Author Topic: It happened again!!! The 2015 PseudoMoto "Scrapper 24" $500 challenge (Read 6927 times)

Tugboat · « **on:** November 12, 2014, 10:09:29 AM »

I was at a bar a couple of years ago with a buddy of mine and we got to discussing cheap bikes. Really cheap. At odds was how many miles you could expect to ride a junker in 24 hours.

Last year we decided to find out. Six teams bought & fixed up bikes that were less than 400cc for a total cost of $500 or less (excluding brakes & tires) and rode them for 24 hours straight. The winner - an '81 CM400 - put on almost 1800 miles during the competition.. that's like Nashville to Las Vegas. My team's XL250 broke down just before the event began so we ended up with a total of zero miles. Bummer.

Anyway we all had so much fun that we've decided to make it an annual event. To keep it fun and interesting we've elected to change it up a little every year, and this year we'll be limiting it to bikes that are 150cc or less.

It would be great to find a CB125 for cheap but I'm betting on finding a Honda Elite 150 or Yammy Vino or Zuma. Teams will be set and bike selection will begin on December 1st, 2014; and the actual competition will be on May 2-3, 2015. Stay tuned for updates!

fmctm1sw · « **Reply #1 on:** November 15, 2014, 07:23:11 PM »

That sounds so fun. I was talking to a guy at Barber's about this. It may have been some other form of this challenge but yeah $500 and see how far you can make it. That dude was averaging 75MPH on that 400 twin. Where does the competition take place at?

Tugboat · « **Reply #2 on:** December 01, 2014, 01:43:25 PM »

And so it begins! Looks like there are going to be eight teams this year - most having 6 members. We've all been looking at the same Craigslist ads for the past month and if that's any indication, competition is going to be fierce. I'd guess that most will have to go out of the immediate area (or out of state for that matter) to find suitable candidates. To be honest I haven't seen a single bike yet that I think would go the distance. In fact I haven't seen a single 125-150cc Honda or Yamaha (or Sym or Kymco or other GY6) in our price range anywhere within 200 miles of Nashville.

Tugboat · « **Reply #3 on:** December 10, 2014, 03:17:36 PM »

One of our team members lives down in Huntsville and traded a $50 dirtbike he had for this a couple of days ago. ~1965 CA200. 90cc's of crusty glory. The motor's not stuck, so maybe sell it for $50? And then try try try to find a Lifan or Piranha 125 motor to go in it. I've done some math and if we can get the motor cheap enough then this is doable. We're not married to it yet, but it would be cool to get this heap back on the road.

Tank was rusted out so we welded it back up. Still needs 1/2 of a Caswell's kit.

scottly · « **Reply #4 on:** December 10, 2014, 05:44:50 PM »

Your buddy got screwed.

My first Honda was a '66 C200, and I learned to Mig weld repairing the cracks in the frame, swing-arm, and pressed forks, and mine wasn't rusted out.

Tugboat · « **Reply #5 on:** January 12, 2015, 10:56:35 AM »

The frame is in surprisingly decent shape - it should clean up okay.

So we've been waiting to proceed pending the acquisition of a suitable replacement motor. Found this in Louisville this past week and picked it up this weekend for $200. 1987 Kawi ZX600 with a practically-new Lifan 125 motor!

Had to almost completely disassemble it in the parking lot of the guy's apartment complex to fit it in our Matrix when the temp was around 25 degrees outside. Brrr!

Motor doesn't have a proper header - this was just held on with a clamp.

Had to strap the motor down to a table to be able to turn it over & get a compression reading. Spec is 140-170 psi.

Carb had a little water in the bowl but was otherwise pretty good shape. I pulled the jets & cleaned it up.

Not much we can use off the parts bike but we'll be selling it off to offset the motor cost. Picking up some C90 Passport wheels this week too.

madmtnmotors · « **Reply #6 on:** January 12, 2015, 02:06:09 PM »

Where does this happen?

scottly · « **Reply #7 on:** January 12, 2015, 06:58:06 PM »

Why not run the Lifan in the ZX frame?

