#97 Greg Schnell/Chaparral/FMF Suzuki RM125

The bike was complete, but had the usual signs of wear and lack of maintenance. At first glance the bike looks stock. The clamps, pipe, wheels and other parts were oem, but the white plastics, seat cover and some other not-so-obvious details had me convinced this was at least some part of the original bike. 

Probably an end of season rebuild so it could go out on the lot for sale.

So we dug in. The deeper I got, the more I found. 

The good, the bad, the ugly and the awesome.

It all starts with a good base. Frame was clean, no cracks in the peg mounts or the leading tubes. This was likely a replacement frame that never saw race action. Fine by me, this one goes in the display case.

Took to eBay to source many of the near 30-year old parts I would need to bring it back to some semblance of its original self. Gotta love some of the great finds that pop up there from time to time.

Could not believe this eBay find. Avoided the need to tussle with the original unit with the aftermarket sprocket bolt clearance. The added bonus was the near-new Applied linkage which was what they ran on the original bike. This was probably my favorite find throughout the build.

ICW did his thing and got these radiators back to square and gusseted for future impacts not likely to ever occur. Was still worth it to me to have this done. 

Clean up continued and parts and pieces started going back together.

Progress continues.

Toughest part of the whole exercise was finding the white plastics. The team ran all white plastics across all three bike platforms that year (Honda, Suzuki & Yamaha), I would assume, for sake of visual consistency. Was probably easier to find some of these pieces then. Not so much anymore. This rear fender is an absolute unicorn and I’m sure I found the last new one on the planet. Had to have Phil at Plastic Renovations do some restoration on the shrouds since those just don’t exist in new condition anymore. Got lucky here. No doubt about it.

The engine was part of the original with the re-worked FMF cylinder and some other little tricks of the trade. Opted for a mild rebuild with as many Weisco parts as I could source, because why not overspend on parts for a bike you never plan to ride. Christian Stanya is my local for engine rebuilds. I love being mechanical, but I’ve never had the guts to get into one. I realize they’re not overly difficult to learn, but I have yet to feel the need to do so myself.

Vapor honing, case and cover coatings, fresh seals, bearings, crank re-build for a top to bottom new-again engine.

The final assembly process is my favorite. The mock-up, fitment check and final torque is a real happy place. This is where the vision all comes together and you remember why you bit it off in the first place. 

Kitted out! Love that purple/yellow/red on the white and yellow. This kit was only a few years on from the wild fluorescent and bright colors of the early 90’s and is arguably the beginning of the muted color schemes that still carry on into today.

Rounding the bend.

The big reveal. 

I never planned to restore any bikes. I loved them growing up and always wanted this era of Suzuki. Post-covid I would watch a lot of the YT videos of people restoring old 2t’s and doing replica and tribute builds. I got the wild idea one day to try my hand at one so that I could have the bike I always wanted as an adolescent. I got it. And then some. 

I’m sure my bike build days are over. I didn’t bargain for this, but I’m grateful for the journey along the way both with the bike and everything else. It was all worth it and I’d probably do it all over again for smiles like this.

Hope you enjoy this. I sure did.