A Taste of a different Vintage

Jan 2019

Haha, I have just dropped the frame for the IT off to get a few tabs welded on and the side stand mount plate smoothed out. I cannot believe that it has been 4 1/2 years and this thing hasnt been touched. I have a bit more time on my hands these days, so watch this space....

July 2014

Well, I am glad that these things only appreciate with age. There has been bugger all progress. Most the parts are here for the IT50K All I need is some welding and fame painting, and some wheels and I should be ready to piece back together!? Time and money....


October 2013

Following the vintage scene. Is it an interest, or is it just the fact that you have been left behind in an era where you didnt have brakes, suspension or ergonomics. Power wasnt smooth, it was whoever could show up with the biggest ehem....'ego', and hold on around the corners the fastest.

With idols like Steve McQueen, its pretty clear anyone born around thee 70's would want to want to be the fastest and flying the highest on something that felt uncomfortable on the bitumen.

I was a little late for the cult following, but I have always had an interest in the old tin. Especially now with the presence of the monoshocks, disc brakes and the presence of plastic to make me feel more at home.

With the old mans prized possessions to lead by, I dont hink that the quality of what I hope to acheive will be as high. But, I would like to ride/race the fininshed product.

Currently completed there is a CR250 (with trick parts like the FMF big fin head, solid alloy bars, alloy swingarm, etc), YZ125 and PE250.

Mum and the old boy decided a few months ago that a sea change was in order (western QLD). They picked up a new truck, caravan, and a shipping container to pack the remains of their homewares for their return. Then, after dropping the other bits and bobs round to my brother and myself, they were off! (dont worry the prized posessions are under lock and key in a secret location).

The reason why I have the IT is due to the 'old man'. He has always had bikes from as long as can remember. Interesting bikes were the XR350, the JAWA and the Z1000 to name a few. But, in recent times he has shown a great amount of dedication to vintage motorcross and enduro bikes (VMX and Vinduro for the newbies).

So, the first restoration project starts. The tank on the IT250K was covered in a thick layer of paint. Time, a razor blade, some sandpaper, and a couple of hours (while watching Bathurst 2013) marks the start on the first part of the project. I am not aiming for a showpiece, but rather something that can be ridden without worrying about putting a mark on it. I am looking forward to making this bike an original bike, but also one that gets ridden.

                                    

After a quick analysis, to run the bike, it needs a few items - pipe, muffler, rear guard, a side cover, and a rear mudguard. A shake down from the old boy to let me know that there is a bloke on the VMX forum who manufactures fibreglass side covers that look a million bucks, and there is another bloke who imports DG pipes for the VMX/Vinduro. This guy is also the distributor for plastics for these bikes, but as usual for the aftermarket plastics are a bit thin and not the best quality.

The bike has had a top end rebuild so it is fairly clean and SHOULD NOT take much engine preparation - I can see the machining lines on the piston through the exhaust port. The DG pipes look like a good option as I can source them locally and it will make good power. The forks are in good nick, so not too muck work there either. Major items to be replaced will be the rear shock absorber as it is a little rusty and the rear wheel. It shouldnt be too hard to source a rear yamaha wheel! The bike has a good front wheel with twin leading shoe front brake, some alloy bars should sort out the front.

Overall the bike is pretty much all there. The wiring harness has been very ugly' doctored, but as wiring is my main trade, this is not an issue.

Luckily the old boy has supplied a heap of desirable vintage parts to sell on Ebay to fund the project, so it will make it a lot easier to get past the handbrake....

November 2013

The old man has been working for the council for a while and has managed to score a parts bike for us. $50 at a garage sale, cant go wrong. I had to skull drag the thing off the trailer, so I expect some internal damge to be present.

The tear down was more 'pleasing' than I expected. Not at first though!! This is what I found when I took the airbox out.

 It didnt take long to strip the donor out. I dont think that I will use this frame as it has the sidestand mount busted off and the subframe is twisted. The other bike (although is has been painted a horrible shade of midnight blue - doesnt matter as it will be powdercoated) has all the brackets and should clean up OK.

With the engine out, I decided to have a look at this next. I cannot seem to get 'neutral' on this bike. As it may be siezed in the top end, I removed the spark plug and poured some spare engine oil that I had in through the plug hole. With a bit of gentle encouragement, the barrel was soon free. I soon find out why the egine would not turn over. Although the barrel looks OK, the bottom end lools like it has locked up due to being out in the weather. The lack of a base gasket also may prove that is has been sitting around with the top end off. Like Jamie Oliver I put a 'dash of oil' in there too and let it rest. It is not all bad, I have got a lot more that the initial investment in the bike. The rear shockie seems to be in a lot better nick than mine, and there are alot of rubber components that are in good condition, that money cannot buy. May even offload the rest when I am done.

The engine in the project bike has just been rebuilt, a common issue with the IT's is the barrel cracking below the exhaust port. A common trick to get around this is to remove the upper engine mount to enable the barrel to move (and thus not fracture). The doner bike shows a perfect barrel, and from what I read, is as rare as hens teeth. One of the gents on the IT forum made mention that he could not find an intact barrel under $700US, so I think that I will be hanging on to this one for a little while yet.

As time gets the better of me, I race to pack up my tools to pick up the young bloke from school (before you ask I got back from a business trip in the wee hours and decided to take the day off for a sleep in).My mind is racing thinking of what treasures (and nasties I will find in the engine case). Being time poor, and my KTM ignition parts showing up while I was a way, this probably wont get a look in just yet. Off to ebay to raise some more funds for the project and to await some ordered parcels........

January 2014

Wow! All the parts are flooding in, and my work are starting to think I'm running a sideline business. Alas, just bike bits...

The oldies were over from the west for part of the break and the old man gave me a bit of a run through on restoring plastics. He has restored quite a few components and knows what to do, so it was good to get a demo...

The tank is under control, so I continued with the headlight shroud and front guard...

This is achieved by scraping a razor blade over the surface to remove paint and damaged plastic. I have had a look around different forums for paint stripper that will not hurt the plastic. Some suggest DOT 3 brake fluid or oven cleaner may do the trick, but I am yet to trial.

After this, various grades of the finer sandpaper until you can polish to the sheen that you require.

I had a look around for the magical unicorns that are a pair of sidecovers and a rear mudguard for the old girl. No such luck. I soon contacted 2fiftyJ from the IT forum and arranged a fibreglass repro set.

I was amazed hen they arrived. I had heard a viscious rumor that his sidecovers were the real deal, but know that I have seen them in person....WOW! (Many thanks again!).

RAD rebuilt the rear shockie for me and I have fork seals underway (run through that a bit later).

Time to strip down for welding/powdercoating. I dont know what has posessed the previous owner to paint the frame midnight blue. I guess it was the nineties?..right...That period of grunge, bad haircuts and bad decisions....