First restoration project ideas?

[Omar15]

I'm looking at finding a bike to start a restoration project with. I'm pretty keen on teaching myself and learning how to maintain bikes and assume this would be the best way to do it.

So any ideas? I'm thinking some sort of 125 as I expect they're a bit simpler than anything bigger, but also have a bit of resale value too.

Cheers!

[Teflon-Mike]

click my profile button at bottom.
In there is link to the 'Pup-Project' thread. Snowie's 12 month renovation of a CB125 Super-Dream.

Twelve months and the price of a Brand-New YBR125, she has a bike worth just about as much as a three year old YBR......

But she has LEARNED a heck of a lot!

Restoration Projects are all good fun, but as an economical exercise?

Well, if you pick a bike that is worth money when done, that doesn't need TOO much doing to it, you MAY if you are cute enough, end up with something that is worth roughly what you spend on it.

BUT, as a learning excersise? Well, you wont learn much by avoiding big jobs, so, chances are, doing everything you might want or need to to learn how it works and how to repair/overhaul it.... you WONT be making the finished bike ANY more valuable.

Big bikes vs little ones?

NOT REALLY true little bikes are any 'easier' than big ones. They have same number of wheels, and 'stuff' and bits work much the same. Needn't have any more cylinders or more complicated suspension or anything either.

Old or New?

Older bikes will tend to suffer from more obsolecence issues trying to track down parts; but that can be a problem on some fairly recent machines, depending. Also used to be true older bikes tended to be lower tech and simpler design, but even THAT is not so true these days and a twenty year old Honda VFR400 is probably no less convoluted than a modern ZX6R or something.

Advice?

Think long and hard what you want at the end of the day, & how much its worth TO YOU.

Bike YOU have built with your own hands, is a thing of joy, regardless, and there is no greater buzz than the shear GLEE of riding, and knowing that that piston slapping up and down is doing so becouse YOU put it there and put everything around it.

BUT.... if its not going to DO anything else, like shove you along at the rate you want to go; if its not going to be apreciated by others at meets or ride outs, or its got no other 'purpose', getting you to and from, or anything, its NOT going to ALL be worth while.

So pick something to 'restore' that you would BUY to RIDE.

THEN cost up how much it will cost to renovate and decide whether the difference.... probably a significant one, and MORE than you would pay for a rider, is WORTH the learning you hope to get from it, AND that 'feel-good' glee of having built it with your own fair hand, AND knowing that its probably a lot 'better' than anything you could have bought on the open market.

And plan on KEEPING the thing once done, and riding the value out of that premium by USING 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?'

[Timmeh]

I went in at the deep end and got myself a non-running '95 CBR600 to fiddle with.

There isn't much difference between a single and a sensible, carbed IL4. Both have forks, suspension, wiring loom, controls and lights.

For example; you rebuild virtually every RWU fork the same way; the only thing that changes is the size they are. Brakes, whether it be single-piston, two pot slideys (like the CBR) or four pots (like my RVF) are all done using the same method.

The only real difference is the engine and that an IL4 is bigger and will require some more specialist tools if you fancy rebuilding it.

However, if its your first go and rebuilding an engine then I'd suggest a stroker as they are far easier and have no valves or cams to worry about. 125 2T engines are fabulously simple things and quite easy pull apart and rebuild. It's also fairly hard to make a complete mash of it and unlike an engine with cams you won't destroy your head if you get the timing wrong.


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GSXR400 x2 | '94 RVF400 | '93 TZR125 4DL (again)
20:22:30 BLUEX5: i would love to be forced to undergo a**l plugging with different sizes
20:48:18 Temeluchus: comp you hunk of smouldering homos3x you

[temeluchus]

Try and find a machine where the model ran for a long time, rather than one with a short production run.
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Some shite cruiser. Now with guns and FREEDOM!

[pepperami]

A single cylinder two-smoke, has to be about as easy as it gets
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I am the sum total of my own existence, what went before makes me who I am now!

