Diff'rent Strokers

[Pezz]

Well where do I begin. This was a bike I built over the last 2 years and is currently evolving.

I run a Fundraising Event for Down Syndrome NSW. This is in its 9th year. Raised over $600,000

The premise it to get a junk bike for under $1,000 from the Scrapheap to a destination and raise funds along the way. Link: www.scrapheapadventureride.com.au

My previous Scrapper was CB400/4 that I converted into a XR460/4 and it was a great ride, especially in the outback.





So it was time for a new bike and I have a sick interest in Big Wheel Bikes . . .

A friend found me a reasonably decent RV125, and when I got it home It was a bit nice to butcher.

So I found this little RV125 on ebay for $100 and the guy even delivered it LOL

Think he may have been glad to sell it . . . .



So where does Reg come from . . . .

Well as a young lad there was this show called On the bus’s and starred Reg Varney so I named it after Reg 😊



This thing was a mess but as it lay in the back yard was talking to . . . I kid you not.

Decided to give it a red hot go . . . . .
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I'm not a complete idiot - Some parts are missing

[Pezz]

So first things first. . . . . buy a big rear tyre 😊

25” x 8” x 12” Artrax front off some quad.

Stripped the frame and most of it was pretty rusty. Mini car tyre on the rear rim. It had no head bearings and the forks were beyond fixing. I wanted to use the RV triples
The seat pan was off a RV90 and not suitable for the 125 . . . . .


Took a bit of work to get he wheels apart and the paper spacer rusts and welds the wheels together. It came with another rear rim which was handy as the one on the bike was rusted through and wasn’t serviceable.

First job was extending the swingarm 100mm to accommodate the 25” tall rear tyre 😊
Sent to a good friend who owns a motorcycle fabrication business in Brisbane called Servalloy. Ian makes great two stroke chambers and is a craftsman. Great to have capable friends.

During

After

Time to think about engine options. As I was trying to build on the cheap I tried to use what I had readily available. It’s a small space in there.



First try was a XL250 single, nope


Then an old CB250 twin. . . . nope


Then did something a bit silly, I though it was close to fitting and cut the bottom out of the frame only to find it didn’t . . . D’oh!!!

Welded it back together and a drive with the frame out to a friendly Motorcycle Wrecker and we struck a very generous deal on a PE175X engine, electrics, carb airbox and exhaust
Now its getting serious ………

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I'm not a complete idiot - Some parts are missing

[Pezz]

Popped the swingarm in the back





Sat the chamber on and looked like it could be made it work . . .


Tried a few tanks but that was an issue as well. This is a little bike


I had the wheels sand blasted and even though there were w fee pin holes a quick coat of Killrust and they will be fine


I had this Dunlop K270 in 16” from the CB250 I was going to try and build, but it was a bit too tame and abandoned Basically a DR600 drapped over the CB250 frame . . .


This is another, XL250R with the same 250 twin engine. I was going to call this a Madagascar Twin, being smaller than Africa but it was too sensible as well


I needed a 16” wheel and after many hours looking found an old GPZ900R front when and fitted them all up


Fitted a TS185 tank and had a roller . . . . beside the other Rv125 I eventually sold



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I'm not a complete idiot - Some parts are missing

[Pezz]

As it was it was too low for dirt riding. I had the TF185Ag forks but need to lift the back up as well, as I would fit on the bike in this form


Fitted the TS185 instruments I was give in a bog of old Suzuki parts


Then off to Queensland, 1,000k’s north, to have some fun in Ian’s Shed. He modified the chambers to fit, turned up some spacers for the engine mounts.


We worked pretty busy as I only had a weekend free and driving both ways . .


Extended the subframe 100mm as well


Chambers were old heavy and a mongrel to weld. Mounted up


Then fabricated the Anti-dive brakes. Ummm I stuffed up the dimensions as it was CB250 calliper, GPZ900R disc on TF185 forks. I didn’t allow for the offset on the calliper bolt holes arced out off the axle. Hence the adapter plate, but it worked out ok in the end


Mounted the tank and the Honda CB250 seat and rapidly running out of time


Front tank mount


Time to head south back home
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I'm not a complete idiot - Some parts are missing

[DSBBadmin]

[Pezz]

Back from the successful trip North and as with bespoke motorcycles there will be issues.

I really liked the RV rear guard . . . but it didn’t have a big enough radius to clear the ‘small’ rear tyre



Continued mocking up the bike and needed some new rear shocks.



Checking rear suspension travel





Decided the PE400 shocks would be long enough and purchased a cheap Chinese replica set of eBay $120 delivered



I really wanted to run the PE175 airbox and initially cut a piece out to clear the frame. Not much room in there.

One thing I do, do however is keep the removed parts . . . . . . .



Cleco’s are great





That should hold it all together. Again as I was riding this on rough dirt roads I wanted to keep this as close to stock



Machined up a little Spacer for the front to adapt to the Carb



More to come
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I'm not a complete idiot - Some parts are missing

[Pezz]

Next was to make a rear guard. Was thinking a Trailer guard but could find anything suitable. I did have a DR600 rear guard and . . . . . well I will let the pics do the talking





Needed 140mm in the middle



Check fit



Check fit then weld on some tabs . . . .



Rear sprocket was a bit of an issue. RV125’s run 428 chain, PE175 520 so I needed a custom rear sprocket . . . they is pricey so I bought a blank and sent it north to Ian to machine it to suit the RV hub



Custom braided brake line from HEL. Too easy but my daughter picked the
colour LOL





Can I just say my friend Ian was a great sounding board and gave lots of help on so much of this build. Australia post earnt a bit too with parcels travelling north and south regularly
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I'm not a complete idiot - Some parts are missing

[Pezz]

I did want to use the RV125 headlight shell in all it green splendour . . but it was a 7 ½“ and I couldn’t find one anywhere. So two TS185 lights were put into play. . . .



