Saved from the Junkyard

[Sal Paradise]

Thanks George . You are right, although I don't think one washer thickness of center alignment will be noticable.

This bike gets around and my friends, wife and sons all hop on it. Therefore, I keep up on tires, brakes, shocks, everything adjusted, bled. Always every bolt checked, new cotter pins put in, etc. Amazing how people will just hop on a 28 year old bike and zoom around without even checking the tire pressure if you let them.

The only saving grace is it seems dependable and solid all the time, never a glitch so I am not spending time trouble shooting. That and its slow enough for the noobs.

The tires are now basically the same size as the Bonny and the new 19" front wheel and wider rubber really settled the bike down and made it more stable.

 

[biker7]

Your right...a washer width won't matter and you can cheat half the angle with the wheel adjusters anyway. What fun. Its cool you have a bike you can let other newbs ride...wife, kids, friends etc...great little bike to run up to the store etc.
Cheers,
George

 

[Nick Morey]

Nice little bike Sal, it's good to see you've put some money and effort into it. Whether you sell, trade in, or keep it at least it's been "saved from the junkyard". Bravo!

 

[kinky stunt]

I think I have about 1/8" or maybe a pubimeter more

That's a nice technical term, Sweat. :headbang2:

 

[Sal Paradise]

Just throwing in a pic with the cast wheels and new forks.

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[sweatmachine]

that's a cool lil' bike ya got there Sal. Your yard & neighborhood look nice too.

 

[Sal Paradise]

For anyone who wants to buy some old little bike like this thats cheap, here is the current list of parts I had to replace in the last 3,000 miles;

starter
wheels
tires
forks
brake pads
stator
intake boots
carb rebuild
brake switch rebuild

Just a little something to think about when getting a bike thats real cheap. Luckily I was able to source most of it on Fleabay.

 

[nohawk]

Hope the honeymoons not totally over Sal. That little thing needs to be ridden now.
And I like the story,anything saved from the junkyard is good.

 

[dschief]

Little bikes need love too! And they can be fun to ride, wring there neck and not get a ticket, usually.

 

[Sal Paradise]

Actually it does run and ride like a brand new bike, and its surprisingly fast ( 27 HP ). I do like doing the work but seriously, I wish I had done all that work to a bigger , more practical , or more collectable machine.

 

[Gretsch]

That's a perfect first bike for someone. Unfortunately the US market is very sparse when it comes to entry level bikes. Your choices are limited to the Honda Rebel, Ninja 250, Suzuki Boulevard c40, or the Buell blast (now dead). I'm sure there are some others out there but my point is that you should be able to find a grateful buyer for a nice small displacement bike that runs well.

 

[Sal Paradise]

I have nothing to do today so I just started taking the Suzuki apart. The bike has been running fantastic all this time. I am going to relocate the wiring harness, cut all the tabs off, throw out the airbox, put some pods and a new seat and bars on. Probably new smaller lights too.

You can see the airbox is gone and the electronics relocated underneath the seat. Tomorrow I will cut those tabs off.

 

[simpson]

Awesome.

Gotta love a cafe project.

-simpson

 

[Sal Paradise]

We put cafe bars on it today and new grips. Glad to get rid of those awful high stockers. We also cut the tabs off the frame. The frame in the back is perfectly flat so next I will make a simple seat pan for a brat style seat. Sooner or later the spoked wheels will go back on.

So its basically just something to do with my kids, and to change the look so its not a total nerd. Also I won't be too scared to let the boys or the wife buzz around the village on this. I have a line on a cheap 2 into 1 exhaust from a GS500, then pods and will rejet. Its actually fast for what it is.

 

[Sal Paradise]

A little bit of progress . Made a steel box under the seat for the electronics.

Next some frame painting, reinstall battery box, install the 2 into 1 exhaust and then buy a cafe seat and a mini speedo.

 

[Sal Paradise]

Cafe Seat

Cafe Seat I picked up second hand. Looks pretty good.

 

[Sal Paradise]

I needed an exhaust but there were none available. I finally bought a Mac 2 into 1 for a GS400 and cut the header flange off and welded my old header flanges on. Fucker is loud. Tomorrow I am going to rejet as she is running really lean. Am I going to cut those frame rails off and clean up all those old wires? Hell yeah. But first I have to throw on rear lights and a plate.

[/IMG]

 

[Sal Paradise]

Plate on

This project is going to take a pause - hopefully while I catch up on other stuff.

I found the arbox lent a lot of low end punch so its back on and some quickie home made aluminium side covers, cut the frame shorter and put the signals and a plate on it. My son took it for a 4o mile ride yesterday and it ran good although it has a flat spot at around 6k rpms. The stock tail light is epoxied under the tail, it works and is visible when on the road but I have a new LED tail light on order.

 

[Sal Paradise]

Update; Been riding 'Lil Suzi a little bit here and there, but a hipster from Brooklyn just bought her from me. In retrospect, it is the perfect city bike. Damn, I was really getting to love that little bike. A dude on a Harley actually tried to race the Suzuki and me the other night.. Ha!!! I was actually bummed when he put her in the van, but I took the cash, and even did okay.... so that's that.

Looking for a new project bike.

 

[mondrian5]

Way to go, Sal. Keep a lookout for another little gem and do it up!