2001 Plano Honda

I got this bike from CrGuy2t in mid build. I wasn't planning on getting another race bike to build (I still have and love my Splitfire bike) but I have a sweet spot for Plano Honda bikes. CrGuy2T offered to sell the bike to me and I didn't want to miss the opportunity. Luckily for me, my wife gave me the green light to do it.

CrGuy2T has already put a lot of love into this bike and it shows. The frame and swingarm look incredible. It is obvious how much time he spent getting the bike to the point it was at when I bought it. Every bolt on the bike is titanium along with the axles. Even the banjo bolts for the brakes are titanium! The motor is a 2001 bottom end with a 95 cylinder and head. The subframe on the bike has been lowered 10mm and fortunately, CrGuy2T was able to source and restore a Pro Circuit pipe custom made for this setup.

Here is the bike when I picked it up. There were a ton of parts that came along with it as well. There were original, nos Plano Honda graphics on the shrouds but the adhesive had gone bad and they wouldn't stick so we removed them before loading the bike up as the drive home would surely have blown them off.





The suspension is 47mm Showa A Kit. The suspension was from another bike and sprung way too stiff so I knew I needed to get it sprung for me. The kashima coating on the forks is also pretty rough on the outside so I was thinking about getting that redone as well. I took the suspension to Craig Decker at Enzo to have it serviced and re-sprung. I decided to go ahead and order new tubes and have them kashima coated but that means the tubes have to first come from Showa (in Japan) and then sent back to Japan to for the kashima coat. Needless to say, it will be a while before I have the new tubes but I've already got the suspension back with the original tubes and the damage to the kashima coat is purely cosmetic.



So at this point I've already spent more money than I ever planned to. CrGuy2T gave me enough parts to almost finish the bike and I told him I probably wouldn't do anything to the bike for a while. That is also what I told the wife. Unfortunately, once I got the bike in my shop... I just couldn't help myself from ordering parts, busting out the steel wool, sos pads and, quite frankly, the desire to ride this bike. My dad bought me my first dirt bike from Plano Honda. When Plano Honda had their team, I use to go up there to look at their race bikes that they'd have on display at times. It is funny what you remember about certain things and for some reason what I remember the most about drooling over these bikes is the smell. As a kid, I didn't know what I was smelling when I'd look at the bikes but I knew my bike never smelled like that and it made these bikes special. I know now it was just simply the fuel but because of that memory you better believe I will be mixing up a couple gallons of VP's finest when she is all put back together again.

I have a rear hub orignal to the bike that the team had turned down. I've ordered a stock DID rim and new spoke/nipple kit to lace it to. I got a stock front wheel in surprisingly great shape. I think I am going to unlace it and have that hub turned down to match the rear. The motor has a Hinson clutch hub and pressure plate but stock basket so I got a new Wiseco forged basket. I could've gone Hinson but I think the Wiseco is just as good and a better price. I've ordered a bunch of other parts but won't drag on about that as I'm sure nobody has read this far anyways. The bottom line is that every part of this bike will be new or fully rebuilt when it is done.

Last night I decided to tackle the rear suspension linkage bearing. CrGuy2T had already cleaned the link up but the needles had come out of the bearings so I was going to pop the old ones out and press in the new ones. I have the motion pro bearing tool kit and have done bearings many times so no problem, right? Wrong. Sometimes I am just a dumbass and rush into doing something before thinking it through. I set the bearing removal tool up, find the right size collet and start to press the bearing through the link. I'm thinking I'll press the bearing down to the backside of the other bearing and will press them both out one side. I'm tightening the tool and it won't budge. I put it in my vice and get a breaker bar for more leverage. I pull so hard I start stripping the tool... I'm heated. Now stupidity turns dangerous. I think it must just be stuck, I need more power! I put the parts in my truck and head over to my parent's where my old man has a 12-ton press. I set it up and start cranking... and cranking... and POP! What was the pop? Oh just the sleeve of the bearing race breaking. At this point I've been defeated by the linkage and as I've mentally deescalated from the situation, I have a moment of clarity. I realize these bearings can't be pressed out, they have to be pulled out - pulled out with the other part of my motion pro tool designed just for this job. Well the problem is that with the needles gone and the lip of the race now F'd, the tool won't spread out far enough to grab on tight enough to remove it. I'm so stupid it hurts sometimes. I'm going to try to put some duct tape on the inside of the race to decrease the inner diameter in an attempt to get them out later today but I'm thinking it will just pull the tape out of the race.



Here is the bike as she sits currently.