Ever Saved a Motorcycle from the Scrap Heap?
I come across old unloved bikes alot. Somebody got all excited and bought a real beauty. After a couple of years, the newness wore off, and the old bike spent 20 years in the barn rusting away. Lots of times these old 2wheelers can be had for the asking, or at least for scrapyard prices. I love to save these old bikes from certain destruction at the hands of weather/recyclers/inexperienced tinkerers. I'm working on an ible about salvaging these old machines. Anybody else out there ever saved a classic/junker from the elements (or even worse, the crusher)? Any tricks you know for bringing one of these would-be stallions back to life?
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Picked this up yesterday, was my dad's bike in college and has been rotting away in a barn since '75. This is a terrible cell phone pic but I will be documenting the whole process of getting it running. Hopefully, I will also document the process of converting it to a small cafe racer. In the background you can see my other rescue-project bike, a 1972 Harley M65S (aka Leggero) that I am doing for my wife.
Taking them over to a friends house to work on them though, so my wife (or homeowners association) doesn't have me killed
Taking them over to a friends house to work on them though, so my wife (or homeowners association) doesn't have me killed
Yep. a '72 CB175. I plan on switching the pipes with the ones from a CL175 and converting it to a cafe racer inspired bike.
My youngest boy is looking to make a small displacement CB cafe racer. Let me know how yours goes!
Will Do!! Visiting friends up north and it looks like I am getting a CL175 as well that needs much less work.
Happy New Year to you! Been sidetracked! Need to be more productive in the new year!!
I've got 2 I'm working on now, one I am likely selling. I was recently given a 1970 Harley Davidson M65S by Aermacchi and am fixing up my dad's 1972 CB175 to become my daily rider, will likely mod that one with a DIY fiberglass cafe seat, clip ons, etc. At the very least it is getting de-badged and de-branded and a nice coats of black satin paint once de-rustified.
AWESOME!!!! the Honda will make a good rider. Plus the parts are still fairly available. Be very kind to the old Aermacchi. I'd keep it as original as possible, as some of them are worth a bit. I have a '70-something Harley-Aermacchi X-90. It's obviously just a "toy", but still lots of fun.
Spent the morning pressure washing the aermachhi. The electrolytic rust removal doesn't seem to be working on the tank though, perhaps because it is a 2 stroke the tank is coated with the oil? Tried rinsed it with paint thiner this morning, so we will see.
My oldest son has experimented with the electrolytic route, and had mixed results. I would strongly suspect the old 2 stroke oil is the problem. Did the paint thinner help? You might could get some sort of "etching" solvent to strip it out. IIRC, there is a special solvent that is packaged with "Kreem". Kreem is an epoxy-like liner that you pour in your tank to coat it, ultimately covering the rust and any pinholes in the tank. If you try that stuff follow the instructions EXACTLY. I've done a tank successfully, but I've seen several that were done poorly- leaving the tank less useful than before! Also, Kreem seems a bit expensive.
No luck with the paint thinner, got most of the rust with pennies and soapy water (and a pressure washer). One of my best friends is a hot rodder, she uses MEK on the tanks for her cars and then some sort of sealant like Kreem and has enough of both left over form other projects for me to use on both of mine.
That's lucky! My son works on building/restoring small planes. On the older ones they use something like Kreem. I hope he has some left over soon! I need to coat an Aermacchi X-90 and a '79 Ironhead tank, and my youngest son needs it for an old Honda XL 125. Let me know what finally works best for you! (Also, there is a solution that is used to prep old guns for re-blueing. I've used it on an old shotgun and it worked very well, but once again, it seemed almost prohibitively expensive.)
Apr 21, 2009. 12:05 PMabadfart
says:
hey where can i find one i live in the middle of a bunch of dairy farms.
Hard to say. But back in the 70's a lot of farm folks had dirt bikes. I'd just put the word out that you're looking for a project. But, next time you travel (vacation, etc), you might check old bike shops and junkyards along your route. Or buy a bike off ebay/craigslist in the area your visiting.
