Whoops I did it again! Project Yamaha IT175F
Jerry, off road hero of yore, is doing things to an old bike again - here are the pictures
Jerry Rulf
Ah well ... here we have another tale of motorcycle mending magic from our very own, somewhat wayward, Wemoto Jerry - of Coccinella and off road excellence fame - with lots of pictures he has taken as well. Take it away Jerry (well let's face it you won't be able to ride it away just yet!) So in the words of the man himself:
IT175f
Whoops I did it again (this should be sung) - I bought another bike unseen! Why oh why etc...
This one is an unregistered American import, a gamble as they always are, and I will be relating the story of the rebuild to get it on the road in time for the Austin Vince Orienteering challenge enduro thingy event in Spain in July. So I've got about 10 weeks to sort it out, MOT it, register it, and iron out any problems. Good luck to me!
Apparently it “runs and brakes and changes gear”. That's all I know, and as the speedo is missing, mileage is unknown... first thing to do was have a look at it and discover all the bodges etc.
The plastics (this has the USA version plastic tank too) were all sprayed with a dark blue aerosol, badly, and proved very tricky to rub back to original. I tried what I had in the garage- turps, paint thinners, white spirit. Boring nightmare of graft. So I bought some aftermarket guards and am now going to do it up as a pretend early 70s ISDT bike. Why not? I can't be doing with all that OE museum quality restoration scenario.
2 broken rear spokes, and all the others rattling loose. The edge of the drum lip was broken off for half of its circumference. Rear wheel bearings and seals all knackered. I rolled my eyes wondering what else was wrong with it..
-
-
Rear brake shoes knackered, two different springs connecting them.
-
-
Magnesium brake plate! (and clutch cover) Super trick as they would have said in 1979. It isn't any lighter than an alloy one by the way. These things have to be painted properly or they will corrode away to nothing in no time.
-
-
The seat cover was homemade from some weird type of indestructable vinyl stuff, in a bizarre ribbed pale silvery blue. It went in the bin. Plastic seat base though, which is good, no rust!
-
-
Air filter was due a clean. Probably hadn't been cleaned since we all celebrated Nelson's victory at Trafalgar. Happy days. I did it in the sink with swarfega then detergent, seemed to work alright.
-
-
Airbox cover was smashed and cracked up pretty bad, I'm going to repair it with little bits of alloy plate and fibreglass.
-
-
The forks clonked when squashed down...something wrong there... when I pulled up the gaiter, an inch of overflowing fork oil poured down the leg. Oh dear. Work needed here I think. I'll do the front end after the back end is done.
-
-
Here is the entire wiring loom. Nice and simple, even though it's been chopped up. Also, one of the wires coming out of the engine has been chewed through by the front sprocket, as the sprocket cover is missing.
-
-
The exhaust came off easily, the nuts being only finger tight (as were the footrests). Yikes!
There was a good 2mm of carbon built up around the exhaust port exit, which I scraped off. Piston looks a bit tired but we will see how it goes when all back together.
-
-
In general, although it's riddled with all the usual problems, it's quite nice to work on, as it's not really dirty, and there's really no rust to speak of. No stripped threads so far too!
Next episode will see me wheelying away into the sunset. Maybe. Although to be honest probably not.
I'm quite excited to see what it will look like with my new mudguards and bits and bobs I've ordered.
All the Sprockets, chain, bearings, seals and shoes for the rear wheel will be got at Wemoto, the spokes are on the way via ebay USA.
Ah gleaming bluely in the sunlight only a little fettle - ahem - away from heading for them thar Spanish hills...
Who would like to say good luck to Jerry? Anyone? - email us at
news@wemoto or comment on Twitter or Facebook if you do - hurrah!
EN
TH
UK