My Little GT 125 Project

[stephenniall]

Hi from England !

I've recently bought a Suzuki GT 125, its a 1980 model, although I prefer the look of the earlier models so will be 'restoring' it to the looks of the early models.

When I bought it, it had been badly 'Cafe Racered'



It has been off the road for 15 years, and has had a bit of work done to the engine, but I haven't managed to get it running yet (Has had new pistons, condensers and points, it has a lovely spark and loads of compression so should go easy enough once I get a kickstart).

I quickly got to work stripping the frame down.



I got the cylinder head off to have a quick look at the cylinders, with no nasty surprises so far.



Some new bits arrived so I quickly had a mock up of what It might look like.



Plan is to get an earlier rear fender & fit that, I already have the light I'm just looking for a fender, I can only find them for the 185 and I don't know whether they'd fit.

Will be painting & polishing the wheels next week, while the frame is being powder coated.

Does anybody know if a fuel tank off a GT185 will fit this bike ? As I can find a early 185 tank but no 125 ones, would a fender off a 185 fit too ?

I'm currently searching for some bits as well if anybody can point me in the right direction to get hold of them, I'm looking for :

Handlebars, Rear & Front Fenders, Indicators, Early Fuel Tank, Speedo/Tacho clocks and a metal stator and front sprocket cover.

Parts for these bikes seem impossible to get here in the UK !

Stephen.

[Desert_75]

Nothing to add other than what a cool project, nice 125!

[petead23]

Plenty of parts over here in France.....postage would be not too bad?

What about this one?

http://www.leboncoin.fr/equipement_moto ... tm?ca=13_s" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[stephenniall]

Thanks for the link to the french website, I've sent plenty of messages out to sellers now hoping some will get back to me & be willing to post to England.

Its the rear fender and handlebars I need the most, I've found a few on that site so hopefully they will ship over here.

[karlwse]

That's a cool project. Keep us posted.

[stephenniall]

I thought I'd update this thread, and try to start being more active on the forum, rather than just lurking.

Here's what I've managed to do so far on the little Suzuki.


I stripped the filthy caliper, which is going to get completely rebuild with new piston & seals, after being powder coated satin black.




Most of it came apart quite easily, although the screw that held one half of the pads in was rounded off, and seized solid. I tried heat, My impact driver, and cutting a slot in the head of it and turning it with a screw driver to get it out, but had no luck. So I drilled the head off, drilled a little bit into the shaft of the screw, then punched the pads out with a punch.



This is what I found behind the pad, no wonder it was seized.



I welded up some holes in the back of the frame that someone had drilled (I can only presume as part of the terrible 'Cafe racer conversion')

Then I noticed part of the frame where the footrest hangar bolts to is broken, I cut a piece of metal the right shape, then welded it in, and am going to drill & tap it. I got about 70% done, then my welder decided it'd had enough and died on me, So I'll take it to work tomorrow and finish it!





This was the repair before final shaping, and dressing of the welds. There has now been a hole drilled and tapped to the correct thread. It's not perfect, but it is a good solid repair and should last another 30 years. I wonder how the frame was damaged in the first place though, as the threads on the other side of the frame were in good condition.

I've dropped the frame off at the powder coaters, and should have it back by Thursday. I need to do a little bit of work to the swingarm, but should be able to drop that off on Tuesday. Unfortunately I've managed to lose the two engine mounting brackets, so I'll have to order some new ones if they don't turn up.

Stephen.