Tugboat · « **Reply #8 on:** January 13, 2015, 08:44:25 AM »

It's in Nashville, and the actual "race" is the first weekend of May.

The ZX frame/forks/wheels weighs like twice what the little C200 weighs. And besides, who wants to do this on a Kawasaki?!

DustyRags · « **Reply #9 on:** January 16, 2015, 04:29:21 PM »

In for the follow! Funds are tight, but I've got two brothers in the same city as me, one of them rides and one of them wants to. We may have to go and field a California team next year!

Tugboat · « **Reply #10 on:** January 26, 2015, 10:06:48 AM »

Parts!!!
Picked up this rear wheel, which I believe is from a C90, for $30. It's super nice.

It has a 45T sprocket on it that is in decent shape. We'll have to use a 17T or 18T on the front to make the ratio correct.

And this front, which I believe is from a C70, for $0. We'll have to charge ourselves something for it though - nothing is free in this game.

The brake panel won't work with our leading-link front suspension setup, but it looks like our stock hub will work

Found these sweet LEDs on the parts bike, so we'll be using those.

Other work:
Popped the bowl off the stock carb, which we'll be selling. I bet that will all clean up well, actually.

Slide has seen better days.

The frame is in surprisingly decent shape. My theory is that somebody rattle-canned it blue back in the day, and that extra bit of paint saved it from certain ruin. Don't get me wrong - it's not great! But it should be okay for 24 hours.

Took me forever to clean all the old grease out of the front suspension, but it cleaned up nicely. I'll be tapping the holes for new grease nipples, as these are press-in and regular grease guns won't work.

faux fiddy · « **Reply #11 on:** January 26, 2015, 01:23:48 PM »

Quote from: Tugboat on January 13, 2015, 08:44:25 AM

It's in Nashville, and the actual "race" is the first weekend of May.

The ZX frame/forks/wheels weighs like twice what the little C200 weighs. And besides, who wants to do this on a Kawasaki?!

So if you sell the zx frame, I assume accounting allows you to spend that on the sum total of the project spending limit?

I would go through that lifan and adjust the valves and cam chain and anything else that you can to make sure the factory and break in settings are correct. It might save you trouble 10 hours into the race.

Tugboat · « **Reply #12 on:** January 26, 2015, 01:45:28 PM »

Yep - we just have to net out at $500. That said, you can't just buy some random piece of crap and part it out and use that towards your build. But if you buy a parts bike you can sell the extra stuff. So far we've sold the front end of the Ninja for $90 & the headlight for $20. Looking to sell the back wheel, caliper, swing arm & other bits for another $75ish & the stock motor & carb for $100. Right now our budget stands at $160.

Yeah, we'll go through the Lifan to make sure it's in a good state of tune.

Tugboat · « **Reply #13 on:** February 02, 2015, 11:16:17 AM »

Got the neck bearings cleaned and reinstalled. Forks installed. Lower suspension cleaned, tapped for standard grease fittings, greased and installed.

I discovered that the bearings in the C70 Passport front wheel we want to use are different than the ones in the stock C200 hub. I need bearings with 12mm ID & 35mm OD - and evidently this combo doesn't exist. My options are 32 or 37mm OD. So now we're looking to lace our stock hub to this C70 rim (both are 17s). I just ordered the spokes for $20. This will be my first time to lace up a wheel.

Meanwhile, down in Alabama, the other working member of our team discovered a nice chunk missing from the swing arm.

Cut that part out and weld it back up. I'll have the "after" pic tomorrow.

Tugboat · « **Reply #14 on:** February 10, 2015, 02:43:42 PM »

So why did Honda put the little heart-shaped hole in the end of this?

OH! It's to make putting the spring on WAY EASIER than it is on CB's. Why did Honda ever change this design?!

Tried out some stock CB750 bars to see how they'd work... way too big.

