Reluctant Project - Cooley Barn Find

[Gregory]

What would you do if you were in my position?

I snapped up a wrecked Cooley that has been sitting in a barn for the past 15 years. Not only did the previous owner wreck it, but he molested it by painting it badly, and putting on a skunk tank. To add the to the expense of an all original restoration, it also didn't have a title.

In addition to all the regular stuff that has to be done via Basscliffs tips, and bodywork and paint.........

It Needs:

Seat Pan and seat
Correct tank
Tailpiece and light assembly (or at least the red lens)
Windshield
Front master cylinder
Gauge Cluster
Stator cover, and possibly stator
Pods or complete air box
2 chrome valve end covers
side kickstand
left and right pegs.. if I cant straighten
Also front rotor does not look original.
Trade out the 1978 carbs for Cooley Choke on the dash type?
I have no way of knowing whether the frame is tweaked or not at this point.

I think the motor is probably ok because it was obviously wrecked while it was moving...and has been sitting ever since.

There is also a decal from a company (TSR Racing - Building exotic racing engines 305-762-7522) so it may have a beefed up motor....

 

[Frank Z.]

50/50 on whether to make or... (gasp) break.

You may want to contact TSR Racing (if still viable biz) to see if they have record of the motor build. Could be a 'special'.

I'm betting this is an '80 S model, albeit in rough shape. (85mph speedo, slotted rotors). VIN will start with GS1000-53XXXX. Appears PO may have swapped head *?to accept VM style carbs? or used adapters on the original '80s head. Check the carb bowls... if you see the big 17mm drain plugs lurking underneath, they be smoothbores and very desirable.

Aside from dash, mirror(s), and rear sets (yes, the '80 S model had rear sets), other parts can be had. I may know someone who has an extra '80 S tank...

Final answer: turn 'er into a Cooley tribute bike

 

[Gregory]

50/50 on whether to make or... (gasp) break.

You may want to contact TSR Racing (if still viable biz) to see if they have record of the motor build. Could be a 'special'.

I'm betting this is an '80 S model, albeit in rough shape. (85mph speedo, slotted rotors). VIN will start with GS1000-53XXXX. Appears PO may have swapped head *?to accept VM style carbs? or used adapters on the original '80s head. Check the carb bowls... if you see the big 17mm drain plugs lurking underneath, they be smoothbores and very desirable.

Aside from dash, mirror(s), and rear sets (yes, the '80 S model had rear sets), other parts can be had. I may know someone who has an extra '80 S tank...

Final answer: turn 'er into a Cooley tribute bike

Thanks Frank. You are right, the vin is 530678

I haven't had time to track down the TSR stuff but the carbs appear to be smoothbores because compared to the 26mm on my 78GS1000, these have an extra aluminum housing between the rubber boot and the carb, as well as a big drain plug on the bottom of the bowl.

 

[Frank Z.]

Thanks Frank. You are right, the vin is 530678

I haven't had time to track down the TSR stuff but the carbs appear to be smoothbores because compared to the 26mm on my 78GS1000, these have an extra aluminum housing between the rubber boot and the carb, as well as a big drain plug on the bottom of the bowl.

Those "housings" are indeed adaptors and are very rare bits. Congrats on scoring an S with smoothies!

 

[Gregory]

So do you think it is worth sinking some money in to it then? Complete ground up restore?

Does the value increase with the smoothbores on the Cooley, or can I put the high performance stuff on my skunk (my daily driver) and still have the Cooley worth something as a more stock bike?

 

[russr33]

So do you think it is worth sinking some money in to it then? Complete ground up restore?

Does the value increase with the smoothbores on the Cooley, or can I put the high performance stuff on my skunk (my daily driver) and still have the Cooley worth something as a more stock bike?

No to complete ground up resto. The parts needed to get the value make it not cost prohibitive IMO. Now doing a Cooley race bike like Frank suggests makes sense. You have everything needed for the most part and a bike like that is sought after.

 

[Gregory]

No to complete ground up resto. The parts needed to get the value make it not cost prohibitive IMO. Now doing a Cooley race bike like Frank suggests makes sense. You have everything needed for the most part and a bike like that is sought after.

Thanks Russ, much appreciated.

I think I may be on the fence about this one a while... on whether to keep two bikes in my stable. I actually like my black skunk except would like it to perform better. If the Cooley ended up performing better I would want to ride it all the time.

That is why I wonder if taking this motor (if it is already been made high performance) and carbs and putting them on my 78, and putting my 78 stuff on this Cooley.... would be an unwise investment?

 

[Nessism]

Doesn't look that bad to me. The gauge cluster looks repairable. The top glass can be replaced easily enough, and the surround is ABS, which can be glued if the pieces are there.

If you sell the smoothbores and buy some stockers, you can pocket about $400+.

A 1980 1000E tank can be used if you remove the tank badge bars.

The rear tail is the same as the '79 and '80 1000E. Not hard to come by.

