The Crap Bike Chronicles Challenge

This is an open challenge to anyone who wishes to accept it, I will be announcing this challenge to the world on youtube next week too.

The challenge is, take a rubbish basic old bike and turn it into something special, points will be awarded for the following:

Cost (how much the whole project costs, lower cost = higher score)
Top speed (to be measured with GPS)
Trick ability (can it do a wheelie and or stoppie?)
Style (what does it look like?)

Here is my entry:

Attachment 9598

It's a ridden into the ground supreme piece of shit knockoff of a knockoff of a fake Honda CG125, otherwise known as a farmer bike special

Purchased as is for RMB550 (yes that's more than it's worth, but just look at how screwed up it is... I had to have it).

- Update coming soon

Day 1

The engine was seized, basically a throw away (I'd planned on changing it anyway).
The petrol tank had a few leaks where it had rusted through, and basically everything on the bike was broken... I don't think that there was anything other than the frame that was actually in reasonable condition.

Parts I needed to buy:

Inner tube for the rear tyre RMB20
New seat, that one was rusted through and well bloody disgusting RMB50
new headlight, new ignition and petrol tank cap plus new side covers total RMB95

First, pushed it to a car wash and gave it a good clean, then the strip down began:


Attachment 9599

stripped off and threw away just about everything on the bike:

Attachment 9600


I then sanded down and fixrd the petrol tank:

Attachment 9601


(Epoxy works well to fix this sort of thing, just make sure you bash out all the rusted areas and clean them properly)

Attachment 9602


Next I took out the air filter, took off the mud guards etc and cleaned the shit out of everything, sanded off all the rust, oiled and painted up the exposed bits etc... it was like a horror movie, when I opened the air box, about 25 of those massive cockroaches climbed out all and scattered all over the place... ugh... horrible!

I also rattle canned the side covers as well as the tank, and by the end of the day she was looking like this:

Attachment 9603




- Continued below

I then put on the new seat (which looks crap) and the new headlight, I drilled a hole in the top of the headlight for the ignition to go in, it fits beautifully, so no messy wires, ignition is in the headlight and no need for an instrument cluster:

Attachment 9604

I've just ordered a nice new 250cc six speed engine off of taobao as well as a new carb, wiring harness, switches etc, total RMB 2210

It's going to be fun shoehorning that 250 into this little frame, but it will happen.

- Updates coming soon!

That's not fair you already got a head start. :bandit:

So the pipes, tires, and frame are still good? Wondering if you're taking apart the wheel hubs to look at the bearings? Also very curious as to what 250 motor you got off Taobao that cost you less than 2500 RMB :).

Good luck, hoping for more posts on this project.

Nope, the pipes are rusted through, the front forks are seized, rear shocks are dead and have been welded onto the frame.... the bearings are okay, already checked them, but I'll replace them anyway. The engine is awesome! It's a CB250S and I'm buying it from the bodgeworx people. It comes with it's CDI, regulator, coil and intake manifold. I was thinking about getting water-cooled, but that would spoil the retro look.

I've just ordered a bunch of new stuff, I'll post more updates as they arrive!

Can't wait to get this bike running :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ZMC888

That's not fair you already got a head start. :bandit:

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well there's no real time limit here, I guess done by sometime next year will do :)

/edit
Sorry, mistaken post and board will not let me delete.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Serpentza

This is an open challenge to anyone who wishes to accept it, I will be announcing this challenge to the world on youtube next week too...

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If I would not be hibernating during the winter, I'd buy a fully functional MZ ETZ 250 from the first year of production for 250-300 euros, and I wiped the floor with your bike project by all the parameters you mentioned.

But I will not do it...

Because I am a good person. :icon10:

Jokse aside. I thought you'll try to "resurrect" bike you bought with the replacement of only those parts that are impossible to repair.

these parts are so cheap in China, I'd rather buy new parts than spend time fixing things that are really beyond repair, also the challenge is to make the bike perform well, and the stock seized engine has about 6 horse power new and a four speed circular Chinese style gearbox *puke* so the engine even if it was in perfect condition would have to be replaced... wait till you see the finished product, I think she'll be a beauty.

Are you sure that your Chinese frame can take the stresses of a 15KW 250cc engine? Knowing every corner would have been cut in the manufacture of a frame made for a 125cc bike, I know it should technically physically fit. I'd be looking for stress fractures every 1000kms.

Actually it might be an idea to have a bespoke frame built up from proper cro-mo steel and start out the right way.

2 Serpentenza

It is logical and rational choice. However, at least from the point of view of those of us who read this thread, it would be very interesting to see step-by-step progress of your project, something like Odyssey with a guy from our local moto forum and his '81. Suzuki GS 500 E - http://forum.bjbikers.com/index.php?...0%D0%BB%D0%BE/

BTW, is the black paint on the tank and side panels from regular paint cans? I ask this because, as far as I know, this color is not resistant to gasoline. It might be a good idea to spray another layer of petrol resistant clearcoat.

Quite a lot has happened to the crap bike, I got a set of donor wheels from Pikey tom, had a special triple clamp engineered, put on bigger new front forks with disc brake etc.. and the awesome new seat has arrived!
Attachment 9733
Picking up the wheels on my trusty scooter
Attachment 9734
Fitting the handsome looking rear wheel (Had to grind a custom spacer)
Attachment 9732
My engineered triple clamp (triple tree whatever). And a happy pikey who got a free front wheel from me

And what? You're not going to take the opportunity to reinforce your bike's frame and swingarm? I would say that the standard frame is rigid as much as week old pretzel, so it will probably be the weakest link on the entire motorcycle.

When you invest so much effort and passion into this bike, why not to you make it "as God commanded"?

