had it since 1983

Was gonna fix her up for a mate, but he decided it was gonna cost too much. 

Made him an offer and now its mine. 

Sold my suzuki F50 and brought this pile. 

Comment away

it was advertised as an AC50 with the frame modified for a Lifan. Ideal I thought as thats what I was intending to do anyways and thought the young chap had done the hard work for me.

That was only partly true, The top mount for the engine was done not too bad but the bottom mounts not so much. And the way the frame had been cut will lead to cracking so I'll remedy that.

As soon as I got home I reassembled the parts and threw in a Chinese engine I'd picked up cheap at the swapmeet.

My plans for the bike are going to be to make a tidy wee bike cruising around the bays on the shingle roads

Everything thats green on the bike will be left as is, maybe a good polish. If its black its getting stripped to bare metal and either paint or powdercoat.

The same goes for most of the chrome parts. All the aluminium foil and coke in the world isnt going to bring the chrome back

The rims on the wheels are pretty rusty but solid, so I'm thinking of blasting them and get them powdercoated. Replace the bearings and brake shoes with new items and put shinko 241s on them

I want the bike to be tidy but not spend a huge amount of money on it

I hadn't seen his old bike in ages and was convinced it was an early 2000s 750 katana, but all i really remembered was a yellow suzuki. 

I didn't go any further with it than expressing some interest, until he saw my neighbour and passed on the message i need to go see him. So i did.

And i was met with this.

Well yeah ok lets talk. Turns out has had cluth issues which started with it slipping, then he replaced the clutch but it would never fully engage and would creep forward at idle with the clutch in. Tyres are old and borderline, but the funniest bit, is that we couldn't start it because last time he tried, the fuel tap started leaking everywhere. Reg on hold since 2022.

So we had a beer and a yarn, i offered a lowball price and he accepted. Then came 2 weeks of trying to sell random falcon parts to fund the idea. Long story short i ended up selling a full set of seats to one guy yesterday, and got over double of what the bike was gonna cost. So that makes the bike free.

Wife does not understand basic maths when i explained this fact this morning... as i walked down the road to pay for and bring bike home.

350 meters is a long way to push a 240kg bike apparently, at least for my lazy arse. But pushed it home and looked over the bike again.

Old mate had found the box and the broken part of the mount so that will be an easy fix.

Will drill some holes and put a rod inside it, plugweld and repaint. Nice and easy fix.

Has a bunch new stuff

Sprockets

Chain

Comes with new oils

New plugs

New battery 

Just been sitting and needs a going over to see why not starting but cranks over fine and has back fired so confident ill get running as a project race ish bike

Its a bit rough, but it runs. The Z50r never had lights etc so to get this on the road for Syds will be a mish. 

Plans include:

Clean (or replace) Carb and air filter

Get the missing bits (side covers, engine side cover)

Change the stator to one has enough wires to power lights/ indicators/ horn (12v conversion)

Mount above electrics

Paint

Ride

In reality it will probably just be a bike that is left as is and jammed in the back of my truck for a camp ground hack, but I will have much loathing if thats the case

I do have a smokey 90cc Lifan I could jam in this but I think that @Hunterkiwi01 wants that for one of his C100 projects.. 

Pic off marketplace as I get it tomorrow

Picking it up after lockdown is over.

Not 100% what the plan is, but Google searching has given me a few ideas. I actually like the original version, and a real bonus is the paint colour matches my hair.

So yeah - stay tuned I guess, new project coming to a channel near you soon.

Trailered it home cos the guy said it wasn't running right, seemed like it was most likely just a blocked jet as it had been sitting for a while.

When I got it home I cleaned out the carbs which made it run better but it kept cutting out if you tried to go higher into the revs. I talked to the mechanics at the local honda shop and they thought it would most likely be a carb balance issue so in it went for a tune which was just meant to be a couple of hundy bucks.

They rang me a day or so later and said that the ignition modules were knackered so we replaced them ~$450...

Then they found it still wasn't running properly so they started messing with the carbs and found a few bad o-rings etc.

In the end I picked up my bike in bits on the trailer with an $1100 bill!

Since then I have rebuilt the carbs myself with all new needles, jets etc, between that and the new ignition modules it has solved the plug fouling issue that it had but it still won't rev.

It rides really nice and I'm really happy with the overall condition of it otherwise though, its pretty tidy, just a few things to tidy up.

Here is a few pics of the beast

Out on a ride with my brother and dad

My steeds

I have big plans for it, the picture below is of the rough shape that I want, in paint I have dropped the bars, lowered the headlight and cluster and changed the rear end.

I have already bought some rear-sets from an old GSXR which I will adapt to the CB.

I want to paint it black with a white stripe or maybe a chequered white stripe down the middle of the tank and tail section.

I want to come up with a really cool retro cafe-racer style logo for "Dixon Performance" to go on the spine of the tank.

I'm also toying with the idea of getting a front disc set-up from a late model single disc bike and adapting it to this bike, that would allow me to have a drilled disc, modern levers and a nicer master cylinder than the monstrous thing on there at the moment.

