Duke Blackwood

Warning, gratuitous CNC usage in the following updates, readers may feel extreme jealousy/envy I have access to a waterjet at work. Triple trees sorted.

Forks are rebuilt now, but not installed, pending the manufacture of my heavy duty triple trees. Front pads and rear shoes replaced. Brakes bled. Hub dressed. Now it's time to make a start on the tank restoration.... I had to shank it open with dads good flathead screwdriver (no key) and was greeted with a combination of varnished rotten fuel and rust.... she's in pretty bad nick. I watched a YouTube video that said to fill the tank with aquarium gravel, wrap it in a blanket and chuck it in the dryer... that would work brilliantly I'm sure, but the old lady would never allow it, and with my recent track record of comical accidents I would no doubt Chernobyl my shed with a fume based explosion. So I filled it with meths and turps and fuel and 60 odd zinc washers and took it behind the shed and gave it hell.... it seemed to work ok. Next step rust converter soak, followed by possibly lining the tank with a fibreglass additive as a sealant? Thoughts?

These are sooo cool. You should make it your goal to have it rideable for the Urewera undertaking and let strangers like me do jumps on it

Stripped more off it over the last week, forks and brakes are completely disassembled, forks are funny, one side is the spring and one side the shock, like an old Buell. I had to make a special spanner to get the steering nut off. It has pushbike style bearings which I'll be replacing with something more heavy duty and I'll make my own triple trees from 20mm Ali, top and bottom functional, not just the bottom as it is currently. Just waiting on fork seals from CHINA and I'll have it all back together. Might have the front brake disc skimmmed.

I like working on hover bikes because the swinging reminds me of Mad Max 2, beyond thunder dome, and that fight scene with master blaster (how hot was Janet Jackson...). Anyway, wheel bearings are all so chooched I can't believe they spun, steering head bearings the same, lock washer comically fucked, larger drive sprocket has been beaver chewing the shifter shaft.. fork seals shagged... top triple tree is tinfoil... front tyre split like a piece of old timber. But in positive news, big carb from China fits good, and the new pads and shoes look to be a good fit too.

Got distracted at shed night, was supposed to be working on the pole smoker but wound up making more helmet racks since I was so happy with the first one. Welded up some go kart chains in a plywood jig and then welded them to some ‘Harley-esque’ non-copyright waterjet cut mounting plates. Lay some brass over one to make it a bit different. I’ll be working on the pole smoker again tonight and will have an appropriate update. Otherwise I’ll change the thread name to ‘Helmet Storage Chat’.

Hoping to setup a YouTube account soon and put up videos of me gapping Busa’s at the lights etc. In the meantime, here is my solution to a problem that plagues all of us: where to store all my damn helmets. On a damn handsome helmet rack.

As it sits, behind anglia4's Austin

Sorry officer, you must be mistaken, I can't have been doing a 70kmh rolling burnout.... it's only 50cc? Look at the frame....

To avoid this, I've made up some frame gussets and doubler plates. She has also had a test idle and a stable voltage has been achieved.

Alarmingly the bike is already showing evidence that it intends to reject its new engine; by breaking in half and letting it fall out

A couple of years back I bought a YSR50 with a TS185 engine transplant, half complete, from an estate garage sale; it may be the best value purchase of my life. I haven't touched it, never got it running. After reading about the upcoming Urewera Undertaking, I knew it was time. The factory YSR frame is only rated for 65kgs and I weigh more than that... I'm also looking at a horsepower increase of something like 240%... and I should probably make some kind of concession for the gravel. So there's a bit to be done. Step one, amalgamate the looms and achieve stable idle voltage. Step B, celebratory burnout. Watch this space.

Does everybody know who Kenny Roberts is? Kenny Roberts Sr. won three 500-cc Grand Prix world championships, but he also merits an odd footnote in the motorcycle hobby--the Yamaha YSR 50. Roberts won his three titles from 1978 through 1980 while Yamaha was selling the last two-stroke motorcycle in the U.S. before emissions rules tightened--the RZ 350. There was even a yellow and black Kenny Roberts signature edition, capitalizing on his 500-cc Grand Prix championship machine. The story goes that as a joke Roberts' crew modified a little "monkey bike"--so named because it resembled a circus stunt bike--with 12-inch wheels into the RZ 50, a miniature version of his faired racebike that he could ride in the pits. The quirky little machine attracted so much attention that Yamaha sold the model publicly from 1987-92. The small bikes had the same controls as full-size bikes and could be ridden like the larger ones. The factory YSR wasn't made for racing, there's only one fork spring, only one triple clamp on the forks--the top one just holds the handlebars. The whole bike only weighs 75kg (Less than this rider). Everyone heard of the Suzuki TS185? This 18hp beast was the fastest thing to hit the farm since the horses got into the cocaine patch.

I'll be starting my build thread this Thursday... hoping to have the biggest little bike, glides right over gravel.

Man I love CBR250s, my first bike was an MC22 and by the time I sold it I could ride the wheels off it. I've got an MC19 engine in the shed that I'm planning to build a custom around. When I was stripping it and trying to remove the carbs I could lift the entire bike by the carb haha but yeah all the rebuild kits and even the rubber mounting boots are on aliexpress; you can get pistons and ring sets too haha. My first bike had an 'OVER racing project' muffler and on song it was still one of the best sounding bikes I've owned. Definitely look at an aftermarket muffler. Looking forward to seeing this thing restored to glory!

Hey Chief I've only just glanced over this thread but if you need help with sprockets I operate a waterjet cutting machine and can make custom sprockets... PM me if I can help.

That was the best 'introduction to motorcycling experience' article I have ever read. But there is one question left un-answered... Do you still have the Korn T-shirt?