The teardown begins, with a brief interlude for stupidity.......Bring on the pain killers.

    So, it's been a busy week. Halfords (UK version NAPA), had a reduction on a bike lift, from around £120 down to £96. I chanced searching my Blue Light Discount card for Halfords offered 20% of garage tools. I applied that online and behold! The lift cost a paultry 76 quid, give or take. I was very happy for the 40kg addition to my garage. A breeze to buils, i like the colour too!

 650 Kg Lift capacity, happy days.

     So armed with my new lift, I tempered my enthusiams and got on witht he honey-doo list, making a house for the bins. First up, lay conctete slab, 2nd up - trip to A&E with a shoddy attempt to shorten my left hand fingers by 1/2 inch! All done with a 4 1/2" angle grinder.

  

  

     Was an ouchy with much sympathy (not) from my gorgeous wife. A pause of 5 days while finger tips healed enough for me to wield a spanner or two.

     I them began the teardown, a familiar story, lots of bubba'd nuts and bolts, shoddy repairs and general fuckwittery from previous owners. Got things going nicely, turns out that the tank that came with th e bike was a shoddy attempt at replacing the genuine article, so turns out I already need a new fuel tank, added to my initial list:

     Seat Unit, Mirrors, Clocks, Indicators, Exhaust, and now a Fuel Tank. Not to mention a polethora of sundry bits and pieces.

The offending article: 

    Mind you I get to eBay the original Indicators, hideous twin lights, fuel tank, plastics that survived the buffonery of previous owners, of which there were 5 before me. Anf the horrendous seat and a box of rust and some unusable pieces were suitably recycled at the local depot. Forgive the poor pictures, was in a hurry to post and update my progress. 

     And the time with a jet wash also helped with the cleaning of the sled. More to follow this week. My for subscribers are keen for updates.........😁

Well, it happened.......I got a new project, and boy does it need love. Welcome to the 1984 GS850G

      After the dissapointment of having the Guzzi sold out from under me I put a speculative add onto FACEBOOK....which led to all kinds of replies, but one, local to me caught my eye. Ned messaged me with 2 possibilities, a very nice CB1300 that needed very little work, a very nice bike indeed and a rather interesting '84 GS850G. Thats where it started, not Craigslist as before, but a simple add on FB. The picture sent:

     You get the drift, but somehow it appealed, anyways, long story short, it is now mine. 

First thing i did was to clean it, pictures below, first i gave it a good blast witht the leaf blower and then hit it with the Demon Shine soap through the jetwasher. Removed a lot of surface rust and a shit ton of accumilated dirt. The gold powder coat was not the best, and has flaked off in places on the wheels, not an issue as it all is getting blasted and recoated in satin blackThen i just wanted to put the tank on for an initial lookie see at lines and insirations.

     The tank doesn't fit, I googled the bike, and yup, its the wrong tank..Doh! Had an initial paddy, but needed to see, and now I know. I have no idea what the tank is from, i presume a suzuki of some lineage, but no idea from what. Thats around another £150 quid or so i did not budget for. Hey ho, not over the moon.

     

So the plan......or possibilities. 

     So, the big question - To restore to originial, cafe racer or bob it?

     The chopped rear of the frame, will make life very complex to restore it to original, but the bike in its former glory is a sweet ride: 

     Option 2 is the cafe racer, where my addiction for this all started. And there are some sweet modfications outh there. Although a shaftie, they do look good, with the rider - they are done well, something I am a fan of doing, using as much of the original bike as possible:

 or 

    You get the  drift, maybe a nod to the era with JPS paint...not sure yet.

    Or Option 3....the bobber, to bob a bike is basically ripping to minimums the same as cafe racers, but with the added loss of the rear suspension. Again, they do look right if done right, and there is the rub.

As with dodgy cafe racers, they is a plethora of dodgy bobbers around too. Here is the idea:

     So, decisions decisions.....But forst to strip down,and for that i am off to Halfords. Why? i hear you question, in a quiet and unassuming way. Well the bike lift they have is around 120 quid, down to around 96 quid, and with a Blue Light discount, it is down to a very reasonable 76 of your finest British pounds. Will make things so much easier for the restoration. Oh, and a gallon of WD 40.

More to follow very soon.

 

GUZUMPPED on a new project......

 Well.

I thought i had found a new project, a very ratty and in need of TLC Moto Guzzi V65. It was local to me, although pricey, was worth a look. So off i trotted, a 30 minute drive later i was viewing the bike. It was OK, which for a project is a good state of affairs. Anyhow, i try not to buy with my heart, so I thanked the seller and left. A few days later i asked if the bike was available, he said he had a buyer coming to look at it. I asked if he would message me if it fell through.

As you can see, quite the nice project.

A day later the sale fell through, i asked his best price, he told me, i had a barter, and during the online bartering he sold it out from me. Thats life, in the words of Del Boy 'he who dares.....'. So i lost that bike.

So i went to the garage, fettled my FZR and tried to start it. Petroleum flooded from the carbs. BOLLOX, that'll be a full strip then, and a clean.

Some grazed knuckles and turning the air blue, presto -

The carbs are off, now to strip them, clean them, not lose any parts and then reassemble.