Bars will be either the flat/drag style bars or clubmans depending on how the riding position looks, gonna get some bar end mirrors and get rid of those huge indicators quick as I can

If I am still enjoying it in a couple of years when I'm actually earning money and haven't sold if for a Ducati then I will invest in some wire spoked wheels for it too

Then I moved back to NZ and didn't really think about bikes again.

But since starting the Imp GW conversion I've fancied a Goldwing to ride. I love the engineering and the absurdness of it all.  Plus if the Imp feels quick at 800kg what would it be like to ride something half the weight with the same torque.  But they are always way more than I want to pay (says the bloke who spends lots of money on bikes with no motors)

This one popped up on my saved search again.  The listing stated the owner as having been diagnosed with Alzheimers and lost his licences. He'd had it listed previously for loads more, way more than I could afford to pay for an unknown bike in the wrong island.

But now the price had dropped to a $1000.  It had developed a clutch issue and was out of wof and he just wanted it gone so he could build the model railway he'd always dreamed of. True story. Was stated in the listing.

I phoned him. His name was Rob and he was super cool on the phone. He told me that no one had bothered to call him. Just texts or emails which he wasn't fond of. I was the first to actually chat to him. I told him about the Imp, that I'd been looking for a gl1500 to ride and we just got on well.

  I paid him straight away, sight unseen. It was only just out of wof in October and even as a spare engine if the bike was in a state it was worth it. But it looked good.  It had a bloody cup holder and air horns!!! 

Just look at it! Its beautiful. Such presence. I was very excited.

So as it is, its a 1986 BMW R80 G/S. Shes pretty rough, but runs mint. It was stolen and recovered and has a broken ignition and rattle can paint and has sat outside for a year or two and is pretty tatty. I went to the cop shop and verified the last registered owner and have a letter from him and the cops so hopefully revin shouldn't be too much drama. Does anyone have any experience revinning a modified bike? I love how its a GS as it has spoked wheels which i think is lush, im unsure if this is a genuine Paris Dakar model as they usually had a dirt bike type front guard and a single man seat with extra rack, this does however have a genuine Paris Dakar model 32l tank, under the paint it sill has the original decals which can be seen on the shitty facebook photo from the ad.

anyway here is bike-

At this stage i am totes unsure about which direction to go, at first a thought maybe restore to original adventure spec and do lush rides like this -

but then i thought nahhhhh cos its missing a few original things like the pack racks, ignition, hi rise exhaust and that just does't look so coooool.

At the moment im pretty sold on doing a scrambler build, but still road legal and comfy and complete enough so some awesome touring rides. Id like to keep stock airbox. At the moment im just unsure if ill keep the Paris Dakar tank (which is very large and may be hard to get the whole bike matching it when scrambler spec and actually look lush) or go down to a normal sized R80 tank. Id be pretty keen to keep the dakar colours with the white tank and orange seat.

here is some inspiration anyway, also, please tell me all of the things, i am new to these airhead thingys / never built a bike before

Bug #1 the one that started it all.

1980 TF100.

missing parts, it's dirty it's rusty. the seat bracketry has very porous welds and cheap thin pipe material was used . I didn't need a grinder for the added buggery of previous owners literally walloped the added brackets off with a soft mallet. so much is missing or just wrong with this little bike .

Another 50cc 2 stroke! 1981 Suzuki A50-II. The guy I bought it off, it was his old man's and he recalls riding it around as a kid, but since then it's just sat in the shed. Last registered 1995 and looked every bit like it had been sitting gathering dust since.

So got it home, gave it a soak and a wipe down and it's bloody solid. Hit the chrome with CRC and Goldilocks and whilst it is far from mint, its solid. Shows its age but doesn't appear to have had a huge amount of use.

Fuel in the carb and fuel tap had turned to gum so stripped and cleaned those. New fluids, check for spark, and it fired into life first kick and idled straight off the bat. It goes and stops (ride around the lawn) but no signs of life from any of the lights. Indicators run off the battery so they go. Fuel leaks from the carb so that needs attention but otherwise a solid start to getting it back in the road.

Guy I bought it off had it since 2011/2012 at which time he got it off a guy from Te Aroha who worked at the council and drove it to work everyday for 20 years he reckoned. The rego had lapsed at some point so was re-registered in 2012 as a 1989 model but is actually a 79 according to the original rego details (still have a rego tag from 2003). Anyway, reg on hold so all good.

Got it home, fresh gas and oil, and fired right up. New battery and a couple of bulbs and all the electrics worked, perfect. Pulled carb to bits and cleaned out, otherwise haven't had to do much which is exactly what I wanted.

Next step was to sort out the seat. It came with a new cover, so was going to patch up the foam and redo it factory spec, but the master upholster Greg convinced me otherwise (didn't take much).

* - what I actually mean is I've been looking for something a little bit more motorbike and a little less scooter. I was originally looking for something 100-150cc, but alas, here we are.

