"new" 83 suzuki gn125 for son

[jwhughes3]

Here is my latest project - a 125 Suzuki for my son to learn on and drive to work and school - he just turned 16 and got his M endorsement when he got his license - he tool the course the weekend of his BD and is looking forward to some wheels.



It needs tires and tubes and probably a battery though this one recharged OK - I wouldn't trust it long.

You can push start this thing in 2 feet Its real quiet - good muffler - and smooth throughout the accelleration though I have only ridden it around the block so far because of the tires.

Here is the dented tank that will need fixing and it needs 1 side cover.







Dylan tried it out when he got home from work - big smile and I think he will likely spend all day tomorrow cleaning the rims and spokes. It has a Bill of Sale from Police Abandonment Auction so no $ spent till we get a title - otherwise I will be stuck with an expensive parts bike - but I think it will be OK.

Anyway let the fun begin -

John

[Jarion]

Outstanding

My first bike was a Bridgestone .... think I remember it beinging a 50 or 60 cc.
Then, my Dad cut a deal with the local Suzuki dealer and I upgraded to a 185cc twin.... loved that bike....
Heartwarming to know you're going to revive that one.

Also, when I picked up the XS that we have now... it was missing a title... wasn't a huge deal to fix that problem... just takes some time, paperwork.. and a couple of trips to DMV.

That dented tank will be some good father/son bonding (or should I say bondo)

[Jarion]

It was a twin / 2 stroke / 1975

http://www.suzukicycles.org/photos/G...r-side_640.jpg

[jwhughes3]

dented tank

Jarion I don't think thats gonna bondo. I looked at it carefully last night thinking we just needed to knock it out from inside a bit - but you can't get to it - there is a lip inside the filler that extends down about 3/4" - this keeps you from getting a rod in to push outward. There is no gas gauge so no big sender hole like on our tanks... gotta think on this one.


John

[Jarion]

I'm by no means a paint and body person....
however, if it were me I'd be musing over the use of a slide hammer.... and a lot of patience or... I'd be looking for another tank.

[mrutah12]

thats not a bad looking bike at all

I have used air in the past to push dents out did on a goldwing i had worked good or you can do like a freind of mine did he used a tig welder tacked the wire that comes out of the middle and then he used the wire to pull the dents out just food for thought. good luck i know your son is happy i was when i got my first bike

[natemoen]

Yeah I would say light (to start say 10psi and slowly work up a bot but not over maybe 50psi) or a stud welded and a slide hammer. Gonna need some bonds though.

[SFerinTEXAS]

Looks like a good choice.

[tcoop]

An 82 gn125 was what I got for my wife, son and daughter to learn on we only had it for about 8 months. It was light enough that they were able to pick it up when they dropped it. Nice bike to get around town on but it had a hard time getting over 45 mph.(which realy is a good thing for beginers)

[jwhughes3]

yup -thats the idea

I had read that they have a top speed of 70 on Friday, if you start on Wednesday....

Once we get the title thing settled and plates/ins etc - he is supposed to ride it between here and his HS - about 3.5 miles. His job at Fiesta Texas is about 7 miles away and he can ride the 1604 Feeder Rd all the way so 45 will be OK.

With the small amount of cash he will be grateful for cheap trans - I know when I was his age I had a 78 Chrysler New Yorker with a 440 Mopar in it that got about 6 mpg (Dad could always get more dangit) and even though gas was .50/gal I spent most of my paycheck just driving to school and work and GF house. When I traded for a Honda Accord life was good at 30mpg

John

[fredintoon]

Jarion I don't think thats gonna bondo. I looked at it carefully last night thinking we just needed to knock it out from inside a bit - but you can't get to it - there is a lip inside the filler that extends down about 3/4" - this keeps you from getting a rod in to push outward. There is no gas gauge so no big sender hole like on our tanks... gotta think on this one.
John

Hi John,
enough Bondo will fix anything! For a dent that big, tack weld a patch of 22ga expanded metal over the dent to hold the Bondo in place.
Or braze flat head 1/4-20 screws onto the dent surface after torch annealing the dent area. Use a slide hammer on the screws to pull the dent out nearer to the proper shape. Melt the brazed screws off again when you are done. No way it will be perfect but it'll be an easier Bondo job.
IMHO compressed air won't work and is dangerous.
The one time I tried it, the tank tunnel started to widen while the dent never moved. Realizing that the dent was probably the strongest part of the tank, I quit before the tank blew up in my face.

[Jarion]

I concur with that

My initial thought was air but after musing over it a bit... figured that the dent wouldn't move much ... and during the process the tank would probably begin taking on the characteristics of a balloon....
However, having said that and if faced with a similar delima.... it is probably something I would "carefully" attempt (initially) just to see if it helped at all.... no doubt the gage of the steel will play a role in how successful this would be.
Also, if there's "some" internal air pressure .... it may ease the procedure with the slide hammer.

Please post up some pictures of how you proceed with this.... interested in seeing how the tank looks once you've gotten it fixed.

What ideas does your son have for this? I'm sure the two of you have had conversations about it.

JT

[Jarion]

Also

John,
I just read your thread about the Mopar....

At 16 I had two cars...
First was a 59 Chevy Belair with the wings on the back.... little 283 with two speed powerglide that would barely get out of its own way..... was a good car.
Second, and the one I wish I still had... was a 69 Mustang... 428CJ ... 4 speed.....

Having that Mustang at that age.... All I can say is God is the only reason I'm still sitting here now.

JT

[natemoen]

To do it with air you have to take it slow, use as little pressure as necessary and you need to continually be tapping/beating around the edges to coax that area to move and not other areas. I have used it on plenty of tanks (never a bike tank though) and it has always worked without problems. You never get perfect results because the metal is already deformed so youstill need the bondo.

Think of a plastic bottle that's dented, now blow into it. Some dents pop right out others dont, now when squeezing around the dent it starts to pop out.

[jwhughes3]

tank fix ideas

Thanks all for the tank fix ideas - I will post pics once done - but here is what we decided to try -

I fired up the compressor just to see what that was like - I held my hand over the inlet and used a blower - self designed pressure relief

I could see minor movement on the sides before air just went past my hand - mostly I could see this wasn't how I wanted to go without some feed into a rigged cap and I didn't want to go that far.

I sanded a clean metal area in middle of dent.
Found a good size bolt and nut.
Used cold steel epoxy to glue the bolt to the metal area and left it overnight.

If you have ever played with the golfball epoxied to the bottle thing in the hardware store you know it won't come off easy.

Plan is to use the bolt and nut to pull the dent out close to where it should be (this is close to the tack weld idea but without scary heat and a gas tank)

Once where we want it, grind off the bolt and excess epoxy and bondo.

Thanks all for the input.

John