Greased up virgin

[Colapop]

I'm thinking of getting a bike (not just to ride). Not really any bike but something. I want to get something relatively simple to fix. I have a small amount of mechanical knowledge, a few tools and a small workshop. I haven't had too much experience but enough to know how to pull things aprat (yep spelled that right - I generally feel like a prat when it won't go back together.) I'm fairly practical and mechanically minded enough to learn more. So,

Before I get something that is going just occupy gargre space and piss everyone off (family) we'll start with the mechanics of the situation. Before anyone tells me just to get a bike that's already going, spend some money on that etc. I thought of this as an exercise to learn something. I suppose it's just a case of getting a piece of machinery (bike) and pulling it apart and putting it back together? The thing with that is, if it's an engine (bike) there is the issues of timing, wiring, tappets, valves, cams.... (as I said I know enough to be dangerous). Where do ya learn this sort of stuff from? My old man lives 5 hours away, and the people I know here are office people. No offense intended but they're generally not mechanics.
I have some tools;
A couple of socket sets, set of spanners, various hammers, an angle grinder, drill, hacksaw, bench & vice, files, pliers, adjustable spanners, screwdrivers, ... I can't remember what else but there's enough downstairs to get me into trouble.

So where do I learn stuff from? What sort of beast would be a good base point? What sort of tools should I have? Where do you get decent parts from?
I don't want to get someone to come round and do everything for me, as I said this is a learning exercise. Do ya reckon I should just pull something apart and yell for help when it's in bits?

This is not a done deal - I'm just looking for your thoughts....

[GR81]

this might help you get started...
http://www.dansmc.com/MC_repaircourse.htm

[myvice]

Go for it!
Get a simple bike, single cylinder air-cooled Jap bike.
Honda XR, Suzuki DR...
Once you have done one then move on to a more complex bike.
Get a manual, good well-lit workbench and tinker till your harts content.
Any odd tools you can borrow or buy as there not that expensive.
Unless you like Snap-On!
Lots of fun, as long as you don’t have to do it every day.

[James Deuce]

Right.

The financial rules of buying a project.

The cheaper the initial purchase price, the more zeros and commas on the final invoice, prior to the successful final trip for re-vinning at the testing station.

Multiply every expected financial outlay for each purchase by 2.5. Twice to pay for the right part after you've already bought the wrong part, and the .5 to pay for the doctors bill for each beating you receive from "the wife", who seems to put on weight and grow Popeye forearms while you attempt to wrestle lumps of alloy, steel, and plastic to your will over a period of time that was orginally estimated at "weeks" and seems to have become "eons".

Factor in a period of time on anti-depressants, particularly if you buy anything other than a Honda or pre-Hinckley Triumph to "get back on the road". Honda keep 25 years worth of parts stock for each model, though the price for said parts cubes in the first decade and then doubles over the next decade and a half. Everyone knows the pre-Hinckley Triumphs can be made road worthy by powder coating the frame and then inviting mates around to copaslip bolts, Loctite fasteners, hit things with hammers, and stare down mysteriously corroded bores that were immaculately honed only yesterday, but now appear to have acumulated filth than can only have existed in "Foul Ol' Ron's" underpants.

Buy something that runs, has a WOF, and is registered. You owe it to the people that like you.

[Ixion]

Don't buy someone elses's project. The reason they're selling is cos it's got too hard.

Best bet is a simple bike (one or two cylinder, air cooled, carbs), that was running Ok but has broken down. Due to a known defined fault. A bike where the seller can say "had a wof, rego, I was using it, and the xxx broke". You know it's all there (bikes in boxes are NEVER all there. Ever). You know what the fault is, and even if you don't yourself know how serious that is , (ie is it worth fixing) there are plenty of folk here that can tell you.

Factor in that a bike that's been off the road will have some expenses. New battery , wof, vin, rego etc.

And keep the bike simple. Best of all is a pre power valve two stroke. Those are so simple that a child could pull them apart and put them together again.Then one of the old twin cylinder single cam bikes .

Bikes from the 70s and earlier, and some from the 80s were designed with the idea that they would be maintained and fixed by amateur mechanics.

[SpankMe]

Yep, must agree with them, get a thumper. Fun to ride and easier to start learning mechanics on.

[Motig]

Buy a pre 1980 Triumph Bonneville or Tiger and go from there. Tons of spares and heaps of info available. Just do a bit as you feel like it. But don't expect to make any money on it, do expect to throw money down the drain. And in the end you'll have an immaculate machine but as soon as you go for the first ride you'll start on the endless circle of Triumph maintenance and that idea of a new bike will seem like a good idea. But you'll certainly learn

[Finn]

Thank me later...

[inlinefour]

Thank me later...

Sure will explain abit.

I allways make sure I have a full workshop manual...

[Crasherfromwayback]

Yep, must agree with them, get a thumper. Fun to ride and easier to start learning mechanics on.

Nice tits.

[miSTa]

Do ya reckon I should just pull something apart and yell for help when it's in bits?

Yep, as the Nike ad says "Just do it". Don't know about you but for me doing something is the best way to learn.

Just remember that a man with a little knowledge is more dangerous than a man with none.

[Mental Trousers]

I know where you can get a '89 GPX 250. Needs a bit of work (there's a 2nd hand piston on the way and a knackered second engine to play with) but the owner is about to die of strangulation. Read that thread to find out why!!

[Colapop]

Ummm ..... No thanks... I know of someone with a LS single or two he may not mind parting with... I might just get in touch with him.

[idb]

You've got WAY too many tools.
There's nothing you can't do with a hammer, big screwdriver and a pair of pliers.

If you are still wanting to have a bike to ride, I recommend that you have a runner and a project bike.
For years my only bike was a British thumper and there is nothing more frustrating than trying to carry out a restoration on your only bike.
I used to be up until the wee hours putting the thing back together before every rally.

[Colapop]

That's sort of what I was thinking. When I'm in the position I'll be able to get a ride bike. In the mean-time I can spend a couple of hundy to learn some skills.