Two stroke on a budget – part 7 – Don’t budge on the budget!
So costs are starting to add up a bit on this one and for some reason the parts tend to be a bit on the dear side. I think people have the impression that Aprilia bits are worth a fortune so you have to be a bit careful with how and where you buy. Back in episode 5 or 6 I promised a breakdown of costs so far, so here you go:
- Purchase price: £350
- Riders seat £20
- Pillion seat £15
- Inlet rubber £12
- Rear wheel £55
- Chain £0 had one in stock
- Battery £0 had one in stock
- Forks £50
- Tyres £110*
- Paints, polish, consumables £35
- Lock set £45
- Brake Pads £0 had some in stock
- Air box £16
- Choke cable £12
- Exhaust £0 mate had one.
- Running total = £720
I think that’s ok, to buy one that needs nothing doing to it would cost significantly more – maybe up to £1600. I could save money by going for part worn tyres, I didn’t really need to replace the brake pads but it’s mad not to. I could possibly have got away without replacing the forks but one is pitted badly enough to be an MoT failure so I may as well do the pair. The rear wheel could possibly have been saved but I would still have needed the brake disc and the original wheel would have taken several hours to sort out so it didn’t seem worth it. The exhaust could have been welded up but as I got one as a freebie it was a no brainer to change it. I think that’s it and don’t expect any other major expenses – that’s a hell of a lot of bike for the money. It has cost me less as I had a few bits in stock, I didn’t add all the new nuts and bolts that have gone in to it, the price motorcycle manufacturers charge for things like that has to be seen to be believed – Suzuki charge over £13 for one single fairing bolt, for example. Searching around for equivalents can save a fortune, especially as you need about 8 bolts for a GSXR, for example – that’s over 100 quid in one very small thing.
Some other jobs I have done are to take off the rear sub frame, clean and repaint it – a few quids worth of paint is all that cost. I masked off the original labels as I like to keep them in place – it adds character.
I have also made a start on the bodywork, the bike has been dropped on it’s right hand side at some point and the upper and side fairing are both scuffed. The upper is easy to deal with I’m not sure how I am going to cope with the side fairing yet, the complex graphics give me quite a challenge.
The upper was repaired with knifing filler – a cellulose based fine filler that goes off quickly and gives a good hard finish that is very smooth. I will paint the whole thing rather than trying to patch it.
This one is going to be really hard to fix but probably easier than trying to find a replacement. I might have to scan the sticker the other side and get it printed up to the correct size. The white background is easy enough to deal with.
One other job that I had noticed needed doing was that the choke was stuck. The 28mm Del’Lorto carb fitted to this bike has an aluminium body, the choke is a brass plunger that is a gas tight fit in the carb body, they are prone to sticking. Mine was stuck solid. I tried all manner of penetrating fluids and gentle heat – I couldn’t go too far on the heat as I didn’t want to damage any seals. Although I eventually managed to free the plunger from it’s self imposed captivity the cable broke and will have to be replaced – no big deal as it didn’t look that good in the first place. Another word of warning about prices again here – I really don’t understand ebay sellers that ask 20 quid for a second hand cable when a brand new one posted is only £12. I have a brand new one on order.
Nasty corroded spring and cable, plunger stuck and not moving without significant persuasion. I stripped and cleaned the carb while I was at it. I don’t think it actually needed it as it was pretty clean and I know the engine was running nicely, seemed daft not to do it though as I had to take it off to sort the choke.
Nearly ready for primer, still a bit of rubbing and fettling to do. The birthday card was a convenient thing to use to shield the rest of the bike from over spray.
I know this is all a bit haphazard but it’s down to things taking ages to arrive due to this coronavirus
continuing to make life difficult. My forks arrived today, I got them for the bargain price of £50 for the pair. The guy that I bought them from said that the right hand fork was faulty but the left seemed ok, that was cool as I only needed the left. So I got them and unpacked them and they are both perfectly fine. I think what the seller hadn’t realised is that the two forks on these little monsters are totally different – one is a conventionally sprung fork and the other is just a damper. When they are on the bike they are joined together by the wheel spindle so work as one. I guess it was a cost saving thing, it is rather unusual but I am delighted to have got a pair of great forks without any leaks or anything for such a low price – the new price on them is eye watering. It goes to show that if you are patient and know your onions (back to the research I have been banging on since the beginning) then you can save a fortune and end up with a great bike for little money. A little bit of luck helps enormously too.
I need to find some paint to match the fairings, I have searched for Aprilia paint but can’t find any. It looks to be the same colour one of my ZX6R’s is painted, which I was told is a Subaru colour so I shall look in to that later, other stuff to do first.
The front wheel needed a good clean up and repaint, all standard stuff but well worth doing for the cost of a couple of tins of paint. It was quite time consuming though, there was more corrosion than I thought and I was a bit surprised at the snail farm that had become well established behind the brake disc.
With the front end done I can now take it off the lift and let it stand on it’s own two wheels. I still have to get decent tyres for it, I wouldn’t want to do much over walking pace on these ones. I guess that will have to wait until after the restrictions are lifted. Anyway, I’m more than happy with where things are now, I would have liked a slightly nicer front disc but as this is a budget job and it has had hardly any use it’s hard to justify the expenditure. Bloody difficult to repaint though – the masking off would be a nightmare.
So that’s it for part seven, join me again for part 8 where if I haven’t lost the plot totally I shall be doing lots more bits and pieces and getting towards the end of the project. I will also be having a think about what to do with the bike when it is finished. Cheers for now, Dave.
Article provided by David Powell of Boston Bike Bits.