One of my signature bike mods it to use a rear guard as a fairing. The LC4 KTM rears are really good size and I wanted to stack the headlights.

2 x 35W 6V globes will really light the road LOL NOT!!!!

It turned out that the PE electrics could only run one globe and there was nothing in the top light but that will change this year







Front blinkers mounted, I bought 4 of these from a fellow is SA who parts out old bikes. They were expensive and had issues but suited the build. He nearly stiffed my on some other parts he sent that were wrong (supposed to be the 7 1/2 “ light but wasn’t) and in the refunded most of my money.



The rear tail light was an old TS and found in a bag of stuff a guy gave me . . . winner!!!

Before



After


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I'm not a complete idiot - Some parts are missing

[Pezz]

Had to make some sidecovers next. Made a Cardboard template and started cutting

The right side had to be straight to miss the kick starter. The time it takes to deal with the nuances of clearance . . . .

Right side





Left Side



Edges folded over by hand using a small shifter LOL



Shame to cover the alloy but went with Jellybean vinyl in the end



Due to the PE not running a Tacho and the speedo being on the LHS I needed a speedo option and I have used pushbike speedo’s to good effect in the past

This Cateye 7 was abut $32 delivered. Now needed a Rallye dash.

Out with the Cardboard template



A few folds and 3 mounting bolts and voila . . . . worked a treat!!!


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I'm not a complete idiot - Some parts are missing

[Pezz]

Fuel tap hit the frame and couldn’t find another that would suit. . . so I made a plate and fitted a barb then an inline fuel tap



Seat mounting was a challenge as there were a lot of points the Honda CB Two Fifty seat sits on that frame. Front mount was like so. . . . . .



Hand to fabricate a chain roller to hold the chain off the gear shaft. The PE countershaft was a fair distance in from the swingarm pivot.



Next was a combination of moving the footpegs forward and a bash plate.



Cross overs to mount the bash plate




I had this bit of alloy from a numberplate bracket on a bike a friend bought and removed.


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I'm not a complete idiot - Some parts are missing

[Pezz]

Due to having 2 artificial legs I had to use a left hand rear brake, I knocked up some mounts to accept two cables. It worked a treat



Chain slider was next and I bought some new nylon chopping boards and applied heat





Hose clamp to hold it in place. Again worked fine.



Rusty captured nuts . . . . a bit of a pian but welded in and fixed with some flat bar drilled tapped and welded in place





First time off the bike lift and the front braked foulded the disc. Into the lathe for about 1.5mm off the OD



The original torque arm was too short and need to make a new alloy rod to suit.



Off the lift for a check fit for me LOL


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I'm not a complete idiot - Some parts are missing

[Pezz]

I was quite happy after the test ride . . .


A few pics from the ride
It was running very rich and a good mate Matt, who is a mechanic, was tuning on the fly. We were running rich and dialled it back slowly. Matt also sorted the electrics on the bike while I sorted the mechanical. Wouldn’t have made it without him

Note the sidestand pad. . . . .



As with any new bike build there were some bolts needed tightening and after about 250k’s the kick start lever separated at the swivel and is I don’t know where . . . .
The fellow behind me Ted was my starter as I was unable to reach the kickstarter myself





The guy in the wheelchair Andy rides a solo with an air-shifter. He is a great rider who was injured during the Condo 750 in 2000 when he hit a rock in long grass and went over the bars. Andy is the fellow who owned the RG250 that I tried to dual sport. Inspirational!!



Stinger came loose, my lord it was loud



Stopped at a fuel stop waiting for my two stroke oil to arrive in the support truck



Chambers leaking oil in a few sports



Seat height is nearly the same as a DRZ400 at 900mm



It was all going well until . . . . . . . . . . .





One thing we know about riding scrappers is they can be a bit brittle LOL
All the guys who loaded Reg on the Trailer. He did about 400k’s and was a blast to ride



At Scrapheap Joe had his RV90. He is building another RV90 with a 140cc pitbike motor for this year


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I'm not a complete idiot - Some parts are missing

[Pezz]

In review Reg was a lot of fun to build and ride, albeit LOUD!!!!!

The PE175 motor is a peach and will go into another superlight creation on the drawing boards. 6 speeds and plenty of go. its a Cracker of a motor!!

I need to make a few changes for this year. We are heading from Sydney to Poonacrie which is about 1,150k’s & 3 days riding there and 4 days home 1,250k’s
This is a very rough map as we are riding dirt back roads but will give a rough outline of the route.



Wants:
• Electric start
• Not a big fan of premix so oil pump and tank
• Bigger fuel range – one day we will need have close to 500k’s no fuel
• 12v electrics

Where to from here. . . . . .

Solution is a GT200X5 200cc two stroke twin



Quick look inside and look pretty tidy. Its going to be blue-printed and then have some custome expansion chambers made by Ian in Brisbane. I can hardly wait





It will be a bit of a redesign on some parts and I have this old DR600 fuel tank I will put in place of the TR185 tank – 20 litres 😊



More to come . . . . . . .
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I'm not a complete idiot - Some parts are missing

[yamfan]

Wow, thats some brilliant stuff there!

Its hard enough building a bike that was designed to go together - but putting a bike together where all the parts ar for something else must be a real challenge. fair dues to you!

I lost the silencer off my TS 185 wears ago, heard it straight away - but when I turned back an artic truck came along an I saw it run straight over it

Noisy ride home with a flattened silencer in my jacket

Keep up the good work

[Howie]

Totally agree with yamfan, brilliant stuff & cracking write up.