The Bike Build (Part 5)

In the last post, we saw the component parts getting cleaned, painted and polished, as well as the engine fitted to the frame.  Now it was time to start assembling the bike.  Some of the sub assemblies we completed in the small flat, but the main assembly was done in my father's garage.  You will notice that the garage looks smaller in these photos - it is. My parents moved; it took me ages to find out where they had gone!

The first step in the assembly was the insertion of the engine into the frame. This is where I realized that painting the frame was a bad idea and I should have powder coated it, as it chipped very easily. (Hence the rag protecting the frame through this process.

Once the engine was in, and all lined up on the mounts (well done Dad!) the next step was to get the wiring in along with some of the ancillary parts like the oil tank, battery and other fairly essential bits and pieces,

Once those parts were in, the yolk, forks and instrument cluster went on along with the wiring.  All the wiring was tested again, as the assembly continued, with any final glitches getting ironed out as each piece was assembled and tested.  One other little job that required some finesse was the new seat cover. This requires a staple gun, a firm hand and a lot of staples, I got there in the end as you can see. 

I am fond of braided cables so new braided cables were added to the build.  And for HM .Gov there is the all important tax holder. Very very important part  of the build.

In the next post we will look at the final build and first ride, the problems and solutions.

The Bike Build (Part 4)

When last we looked at this, my father had the frame ready for painting, the engine was complete and by now I had most of the parts figured out, and orders had been placed to get missing parts.  The next step was to complete and clean up of the last remaining pieces and start getting things painted.

Next to my front door was a small utility cupboard, which I turned into a makeshift spread booth:

I managed to get the tank and panels sprayed in here, with some difficulty. The tank needed doing twice as it went milky the first time which I understand is due to too much moisture in the air.

The tank in all its shiny glory

I also had a friend who knew someone who made laser cut decals, so I had some made for the bike.  I have always been a fan of the Yamaha tuning fork logo and while it is not used in the UK, it is used in other parts of the world so I figure this would be a nice touch.  

And while the panels were being worked on, I was also polishing up all the parts that needed to be polished.  Here we can see the kitchen sink being put to good use.

While all that was going on, my father had made his own spray booth in his garage and had a few coats of red on the frame.  With hindsight we should have powder coated it.  The paint looks nice but it chips easily.

The Bike Build (Part 3)

Back in part two, there was a lot of cleaning and checking of parts going on.  One of the things I figured out fairly quickly is that the engine was a TZR125 engine, and not an RD engine.  Someone had also hacked the frame around to make the engine fit; however they had not succeeded and I suspect that is why this thing was up for sale. 

My father was a welder in a shipyard, so very handy with metal work and he offered to sort out the frame, and while he worked on the engine mounts, I would strip and clean up the engine.  Sadly I don't have pics of the engine stripping and rebuild, but here it is after final assembly, being polished on the coffee table in my living room.  Can you tell that I wasn't in a relationship at the time?

My living room

As mentioned above, while I worked on the engine, my father worked on the frame and engine mounts.  Prior to working on the frame, he had it bead blasted to clean it up and sprayed with primer to stop it rusting.

And there is the frame in its entirety.  Once the engine mounts were completed it was ready for painting.

The Bike Build (Part 2)

When last we looked at this, I had two wheels, a seat, frame with engine and lots of bits and pieces. The next thing to do was get to grips with putting all of this together.  As my specialty back then was electronic engineering, I made a line powered 12V DC power supply, and got started with the wiring loom.

Lets see if I can figure out which bits are which?

Getting it working.

I know that a lot of people struggle with electrics, but this was pretty simple for the most part, although I guess being an electronics engineer helps.  The loom itself was completely stripped, repairs made, and the whole thing re-taped up.  Because of the equipment and supplies I had on hand, most of the cabling was soldered and shrink wrapped before the whole loom as re-taped up.  The only issue I had with the wiring loom was the power valve computer and assembly did not seem to work but I figured the issue was likely that there was no engine and throttle attached to it so moved forward on the basis that we can figure that out later.

While I was sorting out the loom, I was also going over what I had and what needed to be replaced. 

All the while a great deal of cleaning was going on as all the parts were handled and checked for wear.  If missing, worn or damaged, they were to be replaced.

The Bike Build (Part 1)

This article is in several parts because of the length and depth of the article. There is a lot here. The crux of the article is that I purchased a bike in pieces and over time I built it. Most of the work was done in a studio apartment with some work and final assembly in a garage.  I ended up riding it and passing my bike test on this bike. After a few years of use I sold it on and as far as I know, its still going.

Some of us like dessert first, so here is the finished product:

All of this took place back in the early 90s. So with further ceremony, here we go:

I love motorcycles. Many years back I decided I wanted to ride, but did not have a bike so I figured I would get one.  After asking around for a bit I finally found a guy that had a Yamaha RD 125 in pieces that was willing to let it go for 50 quid.  That fitted with my price range.  I understood that because it was in pieces, some assembly was required but I was ok with that. In fact, I rather relished the challenge and it would help me understand how these things worked and how they went together, 

So one dark night, I headed out into the gloom to meet a man in a musty garage about a box of bits that is likely to be a bike, but honestly who knows. I figured half the parts would need replacing and the other half would be missing, but lets see.  

And a couple of hours later, this is what followed me home:

Good news: two wheels, a set and a box of parts!

And the frame, engine, panels and more parts.

So at the end of day one we have what we think is a mostly complete bike.  Obviously not a runner, but probably is and certainly was at some point.  However, the engine looks wrong in the frame and while it is a 125cc engine (as is right for this bike) it may not be the original engine.  Work is required here to figure that out.