Tool Box Tips - Bike Restoration

TOOL BOX

TIPS Bike restoration basics

By: Mitch Barnes

AHRMA events are always a duality of themes—part vintage race and part vintage beauty contest. My experience is that the family fun events are flooded with both restored beautiful models and bikes of speed. One of the primary drivers that drew me in to the AHRMA clan back in 2017 was the assistance I received from other AHRMA members when I had questions. When I began to passionately restore the first 1975 Suzuki RM125 four years ago, I quickly found out the project was much harder and quite a bit more expensive than my initial estimate.

Being a bargain hunter, I had purchased hastily the first and cheapest RM125 that I could identify. It was the wrong choice, but I wanted a bike like the one my brother, Glenn Barnes, (age 15 at the time) raced with me when I was 12 years old. My personal passion after his passing in 2017 had caused me to make some mistakes on the first attempt at vintage restoration. It was nothing too drastic that couldn’t be fixed with two times the allotted cash. At Louisville Motorcycle Performance, we hope to help you avoid my mistakes, meet some other members and assist you in having some AHRMA fun in the process.

This article’s purpose is to:

a) Assist those who are contemplating a restoration project for the first time. b) Help you identify a worthy restoration candidate. We call it the base bike. c) Provide time saving tips for those who have restored bikes before. d) Address things to avoid and not waste money on.

Our shop has restored 15 bikes. We handle special orders from around the country and generally deliver the desired beauty queen to other AHRMA members at the out-of-town AHRMA Roadracing events. Our clients are paying for the memories that were made possible by dirt bikes from the 1970s. Given enough

time and a healthy enough budget, we can find about anything from that time period, and make it beautiful again. Most all our projects are now “procurement.” These are generally for men who want to warmly remember their childhood and that time they rode their Christmas present out of the house early in the morning on Christmas Day. We choose to focus our efforts on the 1970s when we were little guys. The ‘70s bikes and ‘70s tunes like “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Dancing Queen” were playing from our parents 8-track tape players at that time and currently in our shop.

During the 1970s there were both engine performance and suspension races by all the manufacturers. There was a jockeying for position by the Japanese and European companies. It made each new model year a big improvement over the previous one. Technological advancement was so rapid that AHRMA has wisely divided the motocross racing classes. “Vintage,” are those pre-1975 models that race on Saturday and “Post Vintage” are those built after 1975 and they race on Sunday. The example we are going to share is a vintage bike we built for our friend, Bob.

Here are the steps we follow in restoration. We will attach photos from a real-life example and include a couple dos and don’ts. The goal for our friend Bob was to end up with an all OEM 1974 Suzuki TM125 to add to his collection. The museum quality Suzuki found a number of cool museum buddies when it was rolled inside. Bob’s “all dirt bike collection” had Yamahas, Hondas and Huskys. They were in need of some Suzuki friends to arrive in mid-April in Southern California.

When we take an order for a bike, we start with a plan in mind that includes resourcing the primary bike and the one to two additional donor bikes that are often needed to complete the project. We had two and a half months before the planned trip to Cali for a roadrace at The Willows. A base bike and parts alone for a 1970s dirt bike can run $3,000 to $4,500, and this does not include labor. Since I knew where to find the donor bikes, I felt we could make the timetable. You should time before beginning to assess the availability of the particular brand, the model year and then cost of finding the key five to ten missing parts before jumping into a restoration project. Within AHRMA restoration circles you can find many non-completed projects because there was no real planning.

2. PURCHASE THE MOST COMPLETE BIKE AVAILABLE TO YOU

Be selective on the base bike you buy to restore. There are generally non-disturbed models that are available, at 25-50% additional cost. A mostly incomplete model is okay for one of the donors you will need, but don’t accept a base model that is missing lots of parts. I made this mistake on my first project. I thought I had saved $250, but later added $1,500 to the price tag that was not expected. It made the project more expensive and more frustrating.

