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69 Silver Tag Hardtail Resto-Mod Project

10K views 53 replies 14 participants last post by  Schimmelaw 
#1 ·
Since proper introductions have been made (thanks for the kind welcome guys!), its time to start a build thread I guess. Photos of the day I brought this lil nasty basdar# home and just a little disassembly. Pictures speak for themselves. WHAT A POS! Other than the obvious problems: abuse, nastiness, bondo, leaks, grime, dirt, neglect, rot, rust, checking, grand-pa welds, bends and breaks, jerry rigging, the license plate bracket is fubar, there is triangle shaped steel brace welded at the backbone and first frame downtube and the fork stop is wanked. Just a few of the surprises along the way. Oh theres more too. I just can't make myself put them all up here at once. Too depressing. Let just start with these. Rick
 

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#28 ·
Some more. Harley wanted to say "Hi" to the mini and get a lil loving. Couple of upside down photos working on the those forks. New parts in stock tubes but still have a little front fork wobble. Dang it. New delrin bushes needed I guess. More to come.
 

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#30 · (Edited)
Dave mac,
That bearing set is from a 92' z50. Cleaned up, re-greased and re-used. The bearings are banded in a plastic material and fit right in the z50 race and lock down holder. Perfect fit. Easier to work with than those loose ball bearings too.

Slop/play in the head isn't the problem (see above bearing set), mine is loose/wobbly in the forks where the lower fork leg slides into the upper fork assembly. Thanks for the heads up on that bushing. I had seen that before and forgot all about them. Looks like I'll be ordering up a couple sets of those and the delrin slides .
 
#33 ·
Dave mac,
Thanks for the compliment

Guard is homemade. it is a 1" aluminum strip from Home Depot. 1" X 1/8" x 48". Cut to fit. Round the ends to desired radius then speed holes drilled out for fun. (Always use an odd number of holes - looks best with odd versus even numbers) Primed, painted with cloud silver as a base coat then several coats of candy red. Tank is the same color. Some rubber washers, red anodized washers with stainless bolts - red guard done for the time being. Will be clear coated when I have some other items ready for clear too.

Had so much fun with the first tank/guard combo, red, that I scored another tank. It and another color coordinated guard "in the process of".
 

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#35 ·
Thanks, loop.
The upper tubes are the stock Honda z50's. The internals and disc set-up are the red fork set from CHP. The caged bearing set provided w/ CHP forks works on the hardtails. The CT70 fork bushing discussed above is needed. The CHP fork assembly is loosey-goosey in the stock tubes.

By switching parts around I've created some issues with the hardtail, BUT, the whole fork setup as sold by CHP (red tubes and internal components) isn't loose. The suspension is firm and there is no slop where the fork slides up into the tubes. Its tight on this set and has dramatically improved this z50r's overall feel.
 

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#38 · (Edited)
David R,
I never had a mini growing up. My dad was an insurance adjuster and saw a lot of motorcycle wrecks. He saw a lot of blood, guts and broken body parts. There was no way he would condone me riding motorcycles much less buy me one (even if we were just going all of 10 mph bouncing around in the fields and woods around the neighborhood). I can remember crying like a two year old baby girl around Christmas and my birthdays knowing that I wouldn't be getting a mini bike. So, 50 years later, I finally got one.

dave mac,
Seat is a Honda part. I splurged and bought an original from CHP a while back. It is a split seam one with the "Honda" logo already on the back of the seat in silver.

Lots to do, but having fun, Rick
 
#39 ·
Funny what your Dad thought, my Mom was the same way, but now after looking back on a literal lifetime of riding all types of on and off road motorcycles and minis (also snowmobiles, jet ski, boats, ATC, on and on and on) I know FAR, FAR more people who have been injured on BICYCLES than on ALL of the motorized machines I mentioned combined. In fact my own Mother got hit by a car on her bicycle despite her resistance to me getting a mini back in the day for safety reasons. there's risk in EVERYTHING in life, even just sitting on the couch...might as well go and ride something cool and have some fun!
 