If you're taking a truck to Nebraska, I'd check ebay/craigslist for bikes for sale along my route (or not too far out of the way). Most folks will gladly hold a bike for a month or so, as long as you pay up front (or at least make a deposit).
Apr 24, 2009. 9:16 AMabadfart
says:
ya my buddy and i are taking his Dotson truck up and bringing back his new F250
Sounds like a prime opportunity to make a bike-gathering road trip. Just google used bike shops along the route, and bikes for sale on ebay along the route, and pick 'em up as you go. It's a little harder in unfamiliar territory, but $300-$600 should get you a salvageable bike or two or three. My youngest son bought a '73 Kawasaki for $100 off ebay. With a new spark plug, a carb cleaning, and fresh gas it was up and going in no time. He had a pretty spectacular crash yesterday, fortunately it was on grass and not on the road.
I've got a friend who just developed about a square foot of roadrash the other day. His GSXR 750 doesn't look so good either.
Jul 31, 2009. 11:13 PMabadfart
says:
ya mine was on an old dirt bike and i messed up the electric starter pretty good
Fortunately, my kids have kept their crashing-business on the dirt. Aside from one incident with a barbwire fence, they walked away pretty unscathed.
Nov 16, 2008. 3:12 PMk3y3l3e3
says:
i am curriently saveing a old 1983 moped i found it in a junk yard and got it for 75 bucks and i thought it would be a learn as you go experience (iv never done something like that before) it is a great bike it an old batavus regency any outher moped restorers out there plz contact me with tips and tricks.
Have a look at this. Most everything would also apply to a moped. I've only done a few mopeds, but if you have any specific questions, I'd be glad to help.
Have you made any progress with the moped? What kind is it?
Jan 13, 2009. 5:06 PMk3y3l3e3
says:
i have its an old laura m 56 motor and its a nice batavus regency i have found my inspiration http://www.motomaticmopeds.com/peds.html look at the yuba bike
That's awesome. I might do that to my sister's old moped!
That's cool. There's a website: ratbike.com , those guys do some crazy stuff with all kinds of bikes and mopeds. If you get stuck on something, let me know. I have a lot of miscellaneous parts laying around.
Nov 30, 2008. 9:16 AMKeith-Kid
says:
Nah, my dad only lets me pick up bicycles...but some day.....some day....
That's the way it starts. A Huffy today, a Harley tomorrow!
Dec 1, 2008. 12:18 PMKeith-Kid
says:
I used to pick up those electric scooters, and now he lets me pick up gas powered ones (its the small kid things)
Ive had:
Ive had:
- 18 bicycles
- 4 electric scooters (One died of age, one we picked up ACTUALLY EXPLODED, the other two worked for a while, but I guess they were thrown out for a reason...)
- two gas scooters (one was a hopeless case the other we have yet to work on)
Me and my father have never, never boughten anything with a motor in it new, but then again dad can fix pretty much anything. We saved 2 Yamaha xs650's (1 sold) 1 Honda 900 (the first super bike) 1 CAN-AM 250 (Out of commission) 2 Honda Cubs (sold) 1 Honda Odyssey (running) 1 suzuki rv-125 (running) and two small 50cc kids bike. (both sold)
BTW, we've currently added another open toped odyssey , and a Yamaha Yr1 to our list
Oooh, Post some pics of the Odyssey! My kids are thinking about building their own.
LOL! But for some sick reason I've always wanted one of those!
Cool! Hey, We'd certainly like to have you in the Scooter Trash Group. I'm sure your experiences would really add to thecommunity!
Does a river count? If so I got two chav scooters and a 125 Learner scooter... The chav-a-trons went for 50 quid each after some quick fixing... I honestly have no idea what happened to the 125, I know it took a long time to get the centrifugal clutch going again... it was in the workyard... maybe I let skippy have it in the end...
Just seeing the words "chav scooters" and "chav-a-trons" has already got me chuckling, even though I have no idea what the heck a chav scooter is. Got any pics? :)
Aaaah Okay the ole Goped. They are kinda pricy down my side of the world, so its only the rich kids who drive around on those. I'm guessing the main reason I don't see much of them around is also because they're illegal on the roads.
