Topic: Terry's POS 1969 Suzuki T350 Redneck Reincarnation.

[Terry in Australia]

Ha ha, the good thing is you can buy a really good repro of a Z1 seat, made in Japan for a whole lot less than Yamiya will sell you a replica CB750K0 seat Dave, even though that seat is probably way more comfy for a long ride.

Back to my T350 for a minute, the box of unobtainium that Rich sent me has finally arrived, (thanks again mate!) so tomorrow (weather permitting) I'll be installing all that stuff. Still waiting for the headlight rim and carb rubber airbox thingie, but I've got front and rear brakes, a speedo, tacho, a temporary headlight (not original, but it looks ok) passenger footpegs, and some other bits that I've forgotten. I'm just waiting on a couple of other boxes to arrive so I can start on my 1969 Yamaha DS6. Oh, and I have to finish the CB750 engine for Dion. It never stops......

[Trevor from Warragul]

Terry, did you see the T500 on eBay located in Sunbury? Some assembly required. Must be an interesting back story...

[Terry in Australia]

Terry, did you see the T500 on eBay located in Sunbury? Some assembly required. Must be an interesting back story...

Thanks trevor, I'll check it out. I was talking to another CBX owner yesterday who lives in Berwick, he's got a beautiful red and black twin shock CBX and is restoring a later one as well. I better go check out that T500.

[grcamna2]

Terry, did you see the T500 on eBay located in Sunbury? Some assembly required. Must be an interesting back story...

Thanks trevor, I'll check it out. I was talking to another CBX owner yesterday who lives in Berwick, he's got a beautiful red and black twin shock CBX and is restoring a later one as well. I better go check out that T500.

Terry,I never rode or owned a T500 but would like to take one for a ride.I hear they have an amazingly strong front drum brake.

[Terry in Australia]

That restored one in big pieces looks nice, but I reckon it'll fast go past my price limit. There's another unrestored original one in Western Australia, same colour as well, but with a reserve and a "Buy it now" of $8K, so I'm guessing that's where it'll go. I think I'll just stick with my little T350, they weren't much slower than the T500 and 90 pounds lighter, so probably easier to live with. I need to spend some money on my next CB750 projects anyway.  

[MauiK3]

Back when I was in my early 20’s I drove from Florida to Northern California with two friends, two K0 750’s and a T500. That Suzuki blasted across the southern desert with no problems, we were young and dumb and just kept riding. On the return leg we went back through the south, 3 guys, long hair, it was interesting. Easy Rider was a popular film then.
If I ever find a T500 I just may need to get it.
This thing has gotten out of hand and it’s all this forums fault. I need therapy.
Love it.

[BenelliSEI]

Terry, did you see the T500 on eBay located in Sunbury? Some assembly required. Must be an interesting back story...

Thanks trevor, I'll check it out. I was talking to another CBX owner yesterday who lives in Berwick, he's got a beautiful red and black twin shock CBX and is restoring a later one as well. I better go check out that T500.

Terry..... name of the guy with the CBXs? I sold one to a guy out there, 5 years ago!

[Terry in Australia]

Terry, did you see the T500 on eBay located in Sunbury? Some assembly required. Must be an interesting back story...

Thanks trevor, I'll check it out. I was talking to another CBX owner yesterday who lives in Berwick, he's got a beautiful red and black twin shock CBX and is restoring a later one as well. I better go check out that T500.

Terry..... name of the guy with the CBXs? I sold one to a guy out there, 5 years ago!

First name is Ian John, doesn't look as nice as yours, but same model.

[Terry in Australia]

Back when I was in my early 20’s I drove from Florida to Northern California with two friends, two K0 750’s and a T500. That Suzuki blasted across the southern desert with no problems, we were young and dumb and just kept riding. On the return leg we went back through the south, 3 guys, long hair, it was interesting. Easy Rider was a popular film then.
If I ever find a T500 I just may need to get it.
This thing has gotten out of hand and it’s all this forums fault. I need therapy.
Love it.

Ha ha, there's a lot of that going on mate, you've read most of my threads, you know I've got it bad. Back in the 70's riding a bike was all about freedom, blasting past cars full of folks who didn't look at all happy. I have a pic in an old photo album that I took of a couple of guys on Honda 750's blasting past me as I drove my girlfriend (now wife) back from my folks place to Melbourne, wishing I was on a bike chasing them. I saw my old photo album so pulled it out, and under that pic that I took 42 years ago, I'd written one word, "Freedom".

[Terry in Australia]

So anyway, I was looking for an excuse to fire up the magnificent little green monster on Wednesday, but after half a kick the kick starter pedal fell to pieces! WTF? Well to be honest I could see that it had been bodged together by a PO, and as it didn't lock back in place I knew something was up. Yesterday, I took a peek, and saw that the ball bearings and spring were missing.

Suzuki T350 Thursday 15 Jul 2021 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Parts for 1969 Suzuki T350's are few and far between, and sadly the original kick starter off this bike was rotten with rust. Oh well, desperation is the mother of invention, so I looked around for some ball bearings, and found a bicycle wheel just aching to give up it's bearings, so I stole a set, and found a nice stiff little mixture screw spring in my CB750 carb parts collection.

