Doin' Work

Finally getting stuff done and completed. This place is a mess. I am thoroughly disgusted with messy work spaces and this one is driving me 100% apeshits crazy.

Fenders

New bars and tire mounted. Coming together nicely.


The new rear fender just mounts on top of part of the old one to utilize its mounts.



Choppin the old rear fender nastiness off. Also the dog molested front fender was bobbed out of necesity. Sanded and ready for some of that plastic paint.

Goodies

Wheel laced up. Tire and tube arrived this morning with some handlebars. Woot.

Stainless allens for case covers, gaskets, and rear fender from Trials UK. I usually try to buy domestic but these guys know vintage trials bikes, are super helpful, stock the right parts that fit, and are fair priced. That's right eff the eGay sellers who charge 5 times what shipping really costs. Or sellers who think their junk is cast in gold. Honest work and honest prices are what makes America great. Rant, rant, rant. I also want to say thanks to the sellers who I have purchased parts for this bike at reasonable prices and reasonable shipping rates. You make it a more enjoyable resto experience and doing your part to restore our economy.

Frame is painted. Kind of a gunmetal/cast iron color.

Brushed Aluminum Look

Getting the brushed aluminum look is simple really. Its like polishing minus the last 4 steps. Not being a fan of chrome and mirrored finishes, I like the look of machined surfaces and labored handmade pieces. I think it fits this bike perfectly.

The rim had been annodized gold. I sandblasted most of the gold off. Shortly after i found out you can use oven cleaner for 5 minutes and cut it right off. BEWARE, if you leave it on too long it will eat your aluminum like the Cookie Monster let loose on a girl scout bake sale. I ran out of sand (I know, I know, I live in a desert haha) so there is some remnant of gold left.


I used a blue scour pad to cut off the rest of the gold. These things are coarse and cut very deep. I wouldnt recommend this for going to a fine polish. It leaves directional marks. Fortunately, thats what I was going for. Be sure to get every nook and cranny.

Next step was the green scotch brite pad. Not quite as course but will still leave directional marks. I went around the rim with this about 4 times. each time it looks better and better. I never cut in enough the first time to remove the pits from sandblasting though. They can be seen up closely. It gives it a bit of a dull look. I like it and am going to go with it. I did all of this by hand. Power or air tools would have made the job A LOT faster. But, I like where it ended up regardless.

Final outcome. I might go over it with a 600 grit wet/dry paper to get the shine a little closer to the rear wheel. Either the pits make it hazy or the alloys are slightly different.

Rear wheel shined up nicely other than the pits that I was mostly able to get out. There wouldnt be any rim left if I kept going.

Cleaning up the rear wheel while the rust converter does it's thing. The frame should be ready for primer soon.

Yam 175 Trials

So I picked this little gem up for a few measly bits not too long ago. It's a Yamaha TY 175 2-stroke trials bike. I used to have a neighbor, older fellow in his late 70's who would ride these little trial and enduro bikes damn near every weekend. Tough old bird, this guy. I'm feeling I should pay him a visit soon. Anyway this guy got me pretty interested in owning a motorcycle. He had a little Honda TLR200 Reflex that was light, very underpowered, but a blast to ride. Plus the little gutless wonder could chug itself up the gnarliest of terrain and not even bat an eye. So, I'd wander over to this guys garage and he and his son would play these old videos of trials competitions and the bikes they've built and bam I was hooked like Whitney on crack. Plus it didn't help that my buddy bought a Yammy TW200 and was less one riding partner. 12-Hundy and a tlr 200 later I was on the trails. Point being these little bikes got me into it and now I'm apeshits crazy. So, feeling kind of disillusioned about my trade of my 'Zuki GS 450 for a busted assed 4 cyl Cherokee, I decided to pick up a rust bucket bike to clean up. And so, here we go...