my new obsession

[ForOffRoadDriving]

i have a friend who is a bit of a junk collector, and earlier in the year he was telling me about this woman who has a little honda motorcycle that she wants out of her way and he was wondering if i would be interested in giving it a new home. im already kind of a vintage bie collector so i said yes but hadnt heard anything about it in almost a year. so yesterday i finally got a call from my friend so went on a rescue mission to save a piece of vintage iron from the garbage man, and after getting it home and lookng it over i think i just might have found a diamond in the rough! its a 1974 Honda XR75 and its in near mint condition (aside from a few missing pieces and 20 years of garage dust). after doing some researching online i found out that these are some of the most sought after XRs in the mini collectors circles. the plan is to get it running, clean it up nice and find the missing pieces, and then stud up the tires and hit the lake! its also probably going to be Terras trail bike if it is deemed to have enough power.

it came with 2 tanks, the original one that is completely rusted away, and a new shiny red one that is off the wrong year (75-79?)

im also in the process of replacing the belt on my neighbors polaris sportsman 500 after the kids covered it in snow and kept trying to ride it after it stopped moving (front driveshaft was encased in ice and not spinning).

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

So ive determined that its a 1974 and that the red tank came off from a 1978. i found a guy that can rebuild my ignition/magneto side cover for a fair price (its got a crack across the front and one of the screw bosses is missing) and ive got an air filter and carburetor rebuild kit coming so i should be able to have a good feel for the rest of the bike within the next week or so. heres some pics of what it originally looked like in the honda grey

http://www.bikepics.com/honda/xr75/74/pics.asp

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

got some more progress made on the xr, i started taking it apart and cleaning everything one piece at a time until i was left with this

then i started the reassembly process but stopped at 3am because i was tired and the wheels still needed to be cleaned before i put them on.

i cleaned the wheels at work the next day and then went home for my lunch break and put it all back together so i could bring it back to work and tinker with it in the heat.

im working on making some number plates for it and ive got some parts on order so soon ill be able to ride it around. it started right up with only a dozen or so kicks (after sitting for 20 years id say thats pretty good) but since i dont have a front sprocket for it i couldnt "test" it out.

 

[COPPERHEAD85]

I would paint the tank silver to match the fenders.
The silver or grey XR 75's are very sought after,That was my dream bike as a kid lol.

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

once terra learns how to ride and is confident she wont crash and destroy the bike i want to get ahold of some gray honda paint and do a "restoration" of sorts. today im going to pick up a pair of tires, a set of aluminum mini handlebars, and a front sprocket on my lunch break, but in the mean time ive got to get on bike bandit and order a fuel tank petcock, sprocket retainer plate and bolts, fork seals, and a carb kit (i cleaned everything up but the float bowl gasket i made doesnt seal too well). ive got a tune up kit for it to install and while im at it ill check the timing to make sure the PO didnt mess around in there. once its running and ive ridden it ill be ordering up some Kold Kutters and then hitting the ice!

so onto the pics, last night i changed the rear shocks out for some larger ones off from a suzuki 90 that i used to have. i also made up new orange panels to give it a finished look and then wrapped the edges of them in door edge guard.

 

[gribly]

Nice, I like, I like.

 

[BlackBII]

Friggin' awesome.

I only love one thing more than RBV's, and that is sexy time with my girlfriend. But, motorcycles come in a close second place.

Good job on the clean up job! That is one hell of a deal.

 

[COPPERHEAD85]

A friend of mine has several xl 70's for parts,let me know if you have trouble finding something.

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

A friend of mine has several xl 70's for parts,let me know if you have trouble finding something.

actually i need a flywheel-side engine cover and the round 'HONDA' inspection cover that goes on it. i dropped off the original cover that had a big crack in it to a guy that does alot of TIG welding so hopefully he can revive it or at least make it usable, then ill only need to find the HONDA cover.

well after 3 beers and 4 hours the new parts are on!

i also found the cause of my no start condition, the key way on the flywheel sheered off causing it to go out of time but still produce a strong spark. now im just waiting on my parts from BikeBandit.com to arrive so i can take it for its maiden rip!

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

so my project for today was going to be to find a keyway for the crank shaft, but then i found another igniton related issue, and that was to figure out why the ignition advance had so much play in it and was not returning to its idle position. after lots of searching on the internet and a trip down to Tech Care suspension to pick their technicians brains i realized that the PO had tried to remove the flywheel previously and obviously didnt have the proper tools (17mm socket and a small engine flywheel puller) and in the process they bent the "wings" that the springs wrap around, essentially relieving the tension on the springs. using a set of calipers i measured the length of the springs and then rounded the measurement up to the next millimeter so that the springs would have a bit of tension on them when closed. then i used the torch to heat up the wings and move them the predetermined distance that i came up with and now its good as new!

Before:

After:

 

[COPPERHEAD85]

Ill check on the cover Sat.

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

I got the studs installed and indexed on both tires, but i ran out of both sizes (1/2" and 3/8") before i finished so ill have to get more of them tomorrow. I also installed the new keyway and put the flywheel back on, installed the shiny new bar pad, and safety wired the grips with some .023 stainless wire. I gave it 2 kicks after i finished cleaning up my tools and it purs like a....... well like a honda! Now i just have to wait for my bikebandit.com order to arrive so i can put the sprocket retainer plate on the front sprocket and ride it ( ive got safety wire holding it on at the moment, so it doesnt slide off the shaft).

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

so sunday i took the bike to my buddys place and rode with about half a dozen other guys and i had a blast! if only the rear sprocket could grow a few teeth then id be happy, otherwise it was a sweet ride!

 

[bobbywalter]

you guys go to whitemore?


i have not had a bike on the ice in some time. i was tempted when there was hardly any snow last year and this year but they are all mothballed in the fall. i dont even think the klx would move on the lake right now in the deeper snow. its a fatt bastard. maybe zoies 110....she weighs 70 pounds...bike isnt much more.

 

[177CIOfPureLove]

Wow man, That is a beautiful bike! I am so glad that your taking good care of it. I had a 96 XR 100 R it was my first bike, I learned a lot on it and it never let me down. The whole XR series is so solid and reliable. I hope one day to get a bigger enduro size XR.