Popular Post gazguy Posted April 18, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted April 18, 2022 I was pretty adamant that I was I was going to get tattooed this month after a good few years of not getting any. After a few st90s came up for sale on a group chat I thought I wouldnt get one for the price it was offered again but can get inked anytime. So I bought with the plan to repower it and give it to my dad so he can come out on the small bike rides with me and the rest of the small bike community. My initial plan was to blast everything and repaint the frame and powdercoat everything else that isnt chromed. I'm going to leave the frame as it is and just give the bike a general tidy up. Replacing cables, bearings, bushes and brake shoes. The front guard was pretty hammered so I fettled it a little with my planishing hammer, it came out surprisingly good. 17 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazguy Posted April 29, 2022 Author Share Posted April 29, 2022 Not a great deal of progress but every little counts. Whilst some parts were away getting vapor blasted I concentrated on stuff i could do at home. So I stripped and painted the lower fork yokes and swingarm and painted them with gloss epoxy enamel . I picked up the rear wheel from my mate dave who does vapor blasting locally and reassembled it. the bearing were fine but I put in new shoes and springs I sprayed anything that was vapor blasted with Lanolin to prevent flash rusting and further corrosion 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazguy Posted June 10, 2022 Author Share Posted June 10, 2022 The rear shocks on dads st were pretty poked so I got a new pair of Thai style from mBike. But when i went to install them I found out that a 14mm bolt had been used as the lower shock mount. The shocks I bought from mBike are 12mm. So I cut off, ground it flush and beat fuck out of it so it could be replaced with a hi-tensile M12 bolt. The traces of gold zinc left on the bolt and my argon bottle nearly empty made it a prick to weld I made some adapter plates to mount a lifan whilst still keeping the original mounting holes incase I ever want to put the original engine back in, same with the mounts for the original foot rests and bashguard. I gave the plastic mudguard a paint of satin black to tidy it up whilst i look for an original metal chrome one. The swingarm has been painted satin black too but Im waiting for the paint to harden before I mount it. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazguy Posted June 27, 2022 Author Share Posted June 27, 2022 Not a huge update but slowly chipping away at dads ST whilst waiting for my engine to arrive from overseas. In the meantime Ive reinstalled the original engine so to stop me from tripping over it everytime I walk past it, and also make it easier to move when I move house end of July. Swingarm is painted satin black to match the guard. The tool holder was stripped and painted too. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazguy Posted June 29, 2022 Author Share Posted June 29, 2022 I'm still looking for a headlight and bucket but have sourced a speedo. So in the meantime I made some headlight ears that will also double as indicator mounts. The original indicators clamp to the knurled sections on the handlebars. I cut some lengths of 31.8mm stainless tube from work then hammer formed some 18g stainless to make the ears and glued them together 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazguy Posted July 3, 2022 Author Share Posted July 3, 2022 mBike to the rescue again as I got a new headlight and speedo from them yesterday and fitted it today. It was already painted black too so thats 1 job less to do. As I was going through my stash of indicators and tail lights I came across these The indicators and tail light were a swapmeet find. Unfortunately I only had 1 pair of indicators so Ive ordered another pair for the front from trademe so they should be here within the next few days. I think the tail light really suits the shape of the guard. I'll make a bracket for the numberplate to bolt to. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazguy Posted July 9, 2022 Author Share Posted July 9, 2022 One of the main things I was missing was the seat hinge. I had a rough idea what it looked like but had no measurements to work from. So I fabbed one out of some 50x3mm and 25x3mm stainless plate (incase I felt like polishing it) and just kinda joined the dots to where it needed to be. The indicators arrived so I threw them on too 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazguy Posted September 8, 2022 Author Share Posted September 8, 2022 I recently bought a new place at the end of July and after a few weeks of unpacking and organising I thought I'd get stuck in to dads ST90 again The engine turned up from mBike so I adapted an old scissor jack to help raise and lower the engine whilst I make new engine mounts as I wasnt happy with how much lower and forward the adapter plates I made the engine sit. I'll take some photos of my design one I'm happy with how it looks and works. Along with buying a new house a treat myself to a new to me lathe for my birthday. Its a Boxford AUD 4 1/2''. It suits me perfect for what I need in my workshop, anything bigger I'll use the Colchester Triumph 2000 at work I swapped an old hot dog muffler and a small welding job for a mate for the delivery of the lathe and this small black muffler. I'll get some stainless bends at some point and start making the header pipe for it Next job is to make some small offset plates to bolt the support brace to the frame so they're not under constant tension from being in its unnatural position 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazguy Posted September 28, 2022 Author Share Posted September 28, 2022 I wanted to keep the original air filter and box as it looks really cool and adds to the appeal of the ST, but the inlet manifold that came with the Lifan motor was clocked wrong, was too long and too tall. So I cut the flanges off and shortened and narrowed it. I made a start on the exhaust too so I ordered some 32mm stainless bend and started piecing them together. The diameter of the muffler is 38mm so I had to make and adapter. Ive just got the bends and pie cuts tacked into place and will fully weld it at the weekend. I tried to get the bends and tubes to match the lines of the engine and frame as best I could. Here's the adapter plates I made for the support brace . I didnt want to drill or weld anything to the frame incase I want to put the bike back to original, so I made some plates from 3mm stainless and offset and tapped the 6mm holes Here's a quick shot of the adapter plate for the engine mount which includes the mounts for the original footpegs and support brace. It bolts to the footrest mounts of the lifan and is welded to the tube that the brake pivot passes through 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazguy Posted October 9, 2022 Author Share Posted October 9, 2022 last week I started the dark art of the electrics. I bought a 'plug and play' Monkey Bike loom and had to swap over nearly every pin but got there in the end. I guess you have to expect that from parts from different manufacturers. So I had Roxettes Greatest Hits on repeat and a 6 pack of Boundary Road Hazy Pale Ales and got it knocked out, still some extending of the wires to go from the hand controls to get them to go through the handlebars. I bought a battery and folded up a box for it to sit in. I used a M6 countersunk socket head bolt and a piece of thick steel which I countersunk to use a makeshift dimple die so that the battery wouldnt rub against them At the Mcleans Island swapmeet I came across a 14 inch NF75 wheel with a tyre thats pretty mint, haggled the guy down from $20 to $15 and got it swapped over today when it was nice and warm so that both tyres were nice and soft to get off and on. I put on the correct front brake cable too. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazguy Posted October 16, 2022 Author Share Posted October 16, 2022 Over the weekend I made a push on the last of the welding that needed to be done so I can bolt the engine in for the last time. The engine adapters will be powder coated sometime this week 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazguy Posted October 26, 2022 Author Share Posted October 26, 2022 Over the weekend in between fitting a kitchen to my new house I gave a big push to trying to get it started. The 1st step was dropping the shipping oil that the engine came with, there was next to fuck all in there to be honest, not even 100ml. after filling it up with the required amount of oil, some fuel and messed around with the carb it fired up. I still need to tidy up the front end of the electrics and get the wiring stashed away in the headlight bucket. I grabbed some more goodies from Andy and Wei from mbike like taller shocks, rear tail light and rear sprocket, you might notice a new tyre which is from trademe. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazguy Posted September 7, 2023 Author Share Posted September 7, 2023 A few updates on the ST90. I got the front and rear wheels relaced with different rims and new spokes, also put more practical tyres on it too. I also got some better forks which werent pitted and leaking oil. They also had the quick release lever too which was snapped on mine. Got some chrome front and rear guards too and a new seat from mBike. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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