Foot pegs can be bent back into shape.

I've seen worse.

 

[nvr2old]

It looks restorable in my opinion, too. The fairing can be repaired, the dash looks OK..mirrors are gonna be a problem, though. The tank can be replaced as well as the tail section, no biggie. Repaint. Any S that still has that many original parts is worth saving. It'd take a few thousand bux, but hey..most bikes do.

 

[ozman]

So do you think it is worth sinking some money in to it then? Complete ground up restore?

Does the value increase with the smoothbores on the Cooley, or can I put the high performance stuff on my skunk (my daily driver) and still have the Cooley worth something as a more stock bike?

its a 80 s model you can tell from rear brake pedal position and how the rear support for mufflers is shaped this was only done on the 80 s model
restore one day it will be a 10k bike if done properly

ozman

 

[Gregory]

I really appreciate all the inputs. It is starting to sound like I may not be throwing money out the window by restoring it.

Whatever I eventually do with it, I will definitely post it and appreciate everyone's advise.

It is in a little worse shape (but not much) than the skunk I am now riding. I think I have about $1700 of repairs in the skunk, which included a paint job and stripe kit. I will probably start tearing the Cooley down and crossing my fingers - hoping for the best.

 

[chuck hahn]

Greg..I have forks, possibly that stator cover, 2 complete stock airboxes, lots of other bits and pieces in about 6 different banana boxes....so I think your pretty well covered as far as most of the missing things goes. Ive got several turn signals and a pile of lenses...and a complete rear light assembly!!

So what I am saying is to bring her up, we can go thru boxes and get everything that I have set aside for you. Then we can yank the engine ( after we actually start it to see whats up in there and do a compression check as well ) and get the engine gone thru and repainted.I dont see anything that drastic that would stop me from doing a restore.

Bikescreens.com has the windshields, Pit Replica has the seat covers, the decals are available, worst comes to worst I can braze some metal into that skunk tanks indents so the bondo wont be so thick and your tank problem is solved...or buy that one from Frank..if he will sell.

I got the polishing equipment for the covers too....

 

[Gregory]

Greg..I have forks, possibly that stator cover, 2 complete stock airboxes, lots of other bits and pieces in about 6 different banana boxes....so I think your pretty well covered as far as most of the missing things goes. Ive got several turn signals and a pile of lenses...and a complete rear light assembly!!

So what I am saying is to bring her up, we can go thru boxes and get everything that I have set aside for you. Then we can yank the engine ( after we actually start it to see whats up in there and do a compression check as well ) and get the engine gone thru and repainted.I dont see anything that drastic that would stop me from doing a restore.

Bikescreens.com has the windshields, Pit Replica has the seat covers, the decals are available, worst comes to worst I can braze some metal into that skunk tanks indents so the bondo wont be so thick and your tank problem is solved...or buy that one from Frank..if he will sell.

I got the polishing equipment for the covers too....

That may be a good plan!

 

[chuck hahn]

Greg...like i said in our phone chat...just leave early some saturday AM....coffee is always hot. Just let me know when your on the way.

 

[russr33]

Ed is correct you can offset some of the costs by selling the carbs and tank. The '78 tank will bring good $$ as well as the carbs. The mirrors and pipes however (if you wanted to bring back to completely stock) will be quite expensive.

 

[chuck hahn]

Russ..seeing that I have almost everything the bike needs as far as parts goes, and we can replace the dash lens, the most expensive things would be the mirrors and paint. He may leave the exhaust as is if its good enough for now.

The basis is to get it all mechanically sound and do the few cosmetic things as money and parts allow. I am giving him whats in the storage boxes, so thats not an out of pocket expense for him. The stuff is just taking up space anyways!!!

 

[Gregory]

The kerker pipe is a little rough looking, but I actually like it better than the V&H drag pipe that is on my skunk, and it is fairly new. (I had a kerker back in the 80's)

... so it may make sense to swap them and try to figure out how to paint the kerker black for my skunk.

 

[russr33]

:-k

Russ..seeing that I have almost everything the bike needs as far as parts goes, and we can replace the dash lens, the most expensive things would be the mirrors and paint. He may leave the exhaust as is if its good enough for now.

The basis is to get it all mechanically sound and do the few cosmetic things as money and parts allow. I am giving him whats in the storage boxes, so thats not an out of pocket expense for him. The stuff is just taking up space anyways!!!

That is damn nice of you Chuck; nice job!

 

[Guest]

We all have different circumstances and requirements, but, to answer your original question - I would keep that one (given the necessary storage facilities) and treat it as a long-term project.

With friends like Chuck to help, it might not be quite so long-term.

 

[Gregory]

Chuck is a good egg... so I'm sure we can work something out that benefits us both.

I spent all day today getting the title stuff done... long story of several snafus but finally got through the bull and misinformed government people. In the end, it was only $155 total for all the bonded title stuff. I am glad it is done.