They're illegal on the road and pavement here but still... You hear the drone followed swiftly with yeeeeeoooooooo mate...
Aug 6, 2008. 3:37 AMRishnai
says:
Yeah, I hear them ripping around the neighborhood all the time. I'm all for loud exhausts, but the way the neighbor kid rides it, sometimes I feel like I'd be doing the area a favor if I went and grabbed a brick...
You mean where they hang on to the top revs in a gear for about three minutes then you hear some clunks and jerking up and down in revs and the process starts again...
Aug 6, 2008. 8:46 PMRishnai
says:
Exactly. Sometimes punctuated with CRASH "oof!" as they hit a trash can. The best I've seen so far is when he hit my trash can while it was full (and mind you this is a 100-gallon can), and knocked the can about six feet from where I left it. I didn't hear scooter motors for a while after that...
Always pleasing, one of the best was hear the drone rising to that scream where you wonder why the engine hasn't popped, all of a sudden there's a screech followed by an almighty bang quite near me... He'd been on the pavement and slammed right in to a big switching box, I went out expecting to be phoning and ambulance but no, he was jammed into the fork of a tree...
Aug 19, 2008. 1:29 AMRishnai
says:
I hadn't heard scooters in quite a few weeks, until just this weekend I got out a real quiet dirtbike and took it for a half-block spin, just to keep it exercised and therefore alive. Next thing I know, two hours later, I've inspired a trend, and I can hear two screaming scooters with open pipes (do they make them any other way?) and even the dude across the fence who doesn't have a blade of grass has gtten out his lawnmower!
That kind of thing happens, scooters start quiet out of the shop but the exhausts rust fast and sap power so they usually get lopped off pretty sharpish...
(Off topic) When we rented some Honda odyssey Go-carts, the man that rented them to us told us that he knew someone that jumped the odyssey six feet into the crotch of a tree.
I've crash landed in the crotch of a tree before but a go-kart wasn't involved, a rope a makeshift land sliding board thinger and a variety of terrains may have been, personally, I'd avoid repeating the go-kart trick, I'd say he was going faster than me and I probably hurt pretty badly... On the upside being able to come back to the go-kart guy and tell him you got it stuck up a tree would be ****ing funny...
Ya, he was in hospital for a couple months after that, Ruptured spleen and screwed his back.
Thanks for the links, I've been chuckling so much that I couldn't wait for killerjackalope's pics and took Google for a spin once I knew what I was looking for. I now see its a UK term for what we call "poor whites" or "trailer park trash". That burberry check is rather nauseating though, talk about tasteless. Im having a hard time finding a chav-a-tron in Google though. :D
Aug 3, 2008. 2:52 AMRishnai
says:
Never underestimate the tackiness powers of white trash. Nobody else would put seven plastic flamingoes on their property, all painted different colors, and painted every year without fail. We are the only group of people who work very hard on how FEW people we can fit in a vehicle, getting to the point where 3/4 of the driver is out the window, and he's driving with one foot, steering with the other, and wearing nothing but raggedy old bluejeans and spilt beer. In fact just today I was at a cruise-in and there were four chav car's painted up just like the one Kiteman linked.
It's important to know how to properly identify and respond to Hillbillies. BTW-Kiteman, can I link to your WHisky Still?
If I do a Hillbilly instructable, I need to have a good section on white lightning. My ex-girlfriends hillbilly dad used to drink home-made corn-liquor from a mason-jar, and then go out in the yard to play with snakes. That way it didn't hurt so much when they bit him.
I still suspect what we call white lightning is more vile...
Aug 6, 2008. 9:23 PMRishnai
says:
Yeah, what DO you call white lightning? I understand the British have some pretty nasty homebrew gins. The white lightning around here is clear, high-proof corn liquor, but a couple of years ago when we had such a bumper crop that there was millet laying on the ground waiting for a truck or a silo, there was a lot of millet and barley liqour getting made. Generally badly.
It's white cider, nasty chavvy white cider...look below for more detail.. Actually my friend used to do a bit of secret stillin' and made some interesting stuff, granted you had to drink it away from open flames...
