 441 Run for our 25th Wedding Anniversary. I planned our motorcycle
trip based on a route borrowed from a gentleman on the Galaxieland site, which I
was reading at the time because we considered buying a Vintage 63-64 Ford
Galaxie from a friend, but that's another (unfinished) story. We begin in
Florida, ride US441 through Georgia and North Carolina to the Smoky Mountains
and back again. We started out on our bikes and got about 2 hours into the trip
when my head gasket blew leaving Ocala... You can read more about it
here.
So, needless to say, I needed another motorcycle to ride. With Courtney still riding the 750, I was out of luck. Even if Courtney had not been riding the 750, I had gotten too comfortable with the forward controls on the Super Magna and felt as if my knees were in my chin on the 750. I rode it to work for a week after I put the new AGM battery in it and got it running again for Courtney. I wanted to make sure there were zero problems before giving it back to her. There is no need to worry about gremlins in the works with her around... 8^D
I finally got busy on the 1100 (V65) after letting her sit for nearly a year. The issue with the carbs leaking an entire tank of fuel through the crankcase ended up being a couple of bad float valve seats. It took me an entire weekend to get them to stop leaking. I let them sit overnight with an auxiliary fuel bottle connected just to make sure. They're back on and it runs like new. Almost. It's another long story, but you can read about it here. I even managed to move the KG Slider Rack / Backrest from the Shadow over to the V65 so I have a way to strap my lunchbox down for the ride to work and back.
A Dirt Bike AT LAST!
(25 September 2008)
Nick finally gets his
dirt bike! We'd been back and forth on this forever, at least the last year
or two. At first Ann and I looked at getting him a late model Honda, new or
used, mainly since we already have Hondas. We found out that a new CR100 Honda
cost as much as what I can get from one of the 500s if I sell it. It was hard to
take, and these days, even harder to finance...
So... We had him look for used bikes, in parts, in boxes. Next thing I know, we're taking a trip over to the guy's storage unit to have a look at a two stroke Suzuki RS175 and a second parts bike, in parts, in boxes, $200. It looks as if everything is there for two bikes, minus a set of forks and handlebars, so I set up the ramp and we loaded the rolling chassis up.
It's missing the kick stand, so Nick holds it as I strap it in. We load the rest of the parts in some five gallon buckets, the second frame, a second set of rims, and are still able to put the tailgate up. Now we've got our work cut out for us. Nick cleaned off one of the benches to have room to work on it, without any prompting from us. He is the most motivated I've seen him since he worked on vacuum cleaners at the Vac Stop.
So as a reward, when I get home from work Friday, we empty the parts from the bed of the truck and get busy working on separating them. Nick did most of the work and I suggested he organize them based on frame versus engine. Before we knew it, everything was sorted and we started looking at the pieces, comparing what we had to the online parts fiches. We're waiting on the shop manual to arrive to really get started on this beast though.
I hope you enjoy this site as much as I've enjoyed restoring these classics. My writing skills leave much to be desired, but I wanted to capture the experience as it happened so I wouldn't forget things, without having to look back and try to remember. I admit some of the saga is looking back, perhaps too far back to remember accurately, but again I just wanted to capture the experience before it was all lost to time.
Click on one of the bikes below for more detail about its restoration
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
V45 Magna 750 | V65 Magna 1100 | V45 Super Magna 700 |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
V30 Magna 500 | VT Shadow 500 | RS175 Suzuki |
Further reading...
Wikipedia has a great history of the Magna. I also found some great parts sources online, both OEM and aftermarket.
The Timeline...
- Re-organized garage (Jan 2005)
- Sorted boxed motorcycle parts into sub-assemblies and re-organized into new plastic storage bins.
- Tore down Nick's train layout, sorted the track and stored.
- Disassembled the train table.
- Moved hurricane plywood against back wall in train layout's place.
- Organized and sorted (and sorted and sorted) everything.
- Moved Nick's metal shelves.
- Bought materials for and constructed two new 2.5' x 5' benches, with outlets and switches.
- Bought and installed four new flourescent lamp fixtures.
- Added wheels to Courtney's wood box from Skycraft.
- Bought parts washer and de-greaser, combination wrenches, hex wrenches, micrometers and bore gauges.
- Bought carb and brake cleaner, brake fluid, gear oil, grease, rubber gloves and LOTS of GoJo and shop towels.
- Ordered Engine Rebuild Gasket Sets for 750 and 1100 from Dennis Kirk (Feb 2005)
- Bought Replacement 750 Engine from Jack's
- Ordered More Parts and Tools from Dennis Kirk (Mar 2005)
- 750 Speedometer Cable
- Clutch Master Cylinder Rebuild Kit
- Carburetor Rebuild Kits
- Flywheel Puller/22mm x 1.5-R.H-Internal, Male.
