My first "big" bike was an earlier version of this (the red and white year...1972?). Mine was new and I also bought an abused gold and white one that needed restoration, even though it was quite new but had scored walls, etc. Re-bored, slight compression increase, moderately warmer cam, Bates bologna pipes and some carb work and it really lit a fuse under it, making the stock one look silly in a drag race. It showed me that they took well to a little tweaking. Keep us posted on the project!