Suzuki T350 Thursday 15 Jul 2021 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Of course, the bearing was too big for the hole, but as the hole was ovalled out anyway, I didn't think that running a slightly larger drill bit thru it would hurt.

Suzuki T350 Thursday 15 Jul 2021 2 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Suzuki T350 Thursday 15 Jul 2021 3 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

So with the 2 balls either side of the spring in place, some grease to hold it all together, I reassembled it with a home made washer and a circlip, in lieu of a C clip. I know I've got a C clip assortment somewhere, but I suspect it's in the bottom of one of my tubs that the wife made me clean out of the patio last Christmas, so the circlip will do for the time being. A little redneck perhaps, but functional.

Suzuki T350 Thursday 15 Jul 2021 5 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Of course I had to test it, and being such a reliable little rocket, it started again on the first kick, I wish my CB750 was that easy to start!

[RAFster122s]

Terry, glad you were able to invoke the necessity Mother of invention to fix the Kickstarter lever. Bike sounds good.
Best on sorting out any other bits to get it ready for its first real ride in a long time. It sucks you are under lock down again. Well, at least you can work on the bikes while confined. - David

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks David, yes, hopefully we'll not end up like Sydney, who are locked down until at least the end of July, which I think is their longest lockdown. This "Delta" strain of Covid 19 from India is much more transmissible than previous strains, and until we have 80% of our population vaccinated, we can just expect lockdown after lockdown, which does indeed suck. Oh well, the good thing was my manager was putting a little pressure on me to spend more time in the office before this lockdown, so the pressure's off for at least another few weeks, because Defence has a policy of staging our return to work from 25%, then 50%, 75%, and finally 100% back in the office.

So far, with 5 lockdowns including the second, "Mother of all lockdowns" (129 days straight) we've only got as far as 75% a week or so ago, and now we start over. I don't mind at all, as much as I enjoy the drive to and from work occasionally, it's that 8 hours in between that pisses me off. And of course, being home as much as I am, I can intercept and hide most of the parcels, and even complete motorcycles that seem to arrive here more often than not. Oh, and I also save around $300 per week by not having to pay for fuel, tolls, parking and food, but thanks to the afore mentioned parcels containing motorcycle parts, and the occasional complete motorcycle, I don't seem to be saving any money. Oh well, as you said, more time to sort the finishing touches to the little green beast.....

[PeWe]

It sounds sound.
Time for the registration and roadworthy stuff?
Or Covid sh!t stop all kind of visiting needed offices for making the little Suzy legal to be ridden in not legal speeds?

[PeWe]

The good thing with working from home is much quicker startup in the morning, ending the day 1 hour earlier than before.
No waste of time to-from the job even if my job is close, 15 minutes on bicycle. Plus get the clothes on/off.

Work on bike during lunch and coffee breaks, sometimes longer

[Terry in Australia]

Yes, and yes Per. I still have a bit of work to do to get it to the point where I'll be 100% comfortable taking it in for a roadworthy inspection, but there's no rush, because the DMV ("VICROADS" here in Melbourne) which is always painfully slow normally, is a nightmare during covid. I may well wait until the weather warms up, because when I took the K0 in to get registered, I stood in line for ages as the queue slowly moved around the outside of the building, and when I finally got inside, I wasn't ushered to a counter, but to a chair, to wait another age before I got to be grilled by an angry public servant, who looked livid that I had all of the necessary paperwork to achieve my goal of obtaining a plate without being told to go and make an appointment with an engineer to inspect it and hopefully attach a VIN plate, at an additional cost of $500 and much frustration.

Yes, I think I've talked myself into doing it after winter. That doesn't mean I can't do a sneaky "test" ride though, just to make sure that it's nice and roadworthy.......

[MauiK3]

I love that Suzuki. That busy bee sound is great to hear.
Your DMV sounds a lot like ours here.

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks Steve, VICROADS pisses me off, I try to make sure that I cross all my "T"s and dot all my "i"s, but it seems that the staff there would rather waste their time and mine, than just do their job and take my money.

When I went to register my K2 bitsa in 2017 they knocked me back because the engine I'd bought from a seller in Canberra was still listed as being in a bike registered in Canberra, and the drone at VICROADS tried to tell me that I had an engine with a fake engine number, which, if she knew what she was talking about, she'd know would be very hard if not impossible considering Honda's unique engine and frame number font. All that happened was the lazy pr1ck who originally owned the engine (not the guy I bought it from) hadn't bothered to tell the drones at his DMV in Canberra that he'd replaced the engine in his bike, probably because of the red tape involved therein.

I had to pull that engine out, buy another complete engine, and then take it back to the guy who'd done the roadworthy originally so he could write up a new roadworthy certificate, then go back to the VICROADS office, and wait another hour or so before I got to the "Customer Service" (a contradiction in terms, if ever there was one......) desk and go thru the same redtape interrogation and eventually walk out, mentally battered, with my prized number plate.

