Hauling it home from Endicott NY mid winter 2015.

Found on Binghamton Craigslist, this is one of the original photos.  Paid a lot for a non running bike  -$1150 - but I wasn't much interested in getting it running.  It had what I wanted, the Metisse frame, complete sheet metal, good fuel tank with a new cap and even the seat is in very good condition.

I sold the engine about 6 weeks later for $200, thus commiting myself to Project 39-1/2 and finding a Triumph 650 engine.

Maybe a month later I spotted this on Craigslist near Bloomsburg PA.  For $400 I brought home this '85 Cagiva Alzzurra 650.  I hoped I could somehow use the wheels and brakes on Project 39-1/2.  These wheels are 18" as are the Mojave originals.

It really didn't look like it was going to work out.  I went ahead and tore this bike down, saving anything I might be able to use.

I sold the engine for $400, what I paid for the bike.  As time passed I sold another $570 worth of parts.

At this point at least I had some cash reserves.

Now with the Ally disassembled I began to play with the parts.  The forks were close enough in dimension to be usable and that would eliminate the problem of adapting the front wheel.  My friend Craig help me think through converting the Mojave steering stem to the Ally triple trees.  Craig did the machine work.  We have the Ally forks on the Mojave stem with the original Mojave steering Damper intact.

The Mojave steering stop needed an adjustment. I brazed two small pieces of key stock to the stop to obtain safe clearance of forks to tank.

At this point I should add that I applied for a New York state transferrable registration - the equivalent of a title for older bikes.  I had only a bill of sale and rubbings and photos of the frame number.  I wanted the registration to be for the frame since I had intentions to use a Triumph engine.  And NO, I did not mention this to the good folks at DMV in Auburn NY.  I did however bring a full page photo of the bike to show them.  It helped beyond measure to show them the photo.  Now they could see what they were writing up and they loved the bike. It's very different and has a lot of character and people notice this.  The only difficulty was because the seller never registered the bike, DMV wanted to know how he got it.  This amounted to nothing more than calling the seller and asking.  He got it at the Barber Swap Meet.  I wrote down the address of the Barber Museum and returned to the DMV.  "That's just what we need" she said and I even got a "thumbs up" from the office manager.  Thanks Auburn!

During that summer of 2015 I had seen a Triumph engine - on Craigslist again - near Charlotte NC.  Completely disassembled.  I talked to the seller and made a deal to purchase it for $300.  My sister Cheryl lives in Charlotte and she ...

a) called the guy and arranged a meeting to collect the engine.

b) paid for it with her own money.

c) lugged it into her storage unit til we could get down there to pick it tp.

and after all that, when we came to get it she made a gift of $100 of the purchase price!

I still am not sure of the condition of this engine

but for $200 I can't go wrong.  I like that it is a 1968 engine - the same year as the Mojave.

"The Bike That Craigslist Built" Build Series 1