foyerboy Posted August 26, 2012 #1 Posted August 26, 2012 I wanted to take the time to thank one of the Venture Riders on this site. For the past 2.5 months he has patiently and meticulously worked to restore a Salvaged 99 RSV that I bought 2 years ago. I bought this bike thinking it would be a “winter project” but really underestimated the amount of work and attention to detail it would take to get it in tip top condition. A little about me....I am a perfectionist. If I am not confident that something can be done to perfection I will hold off until I am prepared to perform to that degree. I will not start something and say “oh that's no big deal, or that's not quite right but it will do” After realizing that this restoration was above my skill level, it sat in my garage until shortly after I joined this site and found WillBill1. Bill Little aka WillBill1 lives north of Charlotte, NC. What attracted me to Bill was the fact the he is a retire engineer, skilled mechanic, and rides what we ride. What more could you ask for? I told home my bike and he was confident that he could make it perfect and I knew after only a short while of speaking to him that he would treat my bike as his own- no shortcuts would be taken. I've included some pics of my bike before and after but that only tells a small piece of the story. The PO of my bike totaled it back in 2003 or 2004 and his well meaning son in law tried to put it back together, doing more harm that good. He used common nuts and bolts from Lowes or Home Depot, left lots of stuff off the bike and just all around screwed the bike up. Bill painstakingly combed over my bike for hours with part diagrams checking off every single nut and bolt that was missing or needed to be replaced and every electrical connection that needed to be repaired. He then got all the maintenance up to date and began doing some of the modifications we have here on our site. He installed a MP3 port next to my powerjack on the inner fairing. He installed my new passing lights and light bar, took out my cassette player and installed gauges, put the Harley License Plate Frame with additional brake lights on the back, raised my forks up in the triple trees to lower the front end and installed and Baron's Lowering Kit for the rear. Keep in mind while doing all this he would would find other little things that needed attention and fix those things as well. He found over 200 parts that were missing from the bike or need to be replaced.....that's attention to detail. I could go on and on about the work that Bill did. He was simply amazing. Not once did he complain about everything he ran into and not once did he raise the price on me that we had agreed to, which by the way was an unbelievable price. I had the pleasure of working with him some on this project and let me tell you, it was obvious he was an engineer. There were a few times that I said to myself “Holy Cow I would have never figured that out”, it was a real joy watching him at work. I hope that you guys will reach out to him if you ever feel you're in to deep and need help. I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that he can handle anything that comes his way. You can find him in the member vendors section..... http://www.venturerider.org/classifieds/showcat.php?cat=36 Bill, if you are reading this.....Thank You so much, if there is anything I can ever help you with....don't hesitate to call. You're a great guy, I would've never been able to do what you so skilfully did. Thanks again......Matt
Squidley Posted August 26, 2012 #7 Posted August 26, 2012 Nice looking bike ! Tour Deluxe, right? RSV without the trunk...
XV1100SE Posted August 26, 2012 #8 Posted August 26, 2012 RSV without the trunk... Thanks ! Just wanted to be sure ! Nice look without the trunk !
bill in mn Posted August 26, 2012 #9 Posted August 26, 2012 Your a stand up guy Bill And nice work. Sure like to see things done right and turn out nice too.
Mike G in SC Posted August 26, 2012 #10 Posted August 26, 2012 Yeah, Bill knows his stuff. Yesterday I was showing someone I met in the mountains Bill's handy work lowering my RSV. Matt, when you called me a few months ago, I thought you wanted "some work",,, WOW. I guess. Tickled to see how it worked out. Mike G in SC
pmelah Posted August 26, 2012 #11 Posted August 26, 2012 RSV without the trunk... Hey I got one of those sad to my 1st Gen runs circles around it in its sleep too
pmelah Posted August 26, 2012 #12 Posted August 26, 2012 It looks great I hope mine looks that good when I'm done with it
Squidley Posted August 27, 2012 #13 Posted August 27, 2012 Hey I got one of those sad to my 1st Gen runs circles around it in its sleep too :stirthepot:
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now