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The Bikeshite Thread


warren t claim

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Seeing all these tempting machines makes me think I'll have to do my full test sooner rather than later! That said, I'd just settle for one working bike right now - however I've made good strides in that direction, having just become the proud owner of another CG125 BR-K.

 

This one's actually fully roadworthy, the engine is seized solid from being run without oil and it needs a new speedo cable and front wheel; well wouldn't you know it but I have a good engine, a practically new speedo cable and a perfect front wheel in that sorry pile of bits on the driveway :D Just waiting for it to be collected and delivered now. Shiply quotes are looking quite reasonable, unless the autoshite pony express happens to be travelling between Derby and Devon in the next couple of weeks :D.

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I met a chap across the road from me today selling a few old mopeds, this Mobylette AV50S had only covered 1658 miles!.

 

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1973 Mobylette AV50 Moped by Trigger's Retro Road Tests!, on Flickr

 

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1973 Mobylette AV50 Moped by Trigger's Retro Road Tests!, on Flickr

 

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1973 Mobylette AV50 Moped by Trigger's Retro Road Tests!, on Flickr

 

This Mobylette AV89 was stunning, I quite fancy it for myself even though I haven't got a licence or any need for it!.

 

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1971 Mobylette AV89 by Trigger's Retro Road Tests!, on Flickr

 

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1971 Mobylette AV89 by Trigger's Retro Road Tests!, on Flickr

 

and lastly was this little Raleigh Runabout again as it came out of the shed.

 

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1965 Raleigh Runabout Moped by Trigger's Retro Road Tests!, on Flickr

 

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1965 Raleigh Runabout Moped by Trigger's Retro Road Tests!, on Flickr

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I've just been back to see him, He's looking for £500 for the AV89, It's got 12 months mot and 6600 miles, it's been painted but it's nicely done but does have a few scratches on front wheel guard and the wheels could do with being repainted if your fussy, I think it's worth the money.

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Last week I went to remove my DT from the van as my mates cousin needed to use it, when I got there my mate had whipped the tank off and fixed the leaky petrol tap, however this had revealed a bit of surface rust on the rear half of the frame....I removed the rest of the plastics, and was left with this:

 

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I rubbed and wire wheeled it back to good metal, however while I was at it, it seemed a shame to leave the swing arm untouched as it had some surface rust too...

 

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Then a few more bits fell off, and I chucked some primer on the frame..

 

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Today, I degreased and de rusted the swing arm, and have now primed and top coated it, here it is primed:

 

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and I also splashed a load of gloss black back on the frame :)

 

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I'll get some lacquer on the swing arm during the week, and I need to make some new number plate brackets up, then I can chuck it all back together :) It seems in remarkably good nick for being 24!

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^^^ chooooooiiice

 

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uber boring

 

megabus from manc to bristol this morning

 

got off train from bristol grumble weeds waited for one to keynsahm (5 mins early but left 4 mins late wtf)

 

then got lost as the training place was next to a housing estate but separatede by deads end and the coucil depot :lol:

 

45 mins to find it and was only 1/2 miles from the station :roll::lol:

 

found it and after having it idling outside the place for 20 mins while had a brew (pissing it down) got on it found petrol (put 10 quid in and did 173 miles home :D half full wins everytime)

 

hopefully the not used since the test rules changed means that the non start i got when visiting a friend back in bristol and the fact it started right up after being sat at strensham for half an hour means i wont need to buy a battery or rectifier

 

and its mot till end of june and taxed till april next year

 

320 and 22 and 3.80 and 5 quid food and 10 pez - HAPPY BUNNY

 

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That NTV looks bloody good for 320 notes. 104K is nothing for one of those, provided it's been looked after (read: not used as a courier bike in London) - gearboxes can get a bit funny with miles, but the engines and shaft drives just go on and on. There was one on Gumtree quite locally a few weeks ago for £350 - by the time I'd spotted the ad it had sold, or I would probably have bought it. I do like a V-twin.

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Is that a 400cc NTV or a 650? I remember seeing loads of them as courier bikes in London a few years ago. Very narrow which makes them ideal for filtering, very light which makes them ideal for crashing. That's your requirements for couriers right there.

 

I came to 2 wheels late, I used to take the train into London every day and the carpark charge was extortionate but bike parking was free. I did a CBT where the size and power of a CG125 was terrifying compared to the Raleigh Grifter I last rode. 50mph on the road seemed like an insane idea.

 

That allowed me to ride up to 125cc with an L plate so I bought a nearly new Honda Varadero 125 which was alright. It rode quite well and the bigger bike suited my height

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While riding this on L plates I was doing the direct access course, learning on a Suzuki GS500. The riding was pretty easy once I'd mastered the U turn and I passed first time. I sold the Varadero for what I'd paid for it and bought a Honda Hornet 600, this one in fact with very expensive Givi box and mounting kit

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That bike was a hoot, the power delivery was flat until about 8500rpm then it all went bonkers for the last 2500rpm. It was also a good looking thing and reliable too, even after I ditched the train and started riding into London every day. The only downside was the fuel tank size, 100 miles between refills on a 75 mile commute wasn't great.