This is the pivot shaft for the center stand, as well as being the mounting point for the muffler. It is also the pivot for the brake pedal, which was frozen to the shaft. After soaking it in Kroil overnight I was able to free it up so that it pivots again, but I can't get it off the shaft to properly clean. I think the shaft might be slightly bent - just enough to keep me from removing the pedal. Hopefully we'll have budget to replace this but it'll do for now.

I'm concerned about this upper shock mount. That will have to be re-done.

Rubber bushings for the rear shocks are NLA. I went to the local hose/gasket joint to see if they had anything in stock that would work... they didn't. BUT, they were able to cut me some new ones with their badass water jet. ~$2/ea, and I need eight. 22mm OD, 12mm ID (top) & 10mm ID (bottom)

Here it is with some stock CB100K1 bars with the weird internal throttle. I'm gonna try to make these work, just gotta find the right cables.

Finally, the swing arm all welded-up.

faux fiddy · « **Reply #15 on:** February 17, 2015, 07:03:34 PM »

I get none of the photos, just an 'X' in the upper left.

Tugboat · « **Reply #16 on:** March 02, 2015, 10:42:06 AM »

Progress:

Finally on 2 wheels!

I've run into several issues though. One is the clearance between the rear sprocket & the swing arm. We're using a C90 Passport rear wheel with the stock C200 sprocket carrier. Once we get the motor mounted we'll probably have to make a new spacer to line up the front & rear sprockets, and hopefully that will give us a little more clearance here.

Also having an issue with the shock bushings I had made. There is a collar that goes inside the bushings, so that you can torque the mounting bolts & nuts properly without squishing the rubber. We have them for the lower mounts but not the uppers. Also, as you can see, the extra clearance allows the shock to shift back & forth when mounted. We'll most likely replace both of them with C110 shocks that have all of the collars and stock bushings.

Next up: taking the bike to our other "working" teammate in Huntsville, who will mount the motor & hopefully fix a lot of the little outstanding issues.

Tugboat · « **Reply #17 on:** March 10, 2015, 08:19:57 AM »

We just beat the Ice & snow that pushed through Middle Tennessee last week and were able to get the bike down to our teammate in Huntsville. Looks like he got the motor mounted over the weekend! Getting closer...

I'd been worried about chain clearance at the back but looks like it will be okay.

GUTS · « **Reply #18 on:** March 11, 2015, 01:49:04 PM »

I love that bike, it's badass and you are doing a great job.

Tugboat · « **Reply #19 on:** March 12, 2015, 09:39:25 AM »

Thanks for the encouragement! Seriously, at times I've had my doubts. And hell, this thing may crack the first time we hit a pothole. But it is coming along nicely and I'm glad to have a great teammate who is doing some great work. For instance, the high pipe is now a low pipe! Old CRF70 can on the end. Eventually it will be all-black.

strynboen · « **Reply #20 on:** March 13, 2015, 03:11:59 AM »

i have just got this for 100 danish kr, set...protuna in germany,,but cargo to us vill kill it..

grcamna2 · « **Reply #21 on:** March 15, 2015, 12:41:21 PM »

Tug,
Was the orig. Honda motor worth salvaging ?

Tugboat · « **Reply #22 on:** March 16, 2015, 08:54:37 AM »

It turned over but didn't have any compression and the kicker shaft was stripped. Sold it and the stock carb for $120 though!

Tugboat · « **Reply #23 on:** March 17, 2015, 08:44:24 AM »

This headlight is going to be awesome! It's got super-bright LEDs in the middle. Not sure how we're going to mount it though.

Got these hilarious valve stem cap lights - blue of course. Overnight visibility is key!

And as it sits today. That's a KTM 65 next to it for size comparison.

BONUS FOOTAGE::: IT RUNS!!

No baffle:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCl2GEgh4MY

With baffle:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCZo0X7Z1pw

rtbmrgl · « **Reply #24 on:** March 25, 2015, 12:15:46 PM »

I got a set of C200 gas tank side panels dying for a new home. Not perfect but look good. Of course you would have to ruin that perfect patina.

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Author Topic: It happened again!!! The 2015 PseudoMoto "Scrapper 24" $500 challenge (Read 6927 times)