An update on the bike

I got a battery for it, and found out very quickly that the engine was seized.   So i filled it with pb blaster and left it. And for a while i even gave up hope.   But on a whim of morbid curiosity, i took the top end apart in hopes of finding the cause.   I was met with this

as much as id like to have been surprised, cylinder one had the most problems from the start.   When i pulled the plug, half the threads went with it.   So the head will need to be machined anyway.   And it was the only one with a visibly open exhaust valve, and it looked rough.  

So what was my solution when met with this challenging predicament?   Why percussive maintenance of course. I took my biggest socket, threw it in there, and hit it with an 8 pound sledge hammer.     Every time it moved, i oiled the perimeter of the pistons (it was not the right oil but at least it was oil)   knocked it back and forth until it freed up a bit, and then spent 20 minutes removing a literal ring of rust from the cylinder wall of 1.   Touched up a couple others too. Oiled it again, put my jump box on the bike (750 crank amps) and hit the button.

it sat for 20 years, i thought it was locked up.    I thought it was gonna take me 2 weeks and over 700 dollars to fix it.   Nope. 3 hours and a hammer. After more cranking it spit oil. That means not only that the oil pump works, but but the entire bottom end is primed, and by extension, safe. After new gaskets and some machine work, i can have it running with around 200.   I call that a win already. The bodywork and paint for the gas tank will be a venture all its own. It should be some of my best work. We'll see when that time comes. Until next update. Cheers!