Lovingly restoring the worst bike I've ever ridden.

[stevegt738]

This thread is gold, love the soda episode .

[Unstable Rider]

This is wonderfully painful to watch.

I will stand by; I know CPR.

I and another chum once attempted to "restore" I think Honda's very first ever ATV with four wheels.

It started the same way. I won't tell you how it ended, there are restraining orders in place, just sayin.

[Nailhead]

Mullet-- thanks for posting this, in particular the soda blasting part: I have never laughed so hard at anything on ADV.

Thanks again, and keep it up.

[bmwhacker]

Originally Posted by Nailhead

Mullet-- thanks for posting this, in particular the soda blasting part: I have never laughed so hard at anything on ADV.

Thanks again, and keep it up.

Just wait til he blasts the other two Minsks.

[ZenMoto]

This thread is keeping me from hurting my coworkers in an otherwise miserable week at work (and it's only Tuesday?!?!).

Love the effort, and totally understand the motivation.

Keep it up!!!

[Nailhead]

Originally Posted by bmwhacker

Just wait til he blasts the other two Minsks.

Thanks for the warning!

[DreadPirateKermit]

Originally Posted by Mullet5

When I put the race back in without its custom soda can shim, I am able to move it back and forth about 1/4", and probably 1/32" left to right. Take the race out and look at the bottom of the head tube and you can see that it is an oval.

I don't understand, won't 'merican pop can shims work to fix this very minor bit of wear?

Great thread. At least it's not me throwing away my hard earned cash on something that everyone else knows is ju^H^H^H not so collectible.

[Owlseye]

And on the other hand of the baking soda affair; I'll bet you garage never smelled fresher...

Thanks for this. As one who has toiled many hours on what others felt were pointless tasks, I understand the urge to fix these questionable things up. Can't explain it or justify it, but I understand. Probably the same urge that lemmings get just before they hurl themselves off cliffs--- made sense at the time....

[vtwin]

Subscribed! Great thread for not so great bikes. This is like watching a train wreck, I can't take my eyes off it!

[Hughlysses]

Originally Posted by Mullet5

When I put the race back in without its custom soda can shim, I am able to move it back and forth about 1/4", and probably 1/32" left to right. Take the race out and look at the bottom of the head tube and you can see that it is an oval.

Ahh, you obviously have one of the limited edition racing Minsks, with special easily alterable front suspension geometry!

Great thread!

[Mullet5]

Originally Posted by Hughlysses

Ahh, you obviously have one of the limited edition racing Minsks, with special easily alterable front suspension geometry!

Great thread!

Funny you should notice that, as the bike also came with the ultra rare Works AMG/TWR adjustable foot pegs. To adjust them you simply stand on them whilst going 20+ miles per hour and they will break right the hell off, then you can weld them back on in any position you want. Adjustable pegs for the people!

[Stegerman]

This is so good you popped my "thread subscription" cherry... first one ever... be gentle.

[bmwhacker]

Originally Posted by Stegerman

This is so good you popped my "thread subscription" cherry... first one ever... be gentle.

[datchew]

Well, look at it this way. You won't have to worry about anything in your garage getting a chemical burn for awhile.

[bmwhacker]

Originally Posted by Mullet5

Yesterday Larisa and I went out for some rain riding, I took Aivars' KLR, and she took the KE100. When we got back to the house, I wanted to try to get the front fork mounted properly, as it was just kind of mocked up for the pictures last week. First I realized that I had no ball bearings for it. I had assumed that they were in the big heap of parts somewhere, but no. I am guessing that when they disassembled the bike, the ball bearings went rolling across the shop floor, and the mechanic just sort of shrugged and kept packing.

So I need new ball bearings. No big deal. I called Derek at Motolab to see if he could help me find the right ball bearings. For some reason he is always willing to help me out, even if I'm working on a Minsk. As I am talking to Derek on the phone I am removing the forks, and the bottom race just sort of falls out. But whats more, when it falls out I notice that it has a bit of aluminum soda can wrapped around it to shim it in place...



When I put the race back in without its custom soda can shim, I am able to move it back and forth about 1/4", and probably 1/32" left to right. Take the race out and look at the bottom of the head tube and you can see that it is an oval.

Great. I briefly consider not telling Derek about my little discovery, because I know he is going to make me fix it correctly, which means real work. I tell him about it, then start asking him if various idiotic ideas I have will work, and he patiently explains why each one of my ideas is terrible. "Can I just weld the race in place??" and "Can I just cut the head tube off and weld another one in its place?" are two of my brighter suggestions, but he is not amused by either. So I put wheels on the bike, roll it into the Sprinter, and bring it to Derek. He looks slightly horrified when he sees it in person.

So Derek has seen it, and now he is figuring out what will be the simplest way to fix it, but it sounds like no matter what I am going to have to strip it down to a bare frame again.

In the mean time, here's some pictures of it when I wheeled it out of my garage

The suspense of our proper repair report is kill'in me.
Hell, I would of just refreshened it up with some Domestic Beer can stock...