I have learned from years of fixing and restoring machines of many kinds that any machine, or building will tell you it's life history as you take it apart. My Cal is a case in point. It was a one owner machine. I bought it wrecked, it came from an insurance auction in NJ in '01. As I went through it, I saw every bit of work had been done and also the quality (not) of the work. I also learned about the previous owner. I know that he was a big, strong guy. Every fastener he had touched was ridiculously overtightened. He'd installed Progressive rear shocks that had substantially stiffer springs than stock. He was a really bad mechanic. Carbs had been rejetted, badly. There was evidence of a low speed fall down on the left side, badly repaired. The forks had been taken apart and the innards were destroyed. The fill hole in the rear end was stripped, how do you do that? He was also of Italian descent, or identified as such. Where there were small zip ties, there wasn't one, but three together, green, white, and red. Luckily, no permanent damage was done, and she's got a good long term home with me.
Larry
