SP370 Tracker ish build

kipper

New Member
Hello - new to the forum and new to motorbikes in general, a couple of months ago i decided to buy a bike and learn on the job so to speak.
So bought a 78/79 Suzuki SP370 off of ebay for £120 and have spent the last few month stripping it down ready for a rebuild.
the £120 basically got be the rolling chassis and an engine - everything else was rotten or missing, which is nice as i didnt really like the original look of the SP370 when i googled it to see what i had bought 1st photo

The engine is in good condition and has cleaned up well - 2nd photo, 3rd photo is the basic build i aim to get (with exception of the TS125 tank as it looks too small - this tank is for sale if anyone is interested - Also got an RD200 tank knocking around)

I am going to convert the twinshock to a Monoshock using a Triumph Speed Triple shock and some custom brackets. also plan on cutting down the seat to a single seater and lower the swingarm slighty to allow for a higher riding position.

Probably going to make a shit load of mistakes along the way - but you live and learn and i prefer to learn by doing stuff and seeing what happens.

anyway thought i would post this and see what comments you have

Cheers - Mark
 

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Welcome to dtt man.
That little thumper looks like a blast
 
Cleaned up some internal parts today - whilst cleaning the piston i noticed the big chunk missing from the bottom left of the shell
and the shape just below the oil ring looks suspect too
and as i am new to this motorbike business wanted to know if this was bad news ?
looking at the other side the piston itself looks like it was a bit ropey in the first place

New pistons are available and am on the verge of stumping up £140 for piston and rings - but before i do i wanted to get the opinions of the forum if this is the right course of action

Cheers

Mark
 

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Working through some variations for the mono shock and have badly drawn the below using the internets and things
All of these have come from a design perspective as apposed to knowledge of suspension etc

So please shout if any of the below are likely to kill me - and please state which is least likely too
 

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the bike is looking great
if you want a good handling bike stick with the stock ride height and spend some coin on a really good set of dual shocks
looking at your pics of single sock ideas i don't think you know enough to single shock yourself out of a single sock,give that up,it's a waste of time and effort
 
I'd say go for if you have the skills to fabricate everything. The first sketch looks the best to me though I've seen the second one used a lot
 
So I went for it and got a new tail loop welded up and the old one chopped off. Next step work out the mono shock.
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Mock up for the exhaust
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And can't decide on flat black or flat white for the frame, the tank is going to be clear lacquered bare steel with and antique gold and flat black 70 muscle car decal stripe ( I think)


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Finally found some time today to finish off the seat whilst the frame is at the welders, not sure how practical the cowhide cover is going to be but thought I would give it a go. May well build a winter seat using some diamond stitched vinyl, anyway here she is
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Made from an old ikea cow skin rug that had lost most off its hair due to my 2 dogs scratching the shit out of it.


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Frame came back from the welders so chucked it all together to see if xb33bsa was right and I don't have a clue what I am doing, chances are are he is 100% correct and I got lucky as it seems to work ok. I need to get the the shock a bit stiffer but so far so good. I fucked up on the placement of the top mount and can't get a 10mm Allen bolt in there so going to have to use a length of stud and 2 plastic shim nuts. I have probably mad a boat load of other mistakes so feel free to point them out. As it stands I'm quite happy with it so will get it running and see what happens , here are some pics of the progress
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love it. Headlight especially. Where you at kipper? "kipper" sounds uk? What's the deal with road laws and led headlights? Or maybe you just wanna play in the dirt and my question is irrelevant. Anyway looking awesome.
 
Yes Strang UK based wasn't aware of any laws on led headlights but that's not surprising as I haven't really researched using them, however I will be doing my homework now. And will get some pics of the shock top mount tomorrow


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Ok so I did some reading up on UK LED laws and as long as they do not exceed 2000 lumens in output and are angled at least 5 degrees belo horizontal on dipped and just below horizontal on full and they are a complete unit and NOT bulb replacement, then the lights will pass MOT.
Since mine are new units and 20w (1200 lumens) I should be clear to run then no probs.
Thanks for highlighting this Strang.




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I don't believe your shock setup will work. The swingarm, possibly the weakest part of the chassis needs to be strengthened considerably if you're converting to a monoshock. Ideally, you need to change the way the shock mount attaches to the swingarm.

You need extra bracing on the swinger itself, and ideally to relocate the shock so it isn't so perpendicular to the ground plane. The image below shows what i'm talking about. Red represents the swingarm (plus additional bracing), and yellow the shock itself.

Please dont take the angles of the shock or bracing itself on my drawing as exacts, as it was a quick sketch in paint to convey the point!

If you look at any twin to monoshock conversions, must of them follow this pattern.
 

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