Looking for a Challenge

[Efes123]

I've only recently got into biking, and thought I should try to learn how a bike works etc. I've had a few classic cars, and managed basic maintenance on them, so taking a bike apart and putting it back together 'shouldn't' be that difficult, should it?

Anyhow, I've seen this and wondered what people think from a project perspective.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/160782587383?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
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Honda Goldwing GL 1000 Current love
Honda VT500 ED - SOLD
Projects Suzuki GS125 Done, then stolen - Kawasaki GPX750R SOLD - Honda VF750S SOLD

[N cee thirty]

i'd say,check the parts availability before you buy a project bike you plan on spending alot of time on
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'00 Aprilia RS50 > '92 Honda CG > '99 Yamaha Fazer > '91 Yamaha RXS > '79 Suzuki X5 > 01' Honda Cg > 07' Honda Cg > 82' Kawasaki Z200 > suzuki gsxr 400 gk73a > honda vfr 400 NC30 Mod 2 Passed 09/06/2011

Jewlio Iglesias wrote: I actually did vote BNP once

[garth]

Be fine for a project.

Won't be worth anything even when you've ploughed loads of money into though.

[_Troy_]

Been thinking about this sort of thing, getting a shitter to learn the mechanics. Might be an idea to keep an eye on mini motos or pit bikes as a good starting point, plus you can probably do it all on the kitchen table!

If you're not looking to make any money after i'd be tempted to find the most rough looking chinese 125 and rip it to pieces.
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Current bike: ZX6R J1
Previous bikes: CLR 125 | GS500 | ZX6R G2 | SV650

[DrDonnyBrago]

[Efes123]

not too bothered about making money, used to owning money pit Jags But would like to end up with something that's usable. Hopefully Tef will be along to put me right soon
____________________
Honda Goldwing GL 1000 Current love
Honda VT500 ED - SOLD
Projects Suzuki GS125 Done, then stolen - Kawasaki GPX750R SOLD - Honda VF750S SOLD

[jimspeed]

how about my gpz550 in the for sale section on here?
its going to need some time spending on it but it is all there and was a runner
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Hyosung cruise 125(passed test on, sold) Kawasaki el 252 (better than expected but sold on) Kawasaki GPZ500S first "big"bike.(sold) ZZR600 E5..Z750 2007,ER5, currently on a 2008 Enfield bullet electra x and loving it..
,"Alpha-9: Is there any correlation between dyno rod and dyno kits?"

[Efes123]

[Efes123]

Bum, Suzuki is starting to get to silly money now. Anyone know of anything near the Ipswich area? I only want to pay £200 tops
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Honda Goldwing GL 1000 Current love
Honda VT500 ED - SOLD
Projects Suzuki GS125 Done, then stolen - Kawasaki GPX750R SOLD - Honda VF750S SOLD

[Teflon-Mike]

Clik my Profile; follow the links to the 'Projects' I have done in the last couple of years. 'The Corporal' CB125 Super-Dream, the 'Custard Tart' Yamaha Enduro, and 'associate producer' (ie mug that funded it!) of 'The Pup-Project'.

Pay particular heed to 'The Pup-Project', as that was a 'Learn-Mechanics' excersise for Snowie. Hence the length detail & cost.

You dont 'Learn' anything avoiding 'stuff'; so if you want to learn how a bike works and how to fix/overhaul them, then shying away from a full engine rebuild, and just giving that 'lump' a blow over of BBQ paint, wont teach you nuffink about motors.... will it?

Likewise; if you have a seized front disc brake, you wont learn how they work or whats involved to service or overhaul one, pricing up the parts, saying £THREE £HUNDRED £QUID!, and scouring e-bay for second hand caliper(s)

The Pup, has cost as MUCH as a brand new Yamaha YBR125 would have done new in the show room.

It is, to all extents and purposes a 'brand new', quarter century old bike... but very VERY few other people would value it that highly other than Snowie.

So economically, you have to accept the costs as the price of learning / cost of your hobby.

End of the day, nothing WRONG with spending vast amounts of money renovating or customising old bikes; people can spend similarly stupid amounts of money to try and outwit a fish, they will probably throw BACK... but lets say they manage to snag a salmon... well, its £8.50 a kilo or something in ASDA... they don't put their catch up on e-bay, and expect £752 for it, because that was how much the fishing licence to catch it cost! They just eat it!

HOWEVER:- 'done' and done well, SOME bikes are more likely to return a better % of their build cost than others.

Unfortunately they tend to be the ones that are MOST expensive to buy as a basket case, AND that WILL cost most to get the bits for, AND be hardest to find.

Early, wire-wheel SOHC CB750 'Four', for example, can command five figure prices in nice 'original' restored condition, though more often high middle four figure prices. And you COULD, if you pick a decent enough 'Base' and are 'cute' enough in what you do and how you do it, bring in a resto under what it may sell for on the open market. BUT the margins are small, even there, and the risks high.