My new engine has arrived!! :)

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Really interesting project. Keep us updated.

The engine fits!! almost perfectly!
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I promise I'll upload high res versions of these photos, just putting up these girly collages to quickly show you the progress!

it's running! I'm exhausted from working on the thing all day.. proper report tomorrow

Here's a picture of the bike as it stands, it's 90% complete, some small things like mounting the headlight properly (K-wire doesn't look good), sorting out the rear brake and finding the correct accelerator cable are in order, oh yes and some sort of very small cute LED brake-light needs to be sorted too.

Attachment 9790

Attachment 9791Attachment 9792Attachment 9793

Inspiring! :clap::clap::clap:

Are you going to put the plate back on it? Maybe mount it on its side following the shock?
Love the seat how did you do it/get it from?

Dude,

Totally blown away with how fast you put that together. Nice Work!!!

Cheers!
ChinaV

BRILLANT!!!

A huge thank you for all the support and kind comments, I suppose a combination of some time off during the holidays plus some serious motivation managed to make this project happen, I'll upload all the videos to youku so that my fellow China bikers can see the whole project as it unfolded. I've been so inspired by this last bike that as soon as it's 100% (waiting for some last little touches like a speedo etc to arrive from taobao), I'll get started on a new project :)

You obviously have way too much time on your hands.. Taking a crap chinese bike and turning it into a good looking crap chinese bike. You deserve to be slapped!!!!! Keep the posts coming. Actually I know of a very very old Chinese CZ knock off . .the 250cc two stroke.. It is complete but very very tatty. .now.. how much spare time do I have????hmmmm

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ZMC888

Inspiring! :clap::clap::clap:

Are you going to put the plate back on it? Maybe mount it on its side following the shock?
Love the seat how did you do it/get it from?

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Attachment 9848

Well it did have a plate buried under all the dirt, but it's a front plate, and well the frame VIN number has actually half rubbed off from all the friction of the clutch and brake cable being dragged back and forth over it for years.. and the new engine has no numbers on it... I'm guessing this is just going to be a fun bike for me to mess about on in my area, maybe go on short little trips to the beach or something, if it gets confiscated then I won't be too upset since the experience of building it was the real reward, I learnt a lot, drank a lot of beer, got covered in grease from head to toe, I may try to mount that plate to see if I can get the styling right (also may be a good idea to look at least a little legit :)



Here's a breakdown of the costs:

Original purchase: RMB550
New unpainted tank, petcock and mounting rubbers (incl delivery): 124RMB
New 250cc 6speed engine, Mikuni branded PZ30 carb, wiring harness, grips, throttle with kill switch and starter button, carb adaptor (that rubber thing that allowed me to adapt the bigger carb to the smaller original airbox hose) (incl delivery): 2270RMB
Cafe Racer seat specifically made for CG125 bikes (incl delivery): 490RMB
New exhaust, new swingarm, new battery, new front mud guard, new CDI (the one sent with the engine was the wrong type?), new 428 chain and a new front sprocket (all bought at my local pikey bike shop): 380RMB
Engineering job to machine a new stem for the triple clamp, plus new head bearings: 225RMB
Paint, black spray paint glossy (for panels and tank) matt black for the frame, clear coat: 38RMB

There are probably a few odds and ends I'm forgetting here, clutch and accelerator cables, engine oil etc etc, so let's add 200RMB for misc stuff.

Total project cost: 4277RMB

Attachment 9849
(Captain Pikey came round to see if his wheels had been put to good use)

Keep in mind that I did get a set of free front forks, wheels and tyres from my friend Tom (Captain Pikey). This is awesome and now I have enough bits left over to start a new bike :D

Does that engine have a counter balancer? 6 Speeds hey...how fast on the ol' GPS?

Cheers!
ChinaV

Dear Serpentza,

Amazing work, and an important tutorial in how to say "no" to the naysayers!

As for your plate, why not at least see if there's any record for the front plate that came on the bike, then see if the seller (donor?) has any paperwork to match the number. It's a longshot, but it would be over-the-top awesome to actually make that beast street legal!

Looking forward to your video posts!

cheers

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ChinaV

Does that engine have a counter balancer? 6 Speeds hey...how fast on the ol' GPS?

Cheers!
ChinaV

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It doesn't have a balancer, the engine with the balancer costs 500 more.. you certainly feel the vibrations, but it's just such a fun little package, lots of grunt and pull. I have yet to test the top speed (I haven't hooked up the rear brake properly yet so I'm a little chicken to take it all the way up), I estimate that it'll be reasonably good, at least over a hundred, it has a really good solid pull through all six gears... can't wait for the speed test (will probably do it on Saturday or Sunday, just waiting for some parts to arrive so I can sort the brake). I did hoon it a bit the other night and with its stiff suspension it's really flickable...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by euphonius

Dear Serpentza,

Amazing work, and an important tutorial in how to say "no" to the naysayers!

As for your plate, why not at least see if there's any record for the front plate that came on the bike, then see if the seller (donor?) has any paperwork to match the number. It's a longshot, but it would be over-the-top awesome to actually make that beast street legal!

Looking forward to your video posts!

cheers

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Well I basically bought this bike as a piece of scrap, it would be awesome if it were street legal, but I think finding any paperwork would be impossible, I'll try that with my next project, I've got a fantastic idea for what I want to do next, I'll probably buy a registered crap bike and fix it up as legal as possible :)

Videos will be up as soon as possible, and I'll take it out for a ride with the GoPro this weekend and get some footage of how it rides for you all to see, it's just such a fun little thing.

Attachment 9850
I found an original version to park next to as a comparison ;)