Aug 7, 2008. 11:37 PMRishnai
says:
Ah, yes, no smoking Pall Malls while drinking your 'shine. I met a guy that burnt his moustache off that way once...
It's a white cider that comes in three litre bottles, it's pretty much the most distasteful thing and apple could form into... It's big and cheap so it's bought a lot though since it's strong aswell. However there's worse, buckfast... Do you Know Buckfast?
Aug 7, 2008. 11:39 PMRishnai
says:
I did a little experimenting with alcohol engines once, and distilled about a pint of 180 proof apple/grape cider to burn. It must have been the most vile thing ever, but it's the fruit I had on hand, and the engine didn't complain!
Interesting *still thinks one for me one for you when alcohol engines come up*
Aug 8, 2008. 3:06 AMRishnai
says:
Kiteman has been getting the scariest emails he's ever seen from the Robot...If it were a good malt, maybe I'd consider taking a share, but I know just how vile mixed-fruit homestill can be, and I figured the engine would appreciate it more. Besides, it won the rock-paper-scissors.
Actually if I could run an engine on beer it'd be cheaper than petrol, cider and I'd be near enough to running red... They're amazing at rock paper scissors, drives me up the wall, try pitching pennies with it, usually not as good at that...
Aug 8, 2008. 11:11 PMRishnai
says:
I wonder what it would take to run an engine on beer. They're always taking about inventing engines that run on water, seems like beer would work even better in one like that...
Aside from distillation, you'd probably have to go the hydrogen-from-beer route. Probably easier is just buy beer for a crew of strong-looking homeless guys and ask them to push your car around town. I could almost promise at least 1 mile to the gallon.
have a look through the commitment sport entry I did, I discuss alternative vehicles in it, crackheads being one...
Aug 10, 2008. 9:46 PMRishnai
says:
I can visualize the homeless-guy-powered car. I got a chuckle out of that, but it just may work...
Oh. My cousin used to make cider like that. It was ROUGH. Here our white lightning is home distilled corn liquor. It is usually in the 180 proof range. The high quality stuff is quite nice. What's buckfast?
That is it Though wikipedia misses some points about it, the bottles are numbered 1 - 20, 1 being so sweet it makes you ill and 20 being like sewage bottled...
It's the road to ruin according to my mother, that's how bad it is...
Lots of caffeine in it too, which doesn't help with the Asbo..
It's the road to ruin according to my mother, that's how bad it is...
Lots of caffeine in it too, which doesn't help with the Asbo..
Yuck. I like wine, but suggary, caffeinated, rotgut? I'd rather have a nice Shiraz, Cabernet, or Merlot, followed by a cup of stout coffee.
It's not anything like wine to be honest... more like some kind of vile drunk peoples blood...
Never been a fan of wine, the odd bit of red but white disagrees with me...
I enjoy a dry, flat red. White makes me sick, but that probably goes back to my mis-spent youth.
Hmm I just never had a thing for it and if I do go for some it's the sweet stuff, then I end up with one hell of a headache... Though I do like Rose even though it's dirty and cheap, the idea of strawberry wine is enough, the fact that it's nice is better...
Aug 4, 2008. 3:04 AMRishnai
says:
Aww, I think we've scared Kiteman. He'll be having nightmares tonight of gap-tooth hillfolk and their corn juice, handling snakes and hunting from trucks. Don't worry, most of us are harmless. As long as you don't "sound like a deer."
He once had a little talk with me about marrying his little girl. All the while, he was three sheets to the wind and horribly mishandling a shotgun!
Fortunately, I've never been asked to squeal like a piggy!
Aug 4, 2008. 12:36 AMRishnai
says:
It's okay, we can forgive him. He's from the wrong side of the pond to know.
LOL, my most recent references regarding cowboys is City Slickers. For rednecks, I hark back to Dukes of Hazard, and I'm pretty sure they said "yee-har" a lot.
The "yee-haw" in the Dukes of Hazzard was a little over the top (for TV purposes), but not much. I've seen a few things that'll "out redneck" that show.
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