My recent project

trick121 (MD)
Edited Date/Time 1/24/2012 1:03pm
This is my recent project, a 1985 RM 125. I doubt this is a great bike, but I always liked the style and color. When I saw it listed on Craigslist two months ago for 2 bills I picked it up. It was in pretty good condition when I bought it. The sellers girlfriend made him sell it because it was an eye sore in the garage.

I started rebuilding it about a month ago with the intent of racing it. Here are a few things I did:

-Had a shop powder coated the frame blue
-I zinc plated all the nuts, bolts and washers myself with a minature plating kit
-Had a shop anodize the rims gold and the swingarm and linkage bright silver
-Purchased all new OEM plastic, seals, etc. from Babbitts online
-Purchased a new seat cover, foam and decals from Vintage Suzuki
-Had shock rebuilt
-ReNew the gas tank
-Lace new stainless steel spokes from Buchanan

While tearing it down to the bare frame I was very careful labeling and bagging all nuts, bolts, washers, etc. I must have had 80 individual sandwich bags of fasteners! Next I cleaned, sandblasted and polished everything I could. Simple Green, cabinet sandblaster and a Nylon deburr wheel shown in the picture below are basically what I used to prep all the surfaces. The Nylon wheel is a god send! If you guys never used one, I would highly recommend it. This wheel is similar to a very dense 3m Scotch Brite pad. It polishes the surface while removing small nicks, scratches, and pits. I cleaned the pipe, swingarm, handle bars, fork legs, levers and perches, triple clamps, axls, nuts and bolts, rims (before anodize)…and much much more with this wheel.

I’m starting to do the assembly now and I am getting very excited! My next big task is to lace the wheels. I haven’t touched the engine yet but its pretty tight already. I hope to be riding it in 3 weeks.

http://www.caswellplating.com (miniature zinc plating kit)
http://www.custommetalfinishing.com (aluminum anodizing)
Islands Powder Coating
http://www.vintage-suzuki.com (seat cover, seat foam, stickers)
http://www.babbittsonline.com(inexpensive Suzuki OEM parts)
http://www.trumoto.com (shock rebuild)
http://www.denniskirk.com (air cleaner, brake pads, grips, clutch, sprockets, etc.)
http://www.buchananspokes.com (stainless steel spokes and rear rim)
http://www.mcmaster.com (nuts, bolts, washers, etc.)
http://www.use-enco.com (nylon buffing wheel)


[img:92743]http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb190/trick121_photo/MVC-485S.jpg[/i…]

[img:92743]http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb190/trick121_photo/Graphic1.jpg[/i…]
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sazookdude 7/3/2007 3:59pm
7/3/2007 3:59pm
sweet looking sazook u got going on. i had a 1984 rm 125 and it was a blast. good luck on the resto......
MXVet261
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Location
Valley City, OH, USA
MXVet261 7/3/2007 6:56pm
7/3/2007 6:56pm Edited Date/Time 4/16/2016 6:02pm
Looks great!

My first ever brand new bike was a leftover '85 RM125 I got in 1986. I've seen a few around and have been tempted to grab one and restore it, but the problem is that there is no place for them to be raced right now. Hopefully AHRMA will add some late 80's classes into the mix soon.

Here's my bike from back in the day.
[img:b3e3a]http://www.pitracer.com/uploads/photogallery/project83rm/85rm1-sm.jpg[/…]
Stanford421 7/7/2007 4:00pm
7/7/2007 4:00pm Edited Date/Time 4/16/2016 6:02pm
Pit, I bought an 85 holdover in 86 as well. I still remember the Blue Angels being at the Knoxville airport (where the dealership was located) practicing for a show the next day. Along with a friend of mine, I took it home in the back of a Datsun 260Z. That bike was great - never had ANY reliability issues with it, and I rode the wheels off of that thing. I remember getting an Answer Roost Boost put on it and it made a noticeable difference!

Those were the "good old days" when I was in school, didn't have any money (worked in a restaurant) and lived to ride EVERY CHANCE I GOT.
trick121 (MD) 7/9/2007 12:08am
7/9/2007 12:08am
Pit Racer,

Your 85' looks bitchin! Thanks for the inspiration.

Like you said, its not AHRMA legal but I knew that when I purchased it. Thankfully I participate with an AHRMA spin off club that threw the AHRMA rule book out the door and allows every make model and year. To me, a 22 year old two stroke motocross bike is vintage. There is alot of BS rules going on at AHRMA and that is why they will go bankrupt. I guess everyone has their own opinon what vintage is. The mid 80's bike are inexpensive, plentiful, fast, reliable, great suspension and most important, there are plenty of OEM parts still available for them so I am baffled why these 20 year old bikes are banned. You can pick one up for under 1k then put 1K into it and you have a brand spankin new bike for under 2k that will last you a few years.

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mosher (MD) 7/10/2007 3:56am
7/10/2007 3:56am Edited Date/Time 4/16/2016 6:02pm
[quote="trick121":4f843]Pit Racer,

Your 85' looks bitchin! Thanks for the inspiration.

Like you said, its not AHRMA legal but I knew that when I purchased it. Thankfully I participate with an AHRMA spin off club that threw the AHRMA rule book out the door and allows every make model and year. To me, a 22 year old two stroke motocross bike is vintage. There is alot of BS rules going on at AHRMA and that is why they will go bankrupt. I guess everyone has their own opinon what vintage is. The mid 80's bike are inexpensive, plentiful, fast, reliable, great suspension and most important, there are plenty of OEM parts still available for them so I am baffled why these 20 year old bikes are banned. You can pick one up for under 1k then put 1K into it and you have a brand spankin new bike for under 2k that will last you a few years.[/quote:4f843]

I would hope that AHRMA opens their eyes and adds a few more years or "eras" to the mix.
Enforcer
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4/1/2008
Location
USA
Enforcer 7/15/2007 2:50pm
7/15/2007 2:50pm
Aren't all two strokes vintage bikes now?
G-man
Profile picture for user G-man
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Location
Mesa, AZ, USA
G-man 7/17/2007 9:31am
7/17/2007 9:31am Edited Date/Time 4/16/2016 6:02pm
Keep us posted Trick looks good! :D
trick121 (MD) 1/20/2008 8:58pm
1/20/2008 8:58pm
I finished the bike last week and was going to show it at A2 retro night but I had too work all day on Saturday! I was pretty upset to say the least because I love the vintage stuff and I had to work. Damn. I will post some pictures this week.

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