roborider
God? What god?
I'm calling this a refurb, not a restore, since I'm not trying to make it a showpiece, but rather a reliable and fun bike to ride. My first bike was an R75/5 LWB that I bought when I became a "man" at 18. I bought it from a buddy who got an R90/6. We had great times back then.
Here's a quick picture I shot once I got the bike home. It ran OK, missed a bit here and there, but seemingly sound. I paid $3200 for it.:
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And now on the lift with the fairing removed. I plan to keep the bike naked. I love my RT, and so I don't need another and I want a naked bike.
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The carbs were not working well, so I took them off for a rebuild. Here's one in pieces, waiting for the Bing kit arriving Friday.
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One thing I learned is that you can't trust anything is working properly on an old bike. I noticed the choke was rough, and since I had some time waiting on parts, I decided to take it apart. You can see the ball bearing, that is supposed to be riding in the little hole with the spring, is actually jammed into a slot. I pried it out, cleaned up and greased the mechanism, and put it back together. Man, it works so smoothly now, it was worth the time.
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Here is the assembly back together. The ball bearing falls into a detent and it operates smoothly and clicks right into place. I just need some carbs to connect to it!
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The gauges weren't lighting up and working properly, so apart they came. I found broken tabs for one of the lights. Here's a picture of a good copper tab that is the contact for a light bulb.
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The problem was that two of the tabs were missing for one light. I soldered on wire and bent it over at 90 degrees to make a new "tab" out of wire. It works!
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Gauges back together:
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I also ordered and just installed new throttle cables. The ones I had were stiff and rotted. I tried to lube them, but they were too far gone. The new ones are really smooth. Again, waiting for carbs!
I drained the fork oil and it was brown and nasty, like old beer. And a lot of particulate gunk came out. The forks were squeaky and sticky. I ran about 100 mls of fork oil through them to flush them out somewhat, and then filled with fresh oil. They are quiet and operate nicely now.
The tank had some rust in it, so I soaked it in Navel Jelly and water over night, then washed it well with water. This cleans up a tank pretty well. The POR treatment is too costly, I'll just use inline filters in case any rust is left.
New spark plug wires should be here soon, too. Then, with rebuilt carbs, plug wires, and the tune up done, I hope to have it running well this weekend.
Here's a quick picture I shot once I got the bike home. It ran OK, missed a bit here and there, but seemingly sound. I paid $3200 for it.:
.
.
.
And now on the lift with the fairing removed. I plan to keep the bike naked. I love my RT, and so I don't need another and I want a naked bike.
.
.
.
The carbs were not working well, so I took them off for a rebuild. Here's one in pieces, waiting for the Bing kit arriving Friday.
.
.
.
One thing I learned is that you can't trust anything is working properly on an old bike. I noticed the choke was rough, and since I had some time waiting on parts, I decided to take it apart. You can see the ball bearing, that is supposed to be riding in the little hole with the spring, is actually jammed into a slot. I pried it out, cleaned up and greased the mechanism, and put it back together. Man, it works so smoothly now, it was worth the time.
.
.
.
Here is the assembly back together. The ball bearing falls into a detent and it operates smoothly and clicks right into place. I just need some carbs to connect to it!
.
.
.
The gauges weren't lighting up and working properly, so apart they came. I found broken tabs for one of the lights. Here's a picture of a good copper tab that is the contact for a light bulb.
.
.
.
The problem was that two of the tabs were missing for one light. I soldered on wire and bent it over at 90 degrees to make a new "tab" out of wire. It works!
.
.
.
Gauges back together:
.
.
I also ordered and just installed new throttle cables. The ones I had were stiff and rotted. I tried to lube them, but they were too far gone. The new ones are really smooth. Again, waiting for carbs!
I drained the fork oil and it was brown and nasty, like old beer. And a lot of particulate gunk came out. The forks were squeaky and sticky. I ran about 100 mls of fork oil through them to flush them out somewhat, and then filled with fresh oil. They are quiet and operate nicely now.
The tank had some rust in it, so I soaked it in Navel Jelly and water over night, then washed it well with water. This cleans up a tank pretty well. The POR treatment is too costly, I'll just use inline filters in case any rust is left.
New spark plug wires should be here soon, too. Then, with rebuilt carbs, plug wires, and the tune up done, I hope to have it running well this weekend.