It is getting increasingly difficult to find decent online communities for motorcycles... I love this forum. I spend most of my time lurking in the shadows. None of my bikes run currently (all in different stages of me ****ing them up). I was getting tired of this and decided to pick up something that I could at least ride around on while completing something. Enter my best Kjiji find yet. (kijiji is like craigslist). I am so excited to go home and tinker/ride that I decided to share my excitement with anyone interested.
1975 Suzuki A100... Yes Please! ;D
I picked this little bike up a few days ago. It's a neat little bike and has a cool backstory.
Originally purchased back in '75 by a lady to putt around on. She never Registered or Insured it. (the licence plate bracket has never had a plate bolted to it). She managed to put a touch over 1800 miles riding up and down the gravel range road in her rural Alberta farm town. Apparently her family was full of motorcycle fans and upon her passing on many of the bikes in her family including hers sat in a barn for almost 20 years. They were all sold in a package deal to a local-to-me collector. He had no use for a little 2 stroke (he admitted that 2 strokes scare him) and decided to get rid of it. I found his ad online and quickly contacted him. Although the bike was listed as "non running, and that it had not run in 20 years. After going to go look at the bike, I was very excited to pick it up. The carburator was removed and in a plastic bag, and the original key and owners manual were also present. The asking price of $550.00 was nothing to complain about but in typical cheap-son-of-a-b**** fashion, I left with the bike in my truck only $500.00 poorer.
Upon arriving home, I added some gas from the fuel tank of my 1981 Honda 250N Super Dream, and slid the carb back onto its intake sleeve. I figured now was a better time than any to start diagnosing why it wouldn' run. I inserted the key into the ignition and reached down to flip the petcock open. Fuel started leaking everywhere. The internal seal must have dried out after years of sitting dry. I worked the lever back and forth until the steady stream of leaking gas slowed to a slow drip. I flipped the engine kill switch to "run" and slid the choke lever over. I reached down and prepaired the kick start for probably its first kick in a few decades. I placed the ball of my Vans Lo-Pro clad foot on the rubber and gave a mighty kick. I almost fell off the bike in laughter as it fired right up and idled flawlessly. Perfect. The smoke billowing out of the oily exhaust into the alley and the beautiful sound of a small displacement 2 stroke echoing off of the nearby buildings caused my girlfriend to come outside. (she didnt know that I bought the bike). She was amazed that something so old worked so well. I shut the bike off after warming it up and pumped enough air into the original, sunchecked tires that they would support some weight. My girfriend hopped on the back and we went for a quick blast (read: slow putt putt) around the block.
The turn signals didnt work, but a broken wire leading to the flasher relay was a simple fix. The gummed up horn has been freed, and is working. The headlight must have broke or rattled off because the current headlamp is a 1960s T3 headlamp from a passanger car (my 1965 Chevrolet Biscayne has a functioning set still!) The front brake lever was broken but the local bike shop had an original replacement on the shelf!
Current plans are to polish and spiff the bike back up and keep it original for the rest of this summer. Over the winter I want to strip the bike down to completely restore the bike. Currently the foot peg is slightly bent and one of the rear signal lamp extensions is bent off on a silly angle. The T3 headlamp is 12v, and is putting conciderable strain on the 6v electrical system. The search for a correct headlamp starts as soon as I get home. I dont have registration for the bike (it has never been registered), but I hope that won't prove to be too difficult.
Pics taken from the Ad that I purchased the bike from...
1975 Suzuki A100... Yes Please! ;D
I picked this little bike up a few days ago. It's a neat little bike and has a cool backstory.
Originally purchased back in '75 by a lady to putt around on. She never Registered or Insured it. (the licence plate bracket has never had a plate bolted to it). She managed to put a touch over 1800 miles riding up and down the gravel range road in her rural Alberta farm town. Apparently her family was full of motorcycle fans and upon her passing on many of the bikes in her family including hers sat in a barn for almost 20 years. They were all sold in a package deal to a local-to-me collector. He had no use for a little 2 stroke (he admitted that 2 strokes scare him) and decided to get rid of it. I found his ad online and quickly contacted him. Although the bike was listed as "non running, and that it had not run in 20 years. After going to go look at the bike, I was very excited to pick it up. The carburator was removed and in a plastic bag, and the original key and owners manual were also present. The asking price of $550.00 was nothing to complain about but in typical cheap-son-of-a-b**** fashion, I left with the bike in my truck only $500.00 poorer.
Upon arriving home, I added some gas from the fuel tank of my 1981 Honda 250N Super Dream, and slid the carb back onto its intake sleeve. I figured now was a better time than any to start diagnosing why it wouldn' run. I inserted the key into the ignition and reached down to flip the petcock open. Fuel started leaking everywhere. The internal seal must have dried out after years of sitting dry. I worked the lever back and forth until the steady stream of leaking gas slowed to a slow drip. I flipped the engine kill switch to "run" and slid the choke lever over. I reached down and prepaired the kick start for probably its first kick in a few decades. I placed the ball of my Vans Lo-Pro clad foot on the rubber and gave a mighty kick. I almost fell off the bike in laughter as it fired right up and idled flawlessly. Perfect. The smoke billowing out of the oily exhaust into the alley and the beautiful sound of a small displacement 2 stroke echoing off of the nearby buildings caused my girlfriend to come outside. (she didnt know that I bought the bike). She was amazed that something so old worked so well. I shut the bike off after warming it up and pumped enough air into the original, sunchecked tires that they would support some weight. My girfriend hopped on the back and we went for a quick blast (read: slow putt putt) around the block.
The turn signals didnt work, but a broken wire leading to the flasher relay was a simple fix. The gummed up horn has been freed, and is working. The headlight must have broke or rattled off because the current headlamp is a 1960s T3 headlamp from a passanger car (my 1965 Chevrolet Biscayne has a functioning set still!) The front brake lever was broken but the local bike shop had an original replacement on the shelf!
Current plans are to polish and spiff the bike back up and keep it original for the rest of this summer. Over the winter I want to strip the bike down to completely restore the bike. Currently the foot peg is slightly bent and one of the rear signal lamp extensions is bent off on a silly angle. The T3 headlamp is 12v, and is putting conciderable strain on the 6v electrical system. The search for a correct headlamp starts as soon as I get home. I dont have registration for the bike (it has never been registered), but I hope that won't prove to be too difficult.
Pics taken from the Ad that I purchased the bike from...
