Nathaniel Salzman

Chicago area designer, writer, maker and journalist.

Scooters & Motorcycles

May 2, 2012

Up Next: The Honda Elite 250

I’ve been hinting at it and talking around it for months, but now that my Honda CB750 project bike has sold, it’s time for a new machine. That new machine, funny enough, will be a scooter. Scooters were what first got me into riding, and with the exception of last season, I’ve always had a – Read More –

May 1, 2012

Sold. The CB750 is gone.

Over the weekend, I finally sold my 1981 Honda CB750 Custom. It took just shy of 21 days. That’s by far the longest I’ve ever taken to sell a motorcycle or scooter. Then again, Chicago is a very different market than Minneapolis/St. Paul. I think the appreciation for older Japanese bikes just isn’t here the – Read More –

April 21, 2012

Wrench Log: Hands on with handlebars

At this point, my home shop is about 50% set up, but it’s still allowing me to get a lot done. It’s become an inspiring, energizing place where problems get solved and motorcycles get fixed. After successfully buttoning up the CB750, I’ve turned my attention back to my GL1100. Late last season I’d swapped the handlebars on the GL for a black set of superbike bars. These gave me a much more aggressive riding position than the stock touring bars, but without making me lean way over for clip-ons or clubman bars. While pretty comfortable, they weren’t quite where I wanted to be on the bike.

April 19, 2012

Ride Log: The Mrs, the Lake and Sheridan Road

March 10, 2012 — Winter this year was eerily mild all across the Midwest. We moved from the Twin Cities to Chicago just after Christmas on dry roads and without a single flake of snow. Spring approached early, with rain-washed streets and mild temperatures greeting us in early March. This particularly sunny Saturday morning had – Read More –

April 17, 2012

Wrench Log: The Strange Sensation of Being Done

I work in an industry where “done” can sometimes have a very subjective definition. So one of the things that I really appreciate about working on mechanical things like motorcycles is that “done” is a very objective thing. As Matthew Crawford puts it in Shop Class as Soulcraft, a motorcycle “either runs or it doesn’t.” – Read More –

April 12, 2012

Wrench Log: That feeling of pressure

There are really two kinds of motorcycle repair jobs. There’s the bolt-on-bolt-off stuff, then there are the in-depth repair procedures. For me, both are fun in their own way, but the bolt-on-bolt-off jobs are great for near instant gratification. After kicking off 2012 with an inaugural ride of my Honda GL1100, I was really jones’n – Read More –

April 7, 2012

For Sale: My 1981 Honda CB750 Custom

[Update: This bike has sold. Thanks for playing.] Well, we knew this day was coming. This project is officially done, so it’s time to move on to the next chapter. This bike threw a lot of curve balls at me, but I’m definitely better off for the experience. And really, that’s what buying this bike – Read More –

April 5, 2012

Ride Log: The first ride of 2012

When The Mrs and I made the move to Chicago, we left our motorcycles in storage in Minnesota. Having the moving company take them would have put us over our relocation budget. Besides, it was winter, so it’s not like we could have ridden them around anyway. The trip back to retrieve them was not – Read More –

Newer Posts
Older Posts