Re: 1970 Rupp Roadster - How long has this been going on?

ridesolo

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Got this from a friend. Pretty much original; missing the tail light, lots of dirt and rust, and "something broke" in the engine.





Pulled that 4hp powerhouse apart and found this. Yup. something broke. Guess I'd better pack this up and send it to that specialist at Ichiban Moto to fix for me. Hope he hasn't run out of JB Weld!



The first task was to make sure the original engine is more than just a boat anchor. Looks like all I need to get is a connecting rod and a gasket set, both have already been ordered. I don't want to spend the cash it would take to do a full restoration, but will stay as original as possible and make it pretty.

The white you can see around the exhaust pipe in the pix above is sheet asbestos somebody set up as a heat shield. ???
 
Re: 1970 Rupp Roadster - Keeping Up w/ The Neighbors

This will be a sweet little bike man! Glad you scored it!
 
Re: 1970 Rupp Roadster - Keeping Up w/ The Neighbors

That little thing is cool......good luck with it.....
 
Re: 1970 Rupp Roadster - Keeping Up w/ The Neighbors

budlite282 said:
That little thing is cool......good luck with it.....

Thanx, Jack. It's coming along. Spent much of today cleaning. Mrs Ridesolo is making this a joint project w/ me and is working wonders on the chrome. Our mixture of aluminum foil and glass cooktop cleaner is doing the trick. There is still some pitting, but from about 3' away it's looking good. She's making decisions on colors, etc, too. We went over yesterday afternoon and bought a set of wheels like the ones Hurco550 got for his Rupp. This bike is a '70 and came w/ 10" spoked wheels when new so these new ones, being 10", fit right in w/ the existing fenders, etc. There is a fair amount of rust on the original rims that may or may not have cleaned up, but the front is missing some spokes so by the time I got spokes and new tires & tubes I would have had more invested than just getting the new wheels/tires.

Projects like this drive me crazy because as I think them through I start to get too elaborate and have to pull on the reins. Disk brake set-up wouldn't be difficult, especially on the front...

While pressure washing the frame and some parts I slipped and went down hard on my lover back and elbows. The little ramp on the north side of the shop never gets any sun and can be slick when wet. I got up pretty quick and seemed ok, but in a couple minutes I got dizzy and faint and passed put momentarily. Mrs was about to call the squad and I was at about 9 on a 10 scale in agreement w/ her but started to clear up. OK now, but it'll probably take a crane to get me out of bed in the morning. Oh well, at least I didn't break anything.
 
Re: 1970 Rupp Roadster - Keeping Up w/ The Neighbors

ridesolo said:
Thanx, Jack. It's coming along. Spent much of today cleaning. Mrs Ridesolo is making this a joint project w/ me and is working wonders on the chrome. Our mixture of aluminum foil and glass cooktop cleaner is doing the trick. There is still some pitting, but from about 3' away it's looking good. She's making decisions on colors, etc, too. We went over yesterday afternoon and bought a set of wheels like the ones Hurco550 got for his Rupp. This bike is a '70 and came w/ 10" spoked wheels when new so these new ones, being 10", fit right in w/ the existing fenders, etc. There is a fair amount of rust on the original rims that may or may not have cleaned up, but the front is missing some spokes so by the time I got spokes and new tires & tubes I would have had more invested than just getting the new wheels/tires.

Projects like this drive me crazy because as I think them through I start to get too elaborate and have to pull on the reins. Disk brake set-up wouldn't be difficult, especially on the front...

While pressure washing the frame and some parts I slipped and went down hard on my lover back and elbows. The little ramp on the north side of the shop never gets any sun and can be slick when wet. I got up pretty quick and seemed ok, but in a couple minutes I got dizzy and faint and passed put momentarily. Mrs was about to call the squad and I was at about 9 on a 10 scale in agreement w/ her but started to clear up. OK now, but it'll probably take a crane to get me out of bed in the morning. Oh well, at least I didn't break anything.

Geeesh Cory.................glad to hear you cleared up. Gotta be careful..!

