Kehoe RM125 finished

Manbearpig
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Manbearpig
Edited Date/Time 8/7/2020 2:38am
I am guilty of this and a glutton for punishment. haha

Long story short I end up with an ebay purchase of an 80s cone pipe with a Pro Circuit badge. I have never seen a cone pro circuit pipe from the 80s so I spent I believe around 260.00 dollars for ...get this..... An RM125 for an 86 to 88. Haha. I always loved the looks of these bikes but never ever did I plan on owning one or let alone building one if these rocket ships..... bad joke

So the pipe shows up and I immediately send it to my pal at Pro Circuit for a clean up and hopefully some history on it. Turns out I struck gold. It is a Mitch built pipe for either George Holland or Erik Kehoe for Team Suzuki and I couldn't be more pumped.

A couple of weeks later a pile of crap 1986 Rm125 ends up in my garage for a few pennies and I begin my Erik Kehoe tribute build.

Here are a few pics of the progress.

























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lostboy819
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lostboy819 10/30/2019 3:05am
10/30/2019 3:05am Edited Date/Time 10/30/2019 3:06am
I picked up a 2001 YZ125 and because it was so cheap I then decided to spend way too much money making a 70s throw back yellow YZ out of it. Now it sits in my game room. Wink I really like old Suzuki's too so you are totally justified in your project.
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Action69
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Action69 10/30/2019 5:07am
10/30/2019 5:07am
Pipe looks beautiful cleaned up,stellar build.enjoy it...
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Manbearpig
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Manbearpig 10/30/2019 8:24am
10/30/2019 8:24am
lostboy819 wrote:
I picked up a 2001 YZ125 and because it was so cheap I then decided to spend way too much money making a 70s throw back...
I picked up a 2001 YZ125 and because it was so cheap I then decided to spend way too much money making a 70s throw back yellow YZ out of it. Now it sits in my game room. Wink I really like old Suzuki's too so you are totally justified in your project.
That's really cool. If I can round up a Kehoe signature on my number plate it has a spot on the wall of my much needed garage I am building.
Manbearpig
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Manbearpig 10/30/2019 8:25am
10/30/2019 8:25am
Action69 wrote:
Pipe looks beautiful cleaned up,stellar build.enjoy it...
Thanks you. It's been a fun build so far.

The Shop

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SmokinJoe439 10/30/2019 10:20am
10/30/2019 10:20am Edited Date/Time 10/30/2019 10:22am
Ahh that takes me back i was offered one in the summer of 87 for $1200. I'm working on its somewhat related street cousin. This 1986 RG250 it has almost the same style of cylinders and top end and even has that same style of rear shock linkage. Nice LT250R lurking in the background that a 91?
1
Manbearpig
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Manbearpig 10/30/2019 11:48am
10/30/2019 11:48am
SmokinJoe439 wrote:
Ahh that takes me back i was offered one in the summer of 87 for $1200. I'm working on its somewhat related street cousin. This 1986...
Ahh that takes me back i was offered one in the summer of 87 for $1200. I'm working on its somewhat related street cousin. This 1986 RG250 it has almost the same style of cylinders and top end and even has that same style of rear shock linkage. Nice LT250R lurking in the background that a 91?
Oh man! What a sweet ride that RG will be. That's so cool. The LT is a 92 actually. Some funky designs went into these years of all manufacturers it seems haha
sandman768
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sandman768 10/30/2019 12:00pm
10/30/2019 12:00pm
Looks great! What paint did you use on the engine?
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Manbearpig
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Manbearpig 10/30/2019 12:18pm
10/30/2019 12:18pm
sandman768 wrote:
Looks great! What paint did you use on the engine?
Thanks man! Your builds keep me inspired haha

Suzuki 19F Champion Blue from colorrite.
1
sandman768
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sandman768 10/30/2019 12:19pm
10/30/2019 12:19pm
Manbearpig wrote:
Thanks man! Your builds keep me inspired haha

Suzuki 19F Champion Blue from colorrite.
Looks spot on....
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Sidecar
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Sidecar 10/30/2019 12:35pm
10/30/2019 12:35pm
Bike looks rad and I love the back story...
1
Manbearpig
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Manbearpig 10/30/2019 12:39pm
10/30/2019 12:39pm
sandman768 wrote:
Looks spot on....
I am happy with the results so far. Luckily I didn't run into any internal issues.
Manbearpig
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Manbearpig 10/30/2019 12:42pm
10/30/2019 12:42pm
Sidecar wrote:
Bike looks rad and I love the back story...
Thanks! The history of the pipe is really cool and it goes quite a bit deeper but I didn't want to drag the story on so I just took pictures haha
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SmokinJoe439 10/30/2019 1:12pm
10/30/2019 1:12pm
Since you like old school Suzuki smokers this is my favorite. It is my 1990 RGV250 i got it 10 years ago.

