Diff'rent Strokers

[RGRobby]

Hi, I've only been using this forum for a few weeks now, but I've been slowly restoring a 1986 Suzuki RG250 Gamma MKIII for about a year
now. Thought I was the only one restoring one of these lovely little bikes but it's great to see so many other people interested in them.
Mine is in a red and grey/bronze colour scheme which is a Japan only colour and it has only covered 4000 miles. When I bought the bike it was in London was a bit shabby but had some MOT so I decided to go to London on the train from York and ride it home - which I did with no problems at all ! It was great to be back on an RG again after an 18 year gap since stupidly selling my last one wish I'd never sold that bike!
Anyway here are some photos taken just at the start of the strip down and some taken last week. I hope to get the bike finished for spring next year and have many years of two stroke enjoyment with it!
RGrobby

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rgrobby/

[Bitacticus]

Great job done.
Very very nice work.

Noticed the red rear shock
Could you let me know what it is ?

Regards Erik

[RGRobby]

Hi Erik
Thanks for the nice comments. It's been difficult to give it the time but I'm getting close now! just need some motivation to go out in the snow and into a cold garage to work on it!
The red rear shock absorber is a new Hagon shock very easily available and gives much better handling than the original and obviously looks fantastic!
Cheers, Rob.

[nick69]

Looking good there Rob,the rgv in the background dosen't look half bad either

[RGRobby]

Hi Erik
Thanks for the nice comments. It's been difficult to give it the time but I'm getting close now! just need some motivation to go out in the snow and into a cold garage to work on it!
The red rear shock absorber is a new Hagon shock very easily available and gives much better handling than the original and obviously looks fantastic!
Cheers, Rob.

[wolfman]

Hi Rob
Bikes looking good are you keeping it original colours and what is your bodywork like? Have you re-sprayed and rebuilt brake calipers they look like new? You need to get some more pics up of your progress and tips and tricks for re-building,they will be much appreciated.
cheers charlie
_________________
Riding a two stroke is sometimes like buying a one way ticket!!!!!

[RGRobby]

Hi Wolfman
Yes I am keeping it original colours except the wheels which were white I've had them powder coated silver which gives the same effect but no so
'in yer face' it looked a bit garish with white wheels.
The brakes were totally stripped of paint, vapour blasted then repainted the nearest gold colour I could get (actually a Honda colour!) then I got
new stainless pistons, new genuine Suzuki clips, springs, pads and pins etc and rebuilt them mayself. I've never worked on brakes before and was dreading it, but it's turned out to be one of the most rewarding parts of the rebuild! I couldn't believe how well they came up. If you need someone to vapour blast anything I can recommend 'Vortex' blasting, he's right next door to Squires cafe bar at Sherburn so he's easy to find, very cheap as well, all three brake calipers were done for a tenner!
The bodywork is all original but the bottom panels have seen the road a few times and were a bit of a mess, but Crofty's come to my rescue with a pair of new bottom panels which I will get painted up to match.
I'll post up some more photos over the weekend if I get a minute.
Regards, Rob.

[wolfman]

Hi Rob

Where did you get the stainless brake pistons and your caliper seals from as i think i may completely do my calipers aswell?How much roughly were they and did they take long to come?
cheers charlie
_________________
Riding a two stroke is sometimes like buying a one way ticket!!!!!

[RGRobby]

Hi Charlie
The stainless steel brake pistons came from Wemoto they are in West Sussex but do most business over tinternet.
Nice guys to deal with and stuff only takes a day or so to arrive.
Rear s/s pistons and seals were £24.42 each ( need 2 ) so that's £48.84
front seals were £5.15 each set ( need 8 ) so that's £41.20 and front pistons about £25 each but you will need 8 - ouch! so that's £200 so about £300 in total, which I know is a lot but it's the cheapest/best quality I could find.
Another option is to simply check the pistons when you split the calipers, quite often they can just need a clean and polish and can be re-used but always use new seals!
Cheers, Rob.

[Bitacticus]

I did the front calipers with a genuine Suzuki piston and seal set.
They are still available but offcourse not stainless.