 

So I sold it and got something with a bigger tank, the Yamaha Super Tenere 750.

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This could do about 240 miles to a tankful and the upright riding position was comfortable. Even the half fairing was nicer than the Hornet but the best thing was the way it rode over the bumps. I could stand up on the footpegs and take speedbumps with ease, even wheelies off the top were on the cards which is a great way to start your day. These bikes did well on the Paris Dakar rallies when they were new and even though my commute was on the road it allowed me the occasional detour over builder's sand, high kerbs and down the grass of the motorway embankment :D

 

The gearbox went pop after a while so I bought this Kawasaki ZZR1100

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This promised the same distance between tank refills but a whole lot more performance. How much performance? 0-60 times on a fast bike don't mean much, it's so dependant on getting a good launch and the figures vary a lot but it's something like 3 seconds. 1/4 mile was 10.5 seconds and it crossed the line at 135mph, that's exactly the same as a McLaren road car except it did 48mpg and you could filter through London traffic. I loved that bike dearly but when I stopped working in London and got a new job 3 miles away it seemed like overkill.

 

I then got a CCM640 which was alright but not particularly reliable and the single cylinder engine was far from smooth

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After that I dropped bikes for a while until I got a VFR750 which was just a shade too dull. Cars are what I love most, but riding a bike with its performance and ability to filter is terrific. The observation also makes you a better car driver IMHO

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I decided to avoid the inevitably expensive engine job and make it look nice first. It's all stripped down now though. Need to get someone with a bit of experience to take a look at the pistons to see just how big a job it's gonna be. It's always nice to see a Guzzi out and about that isn't a California. 

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I thought it was weather seized on the barrels but i got them off and they turned out to be fine. The pistons don't move on the crank which is my problem at the moment. 

 

If your pistons move on the crankshaft, you're seriously up shit creek.

Pistons should be mounted to connecting rods via a wrist pin.

Now, what is actually not moving?

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I'm a very happy chappy tonight.

 

I finally got delivery of my second CG125 last night to replace the one that turned out to be a CAT B writeoff.  It was pretty cheap on account of a seized engine and mashed front wheel. 

 

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It turned up this morning after a long wait and I was delighted to discover it was far better than I dared hope - a 92 J reg in very, very good cosmetic condition, 15,000 miles and 5 owners.  The kickstart lever refused to move, confirming the seized engine although there was some very dirty oil in the pan when I checked - I'd been told it stopped dead on the road due to running out of oil.  I had a good engine and front wheel assembly waiting so no problems there.

 

This evening I spent a frustrating couple of hours trying to get the last engine bolt out of the old written-off frame with no success.  I gave up and thought I'd spend the last hour of daylight seeing how badly seized the engine really was - various similar descriptions on bike forums suggested an internal horror story involving pistons melted to cylinder walls so I wasn't hopeful but I couldn't do any harm by playing with it.

 

I took off the rather manky spark plug, sprayed some GT85 down the hole and put some force on the kickstart - to my surprise after a bit of force it reluctantly started to move.  Another spray followed by a generous dose of bike chain oil I had nearby had the engine turning over stiffly on the lever, albeit sounding pretty rough.  I put the plug back in, gave it some more turns and it freed up a little more so I stuck a battery on it and after a lot of kicks, something in the engine went 'clunk' and the lever suddenly freed up and felt completely normal, the engine seemed happy to turn over with good compression.

 

I spent another few minutes on the kickstart and had almost given up when I got a couple of seconds of put-put-put which raised a cheer from my amused next-door neighbour in his garden.  I took the plug out, dried off the oil and petrol on it and reinserted it and repeated the cycle a couple more times. 

 

As I was about to call time due to the sun going down, to my disbelief it suddenly fired into life and bloody hell but it runs fine!  No horrible noises, no clattering or the sound of bottom end bearings falling apart, in fact it sounds even better than my old one (which desperately needs the valve clearances doing).  OK, so it wouldn't quite idle and it did misfire a fair bit but it does have quite a lot of oil in the cylinder which was burning off, plus it very much needs a new plug and a service.  I stopped after letting it run for a minute and will try again tomorrow but it's looking good.  It restarted quite easily once I found the optimum amount of throttle and seemed to rev freely.

 

I'm very curious as to what's happened to the engine - I'm perfectly aware it's probably got some damage and I shouldn't expect miracles but I don't know how it could recover from a seizure like that to be able to run again.

 

Looking forward to a run out on it on Sunday if this turns out to be as good as I'm hoping :smile:

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