What are some good bikes for learning to repair/rebuild?

I bought a new Marauder recently, and am having a blast with it. I
was thinking about picking up a 70's or 80's era bike in the late fall
for under a grand that could be a fixer-upper project. I used to work
on my cars until the last few years when it became all but impossible
to do anything besides change the belts and oil.

Since I have some background working on engines, it's not a totally
fresh start, but I've never worked on a motorcycle. Does anyone have
suggestions for any makes and models that might be a little easier to
learn on?

Also, what are some of the special gotchas that you need to look out
for with motorcycles? The first one that came to my mind was
carburator synchronization, but that may be the least of the issues.

I wouldn't be terribly shocked if the bike was still a basket case in
the spring, but I'm most likely going to give it a shot.

Thanks,
Bryan

 

William Longyard wrote:
[top posting fixed]

I think he would be much better off buying an older Jap bike that
needs fixing up. It will be as cheap or cheaper than buying a
craptacular Chinese scooter, he'll be able to buy parts (and a
decent factory repair manual) for it at lots of places including
dealerships, online suppliers, and junkyards. When he's done
fixing it up, he'll have a halfway decent bike instead of a piece
of crap.

 

I'd go older Japanese as well...my restoration project is a 1982 CB900F
Supersport I picked up for $300 with less than 10K miles on it...easy to
work on, and parts can be found on eBay or online suppliers...I've been
tempted more than a few times, to add more projects...There was a CB750 in
the paper today for $400, and a couple of months ago I had to pass <well the
SOH impressed upon me that I "should" pass if I ever wanted to have sex
again...LOL> on a 85 Virago 900, and a older 650 Kawi that someone just
wanted rid of at $100 a piece...Patience is the key, unless you have a lot
of disposable income...unfortunately mines mostly disposed to an ex wife.

 

1970's / 1980's Sport Moped.

Cheap to buy, easy to work on, plenty of parts available, doesn't take up
too much room, not to heavy to lift.

Once done, relive your youth and terrorize the neighbourhood old ladies.

Or sell it at a premium on Ebay

--
Dan L (Oldbloke)
My bike 1996 Kawasaki ZR1100 Zephyr
M'boy's current bike 1990 Suzuki TS50X (Heavily fortified)
M'boys NEW bike 2003 Honda NSR125R
BOTAFOT #140, DIAABTCOD #26, BOMB#18 (slow)

 

For ****'s sake, do shut up about this, you pathetic, obsessed,
single-minded, bigoted waste of spermatazoa, before you bore us all to
tears.

 

Something small and simple, for a start. A dirt single, maybe a basic
twin. Something that isn't loaded with electronic doo-dahs.

Man, the list is endless. Home-made parts, carbs that have been standing
for years and have turned to varnish iside, rusty or absent chromework -
sometimes very difficult and/or expensive to source - signs of gasket
goo leaking from joint faces (always the sign of a bodger), chewed-up
fasteners, you name it. And invest in a good torque wrench - a lot of
Jap alloy is uite soft and easy to strip threads in.

My suggestion is to buy *two* of whatever model you intend to work on.
One main one as the restorer, and a rattier donor bike. That way, you
rarely have a problem sourcing parts - you have a donor bike ready and
waiting. And you can sell the bits you don't use on Ebay. This is what I
do as SOP these days.

A donor bike also gives important insight into things like bodges and
missing parts. If something's absent or bodged on your bike, the donor
bike may have the unbodged or missing component.

It's also often a lot easier when reassembly comes, if you strip the
thing right down to bare frame. Whatever happens, however well you
photograph and document the stripdown, there's always a time when you
stop and think: "Hang on.... what goes here?" or "In which sequence is
this unit re-assembled?" And the donor bike will tell you.

 

Syncing carbs IS about the least of the issues. Even a non-mechanic can
do it in a few minutes with a good manometer.

Paul Harris

 

I agree with this. Get an old in-line 4, 16 valves and DOHC, be it
Honda or whatever. I think it became known as the Universal Japanese
Motorcycle, and the best bikes built still mostly use that engine
layout.

Paul Harris

 

They're fairly easy to work on, too. I mean, there's a lot of bits, but
it's mostly simple.....

The usual chromework and trim sourcing hassles, but wtf.

 

If you're buying something primarily for the purpose of learning how
to work on bikes, by all means stick to a moderate displacement
2-valve 125-250cc single or a 250-400cc twin.

Suggesting a DOHC 16-valve 4 cylinder, well, sure, they aren't
terribly hard to work on, but if they need parts, there are simply
more parts to buy and why drive the cost up for no good reason?

Personally, if you insist on a four, I'd recommend an 8-valve Kawa
or Suzuki, although the pre-'79 SOHC Honda 750 is certainly common
enough to be a reasonable choice as well.

 

You're quite right - I only read the first part, and thought we were
still talking SOHC CB750. I wouldn't touch the DOHC ones with a ten-foot
pole.

 

Unreliable nasty things ;-))

I never could trust a Honda of that vintage that had *two* camchains.

(Mind you, the CBX1000 seemed OK)

 

my mid 70's kaw kz400 has been a blast to work on. 4 stroke/2 cyl. i
picked it up not running from a friend for $50, and have probably put
400-ish into it (including a new wireing harness, which was most of
the cost). i've never worked on anything other than oil changes
before this. whatever you get, get a good shop manual.

i synced my carbs by eyeballing the butterfly valves up to a light
when i had them off my bike while cleaning them out, and they're doing
pretty good atm. you can also use your hands to check pressure coming
out of the mufflers (if you have dual/quad) to help tune them. you
can supposedly build a set of carb sticks for approx $4.

http://www.airheads.org/index.php?Technical Tips+$4 Carburetor Synchronizer

so i'd say an older kawk or honda. whatever you do, just buy a bike
and get to it... i doubt you'll regret it

-- john