gs7_11 Posted March 29, 2023 Share Posted March 29, 2023 One of those "always wanted one" things. They've been advertised at very high prices for years now, so I thought they were out of my reach but it turned out an acquaintance was selling one and we reached a deal based on pictures. However when I got the bike back to my garage, one job has lead to another! I'm now correcting about 30 years of bodgery. Started off replacing shocks and tyres, then wondered why the swinging arm was almost seized.....oversized nylon bushes fitted in place of rollers, with heavily worn centre bushes. Forks had rag under the dust caps to stop oil leaking. Tyres were perished and rock hard. Wiring full of "twist and tape" joints. Cables dry and stiff. Chain and sprockets goosed, steering head bearings pitted, back brake shoes worn out, wood screws in tail piece etc etc etc. On the plus side, a previous owner, while ignoring all the above, has spent £800 on a set of Allspeeds, plus the standard pipes are in reasonable nick. The paintwork's been redone, albeit wrong colour stripes, seat has been recovered and base powder coated, it's had a recent rebore, I got a box of spares with it, some valuable, and importantly, it's all there. X7 parts prices for some bits are mental. What amazes me is how small and light everything is. Most if the parts also fit the likes of GT185, TS185, GN125 etc. I've got a GS425 as well, and that's mire of a scaled down bigger GS. This is a big engined 125. Pics are before strip down, and as it is now. 8 Quote Link to comment
TonyGee Posted March 29, 2023 Share Posted March 29, 2023 hope you didn't pay to much for it !!!! good project though 1 Quote Link to comment
Dezza Posted March 29, 2023 Share Posted March 29, 2023 Sounds like the previous owner took nostalgia to it's ultimate conclusion and actually applied a 17 year old's mindset: buying a set of expensive noisy exhausts (that probably have zero performance gain) in preference to fixing all the fundamental problems with the bike first 3 Quote Link to comment
eddiegsx Posted March 29, 2023 Share Posted March 29, 2023 6 hours ago, Dezza said: Sounds like the previous owner took nostalgia to it's ultimate conclusion and actually applied a 17 year old's mindset: buying a set of expensive noisy exhausts (that probably have zero performance gain) in preference to fixing all the fundamental problems with the bike first Nowt wrong with a noisy set of spannies Dezza. Quote Link to comment
gs7_11 Posted March 29, 2023 Author Share Posted March 29, 2023 I'm fairly happy with what I paid. They're all too expensive, what you going to do? I could sell the spare pipes and get back what I've spent. Doing the work has been fun, so can't complain about that. I agree about the 17 year old mindset.....you saw it all the time. Still do, just on shitty cars nowadays. The Allspeeds are quite restrained so might stay, but I love the look of the standard pipes and, IMO, they look better. Quote Link to comment
Dezza Posted March 29, 2023 Share Posted March 29, 2023 2 hours ago, eddiegsx said: Nowt wrong with a noisy set of spannies Dezza. Yep, I agree Quote Link to comment
eddiegsx Posted April 16, 2023 Share Posted April 16, 2023 @gs7_11 Any updates, have you managed to get out on the roads yet?? BTW I'd keep those allspeeds on if she were mine just for that sound Quote Link to comment
gs7_11 Posted April 17, 2023 Author Share Posted April 17, 2023 On 4/16/2023 at 8:35 PM, eddiegsx said: @gs7_11 Any updates, have you managed to get out on the roads yet?? BTW I'd keep those allspeeds on if she were mine just for that sound Yes! Got it out on the road today. Started up third kick after having done a fair bit to it. Did a quick run into town to get petrol. Great fun! I found one of the generator coils was open circuit, so fitted a new pair from Rex's. Also the flywheel taper on the crankshaft was damaged, but managed to dress it off with emery then lap the flywheel back on. Had a wait fir some parts: throttle cables and master cylinder rebuild kits are hard to get! Was great to finally get a few miles in, although taking it easy as it has a new piston and rings on one side. One issue to sort is a nasty scraping noise from somewhere....I'm hoping it's just the chain rubbing on the chainguard. I can only hear it when slowing down with the throttle closed. 2 Quote Link to comment
eddiegsx Posted April 17, 2023 Share Posted April 17, 2023 14 minutes ago, gs7_11 said: Yes! Got it out on the road today. Started up third kick after having done a fair bit to it. Did a quick run into town to get petrol. Great fun! I found one of the generator coils was open circuit, so fitted a new pair from Rex's. Also the flywheel taper on the crankshaft was damaged, but managed to dress it off with emery then lap the flywheel back on. Had a wait fir some parts: throttle cables and master cylinder rebuild kits are hard to get! Was great to finally get a few miles in, although taking it easy as it has a new piston and rings on one side. One issue to sort is a nasty scraping noise from somewhere....I'm hoping it's just the chain rubbing on the chainguard. I can only hear it when slowing down with the throttle closed. Great to see that you're getting out on her, you'll get plenty of attention off old timers like us Thought you'd still be under 4ft of snow that far north but not to be. Hope you get to the bottom of the scraping noise and it's not too serious. 1 Quote Link to comment
gs7_11 Posted April 18, 2023 Author Share Posted April 18, 2023 Turned out to be chainguard rubbing on tyre, much as I'd thought (hoped!) Had a great shakedown run today, weather been Brill, got 180 miles in with no real issues, just tightened head bearings etc. Slightly drippy carb, but its getting better so I'll leave it for now, see how it goes. Sure enough, had 2 older blokes (about my age!) collar me for a blether while parked up Bloody great fun to ride 3 Quote Link to comment
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