tea2jay
Well-known member
I recently picked up this bike and posted here in Vintage Cafe and shared my struggles finding a shop willing to work on the carbs of my 73 Honda CB500 Cafe Racer.
I got turned away by a bunch of shops and received a quote from someone else in San Jose, but price was very high and I had to ship the cars to and from his place.
Well, I got a PM referral from budman to a retired factory trained Suzuki mechanic Wobbie. Wobbie did alot of race, stunt, and street bike work for a long time before selling his shop. He recalled working on budman's race bike back in the day.
Wobbie, despite his recent poor health, he is still working on bikes out of his garage in Santa Theresa. my bike was there for about a month, but that is because he had to shut down for 2 weeks to quarantine and also because there was a que of 4-5 bikes at the time. Once he got started on the bike, it went real fast.
He reached out to me this week on Monday to let me know he tested compression and pulled the carbs. He explained the issues and work required as well as the price for parts. Carbs were done on Wednesday! However, he said he heard some noise coming from the valve and and offered to adjust the valves for a really good price. Got a call the next day, yesterday, that it was done and ready for pick up.
in less than a week, he had rebuilt the carbs, jetted the bike for pod filters and 4-1 exhaust, and adjusted the valves. Wobbie also changed the oil, checked tire pressure, checked all fluids and performed other courtesy task without me asking and without extra charge!!!
Wobbie is old school and from the looks, works on all types of bikes. there was a harley with the tranny out, 2 stroke banshee, other 70's and 80's bikes etc... I should note that Wobbie does often communicate via text or with the help of an assistant. He is a bit hard of hearing and talking, so he also needs to read you lips from a distance when talking in person. He takes on alot of bikes but is honest about timelines. As such, I dropped off my bike and never bugged him for updates. He would reach out often enough that i did not feel a need to call or text him.
Thank you Wobbie and thank you Budman!!! I took her out for my first ride last night and it was amazing. she really sings.
Here's the pics
I got turned away by a bunch of shops and received a quote from someone else in San Jose, but price was very high and I had to ship the cars to and from his place.
Well, I got a PM referral from budman to a retired factory trained Suzuki mechanic Wobbie. Wobbie did alot of race, stunt, and street bike work for a long time before selling his shop. He recalled working on budman's race bike back in the day.
Wobbie, despite his recent poor health, he is still working on bikes out of his garage in Santa Theresa. my bike was there for about a month, but that is because he had to shut down for 2 weeks to quarantine and also because there was a que of 4-5 bikes at the time. Once he got started on the bike, it went real fast.
He reached out to me this week on Monday to let me know he tested compression and pulled the carbs. He explained the issues and work required as well as the price for parts. Carbs were done on Wednesday! However, he said he heard some noise coming from the valve and and offered to adjust the valves for a really good price. Got a call the next day, yesterday, that it was done and ready for pick up.
in less than a week, he had rebuilt the carbs, jetted the bike for pod filters and 4-1 exhaust, and adjusted the valves. Wobbie also changed the oil, checked tire pressure, checked all fluids and performed other courtesy task without me asking and without extra charge!!!
Wobbie is old school and from the looks, works on all types of bikes. there was a harley with the tranny out, 2 stroke banshee, other 70's and 80's bikes etc... I should note that Wobbie does often communicate via text or with the help of an assistant. He is a bit hard of hearing and talking, so he also needs to read you lips from a distance when talking in person. He takes on alot of bikes but is honest about timelines. As such, I dropped off my bike and never bugged him for updates. He would reach out often enough that i did not feel a need to call or text him.
Thank you Wobbie and thank you Budman!!! I took her out for my first ride last night and it was amazing. she really sings.
Here's the pics
