Start Renovating a bike

[zimtim]

Do it (thumbs)
I did an SuperTenere xtz 750 a couple tears back. I wanted to learn as much as I could, and had time on my hands due to an illness in family.
I bought the tools as I needed them, so slowly built up my toolbox. But you can never have to many tools :pinch:
I also went to as my auto jumbles as possible to get the odds o needed.

Whatever you budget for the bike and the rebuild remember to at least double it then you may get close to final figure.

Enjoy it and if you get stressed on a particular job walk away have a cuppa and a fag before going back to it.

[peterekins]

Sorry, very bad idea if you have no mechanical experience.

Get an old, running bike and learn how to do basic mechanics/servicing and repair on that..then see if you have the interest and aptitude to do a restoration.

+1 for that and consider a bike that was populat or is still out their like say a Honda 125. Plenty spare parts.

[Africa John]

Do it (thumbs)
I did an SuperTenere xtz 750 a couple tears back. I wanted to learn as much as I could,

+1 (thumbs)

I bought a ropey GPZ550D1 to learn how an engine works.Tore it all the way down to the crank nad had to re-shell the con rods and lap in the valves. Fantastic experience and put me well on the road to being confident doing home mechanics

John

[mikeyboy]

Do it (thumbs)
I did an SuperTenere xtz 750 a couple tears back. I wanted to learn as much as I could,

+1 (thumbs)

I bought a ropey GPZ550D1 to learn how an engine works.Tore it all the way down to the crank nad had to re-shell the con rods and lap in the valves. Fantastic experience and put me well on the road to being confident doing home mechanics

John

gpz550d1,heres my work in progress (thumbs)

P1011027_2015-02-17.JPG (53.41 KiB) Viewed 2815 times

[Redmurty]

decide how far you want to go with the renovation and stop there, otherwise 12 month's down the line the bike still won't be on the road or track or even on it's tyres, just don't ask me how I know :pinch:

cheers Spud

[AndyB]

decide how far you want to go with the renovation and stop there, otherwise 12 month's down the line the bike still won't be on the road or track or even on it's tyres, just don't ask me how I know :pinch:

cheers Spud

This is so true. I've currently got a 500 Laverda up on the bike lift waiting for the carbs to come back from being refurbished, a Norton Commando with the cylinder head removed and sent away to have new exhaust rose nut inserts fitted and a 750 Kawasaki that's currently complete but I'm going to change it back to standard airbox and filters because I don't like the K&N filters on it at the moment.

Just to complicate things my Tenere is in bits after I replaced the complete exhaust system and once I've put the tank & panels back on I'm taking it to see somebody about doing something rather drastic to it :whistle:

[bull]

if its just to learn

maybe buy some cheap heap of sh*t for around a £100, a non runner bike thats never going run again, a bike thats about to be thrown in the scrap heap

that way theres no pressure when learning and it wont matter if you make mistakes because the bike is never going to run again

take the fu*ker apart and see how everything works and put it back together again, and look at the books to understand what everything is and what it does, and how it should go back on, etc etc

then when you have learned all you can from that bike, either keep it for parts, or dump it in the scrap yard

if its just to learn, then thats one way to do it


anyway, thats my view

[Andy A]

Never done anything like that and not an engineer, but………...

I bought a non runner last year with the intention of having a crack at a rebuild over the winter, well that came and went but last week I started to strip it down. I am under no illusions that this will be either a quick, or cheap process but hopefully it will be a great learning curve and a bit of fun along the way. I am also hoping to ride it nordkapp next year :laugh: :laugh:

[Hoggyf]

What about something like a GS500 or CB500 loads about for cheap spares and you can pick a well used expample cheap, and slowly do it up over time, make sure its a runner then its just doing consumables and cosmetics as and when time and money allow.

[foggyeye]

Thanks for all the ideas, I think I see a way to go. Now the next stupid question ...

Can I start on the bike before I get a bike lift / stand thingy or should i invest in that first?