Will keep you posted.

Found some pics of my old projects/

Inspiration is building, found these pics whilst tidying out my shite, as well as the previously posted FZR600R...

Ive built an FZR400RR and a custom 600 Diviversion.

The FZR400RR was from a guy down the road, insPired by some WW2 US Army Air Corps paint schemes mash up.

The divvie was an easy build with some chrome covers for rhw clocks, dual headlights and a wicked ice fire paint scheme.

Happy days, i so need to get another bike to fettle

It's been a while......

     It's Been a while, i have, to paraphrase an old friend, been remiss in my posts and purchasing of a new project. Am back on the trail, lookimg for a bike, and i may have found one. Looking through the usual facebook market place and local ads, there is a GPX 600 R, it is, to say the least, very ropey. That said, there a are couple of nice conversions around, so am having a quandary, The engine does turn over, the bike looks like it has had a good few winters under a damp cover, all rescueable. 

     My dilema, do i spent a couple of hundred on it and risk it, it will keep me occupied, or have the money towards my upcoming holiday..... my heart says bike, head says the good resturants in Spain. Any how, here are some pics of the prospective project.....

 

As you can see, it is 'ropey' but the engine spins and the it should be salvageable. Standby for some decisions and updates soon.

New Year for a New Hope.

 The New Hope

     So, on advice from a friend, I joined the Facebook page 'North Est Auld Skool', intorduced myself and asked about any frames or projects around. With the proviso of nothing until the New Year.

     Well, the friendly welcome and banter there is great, and the people really helpful, i have an offer of a 1980's GSX 1100e rolling chassis, a ponderer. And an option on an VN500 (yes i know) but as you will see, there are some options.

     The GSX is a firm favourite, with lots of options. Here is my issue, well challenge - The engine costs, the old Suzuki lump is a firm favourite of tuners, builders and racers. So they are:

1.     Rare as hens teeth
2.     Rarity brings expense
3.     There are drawings to brace the frame and change mounts for a GSXR 1100 lump.
4.     Would be a true scratch build, either cafe racer or homage to an early eighties racer.

as the start to this 

Or do I stay true to my journey and do something like this:

     A decision to be made and see what the frame tells me if i acquire it. Options are litterally endless, budgets could be blown and the result, i am sure, will be drippingly gorgeous, like a woman in heeled boots. Am sorely tempted by this option, and i know the rolling chassis will be there in the early new year. Also i have the means and drawings to machine the mounts for the oil cooled 1100 engine and can brace the fram accordingly. But then, my mind races, so do i change out the front and reas for more modern running gear, oh the options, the cost, the desire. Although I do have a very nice carbon seat unit inspired from the 70s / 80's race scene to already start this off.

     Then there is this, the VN500, not the most enticing or sexy bikes, but, and here is the but, i could readily do this to one:

    The costs would be substantially less, the look more sino-american than club 59, but it gets me spannering and costs will be a lot less. It also has an appeal of its own, nit quite a guilty pleasure but, to be sure, out of my usual likes, maybe my time in the US has rubbed off a little.....

     So that is my dilemma, a nioce place to be. To be honest, bit bikes will be good, both will be a hoot to ride, and be unique, not a factory belched off the shelf piece, not that there is anything wrong woth thaose, indeeed 851, 916, GSXR 750, Thruxtons, any 1960's Triumph or BSA are all design greats, most these days are modified, even if that is to revert them to original.

     Whatever i decide, the bike will be a departure from my FZR600R and will be in the garage for a while, unless it is so desirable I have to sell it and fund the next one, or once I am emotionally attached to it, keep it and just buy another project.

     Happy times ahead, and as i approach retirement, some quality days in my garage with tools, beer and dreams - not to mention the odd roll up and Hendrix.

Tank Issues and my fix.....brief but a lot of learning.

     Well, as the summer wound down and winter in Scotland creeps in, the FZR has a small fuel leak. Turns out when i stripped it down and reconditioned the pump, the gasket was so old the rubber surround is so old it had turned back into the tree it came from!

It was inevitable that it was going to happen, so looked for a replacement - boy are Yamaha proud of their products, 55 quid plus taxes for it! An even on fleabay there are that price. 

     Haha i think, i can do better than that and purchased HYLOMAR Universal Blue 100G tube fuel RESISTANT JOINTING GASKET SEALANT.

 

Ii is a bugger to control, an ice blue in colour, but i went for it. Was dilligent and followed the instructions, unlike me, i admit, but this is petrol in a tank above an engine. So, took my time and behold, it worked! Then started the bike, it turned over sweetky and fired into life, briefly, i think the carbs need a clean - aaaa-gain. Also the pressure inthe tank withteh engine running pushed a trickle of fuel through the seal I have meticulously prepared.

Shite, thats that good idea scuppered, And now i will have to bite the bullet and give the YAMAHA Motor Company their money and replace the gasket, and then nail the old one to my garage wall near my bench as a reminder - fix it right and fix it once.

Oh well, least i have the winter to get it and fix it, now the only decision i have to make is WEMOTO, AMAZON, Fleabay or local dealer.