Can't wait to see some pics of this little thing.
 
Re: 1970 Rupp Roadster - Keeping Up w/ The Neighbors

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-1973-Rupp-Roadster-2-Mini-Bike-Gas-Tank-Decal-Set-/351436578250?hash=item51d3409dca&vxp=mtr
 
Re: 1970 Rupp Roadster - Keeping Up w/ The Neighbors

Thanx, Tuna. Mine, being a '70 is kind of a rare bird; they only made it for one year w/ 10" wheels and the engine and tank painted silver. That makes it a Roadster. The Roadster 2 was the later model w/ the larger wheels and other improvements. The "Roadster" tank stickers for a '70 and MUCH harder to find!
 
Re: 1970 Rupp Roadster - Keeping Up w/ The Neighbors

Tune-A-Fish said:
Oh Dang :-\

Yup, I agree. Since I'm going away from the spoked wheels anyway, it's not going to be an accurate restoration anyway. I am going to try and keep my eyes open for correct stickers n stuff for it, though.
 
Re: 1970 Rupp Roadster - Keeping Up w/ The Neighbors

Have been tinkering away, taking a few pix, and somehow forgetting to post 'em. So here's a bit of an update:

I've gotten the engine cleaned up, got the new rod in and put it back together w/o gaskets to paint it. It'll get stainless socket head bolts all around. (Not sure why I'm bothering w/ that, but what the heck.) As of now it has been painted but since it's hi temp flat black it doesn't photograph well, so I'll post a pix of the thing nekkid instead:





The carb has been cleaned. These things don't have an fuel shut off so there was this great aromatic brown goop in there that had to be removed. Nasty stuff. I was going to just replace it for what the things cost, but everything available had a float bowl and the original was a diaphragm type so i thought it best to stay w/ that. A rebuild kit and a replacement for the trashed choke butterfly and shaft were found and the nasty little beast is now resurrected.



The frame has been power washed and is ready to be disassembled and cleaned up for paint.



The tank is unpretty but it's also undented and will clean up well. I got the worst of the nastiness off w/ the soda blaster, now it'll be stripped, primed, and painted.



The brake drums are going to fit right onto the new wheels once I drill mounting holes to match the wheels. I haven't measured for new spacers yet, but I don't think there'll be any problems.



Lots of the parts are cleaned or in the process of being cleaned and some have even been painted. There's pretty much no hope for the undersides of the fenders so they are just going to be blasted and painted.







Now an interesting thing. Mrs Ridesolo rarely watches (I'm VERY happy to say) QVC and the other home shopping networks, but did happen to see one of their segments where they were selling an interesting item. She got me to watch some of it and we decided that what they were selling wasn't worth what they were asking but then we later found it available for less then half the "great deal" on TV. It's a plastic resin that cures in UV light, I believe dentists have been using something similar for years. Anyway, we thought it might be just the thing, IF it works as advertised, for the crack in the torque converter cover. Once it came in I studied the instructions then did a very careful cleaning of the part and gave it a try... much to my surprise it worked. The stuff is called Bondic and it DOES have its limitations, but for what I used if for it did the trick, I believe the stuff my be just the ticket for cracked side covers and other such things...







So, it's progressing. I may even have the engine back together tomorrow and then on to the frame.

Does anybody know how those fork tubes come out?
 
Re: 1970 Rupp Roadster - Keeping Up w/ The Neighbors

Wow cory! It's coming along nicely man. The neighbors are going to have to start keeping up with you lol
 
Re: 1970 Rupp Roadster - Keeping Up w/ The Neighbors

hurco550 said:
Wow cory! It's coming along nicely man. The neighbors are going to have to start keeping up with you lol

Thanx, Levi! It's coming along ok. Got more done this evening and hope to have the engine buttoned up soon. Tomorrow is pretty well booked up, but it'll come soon.

Was nice to run into you today, wish there had been more time to talk. We went to get some pavers to park the trailer on and ended up going home w/ 400 lbs of pavers, a new dining room table, some material for pillows for the trailer, and a few other pieces of junk.
 