AND, very tempting when you see almost complete Basket case, 'Wire-Wheel-Fours' fetching over a grand as a 'Base', to go for a later com-star, plastic 'Euro-Style' model... that you can pick up, complete, running, but scruffy for maybe £500ish.

BUT, build costs would be not be much different, and at the end, you would have a bike that was worth 1/3 to 1/2 the value at best, and NOT be the bike you REALLY wanted.

So, you neither profit financially, or emotionally, having short changed yourself.

So FIRST consideration ought to be "WILL this be a bike I would LIKE to own and ride when its done?"

Or at least it should be if you are going to do your project justice and the project is going to do YOU justice.

On THAT score, I doubt a GS250 passes the first-cut for many...

Its a 16bhp, utiliterian commuter; barely any more powerful than a Learner-Legal, and as 'exiting' as a CG125.

Does have mechanical merit as a 1st time project though; Its a four stroke, so you'd get to venture into the more usual mechanics of the motorcycle engine, and its an Over-Head-Cam, so many of the features and quirks of more usual engines, but with only ONE cam, and one cylinder and I think two valves to worry about, not TOO vexing, and not SO many parts to have to deal with, renovate, or replace. Simple twin-shock suspension; another boon, and a 'simple' single piston disc brake up-front, so again not SO expensive to renovate, and a drum at the back, so you get experience of both systems.

As a beginner's project, it ticks some boxes, then... but Its NEVER going to be a desirable bike, and top book, concourse restored, you are looking at a £5-600 machine.... as I type, bidding at near £250, half its maximum value already 'pledged' to the seller. Does NOT leave a lot of 'margin' to do much if anything to overhaul it....

If you could get it to road for no more than a basic service, and an MOT, you are another £100 'out'....

And I would expect that by the time you have done anything particularly useful to it, like rebuilt forks, replaced steering bearings, swapped swing arm bushes, overhauled the brakes, and chucked a bit of paint at it, you would be lucky to have a bike that has cost you under a grand, and even at THAT you probably wont have burried too far into the intricacies of an engine rebuild, or got fancy with powder-coating & paint....

And its a zook, which aren't the 'best' supported old bikes about, and it's not one of the more desirable ones that are better supported.

Personally, I would NOT buy that bike, and even if it was GIVEN to me, I would think long and hard about doing anything with it, or splashing any cash on it.

There are MUCH better bikes to have a crack at.

Honda, are probably the best supported marque, simply because they sell probably twice as many bikes as any-one else.

Yamaha, are 'fairly' well supported; but coverage is more patchy, depending on model. The two-strokes are pretty well catered for, the two-stroke dirt bikes probably very well.

Humble CG125 is a likely candidate. Ironically if you get a GENUINE Honda, not a 'clone' then they hold value very well, and a good one CAN make its build price. Mainly by dint of being a Honda, a Cult bike AND a learner-legal. VERY VERY well supported for spares, curtecy of the Chinky-clones and that ALSO makes parts and renovation a lot more ecconomically viable.

Not inspiring to ride though, probably not a bike you would have much if any interest in, once built.

Dirt-Bikes can be a lot of fun, and they can earn thier keep as a second bike, for 'bad weather', week end 'fun' or pure off-road sport.

MX bikes are inordinately demanding of maintenance, and consequently end up degenerating into unreliable field bikes, as they loose their competitive edge. But as a sub-species, with year-on year model changes, can be a night-mare for a first-time restorer.

Trials bikes however? Well, the old Twin-Shocks, like my old Cota are a Club-man DREAM. Simple as bikes come; they have no lights, no equipment, 'one wire' electrics, they are absolutely no frills, maximum effect from minimum technology biking. And there is a healthy classic trials 'scene' where you can, VERY cheaply go put your finished project through its paces. Great fun and highly addictive. A lot of old bikes from specialist manufacturers even a well versed, 'in touch' Classic-Comp exponents might shy away from though; bikes like an SWM or a Fantic, which are nie on impossible to get bits for these days. Serendipiteousely my Montesa 248 is based on Montesa's long running road-bike, and shares major components with whole host of machines spanning a decade and a half of production. Others though are far less well supported. Rival Bultaco's on the other hand have been incredibly well supported by their works Rider, Sammy-Miller, who opened his own shop when he retired from riding. But for the newbie, BEST bike to go for would be a Yamaha TY175. Still one of the best supported bikes about, it outlived its sell-by date in the sport bu probably a decade by dint of being a popular youth machine; it was also a small frame bike, much more suitable for modern 'pocket' trials courses, than the similar vintage 250's that are some-what more unwieldy and hence harder to ride without a lot of experience or mods.

Ultimately LOTS and lots to think about... but comes BACK to what you would REALLY like to have at the end of it?
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My Webby'Tef's-tQ, loads of stuff about my bikes, my Land-Rovers, and the stuff I do with them!
Current Bikes:'Honda VF1000F' ;'CB750F2N' ;'CB125TD ( 6 3 of em!)'; 'Montesa Cota 248'. Learner FAQ's:= 'U want to Ride a Motorbike! Where Do U start?'

[Efes123]