I brought the hulk home from Washington (Thanks Bill MacAvan for holding it for me and Pete Sutherland for coming to pick it up) and stopped on the way back at a long distance rider meeting in Gerlach Nevada. I put the bike on the trailer and let everyone have a good look at what was left of the bike. I was still not sure what I was going to do with it but after I managed to start the engine, to ensure it was still good, I decided to just start taking it apart and then assess the situation.

As I was taking off parts it was becoming apparent to me that much of the bike was not salvageable. I had verified the engine was good but was still unsure what to do about the frame. See that tab sticking up in the center of the frame? Well, there is supposed to be one on each side of the frame but the left side one was broken clean off in the accident. You can see that clearly in this picture:


I received "divine" guidance one day from ebay when a whole host of parts from another Vstrom appeared at auction. Yes, somebody else had crashed one and was parting it out. Several key items were available and most critically the frame was available so I purchased it along with a swingarm (turned out the seller did not want to buy the special tool to take it apart).

After removing the original frame I found that I could repair it with a good welder and keep the bike "original" as far as titleing goes. The frame I had bought would require me to retitle the bike with a new VIN number and that was going to be a PITA, so up in the attic with that frame.

I still needed a myriad of other items to rebuild this bike so I started collecting parts from Ebay. Along that time I received assistance from Bob Mueller (another Vstrom rider and LD rider who works at Suzuki) who helped me secure some of the more difficult and critical parts I needed to have a chance to finish this project. Between those sources I was able to get new front and rear wheels, new fork tubes, new rear and front subframes, new handlebars and handguards, new brake rotors, new headlights, new front cowl, new rear side cowls, a set of scorpion mufflers and a bunch of smaller parts. I pretty much had to replace most everything with the exception of the frame (which had to be welded) and the engine - which still worked fine.

As I was collecting the parts and ordering new items the picture I wanted for this project was beginning to come into focus. I decided that I would make this into a specifically rally ready motorcycle. It would be lighter weight, have superior lighting, auxilliary fuel built into the bike not slapped on, the suspension would be significantly upgraded and I would make it unique with a red powder coated frame. A plan was established...