Lovingly restoring the worst bike I've ever ridden.

perhaps you could have shipped those bikes over in the trunk of a Lada. then you could have another project to work on..

I actually admired the Lada Zhiguli based on the Fiat. Air-cooled, with a ton of suspension travel. Tough as Hell. We took one places that I would go in my Land Cruiser -- if I had it in Russia.

back in the early '80s i had a Fiat 131. it was a blast to drive. had something of a love/hate relationship with that car cuz it was so fun to drive but very difficult to keep running reliably. i wished i had it back tho.

In college, I had an 850 Spider that I swear I pushed more than I drove. It was a good thing I lived close to campus. Ended up giving it to some poor sap. Wish I had put a Honda motor in it.

I had a 128 and later a 131 and they were both the same. Fun cars but always broken. Italian materials in 70's weren't exactly aerospace quality...

aint that the truth. my biggest problem was that i couldnt find a replacement clamp that held the exhaust manifold to the exhaust pipe. i had to keep trying to put the old clamp on but it wouldnt hold very long.

Tonight the rear wheel got a new rim strip, tube, and tire. Same story as the front, but without the pinched tube.





This next one is a picture from the last post, when I did the front wheel. I am re posting it because I forgot to point something out. You see the wire wheel I have on the grinder? It says it is safe up to 12,500rpm, and my grinder only spins 10,000rpm. According to my abacus, that leaves 2,500rpm of headroom. And yet, when I turn it on, I am assaulted by hundreds of short, wavy stainless steel wires. Its like a robot porcupine swallowed a hand grenade. They stick into my skin, giving me a peculiar pattern of little welts. I can only hope that if I die within the next few days, the coroner will be stumped.

And yet, I continue to do it...


This picture illustrates that the extremely slipshod build quality extends beyond the bike itself. Something tells me that they did not outsource the wheels, but rather made them in house with the kind of craftsmanship and skill that an employee can only attain after decades of being blackout drunk at work.


Matching pair!



Now to thank our sponsors! Since some of you brainiacs decided to send me money, I thought it would be cool to put each person's donation toward a part, rather than saying "you 18 idiots over there gave me enough to buy ONE tire." That way everybody gets something tangible (and terrible).

So, Hughlysses was first. What a fine honor! This can be part of your ADV signature now. First to throw money at the idiot rebuilding worthless crap! You are a philanthropic gentleman. For your kindness, you get the front tire/tube/rim strip set up. Look at that bad boy! The tire was made with care by the good folks at Golden Boy (Who?), and will bring me many yards of uninterrupted pleasure. Thank you.

Tytvan was next, giving him the enviable title "Minsk Donation For Making Of Glorious Motorbike - 000002"
So you get the rear tire/tube/rim strip, which is a matching set with Hughlysses' Golden Boy. Impeccable taste you gentlemen have. The rim strips were made by "Bulk - 10pcs in pack". Only the finest here, boys.

Just in case we have other deep thinkers in our midst, the paypal email address to send donations to is Minskidiot@gmail.com

Oh my god this is awesome!

I concur!!!

Build on crazy builder dood!!

This thread is what the internet is for.

I had a giggle-snort attack when I got to the soda blasting episode.

It was 1am, the kids are asleep... must. not. laugh. too. loud. It was like having some kind of attack trying to laugh quietly. If my wife had wandered by, I think she would have called the hospital.

I'm sending you $10. This thread was funnier than a hit of NO2.

God I love this thread! I was thrilled to see it pop back up. Please continue to post your progress (or lack there of)

P.S. Down with trolls, if you don't think this is the funniest thing since handing a baby a razor blade, go leaf through a Touratech catalog and sip your Venti half-soy half-skim caramel faga-latte and leave the rest of us in peace.

oh i love this stuff, there's just something about making a winner out of less than nothing that makes redneck engineering the best way of getting things done.

So, to make sure we stay on a safe topic...

What kind of capitalist pig oil will you be adding to this wonderful example of the people's bike?

great build thread, it is all about having fun, thanks for helping us remember that!

ps; where do I get a Minsk owners club t-shirt?

I just stumbled upon this thread two days ago and have never been so amused in my life. Sounds like my 1980 KZ750 rebuild fiasco. Just gonna say, I have never gone through as much oil in anything in my whole life. My buddies garage has more kitty litter or Oil Dry all over the floor than he has clear floor. Keep up the good work, I mean keep up the work and have a blast doing it. Thank you for giving me something funny to kill the mundane work week. because I laughed so hard.

Stephen

31.

31 pages of Ruskie torture, Trabbies, swallowtail Rabbits, seriously awesome off roaders, a liberal coating of Christmas in the garage, and a most excellent shutdown of the biggest tool in the thread.

I read it in one shot and feel like I need a shower. Awesome! Keep up this most excellent debacle and I'll send a few bucks your way if my kids ever decide to stop eating or something.

I'm gonna get some Minsk stickers made up and put them on my Honda 250 petrol tank and call it done.

Great thread......we need more eccentrics in this World

You people keep me going on this, thank you all for continuing to follow this. Alright, ok, ok, uhhhh here we go. I am going to go to Derek's tonight for an hour or two come hell or high water. I am buried at work, and I have too many cars, so I keep thinking I am going to work on the Minsk, and then it gets put on the back burner over and over. TONIGHT.

I. Want. Progress.

Naturally, I have not asked Derek if he has time.

In other news, A friend closed down his shop and sold me his lathe for super cheap. What this means for all of you is that the possibility of catastrophic (hilarious) failure has just skyrocketed. Also, it means I can attempt working on these stupid bikes without dragging Derek's good name through the oily soviet mud. Me, with a lathe? What could go wrong?

TONIGHT! (Hopefully)

oh... hang on a minute, I need to fetch a beer.


Ok, I'm ready now.