When is a Job is not a Job? When it's a Passion.

I have been finding this a tricky blog to write. This is mainly because I want to be able to put over the passion that some people feel for their bikes and their restoration projects. I don't want my own lack of passion for bikes to detract from expressing the passion of others.

I am passionate about cakes. When I see a fantastic cake (not a decorated one that hides the beauty underneath but a cake you can taste by looking at it). I want to know how it was made, the ingredients, the time it took, the preparation, etc. I take pictures of the cakes I make and post them on my Facebook. They're not perfectly decorated but I am going for the taste. I could write all day about the cakes I have seen and which cafe or restaurant I saw them in. I love them. They must be served on a nice plate with a cake fork alongside a pot of tea and a teacup - not a mug!

This one I took to a bbq. It is a fresh cream sponge soaked in rose water with fresh raspberries - yum

I am writing this entry with your passion in mind.

Ian Fife

Ian Fife has been following us at David Silver Spares for some time now, I often see his name crop up on a post as a Comment or a Like. Ian is a retired Firefighter having worked in London from 1973 up to his retirement in 2000. He has owned and ridden bikes since 1961 when he was 16 years old (a future Dom maybe?).

His first bike at 16, was an Ambassador with Villiers 6E (197cc) engine like the one below (it reminds me a bit of an ant??). It had a double saddle and girder front forks with no rear suspension apart from a sprung saddle. It was a short lived purchase as he couldn't get the timing right because the thread of the main shaft had stripped and at 16 he couldn't afford a new one.

Ambassador with a 197 Villiers 6E engine

Ian flirted with a few more bikes like his Francis Barnet (not in original trim) that he bought for a fiver, an Arial Huntsmaster, Ariel Red Hunter, Honda CB77 305cc, 125vv Honda, Triumph Tiger 100, Yamaha RD 350, Honda CBR 1000FN and of course the CB400F2, which he bought as new in 1977.

Ian on his Francis Barnet 1961

Arial VH Red Hunter in 1963

Triumph Tiger 100 in 1974

1965 CB77s fitted with Gold Star silencers (Ian's on the right)

Ian on his 1965 CB77 305cc Honda

New CB400F from Ian's bedroom window in 1977

Ian bought his CB400F2 new in 1977 from Tippets Motorcyles in Surbiton where he knew the owner, Phil Alexander. It was bought for a whopping £650! The bike was used to travel to work up to London and was used alongside his car and his CBR1000 so the mileage stayed quite low. The present mileage on the bike is still only 21,900.

It was used until around 1966 when the storms knocked it over in the garden and covered it in mud. Ian pushed it into the shed and gradually it got surrounded and covered with junk and it rusted badly during this period. This must happen a lot to you bike nutters because my husband has 4 bikes in our garage and he only uses one of them. Apparently there is a Suzuki GT200X5 in there somewhere that he used to use at University nearly 20 years ago! He sees it as an "investment" - I see it as unreasonable behaviour! It hasn't seen the light of day for the 7 years we have lived in this house! We have been together 16 years and I only ever see it when he moves it from one garage to the next.

After a few years of successfully building kit cars, in October 2012 Ian decided to drag the CB400F out of the garage (literally as it happens as the brakes were seized on) into the workshop to start the restoration project.

First thing Ian did was check the petrol tank for leaks - clear. He then connected up a booster battery and the starter motor just clicked. After kicking it over for about 5 minutes the starter motor started to spin the engine over, then a couple of minutes later the engine fired up and ran sweetly.

Ian has sent me loads and loads of pictures of the restoration so have a flick through some of these before shots before I tell you about the work done in the next post.