Re: 1970 Rupp Roadster - Keeping Up w/ The Neighbors

We're spending lots of time cleaning, sanding, priming and painting. Hopefully we'll soon have a bunch of sub-assemblies ready to go so I can start on my favorite part, assembly! Anyway, the little engine is coming:

 
Re: 1970 Rupp Roadster - Keeping Up w/ The Neighbors

This thing is going to drive me batty (more batty?). It's going to end up that virtually everything on this little beast is going to have to be rebuilt in one way or another. Everything that isn't being replaced is at least being cleaned and painted, but it seems that as things progress more and more items need to be replaced! Many of the parts/assemblies that seemed ok and working are failing at reassembly time. Oh well... I guess it just goes to show that even though there's only one little cylinder, an extremely basic electrical system, and smaller wheels and tires, when it's all said and done a build is a build. We are enjoying it, though. We've got other projects going on around the house that we keep plugging away at, including getting ready to hitch up the trailer and get out of here for the winter, but it seems like no matter what's going on, sooner or later we're both back out in the shop working away on the Rupp.
 
Re: 1970 Rupp Roadster - Keeping Up w/ The Neighbors

We've been making steady progress but I have been terrible about keeping up w/ pix and posts.

The engine is done and ready to chug back to life.



I got the shocks back together today. Shocks in name only, to be sure, there are only springs and no dampening, but it's a mini bike, so...

They started out pretty rough, 45 years of little or no attention. That plastic bushing was really stubborn and finally came out after being melted w/ a torch. Of course, once I got the first one out the hard way the second one came out like it was suppose to. I was going to turn new ones out of bronze, but found new nylon replacements at Black Widow Motorsports. The rest was just a matter of cleaning, sanding, painting, & polishing.



Parts cleaned up and new bushings ready to go:



And into the box waiting for reassembly.



The frame is about ready for primer and paint, now if the weather will just cooperate...
 
Re: 1970 Rupp Roadster - Keeping Up w/ The Neighbors

Beautiful work on those socks Cory!
 
Re: 1970 Rupp Roadster - Keeping Up w/ The Neighbors

hurco550 said:
Beautiful work on those socks Cory!

Ummm, well, thanx... Mrs Ridesolo does the laundry, I know how and can do it, but she won't let me near her new machines. I'll tell her you think she does a nice job on socks! ::) ;D (gotta love auto spell check)

Things are moving along. Got the frame back from the sand blaster. We would have stripped it ourselves but when we started there were way too many coats of paint, all different colors, to work down through. In the last 45 years the thing was metallic gold, metallic purple, teal, and a couple of other colors. Of course with bare metal we discovered some things we didn't expect so there was more filing, filling, and general clean up than we expected. Anyway, here are the main frame parts cleaned up and primed.



The original brake drums are mounted on the wheels and ready to go.

 
Re: 1970 Rupp Roadster - Keeping Up w/ The Neighbors

ridesolo said:
[size=12pt]
Ummm, well, thanx... Mrs Ridesolo does the laundry, I know how and can do it, but she won't let me near her new machines. I'll tell her you think she does a nice job on socks! ::) ;D (gotta love auto spell check)


Haha, tell her your shirts look "well pressed" as well (for extra brownie points).

This thing will be so nice when its done, you prolly wont wanna sell it ;)
 
Re: 1970 Rupp Roadster - Keeping Up w/ The Neighbors

hurco550 said:
Haha, tell her your shirts look "well pressed" as well (for extra brownie points).

This thing will be so nice when its done, you prolly wont wanna sell it ;)

Nah, if I can't put it on the street I'm not going to keep it and I don't go to enough events to need a pit bike so on "the block" it goes. The parents of our grandkids would probably not be real happy to see it around here but half of them have more experience on a 4-wheeler than I do so they probably know just enough to get themselves into trouble. We have no idea what to try and get out of it, but as long as we make a few bux it'll be ok.
 
Re: 1970 Rupp Roadster - Keeping Up w/ The Neighbors

dun yit?
 
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