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Manbearpig
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Manbearpig 10/30/2019 2:00pm
10/30/2019 2:00pm
SmokinJoe439 wrote:
Since you like old school Suzuki smokers this is my favorite. It is my 1990 RGV250 i got it 10 years ago. [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2019/10/30/382176/s1200_20170910_071312.jpg[/img]
Since you like old school Suzuki smokers this is my favorite. It is my 1990 RGV250 i got it 10 years ago.

Holy shit.... amazing!
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Manbearpig
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Manbearpig 10/30/2019 4:50pm
10/30/2019 4:50pm
POWLEY256 wrote:
How did you get the pipe so clean! Looks like new!
I send my pro circuit pipes to my buddy that works for Mitch Payton and he gives them the factory touch. Haha.
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ledger
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ledger 10/30/2019 6:39pm
10/30/2019 6:39pm
That pipe !! and everything else too !! This is the stuff that makes the Off Season much better. Oh, 20th pic is candy.
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Joyner41
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Joyner41 10/30/2019 7:20pm
10/30/2019 7:20pm
I’m not sure if I can thumbs up this build enough so far. Epic find, and the build progress is nothing shy of awesome. Anxious to see the next steps!
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Pit Row

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Manbearpig
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Manbearpig 10/30/2019 7:27pm
10/30/2019 7:27pm
ledger wrote:
That pipe !! and everything else too !! This is the stuff that makes the Off Season much better. Oh, 20th pic is candy.
I hear ya. Off season can be brutal. I'm glad I'm not the only one that appreciate these older relics. haha
1
Manbearpig
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Manbearpig 10/30/2019 7:44pm
10/30/2019 7:44pm
Joyner41 wrote:
I’m not sure if I can thumbs up this build enough so far. Epic find, and the build progress is nothing shy of awesome. Anxious to...
I’m not sure if I can thumbs up this build enough so far. Epic find, and the build progress is nothing shy of awesome. Anxious to see the next steps!
Thanks man! It's been a fun build so far and I'll keep updates pics coming.
Manbearpig
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Manbearpig 10/30/2019 8:09pm
10/30/2019 8:09pm
Hubs are ready for wheels and a fresh bearing in the crazy 86 design linkage.




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Mr Happy
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Mr Happy 10/31/2019 4:17am
10/31/2019 4:17am
SmokinJoe439 wrote:
Ahh that takes me back i was offered one in the summer of 87 for $1200. I'm working on its somewhat related street cousin. This 1986...
Ahh that takes me back i was offered one in the summer of 87 for $1200. I'm working on its somewhat related street cousin. This 1986 RG250 it has almost the same style of cylinders and top end and even has that same style of rear shock linkage. Nice LT250R lurking in the background that a 91?
Do the right thing and round file the RG engine, then fit an RD350 lump. It's an X7 bottom end, with a water cooled power valved top end, which can't cope with 45hp and the cranks and clutches give up. I've one sat on a shelf with both noisy. It has been replaced a Stan Stephens tuned YPVS engine and with that much power pushing 120kg it will out drag a modern 600.
SmokinJoe439 10/31/2019 9:31am
10/31/2019 9:31am
No I'm not going to swap the RG engine i know what it is very well I've been a member of the rgv forum for a long time now stop derailing this thread.
Manbearpig
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Manbearpig 10/31/2019 11:14pm
10/31/2019 11:14pm
Did some cleanup on the rear drum panel today to get ready to paint and assemble the wheels.




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riv187
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riv187 11/1/2019 6:45am
11/1/2019 6:45am
Manbearpig,,, I like the work your doing ! I can only guess your using vapor blasting for the aluminum parts? The picture of engine looks like a grinder or abrasive wheel,,then what did you do after?? Bead blast? primer? paint? Please share how you are doing it!
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Manbearpig
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Manbearpig 11/1/2019 10:23am
11/1/2019 10:23am
riv187 wrote:
Manbearpig,,, I like the work your doing ! I can only guess your using vapor blasting for the aluminum parts? The picture of engine looks like...
Manbearpig,,, I like the work your doing ! I can only guess your using vapor blasting for the aluminum parts? The picture of engine looks like a grinder or abrasive wheel,,then what did you do after?? Bead blast? primer? paint? Please share how you are doing it!
Thanks Riv!
I have a vapor blasting business for secondary income so I use it for everything haha. As far as the engine went I stripped the paint with a drill scotch bright attachment and a sanding wheel just so my vapor cabinet didn't get a bunch of fast build up is all. Then I rattle canned the engine with colorrite Suzuki champion blue.
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Manbearpig
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Manbearpig 11/1/2019 10:24am
11/1/2019 10:24am
riv187 wrote:
Manbearpig,,, I like the work your doing ! I can only guess your using vapor blasting for the aluminum parts? The picture of engine looks like...
Manbearpig,,, I like the work your doing ! I can only guess your using vapor blasting for the aluminum parts? The picture of engine looks like a grinder or abrasive wheel,,then what did you do after?? Bead blast? primer? paint? Please share how you are doing it!
The picture was for ugliness reference only. Haha
1
Banana_oil
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Banana_oil 11/1/2019 3:46pm
11/1/2019 3:46pm
It all started with a 120 euro Jolly Moto cone pipe on ebay ☺️

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