A bunch of my fellow small bike enthusiasts have been dabbling in modern technology, and getting about on the likes of new CT125's, monkeys, and groms. After relentless abuse and peer pressure, I almost caved into following suit. But on a rainy morning, lazing on the couch perusing the latest trademe listings - hello, whats this. Jump in the ute and off to Morrinsville (which actually turned out to be Te Aroha). I must have go the timing just right as by the time I got there, he already had 2 others waiting to come view. After some tyre kicking, stories of benchtop rebuilds and back country hoons, a firm handshake was had and it was a done deal.

I'm Shane from NRCD, I supply school mechanical kitsets to schools to build mini bikes, drift trikes, go karts etc.

I have a passion for True test, Coleman , Monkey bikes etc and love using the big fat wheels.

I have sets of the fattest 19x7.00-8 wheels available for mini bikes. Complete sets, axles, spacers, 420 sprocket, hubs, tyres. disc rotor, rear brake master cylinder and braided brake hose. That old school cool look the old farm bikes use to have.

Complete sets ready to bolt into your existing projects.

Hit my up at NRCD or here, I am also currently planning race events for similar bikes in Auckland, so get building now!!! 

Its a clone but still real cool.

3speed 50cc

Started ok when i brought it took for a ride was real boggy cleaned the carb now shes happy days.

Bow down before the Power that is... 

THE FA50!!! 

*crowd cheers*

Syds 2021 fail

Syds 2022 fail

Just to much powaaaa

You’ve got a 1986 Yamaha FZR250 in the shed, It’s an inline four cylinder sports bike with 45 horsepower, and a exhaust note that sounds like a formula one car as it runs out to its 18000rpm redline. 
It’s great, you’ve been using it to commute on and done the odd weekend thrash run with it which is great, power delivery is fun, and it rides well, but being 6ft tall after a couple of hours in the saddle, your hips start getting uncomfortable.

It’s now the Friday before you fly out, and something catches your eye on trade me...

seal seller seemed to think it was dereg too (carjam was saying otherwise)

so drove from Hamilton to napier and picked er up

promptly went to the post shop and changed ownership and put rego on hold, best $10 i ever spent

then we sold our house and moved to wellington and ive been super busy working and procrastinating until I figured I have a week off so should get some parts sorted

saw that dime city had free shipping so ordered some shorter shocks, clip ons and smaller gauges (found some similar ones on trade me the next day for cheaper....grr)

before

after no more wheel gap

also received a package of seals and gaskets etc from cxphreak in aussie got all the gaskets and orings etc that I need for same price as one gasket from Honda chur

so I just need to get of my arse and put all the seals in then reassemble into something resembling this

http://www.moto-verso.co.uk/motorcycles/project-cx-cx500-cafe-racer/

TL/DR, well here's some random pics of said bike,

Some time later (just the other day), I purchased a second bike that is exactly the same, but its missing an engine side cover/clutches/exhaust/foot pegs. The rest of its still in pretty good nick, so my very rough plan is to:

Remove bung engine and all EFI gear, purchase and install big block carbed engine, build or buy custom exhaust, lower it, fit flatter/lower handle bars, change huge gauge cluster for smaller unit, remount headlight, generally make it look sleeker/more stylish/sportier, try not to ruin everything.

Also big fanks to @sentra for collecting my number two, and letting me taste his meat.

Thanks for dropping by!

Regards, VG.

Thinking the irony of a electric petorl can is too funny

Outta random bits and bobs laying around.

So far ive done.

•chopped floor outta jerry can

•chopped up a swing arm to work on the can

•chopped up a small bmx welderd on a front

•Also have a cool little seat

I have a electric motor here that ill mount up and see how well it goes other wise ill go to a petrol motor but thought for shigs and gigs ill try the electric 1st

Project bike number 1: Aprilia RST1000 Futura. Thread here 

This is a pretty rare bike and parts are as good as non-existent so I'm having to make and/or repair the damaged and missing parts.

It has small covers on the side of the fairing for the oil and coolant fillers. The right-hand one looks like this:

The left hand one was missing so I bent, welded and generally messed with some 2mm aluminium and made this:

It still needs finishing and painting, but it fits nicely and once it's painted no-one will know the difference.

Long story short it's together riding witha 200cc honda clone motor 

On harley vrod airbags

150psi compressor 

Heres some photos it's been a long since I've posted I'm back into it sorry guys 

Ive got some build videos on my u tube if interested in the build

It was bought new in ~1979 and ridden to the docks in Napier and back to Onekawa for ~9 years, after which it was parked in a garage and, as far as we know, didn't move for the following 37 years. 

As a result it's dusty, but not rusty. Tank looks good inside and out.  A little surface rust on some chrome, but the wheel, suspension and frame are, as far as I can see, rust free. 

The engine is stuck along with the front brakes.  It won't kick over but I don't suspect anything too drastic. 

The plan is an ~OEM restore, then likely OEM+.  Haven't quite decided on what extent to go to yet.  

Maybe List 

• Nang pipe
• Electronic ignition
• Spokey Dokeys 
• ????

Early days yet.   

I pick it up Tuesday. 

A few more pics.