Sting like a,
well maybe that should be; Rust like a
rusty thing.
A year ago I did something silly. I decided I wanted to start a bike resto project. The subject the mighty T125 Stinger. Why? Circa 1970 these bikes are ‘before my time’ of learning to ride & closer to my birthday. But at my now maturing age I find these appealing more & more. The Stinger was a jewel of a bike for the time & I love the quirky kitsch styling. GP replica stated brochures, despite no self respecting GP bike having up-pipes. . .
Having something cool to potter around on would be nice, also garners to the hunter gatherer instinct.
So what to start with? I’d passed on a T125 a friend was selling ~ 8 yrs ago. Time to look at TM. Phew! They’ve shot up in price, seems everyone wants a bit of this nostalgia stuff. So after passing on the million dollar items & finally got desperate & bought something that I knew was a mistake. An incomplete bike that had been half converted into a bucket, but had heaps of spares (probably none of which I would want).
So the search was on & I’ve been collecting parts here & there & the odd evilbay purchase, pistons etc. Then of course I bought another one. From hereon known as Rusty. With my 500 project & dirtbike maintenance I’ve not even touched them, it’s a 2 year project (ok maybe 3) so gather is all I’ve done.
- - - - -
Arriving back from a trail ride early Sunday (don’t ask) I was at a loose end. One of those ends that could only be tied by doing something different. None of the pressing jobs either seemed appealing or had time to be adequately addressed in an afternoon.
Rusty, time to get busy! Rusty was a TM purchase & had been living on the North Shore. A mate went to pick her up & reported it belonged to some Old Hippy with a dozen broken vehicles in a house on blocks with a caravan. A total Gunner (I was Gunna get around to fixing it up but. . . ). From the look of the bores this was a very low mileage bike which had some perhaps electrical fault so it was parked & left to die under a tree.
Perfectly complete but left to rust to death. I hate fuckin Hippies!
Ok so strip down time & retrieve loom & electrical parts all missing or bodged on the other bike. Seat locks, horn, ignition, some cables, all very serviceable.
The rest is a total waste of otherwise undamaged tinware ally etc.
Ok so now I have parts & a list. Once I get things together I will sell off the old useable parts (I have 3 bottom ends sets of forks etc) but I’m still after a decent front mudguard.
Here’s a picture It’s an after picture. OK it’s someone else’s after picture but what I am aiming for. Actual pics when I bring the camera cable into werk my wife thoughtfully ‘cleared away’.
Philosophy: I believe it is important to have one at the start of any project. When for example making a racebike it is important to decide if you will ever put it back to road to sell it. If you can make the jump to ‘never again’ then it makes the project more focussed & frees up inhibitions. Sadly the ‘Good’ bike had a few of these festooned on it as I try to retrieve it to road. This is where Rusty gives her organs for transplant.
. . .So my philosophy is to make a nice run around in very near to shiny new condition. But not concourse. Not all 100% original. The paint for example will be my take on a Suzuki gold/bronze or similar. It will run modern comfortable grips & decent tyres. I may mod the brakes to make them safe. This will be my interpretation of how I remember these cool little bikes. The train spotters will be able to pick the odd hole, but screw ‘em.
Sadly action will again be delayed, but perhaps 2 years in the future you will be reading about this neat little run about I can take to rallys etc. But I will update this as weekend afternoons occur when I can attack small ‘projecettes’.
Rusty gets neckid pics to follow.
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Originally Posted by F5 Dave
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