Getting my bike back on the road. pt1

owdamer · World Chat Champion Joined: 06 Oct 2004 Karma :

Took the first steps to getting my bike back on the road today.
I've not touched my bike, for various reasons, for over 12 months, and over the previous 18 months or so it got very little use at all.
Its a long story why i've not used it, & I wont bore you with it now, but the end result is a very sad & neglected 1994 Yamaha YZF750R.
The brakes have siezed up solid. the fasteners are in varying states of corrosion, the chain is all rusty, I imagine the tyres have perished, The plugs and caps are bolloxsed, plus to make things even more complicated the exup isn't working. I imagine either the cables, or the valve itself have siezed up.

Part 1 started today. Brake calipers were undone, pads backed off so that the bike would actually roll. A van had been arranged to transport the bike to a local bikeshop for what I expect will be a very expensive service. The brief is to get the bike running, then perform a major service. shims, carbs, brakes, Pretty much everything really!. Hopefully this time next week I will have an MoT on my somewhat scruffy YZF.

Part 2 will be to work on the cosmetic side once the weather improves a bit. just cleaning the fasteners & whatever else I can do at home.

Part 3 will involve splashing out more cash on a bit of paint. At the moment i'm looking at a Cadburys boost paintjob based on the bike whitham rode in 1996. I had considered doing a hizzy replica complete with helmet to match, but i do prefer the earlier colours.

I dread to think how much this lot is going to cost, but i paid nearly £7000 for the bike back in 94 so it would be a shame to let it completely rot.

I have to publicly thank my girlfriend Suzanne for letting me spend all this money, especially as its her money that will be paying a very large chunk of it. Its my 40th Birthday in April so this will be her present to me. I feel so happy about this, despite being nearly 40!!!

I'll keep you all posted as the work goes on.

slowarse · Nitrous Nuisance Joined: 21 Jan 2005 Karma :

thats a nice looking bike mate! Thumbs Up

i bet you could have done a lot of it yourself if you had the time though Wink

let us know how you get on with it Very Happy

and i cant believe your birds paying for it! Shocked

you lucky sod!! lol. Wink

owdamer · World Chat Champion Joined: 06 Oct 2004 Karma :

It does look good when you take the picture with a camera phone, it sort of looses the shine in real life when you see what the weather has done to it. One of my biggest problems is that I live in a terraced house with a shared yard, Bloody neighbours dogs seem to think that my bike is a lamp post or something. I've got somewhere else to keep the bike for a few months & during that time i'll be either putting up a shed or fencing a section off to keep the bloody mutts at bay. anyone know where i can get an electric fence??

Stew · Posted: 09:11 - 27 Feb 2005 Post subject:

Good luck on getting your bike sorted Owdamer. Karma

Now when you say a Hizzy rep, do you mean the Hislop Boost paint, or the Hislop Virgin Mobile?
If you mean the Virgin mobile rep, then you can't, 'coz thats what I have Razz

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"Unlike public school you don't need to have your arse up and your head down to go a long way...."

owdamer · World Chat Champion Joined: 06 Oct 2004 Karma :

After looking at a few pics I'm thinking of a whitham replica. I was a big fan of hizzy, but I do prefer the earlier colour scheme.

https://www.wwrgallery.co.uk/image.aspx?id=790

2nd choice is

https://www.wwrgallery.co.uk/image.aspx?id=782

I'm not sure when I'll have the funds for this, depends on how much it costs to get the bike running & MoT'd really. It will be happening at some point tho. I promise I wont do a virgin mobile rep tho, I really do prefer blue to red.

750SPbyker · L Plate Warrior Joined: 27 Feb 2005 Karma :

Nice bike, even tho the cocktail colours were deemed girlie, which is bo**ocks anyway. I own a 93 750SP which Ive just converted from track bike to road bike. Dont ask how much it cost as I will only start crying lol. I've a friend who has just had the Haga R7 paintjob done on his 750R and that cost him almost £600. That should be a guideline for any paintjob you want undertaken. PS, if you want to PX the missus, gimme a call, she sounds too good to be true hehe. Good luck on the makeover and post the results[color=blue][/color]

cc123 · Geez a joab? Joined: 17 Jan 2005 Karma :

Mmmmmm yum, the Red Bull rep paint job is nice. Nice bike too, good to hear it's getting some pampering! Thumbs Up

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Old bikes >>> https://www.bikepics.com/members/cc123/

owdamer · World Chat Champion Joined: 06 Oct 2004 Karma :

Spoke to the guy in the bike shop today to see how they were getting on.....Seems to be quite a bit of work to do.

Valve clearances. . Not the easiest of jobs to beging with, he says that normally you can mix & match the shims to get them right. Not in this case, It looks like most of the shims will need replacing.

Carbs. Carbs have bad petrol left in them for quite a while Embarassed

so they're pretty bunged up and a few of the internals need replacing.

Clutch. There was no fluid in the system, this has been traced to master cylinder seal. replacement needed.

Exup. The exup valve seemed to be jammed. This has been traced to the exup servo unit. Replacement needed.

Chain & sprockets. Gearing had been changed to give more acceleration, Not sure why I needed that, This meant I was always using about 1000rpm more than I needed, not to mention the extra fuel consumption. It also meant a lot of unwanted wheelies.
Chain is rusted up after lack of use so replacement needed.

Brakes. All calipers were siezed up. Rear was rusted solid as a result of neighbour dog constantly pissing on it. This has been replaced by a 2nd hand caliper of ebay. Fronts have been cleaned and are ok in not perfect. Front and rear both need pads tho.

Well thats it so far, just awaiting parts at the moment. No idea of the size of the bill yet. Sad