Five Spoke Wheel

Never look a gift horse in the mouth.”

Yes. I have heard this old adage many times. I have a received a two-wheel “Gift Horse”. I am not only going to look in it’s rather rusty mouth, I am going to completely disassemble it, have the frame and all painted parts bead-blasted, prime and paint the “tins” (Yes. I have watched OCC a few times) replace the bits that we cannot refresh and in the end – ride away on a fine little enduro motorcycle. I hope a few of you will follow along. I also hope any of you who have experience with a rebuild like mine will share knowledge and encouragement. Help me prove to Lucy I am not “crazy”.  ;O)

From whence it came…

It was a little difficult for two of us to hoist the 300 pound bike up onto the rear rack of my Land Rover, but with only one pinched finger, we succeeded. The donor site was only a few miles from O.O.C. so we made it home in short order. Upon arriving my wife posed a very logical question “How are we going to get that thing on the ground?” (She emphasized the word “Thing”) It was painfully obvious that the removal may prove even more of a challenge than the installation. Suddenly, I was assaulted by a very scary thought. Dare I mention it to Lucy? “How about I drive under the limb of the Banyan tree, hook up my come-along and lower it with that?” Her expression changed several times – rapidly – between “Are you crazy” and “That might actually work.”…

It only took a few minutes and the little bike was safely on the ground. After a bit of stomping on and toeing the shifter, I found neutral, in the very dry transmission and rolled her into my “Shop” (crowded, messy, carport). One of my concerns was the possible difficulty in finding the parts I would need for the restoration. I found out about a Suzuki motorcycle expert, located in Grants Pass, Oregon and gave them a call. Turns out Jesse, of “Kientech Engineering” was exactly the Suzuki “Yoda” that I needed. I sent him an email containing detailed “Before” photographs and followed up with a very informative phone call. I am confident that with Jessee’s guidance and the parts his company sells this little Enduro bike will be on the trails again soon…

I ordered a shop manual and added a few tools that Jesse suggested. I am going to post follow-up “Progress” posts for anyone who is interested in motorcycles, or just wants to see if I can actually do it…

Official “BEFORE” photo…

I have spent around six total hours on the tear down. I am carefully marking all wiring terminations and carefully storing individual small parts in zip-lock freezer bags. Shown below is a photo as the bike stands today. Lots more to come. Stay tuned…

Cheers, Spokesman Dave