I'm not mechanical so I can't know what it feels like to restore a bike from 'basket case' to 'showroom' condition. But I can imagine it feels very good.
It must. So many people do it.
Is it like giving birth? I'm not sure. I think it might be somewhat analogous.
When a baby is born it is not attractive, it is mostly dysfunctional, and it is essentially useless. But, over time and with some effort, it slowly becomes a functional entity that builds intrinsic value and so, you grow to love it.
Often, and without warning it will cause you considerable pain and suffering with which there will almost certainly be some fiscal loss.
Yet eventually there will come a time when you'll realise you are not prepared to turn your back on it despite the grief it gives you. Because if you did, you'd simply be forfeiting all of the incredible effort you had invested and that would not make any sense at all.
With that I conclude that restoring a motorbike is essentially the same as birthing and raising a child. Is it not? Am I wrong?
Both are unattractive when you get them, expensive and painful in the early days but, ultimately, rewarding in the end.
Essentially the same, yes. Exactly the same? No.
Could it be that restoring bikes is even more rewarding than raising children?
On what do I base this you ask? Well, indirectly, a mate told me it was so.
On restoring bikes Bob said "It's the great escape from this weird world of ours. I'm transported to a quieter place where my thoughts are truly on one thing: to restore and build the bike to the best of my ability."
The key word there was "quiet".
Imagine for a minute; your restoration project won't ever argue with you; it won't talk back; it won't rebut, and it can't condescend. It won't undermine or demean you. It doesn't know belligerence and it won't ever express its discontent.
And when it becomes as bad as it can be, when nothing fits and nothing works, you are at liberty to turn you back on it. Yes, you can leave it locked in a room for a week or a month or a few years without fear of reprisal from your spouse or authoritative agencies.
If, and only if you chose to persist, then when your pat(mat)ernal period is over Bob assures you that "The end result is just as rewarding as the journey. On the ride it is just your bike and the thoughts in your head; listening to every noise with anticipation; you are as much a part of that machine as that machine is a part of you". How could you not want for that?
I've raised children, so I know what they look like at birth, and I know how painful they can be during the maturation process. I appreciate that they can be rewarding. I get that.
But as amazing as my children are I have never had anyone react to them the way I reacted to Craig's 1989 GSXR1100 when I saw it at Two Wheels One Love in January.
For the briefest moment I lost myself; and I know my reaction must have been palpable because I saw his mate turn to him and say "You should have seen that guy when he saw your bike!"
Yes, raising a child is rewarding, but is it ever that rewarding? I'm not so sure.
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