Anyway, the rubber carb to airbox boot arrived yesterday, so I better pull the right hand side carb and re-adjust the float level as either the float is binding in the float bowl, or I just messed up when I adjusted it, we'll see. I need to paint the airbox, and the air filter is pretty old, I haven't been able to find a new one anywhere, so I'll blow it out with compressed air (thankfully it's a paper filter and not a foam one, or it'd be dust by now) and use it until I can locate a new one, seriously, finding parts for old bikes other than CB750's and Kawasaki Z1's is a PITA. The only good thing is that unlike my Honda's and Kawasaki's, I don't seem to have as many "leftovers" as I have with all my other builds.

[grcamna2]

I'm glad your 2 into 1 rubber airbox flange finally arrived Terry.I also hope you locate an 'in box' aftermarket air filter element,possibly an NOS Uni,etc. which is a replacement for the original factory paper one?

[ekpent]

 Check that brass float over well Terry and see if it has a pin hole leak. Not rare at all on Suzuki's.

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks Bill, I just did a search again and found a newly listed NOS Suzuki filter, so bent over and grabbed my ankles, and just hope that it will 1. arrive in a timely matter, and 2. actually fit.

The weather was miserable today, but not too bad in the ol' patio workshop, so I spent a few minutes copying the wiring diagram in the online workshop manual, then completely ignored the wiring and removed the right side carb. This carb has been pissing out fuel ever since I installed it, even though I thought I had the float level correct. I reset the level and reinstalled it, turned the fuel on, and it pissed everywhere again. I felt around the join between the carb body and the float bowl, and it was wet with fuel. Hmmnn, I wondered if my home made gasket was somehow to blame? So I swapped in a new gasket, then wondered some more, perhaps the gasket surface on the bowl could be warped?

I grabbed a thick sheet of aluminium and some 240 dry sandpaper, and gave it a rub, and yes, I could see that it was pretty warped. The float bowls on these old Mikunis are a lot bigger than on more modern Mikuni VM series carbs, and so it took a few minutes to sand the thing flat, but I was happy that when I installed the carb for the third time, and connected the fuel line, no leaks. Woohoo! Right then, must be time for a ride around the back yard!

Then I realised that I hadn't yet attached a spring to the centrestand. Hmmnn. I ratted through the goodies that Rich sent me, and found a sidestand with a spring on it, so I "modified" the hook on one end by heating it with my MAP gas torch and turning it 90 degrees. I then spent well over an hour trying to stretch the baastard on.

By now it was dark, and raining quite heavily, so I fired it up again (started first kick, as usual) and rode it out of the patio, up the driveway, thought about going around the block, remembered dropping my Yamaha FJR1200 in the rain on semi-flat bald tyres, decided against it, and rode it back into the patio. Tomorrow I'll take another look at the wiring diagram, after I remove one exhaust pipe, the kick starter pedal, gear shifter pedal, left hand side footpeg, sprocket cover, and then a little cover behind it that screws on under the left hand side of the engine that I think is the source of a leak in the transmission.

I found the same piece in the tub of rotten original engine pieces, and surprisingly it was in better shape than the one that's on the engine, so I'll replace that, and hopefully the gearbox will be as tight as the carbs. More tomorrow.  

[Terry in Australia]

Check that brass float over well Terry and see if it has a pin hole leak. Not rare at all on Suzuki's.

Very true Eric, in fact the more I see of brass floats, the less I like them. I bought a set of K0 carbs from James H and when I put them in the ultrasonic cleaner, I saw that the vibration was too much for them and steam was coming out of tiny holes in the floats, so I made a mental note to never put brass floats in the ultrasonic cleaner again, and bought 4 new floats from Yamiya. My Suzuki floats appear to be fine, but I do have two spare, so hopefully if I need to replace one, I'll find one good one amongst the two.

[MauiK3]

Terry
Can you tell this idiot what process you use to post videos? I’m having trouble shrinking what I make on my iPhone.
Next you need to find a T500!

[Zunspec]

I'm not sure Terry is pretty enough to grace a T500 

[MauiK3]

That's beautiful!!

[Terry in Australia]

Terry
Can you tell this idiot what process you use to post videos? I’m having trouble shrinking what I make on my iPhone.
Next you need to find a T500!

Easy peasey Steve, create your own Youtube account (costs nothing) then use your cell phone to take a vid. Go to youtube on your cell phone, down the bottom there's be a big "+" button, click on that, next screen "Create" click on "Upload a video", it'll take you back to your picture gallery, click on the video you've just taken, your video will start playing, click "Next", click on "Add Details" or just "Upload" (Add details allows you to add a title and subtitle) then it'll come up with a message saying "Uploading". Depending on your internet speed it will usually only take a minute or two to upload, then go to "Your Channel" and you'll see your video.

To attach it to a post like I do, play the video, right click anywhere on the screen, click on "Copy URL". Create your post here, hit "Preview", click on a the space under your post, click on the "Youtube" icon above all the emojis, then right click and hit "Paste". Click on "Post" and you're good to go. If you get stuck, let me know.