3. DISASSEMBLE AND REASSEMBLE IN THE SAME LOCATION

After you thoroughly pressure wash the bike, begin by photographing the bike as is. This will help when you put it back together. Your local hardware store can offer organizational help and we would suggest you purchase three or four large plastic tubs and three or four smaller ones with a durable lid. Put parts in each one as you take the bike apart. We sort

our parts as follows: tank, seat and plastics go in one tub; aluminum parts like triple clamps and generally the motor goes into one tub; rubber and plastic parts into a separate smaller tub; all bolts, nuts, washers, clips, bare metal parts and chrome parts go into one of the smaller tubs with a lid. As we break down the scooter, we further sort all the parts that need to be powder coated. Powder coating brings back to life old parts and is much more durable than shaker can paint. If you don’t want to spend the money for powder coating, sand blasting and then painting the parts can work as well. We toss the tires, most all seat covers with the corresponding fenders and bad cables away. We want to end up with a bare frame. Tear down the donor bikes and sort them as well into the same tubs. All of the parts need to be cleaned prior to going forward.

4. AFTER CLEANING AND SORTING, LAY OUT ALL OF THE PARTS YOU WILL BE USING FOR A CLOSER INSPECTION

Watch closely for the broken parts and what can be cleaned thus used again versus buying it from an outside source. We suggest you plan large enough space with really strong lighting to do this work. We have installed LED lights to help us with breakdown. Two thirds of my team are over age 55 and we need all the help we can get. (insert photo of parts on bench near frame)

Details, details

Don't cut corners on hubs and spokes A good quality stock silencer is essential

OEM grips can be difficult to source

5. TAKE THE PARTS TO THE PAINTER ASAP

The gas tank seems to always take the longest; four to six weeks is normal. If you are doing and OEM restoration, ask your Facebook group for the OEM paint codes. Someone always has the correct ones. Tank decals can be purchased from eBay and I normally like to have my painter put apply two to three coats of clear after the decals are applied. This will smooth down the edges and look like a factory job. Count on spending $400-$700 for this piece alone. If you paint the side panels/fenders, it will be even more. We let the painter choose if he feels the inside should be coated. Please note that rust is almost always an issue. When you reassemble the bike please use and inline fuel filter.

6. DISASSEMBLE THE HUBS, SPOKES, NIPPLES AND RIMS

This is a critical part of a quality restoration. Great looking wheels with the OEM parts are a difference maker in the value of a restored bike. After you toss the tires and tubes, make sure you have a properly fitting spoke wrench, a torch and some time. The nipples will have adhered to the spokes. If they don’t turn easily, use a torch and heat them up and remove them one by one. When

The Finished

SUZUKI TM-125L CHALLENGER SUZUKI TM-125L CHALLENGER 1974

Restoration

both wheels are broken down, put spokes and nipples in the tub that holds the metal parts and bolts. Wash all the metal parts/bolts and spokes in solvent. Rinse them and then pour into the parts tub a rust remover and let them soak for 48 hours. S end the metal parts/ bolts and spokes to be zinc plated. When they come back all shiny and beautiful it will feel like Santa dropped a gift under the tree.

7. IDENTIFY MISSING/EXCESSIVELY WORN PARTS AND GET THEM ORDERED

For the parts that are excessively worn, go first to your OEM dealer. It always surprises me how many parts are still available, especially for the Suzuki TM models. The OEM dealers don’t have excessive markup and most will gladly help you. The next step for parts is to join the Facebook group associated with your chosen brand and model. You can post on Facebook what you need and most of the time you will get a response. Most bike hoarders and model fanatics are familiar with the internet and they watch the posts. Many choose to never sell anything on eBay. Just tell them you are an AHRMA member working on a restoration and need some help with parts. Lastly, go to eBay and try and find whatever else you need. My experience is that you should read thoroughly about returns and many can get fooled by descriptions from foreign copycat artists.

8. EVALUATE THE MOTOR AND MAKE NECESSARY REPAIRS

We completely disassemble the engine, even down to the transmission. Inspecting each part allows us to find cracks, replace seals, get the cylinder bored, install a new piston and paint the cases. We port and polish the cylinder almost every time. Soak the carb in an electronic cleaning device and install a carb rebuild kit.

9. FIND A VAPOR HONE!

The biggest time saver is taking the aluminum parts to be vapor honed. This process is usually starts at $100.

10. BEGIN REASSEMBLY

The person who breaks the bikes down is the one who should put it back together. We like to play some music when we start this process. This is the time to print copies on 8.5 X 11 paper all the photos you made in step number one. Use an elevated dolly or table for building the bike. Make sure you have bright lights (kinda reminds you of a surgery room). Cover your worktable with a lightcolored sheet so that you can find the parts when you drop them. Unwrap the frame, place it in the center and begin.