[ruck bodgers]

you dont have to go for restoration . you can mix and match find some wheels pick a frame get some forks and so on maybe start with a rolling chasis or a complete bike perhaps youd want to swap the engine or lower it and opt for a single sided swing or wtvr you want . you may well learn to weld and work metals along the way doing your own fabrication and adapting parts to fit you will learn a lott more that way about all aspects needed to make a good bike . for instance say you had a cx500 and you was restoring it you would have to source parts specific and wouldnt be doing much more than tidying it up and bolting pieces on possibly rebuilding an engine . but if you dont make your objective to restore a bike . and instead just to make a bike your not so limited you can build somthing really special to yourself and using second hand parts that are overlooked or you can find cheaper after having researched sizes and to see what will fitt or you can make fit to your fixtures . restoration jobs can be exspensive but making a bike may turn out cheaper . it would most probably take more time as theres more thought to go into it but you will learn more . thats how i learned on my own .
ps .you may also end up spending more time making them than riding them in the end wich is a trap i have fallen into . i love to build them as much as to ride them.|

have fun

[Teflon-Mike]

[Blau Zedong]

Suzuki X5.

HTH
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18:54:48 Rob Fzs: jews don't give away stuff for free

18:54:59 Rob Fzs: unless its their clothes/ hair/ golden teeth

[jjdugen]

It depends entirely on.
1. Facilities. Do you have a workshop that is YOURS, i.e. you wont find your precious work fighting for space with lawnmowers, kids reject toys, old pushbikes etc.
2. Tools. And I dont mean a socket set from the pound shop and your dads old hammer. Only good stuff will do and that aint cheap.
3. Time. No good thinking you can do it for an hour or two a week. You will need to dedicate large chunks of your free time.
3. Ability. Be honest. Are you mechanically adept, can you problem solve. If you crossthread the sauce bottle top then maybe think again.
4. Money. You will need surprising amonts of it.

I've attached a PDF file of a rebuild I did a year ago, might give you something to think about. (You will need Adobe reader, free download).
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The CBR900RR has been sold. Aprilia Falco worms its way into my heart.
Try Soi 23 on Amazon for a good read.... Self promotion? Moi?

[ruck bodgers]

[Efes123]

Listen to the Tef, he knows

I've just embarked on exactly this. I ended up with a pretty old (1984) Suzuki GS 125. I went for the 125 because it is simpler than a bigger bike, maybe not by much, but when you're starting out from scratch like me, it all helps.

I also went for it because there are still plenty of parts available for it (thanks Nick). Also, a 125 is light, that means you don't need any lifting equipment.

What's probably going to cost you, if you don't already have them, is money for tools. Why is it that the size of the nut is dictated by the size of the socket you haven't got I ended up spending a fortune and getting a big fuck-off set of everything But, now I can't afford to buy any bits for a while

You certainly need to resign yourself to spending a lot more than you're going to get back from the sale. But just think of all the knowledge you'll have, and that's going to be priceless when it comes to maintaining your own bike.

After last weekend, this is where I'm up to;

https://www.dogfriendlysuffolk.com/bikepics/IMG-20120512-00042.jpg

Minus the pegs, shocks, and chain guard. Just now waiting for my new frame to arrive along with its V5 (mine's a cat B).

Whatever you decide to get, post up the pics.
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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

[grant965]

if its purely to learn, get a cheap chinese 125, spares/repairs come up for sale all the time for barely any money.
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Ex bikes: 05 Suzuki En 125, '98 Yamaha Thundercat, '08 Honda cbr125, '05 Kawasaki z750, '03 Triumph Daytona 600, '91 Kawasaki ex250, '03 Hyosung Comet 125
Current Bike: '02 Suzuki TL1000R

[Omar15]

Wow. Cheers guys! Thank you so much for that. I've got a lot more to think about now!

In terms of starting, I think I'll buy a couple of books and see how much I'll need to spend on tools etc. If its going to be a money-pit, then I guess it makes some sense to buy something I'd want to actually ride at the end of it all.

Hmm.

Thanks again, I really didn't expect such a response!

[Teflon-Mike]