Finally got some more time to work on this. Started off with a bloody good tidy up of tools and stuff lying around! Fitted the battery, tidied the wiring, replaced a few connections, found the earth for the rear light problem, cleaned polished and fitted the exhaust. Still having a little struggle with the throttle, seems like the slider inside the throttle tube is the problem. Fitted the main stand spring and 'c' bracket. Located the proper engine mount bolts and fitted those. Brake fittings all done, new chain and sprockets, new rear brake switch. It would seem after some digging that this is indeed the wrong carb for this bike, although it does fit nicely, from what I can find the original didn't have the extra connection for an oil pipe on it, so I shall just use a blanking cap on it. I still can't find a replacement oil tank so I might have to improvise with something else. Hopefully today I should be able to get the seat base welded up. There are a couple of areas around the edges that have rotted through and there is no way that the seat can be re-covered properly until those are done, so some cutting and welding in of new steel is needed, then off to Andy Leightons for new foam and cover. A few more pics for you all.
Bloody seat base! All the edges were rotton so they had to be cut away and replaced. And before anybody asks, I did have a look around for a new base, but not a chance could I find one. Before: And after: Just need to put some little tangs in to hold the seat cover in place and it's ready for the upholstery and foam
Managed to get the seat base painted over the weekend, started to have a play with the running, got it just right now I think, picks up crisp enough for a 47 year old scooter. Then I realised that the idiot lights stopped working on the clocks...................new rectifier on order to save blowing all my bulbs again! I do have a wiring issue somewhere behind the headlight, I think I might just re-wire every connection and put them onto new connector blocks instead, at least then I know they will all be good. Hey-ho, onwards and upwards...............
Right then, sorted out the electrical gremlin, it is a problem on these old bikes, the wire corrodes inside the sheath and breaks. Re-wired the ignition switch into a multi-plug, loom side as well, and put new tags onto a load of other connections so I know they are all good Got the new rectifier into the right circuit so no more blowing bulbs all over the place. Fitted the front indicators into the circuit, all working very nicely that you very much, even the idiot light in the clocks flashes. Then I discovered I have no spark.............................. So I've just spent the last day and a half going through all of my work again to see where I've gone wrong. And guess what....................it was the earth for one indicator that was killing the bike. I had somehow picked up the wrong earth, and with the ignition on, engine NOT running, everything appeared to be normal, except for the fact that it killed the spark to the plug. So once I found that and put it right, panic over, everything back to how it should be. Still have no horn though, although by this time tomorrow I will have, I'm more than sure now that the fault is in the switch on the handlebars. So I seem to have moved it on quite some distance now from last time.......................
WOOHOO, we have a working horn, but it was a bit 10-1 so it's got replaced with a nice new one. Onto the fuel tap now, got a little leak...................
I bet a lot of people think why bother when you can buy a new one. They just don't understand lol I expect it was a lot harder trying to find original parts for this than it would for British stuff though?
You couldn't buy anything like this from Suzuki these days, they haven't made a step-through scooter in decades. And so far, in between finding parts and doing other stuff, it's took 14 months to get this far. Much easier to find parts for old english bikes than stuff for this. Suzuki only made this scooter for 4 years, it's the F50, not FR, things changed on those models. I have a contact that can now CNC machine engine cases from scratch, so later this year or next he will probably get some business from me. Had to send a request over to NRP carbs for a gasket kit for the fuel tap, the diaphram is shot on this fuel tap.
I used to work at a Honda dealer back in the seventies and trying to keep parts in stock was a nightmare even simple stuff like cables. Unlike British bikes where cables and levers etc were all much the same Jap stuff changed frequently even on the same models as they improved them year on year.
HOWDY SCUBA Nice to see you back. Yes I've still got it. Under cover in the garage. It's nearly there, been fired up once or twice, but thats it. Time flies as they say and not had much time to play with the toys. I set up a new transport operation in May this year and it has taken up nearly all my time. Just in the process of hiring staff now because it's gone from a 2 truck day operation to a 5 truck 24 hour operation in less than 6 months. And it'll expand again before christmas by the look of things. I still haven't got the seat re-made yet, done the base for it just not got it in to the builders for the foam and cover yet. Then of course I started on the XTZ750, thats also very close to being finished now. Where you been hiding then?
Forgot to mention, we're over "near" Norway next year. The plan was to get to Kristiansand for a couple of nights in June but the boys wanted to have 2 nights in Copenhagen and 2 nights Gothenburg so I had to re-plan the holiday a little to accommodate everyone's holiday entitlement. I had planned to take us through that new long tunnel near you and then drop into Stavanger for a night or two before carrying on back down to Denmark. Shame there are no passenger ferries any more from the UK to Norway, that was the original plan.
That tunnel is a good 6 hours from stavanger. Plus 2 ferries. I think. Ive been busy with work, health and family. You should check out my volvo project in the car section.
Can't believe I have been working on this for near as damn it 2 years Done a bit more today at last, no more leaky fuel tap, front brake cable fitted and working. Stood there looking at it and it dawned on me.........it's scary close to being finished
Well I think I can call this thread closed now. All finished, running well enough, it's got 3 missing parts that I can't track down anywhere which is not surprising really given it's age, I shall keep looking though up until I sell it.