- Passed the MSF Basic Rider Course and Got My Endorsement! (April 2005)
- Started
750 Engine Rebuild (June 2005)
- Disassembled Parts Engine
- Degreased Parts
- Measured Clearances
- Calculated Tolerances
- Started Rebuild Record
- Ordered Buffing Motor and Starter Kit (July 2005)
- Buffed Everything for the 750 (July - Aug 2005)
- Sanded, Buffed and Painted Engine Cases
- Sanded, Buffed and Rebuilt Front Forks
- Sanded and Buffed Wheels
- Buffed Rear Brake Backing Plate, Arm and Rod
- Buffed Instrument Cases, Handlebars and Headlight Mounts
- Ordered Rebuild Parts for 750 from Service Honda (Sep 2005)
- Bought an 1100 Replacement Engine and 750 Exhaust from Jack's (Feb 2006)
- Bought Tim's Super Magna 700 - I FINALLY OWN A MOTORCYCLE!!! (March 2006)
- Installed
Rebuilt 750 Engine
- Fixed Multiple Fuel Leaks
- Fired It Up
- Diagnosed and Repaired 'Runaway' Idle Problem
- Tested Cooling System and Fan Switch
- Ordered and Installed MAC Mufflers for 750 (April 2006) - 1 Year Anniversary Having My Endorsement
- I FINALLY OWN THE 1100 !!!
- I FINALLY OWN THE 750 !!! (May 2006)
- Painted (Spray Bombed) 750 (August 2006)
- Bought some Rustoleum Primer, Blue Metal Flake and Clear spray paint from Walmart
- Sanded and prepped fuel tank
- Spray painted fuel tank, bug lands in last coat of clear
- Paint still soft and easily marred by me, the seat, control cables, etc.
- Realize patience is a virtue I do not possess
- Prepared 750 Tank For Primer(Sep 2006)
- Prepped and Painted 750 and
1100 Tins (Oct 2006)
- Finished Air Supply Upgrades
- Upgraded Makeshift Paint Booth
- Sanded, and Sanded, and Sanded...
- Filled, Repaired, Prepped and Primed Parts
- Prepped, Sanded, Prepped and Sprayed Parts
- Prepped, Donned 'Bunny' Suit, Mixed and Sprayed Clear Coat
- Repaired Sags and Re-Cleared 1100 Tank
- Started Riding 750 to Work
- Rode to work a few days, occasionally noticed smell of gasoline
- Noticed new paint bubbling at left side leading edge seam of fuel tank
- Realized bubbles were full of fuel, emptied fuel tank
- Removed and coated fuel tank.
- Rode until 700 (Super) was running.
- Started Riding Super to Work
- Noticeably less power than 750
- Still plenty of fun
- Bought a
Magna 500 for Ann (Oct 2006)
- Previous Owner (PO) let me ride it around the neighborhood, made LOUD valve ticking noise
- Bought it, brought it home
- Tried to top off fluids and coolant poured out exhaust
- Pulled exhaust pipes to find blown head gasket on #2 cylinder (minimum)
- Pulled head and found cracked cylinder
- Bought a
Shadow 500 for Ann (Oct 2006)
- Contacted seller, told 'family deal' in the works, bought Magna 500 instead
- Seller contacts us, family deal fell thru...
- Obviously needs work, runs intermittently well, bought it, brought it home
- Replaced spark unit and rebuilt carbs, runs great! (Nov 2006)
- Polished, prepped, primed and restored remaining cosmetics (Jan 2007)
- Jay buys his new
Shadow 750 (Feb 2007)
- Looks good on him
- Red 'ghost' flames on red bike looks good too
- Paybacks...
- Finishing touches on
Shadow (Feb 2007)
- Polished, prepped, painted and restored remaining cosmetics and tins
- Ann loves riding her 'new' 'bikle' everywhere
- Orlando Bike Week (9 March 2007)
- Magna 500
Engine Rebuild
- Need to prep and paint frame
- Need to sand, polish and buff exhausts
- Need to rebuild 700 forks to fix leak that's getting worse
- Super Magna 700 fork rebuild (Mar 2007)
- Stripped and drilled out fork bolt
- 'Borrowed' fork bolt from Interceptor 500 fork
- Polished and buffed fork sliders and front wheel parts
- Nick's Interceptor Boondoggle (Apr 2007)
- Still sitting beside the garage in parts... waiting to be auctioned on eBay
- Super Magna 700 fork rebuild (Apr 2007)
- Replaced seals and re-installed front end
- Installed VTX headlight. Sweet...
- Began to really notice drivetrain noise and 'slop'
- Sidetracked by Frankenstein
- Es' Dad's F100 needs a rebuilt carb (and much, much more)
- My best friend Tim is killed on 528 (8 May 2007)
- Some dumb@$$ kid thought it would be a good idea to go over a 100MPH in a Mustang
- Multiple 911 calls from drivers narrowly avoiding mishaps go unheeded
- Loses control and crosses median, hitting Tim head on, killing them both instantly
- What's left of the Mustang, now in two pieces, slams into a van full of kids on their senior trip
- Kathy calls to tell me the next morning as I'm leaving for work
- Finally got the Magna 500 running (Jun 2007)
- Grand Canyon Vacation (Jun 2007)
- Visited Kathy and brought home some of Tim's things (10 June 2007)
- Flew out to Phoenix (13 June 2007)
- Spent the week in Flagstaff
- Drove down to Sedona and spent the next week there
- Flew back (24 June 2007)
- Ann and Courtney get their endorsements (7 August 2007)
- Biketoberfest (Oct 2007)
- Ann's New Sportster (27 February 2008)
- Missed (Skipped) Bike Week (Mar 2008)
- Heritage 441 Run (Aug 2008)
- The V65 Lives! (Sep 2008)
- Nick gets his Dirt Bike! (Sep 2008)