spazzed
New Member
Hey guys -- I started over in the member introduction section but thought I'd locate it closer to where it should be. This is my first vintage motorcycle project so be patient as I describe things.
I picked this little 2-stroke up off of craigslist for what I thought was a very fair price. Bike was in better condition than I thought in many ways but worse condition than I thought in several other ways. Here's a photo of right when I rolled it into the garage:
You can see that the only thing obviously missing on this side is the oil pump cover. I don't have a clean shot like this from the other side, but on that side it's missing the side cover and the generator cover is held on by coat hanger wire (ughh!) To my surprise, everything is actually in better shape than I expected once I started taking it apart. I thought that things were rusted or corroded, but actually they are just covered in 40+ years of oil and dirt.
My main goal right now is to get it started but first I needed to get it cleaned up -- that meant starting to take things apart and assessing what mechanical components I might need.
Carb was rebuilt by the previous owner (before he lost interest in the project.) Engine has good compression and kicks over strong. Before it starts I need to resolve these issues or find these parts (hence the spending my time cleaning until I get parts or work out these issues):
- Boot that connects carb intakes to airbox. I ordered a NOS part but it seems to be the wrong size on the carb ends (or else my carbs have been changed at some point.) Air tube has 30mm tubes, carb has 34mm intakes.
- Also need air filter elements. Coming up empty on this one. Might need to ditch the airbox an adapt a K&N cone filter to the snorkel boot somehow.
- Wiring. All of the switches and lights on this bike should be in the headlight/speedo. Mine is missing the original headlight and speedo. There are random wires inside the current headlight bucket but I need to figure out what they are for and how they should be hooked up. (more to come below on this)
- Cables -- I now have all NOS throttle and clutch cables that just need to be hooked up.
- Spark plugs. Minor, but I'm waiting for mine to come in with a handful of other misc parts as well as a new battery.
Generator visually looks to be in good shape. No broken wires or terminals. (You can really see the caked on oil/dirt in the background of this shot.)
This caked on mud/oil is what I'm working on resolving right now. It is covering EVERYTHING on the bike. Here's what the front wheel cleaned up like with just a little soap and water and my brass brush. I think with some elbow grease and chrome polish, she'll look brand new.
Rear wheel and hub are also cleaning up nicely. I'll pull the chain and soak that in kerosene to see if I can get it bright again. Those shock springs are going to be a challenge. The "bonanza" version of this bike (which is my best guess as to what this is) seems pretty rare. The high pipes, front shock boots and rear shock springs seem to be the big differences. No idea where I'm going to find these but hoping once I measure, I'll be able to source some aftermarket "generic" ones.
Tank will eventually need some work and paint on it. But... it's all there and dent free. Has both side covers and both pads (which are also dent free.)
Inside looks great, though!
Headlight. Can anyone identify this? The bucket is not bent or dented -- that's a flat spot on the bottom!
Key on the top which is attached to something... but.... who knows if the bike has ever run like this?
And lastly the pipes. Showing just how dirty they are and how nice they look after just a few hours with some steel wool, brass brush and purple power degreaser. I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to flatten the dented "muff guards." They aren't too bad but there's a few places where they have noticeable deformities in them.
I picked this little 2-stroke up off of craigslist for what I thought was a very fair price. Bike was in better condition than I thought in many ways but worse condition than I thought in several other ways. Here's a photo of right when I rolled it into the garage:
You can see that the only thing obviously missing on this side is the oil pump cover. I don't have a clean shot like this from the other side, but on that side it's missing the side cover and the generator cover is held on by coat hanger wire (ughh!) To my surprise, everything is actually in better shape than I expected once I started taking it apart. I thought that things were rusted or corroded, but actually they are just covered in 40+ years of oil and dirt.
My main goal right now is to get it started but first I needed to get it cleaned up -- that meant starting to take things apart and assessing what mechanical components I might need.
Carb was rebuilt by the previous owner (before he lost interest in the project.) Engine has good compression and kicks over strong. Before it starts I need to resolve these issues or find these parts (hence the spending my time cleaning until I get parts or work out these issues):
- Boot that connects carb intakes to airbox. I ordered a NOS part but it seems to be the wrong size on the carb ends (or else my carbs have been changed at some point.) Air tube has 30mm tubes, carb has 34mm intakes.
- Also need air filter elements. Coming up empty on this one. Might need to ditch the airbox an adapt a K&N cone filter to the snorkel boot somehow.
- Wiring. All of the switches and lights on this bike should be in the headlight/speedo. Mine is missing the original headlight and speedo. There are random wires inside the current headlight bucket but I need to figure out what they are for and how they should be hooked up. (more to come below on this)
- Cables -- I now have all NOS throttle and clutch cables that just need to be hooked up.
- Spark plugs. Minor, but I'm waiting for mine to come in with a handful of other misc parts as well as a new battery.
Generator visually looks to be in good shape. No broken wires or terminals. (You can really see the caked on oil/dirt in the background of this shot.)
This caked on mud/oil is what I'm working on resolving right now. It is covering EVERYTHING on the bike. Here's what the front wheel cleaned up like with just a little soap and water and my brass brush. I think with some elbow grease and chrome polish, she'll look brand new.
Rear wheel and hub are also cleaning up nicely. I'll pull the chain and soak that in kerosene to see if I can get it bright again. Those shock springs are going to be a challenge. The "bonanza" version of this bike (which is my best guess as to what this is) seems pretty rare. The high pipes, front shock boots and rear shock springs seem to be the big differences. No idea where I'm going to find these but hoping once I measure, I'll be able to source some aftermarket "generic" ones.
Tank will eventually need some work and paint on it. But... it's all there and dent free. Has both side covers and both pads (which are also dent free.)
Inside looks great, though!
Headlight. Can anyone identify this? The bucket is not bent or dented -- that's a flat spot on the bottom!
Key on the top which is attached to something... but.... who knows if the bike has ever run like this?
And lastly the pipes. Showing just how dirty they are and how nice they look after just a few hours with some steel wool, brass brush and purple power degreaser. I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to flatten the dented "muff guards." They aren't too bad but there's a few places where they have noticeable deformities in them.
