.png "Powered by vBulletin")
Hey everyone!
I finally was able to pick up an old motorcycle last week that I can work on restoring to pass time on the weekends. I did pay about retail (according to KBB) but the body and paint were worth it to me.
I now own a 1980 Suzuki GS250T. The owner listed it on CL and stated an oil leak on the left side (said it was the side cover), needed a new battery, probably clean the carbs and that's it. Well there was allot more than that! It was sitting in a shed for years. The owner said he stopped riding because of the oil leak and he had another bike and never got to it.
Day 1:
Got to work on it this past weekend and fixed / discovered allot! I removed the battery which was bone dry and filled it with distilled water then threw it on the charger. While that was charging I used a jumper to try and get the bike to turn over so I could at least hear if there was motor knock. Hooked up the jumper to the terminals and low and behold... nothing. Not even a click. Did some research and testing and I narrowed it down to a bad starter relay. What I did instead was disconnect the black (starter) wire from the relay and touch it off on the red lead on the relay (from the battery). The starter turned over and that's when I heard the joyful sound of a happy motor with good compression.
At this point I was too excited and couldn't wait on the battery so I grabbed some starter fluid and ran the starter while I sprayed fluid into the air box. Nothing. Gave it full throttle and the starter and it coughed to life and eventually
came to an idle on it's own. She lives
Took her outside and started her again, she starts right up, barely any choke needed. Full tank of premium fuel and sea foam and I'm thinking I can avoid taking apart the carbs. When the battery finished charging I put it on and it worked, so that's 100 bucks back into my pocket
The front brakes were locked up so I did have to remove the caliper to move it around. At this point I got to work on the caliper. I grabbed some lithium spray and Shot allot in between the boot and the cylinder and used a large C-clamp to open it and then the brake handle to close it. I eventually got it working again and put it back on.
First Test drive:
I drove around the parking lot to see how she runs (1st and 2nd gear). Everything was going smoothly until the chain fell off. I put it back on and got to adjusting the chain tension. Now there is a nice kink in the chain (might have been there before but I just noticed it.....) this chain was LOOSE!!!!!
So I drove it home very carefully and decided it was time to trace down the oil leak (it was pretty bad like the owner said it was). I first pop off the sprocket cover and that's when I immediately see something that made me cuss out the seller... a bent clutch push rod. I had never heard of this problem until I just discovered it and when I asked the guy if the chain fell off with him, he said no..... Yah right. So now I was looking at major work and even worse, that part is no longer available. This is when I went inside for the night to do research before going to bed.
Day 2:
Through my research I discovered the clutch push rod is no longer available and the only options where to have a machine shop fabricate a custom one, or purchase a newer two-piece unit for a 550 and still have to fabricate it to fit. I decided to go ahead and take the rod out before I place any orders and spent the next 4-5 hours taking all but one clutch cover bolt out (and stripping one) and driving all over the place to find cap head screws that will fit. I ended up using a impact screwdriver to get that frozen /stripped bolt out. Was so bad I skewed the Philips head bit (but then again it was CHINA). I ended up needing M6 x 1.00 x mm head cap screws. Quantity: 1x20mm?, 4x45mm, and 8x35mm. Unfortunately I could not find any 35mm so I
To be continued
I finally was able to pick up an old motorcycle last week that I can work on restoring to pass time on the weekends. I did pay about retail (according to KBB) but the body and paint were worth it to me.
I now own a 1980 Suzuki GS250T. The owner listed it on CL and stated an oil leak on the left side (said it was the side cover), needed a new battery, probably clean the carbs and that's it. Well there was allot more than that! It was sitting in a shed for years. The owner said he stopped riding because of the oil leak and he had another bike and never got to it.
Day 1:
Got to work on it this past weekend and fixed / discovered allot! I removed the battery which was bone dry and filled it with distilled water then threw it on the charger. While that was charging I used a jumper to try and get the bike to turn over so I could at least hear if there was motor knock. Hooked up the jumper to the terminals and low and behold... nothing. Not even a click. Did some research and testing and I narrowed it down to a bad starter relay. What I did instead was disconnect the black (starter) wire from the relay and touch it off on the red lead on the relay (from the battery). The starter turned over and that's when I heard the joyful sound of a happy motor with good compression.
At this point I was too excited and couldn't wait on the battery so I grabbed some starter fluid and ran the starter while I sprayed fluid into the air box. Nothing. Gave it full throttle and the starter and it coughed to life and eventually
came to an idle on it's own. She lives
Took her outside and started her again, she starts right up, barely any choke needed. Full tank of premium fuel and sea foam and I'm thinking I can avoid taking apart the carbs. When the battery finished charging I put it on and it worked, so that's 100 bucks back into my pocket
The front brakes were locked up so I did have to remove the caliper to move it around. At this point I got to work on the caliper. I grabbed some lithium spray and Shot allot in between the boot and the cylinder and used a large C-clamp to open it and then the brake handle to close it. I eventually got it working again and put it back on.
First Test drive:
I drove around the parking lot to see how she runs (1st and 2nd gear). Everything was going smoothly until the chain fell off. I put it back on and got to adjusting the chain tension. Now there is a nice kink in the chain (might have been there before but I just noticed it.....) this chain was LOOSE!!!!!
So I drove it home very carefully and decided it was time to trace down the oil leak (it was pretty bad like the owner said it was). I first pop off the sprocket cover and that's when I immediately see something that made me cuss out the seller... a bent clutch push rod. I had never heard of this problem until I just discovered it and when I asked the guy if the chain fell off with him, he said no..... Yah right. So now I was looking at major work and even worse, that part is no longer available. This is when I went inside for the night to do research before going to bed.
Day 2:
Through my research I discovered the clutch push rod is no longer available and the only options where to have a machine shop fabricate a custom one, or purchase a newer two-piece unit for a 550 and still have to fabricate it to fit. I decided to go ahead and take the rod out before I place any orders and spent the next 4-5 hours taking all but one clutch cover bolt out (and stripping one) and driving all over the place to find cap head screws that will fit. I ended up using a impact screwdriver to get that frozen /stripped bolt out. Was so bad I skewed the Philips head bit (but then again it was CHINA). I ended up needing M6 x 1.00 x mm head cap screws. Quantity: 1x20mm?, 4x45mm, and 8x35mm. Unfortunately I could not find any 35mm so I
To be continued
.
Comment