#40 ·
Dan Z50
Amen ad well spoken. I like to think that because my dad didn't let me have a mini back then as a kid, I never had the opportunity to "grow out of it" or get "burned out" on motorcycles. Thus, now, in my mid 50s, my passion for all things two wheeled and motorized is never ending. I've always enjoyed playing golf with family and friends, working on the landscape around the house and practicing/playing guitar, but motorcycles by far takes up most of my leisure thoughts and time. It has always been, and probably always will be my favorite hobby (whether riding or wrenching). Again, because dad said no back then, I now have a several motorcycles of all different genres, dirt bikes, street bikes, motards, dual purpose, even a kart and now mini bikes out in the shop.

Speaking of shop. Mock up of front number plate. Will be white plastic with black background. Like them both, but.....
 

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#41 ·
Been lurking but not doing much mini work last several months, BUT things are moving again. Motor halves, TB 88cc cylinder and stock head at machine shop for case bore (skirt a lil to wide to fit down in cases) and head clean. In the mean time everything else is good and ready for install.
 

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#44 · (Edited)
94dcls, thanks, questions don't bother me at all, but I'm not the expert by any means. Many very knowledgeable and talented guys on here. I've just taken a little from some of the cool builds already done and mixed in what I wanted.

Because motor parts are out, I had some shop time earlier this week, new Honda front fork pistons were installed in both lower legs. Actual forks had to be ground down to get pistons on, but once on fork legs and then reinstalled up in the fork tubes, ALL slop is gone. Bouncey yet stiff. CT70 fork pistons are the setup!!! (post #29 above)

Stock headlight wont fit b/c of the Fast 50's top bridge and handlebar clamp setup (the last picture shows how far forward the clamp is). That setup extends to far out over where the stock headlight is mounted. Since the headlight wasn't going to be used, I had to fill the void w/ something, so homemade number plate it is. I made up a little aluminum bracket and hacked up an old Yamaha YZ number plate I've had floating around here for the last 20 years. A little cutting, trimming, grinding, anodized washer, some black number plate background material and a mini Honda sticker - BOOM! - done. Quite content w/ how it turned out.

Some more pic because everybody likes em:
 

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#46 · (Edited)
Mid build thought I might like to have a light just "toggled switched" upped for night time neighborhood runs. Bought the CHP setup then powdered it satin black like the forks. Post Fast 50"s top bridge change - fit is a no-go. Dang it. Dang it. Triple dang it. Wrapped upped and in the spare parts box for next build. What could of been:
 

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#47 · (Edited)
Some motor pics post homegrown rebuild. Still some things to do but, TB 88cc kit (cylnder, piston and rings, 20mm carb w/ intake, throttle cable and filter), high volume oil pump, new cam chain and a roller, kickstarter shaft, new ignition system and gasket/seal kit installed. Cloud silver painted ignition and clutch covers, black powdered levers w/ some new rubber and a little bling for fun.

Having fun and moving forward. Rick
 

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#50 ·
Found a cool part on an in state Craigslist search. (This along w/ some other needed z50 parts for less than a dinner date at Olive Garden!!!) Current pics. Buddy had to do a little bending and welding in a couple of places but all is good now. Refurb will include some cloud silver paint, polished raised section with the verbiage filled in with some red and black paint.
 

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#52 ·
Davmoto,
Yep, i'm thrilled to have one. Saw it on Houston craigslist "motorcycle parts" section while just perusing. Couldn't believe what I was seeing. Called the man up and he said he would ship. Paid his asking price for the parts package plus shipping and a little cash for his time. Part was in better shape than I could have hoped for. Got to work on it today and paint is currently drying.
 
#53 ·
Mine came off the lift and made its debut this past weekend.

A few issues: carb issues (spitting sputtering at idle) - shifts hard - kinda loud - back brake is weak - kickstarter sometimes "slips" through its stroke
If anyone has suggestions to remedy above probs - post up , I'm listening

The good is that it: starts easy with choke - nothing leaks (tank or engine) - comfortable - turns well - front brake is strong - front suspension is good - almost done
 

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