A couple friends and I have been racing Lemons for 6 years now, and our affection for junk is well proven with four wheels - so we decided to take the show to two wheels.
If you're not familiar with Reliability Rally https://reliabilityrally.com/
Our first time doing is of course at Tail of the Dragon in North Carolina. Did I mention we live in New Hampshire? Yeah it's going to be a hike.
So we pondered for a long time different bikes ranging from Goldwings to more Goldwings and even one or two really awful bikes that weren't Goldwings.
Then we found a listing for Three, 1981 Suzuki GS250X that were formerly Shriner's bikes. High mileage was 3,600 and the low mileage on is less than half that. We voted to send Ben since he's a shameless haggler.
All three of them PLUS the trailer for $1,800.
Ben kept his at home and I grabbed the other two and the trailer since I have the space and the self hatred to work on all three.
The bikes were dirty, but obviously hadn't been worked over hard during their lives. A quick wash when I got them home had me feeling all kinds of positive feelings.
Now it was just time to figure out what they needed and what could be done to ensure PEAK reliability.
Step one is obviously throw some gas in and see if it will fire!
Unless you're me. Since I didn't know how things had been stored I pulled mine apart, checking for mice debris (none found!) and dumping the tank of old gas out. Luckily the gas was red from Stabil, but my paranoia knows no bounds. Off the carbs come!
And I found the first hiccup
One carb was missing 2 bolts and had been for a while. Further examination showed that the bowl drain was stripped out as well. Positive feelings GONE.
Until I opened it up and everything was nice and clean.
No deposits in the bowls to speak of. But I still took everything apart and did a Berryman's soak and a blow out before I reassembled. No futher issues were found.
Getting the carbs in and out... sucks.
I haven't done any polishing yet by the way - this is how the cases were.
Since I had the carbs back in I was feeling like the chances of a first fire were pretty high. Time to check the battery - none found. Not a problem I have a fresh AGM that will fit. Then I find that the positive battery cable is missing. No evidence of it anywhere. I also found a couple other wires that were loose in their crimped fittings.
It can't ever be easy.
I scalped a positive cable from my bin of Hayabusa parts (keeping it in the Suzuki family) and tossed my jumper pack on it to check things out. Lights work. Blinkers work. Engine turns over VERY slower because as it turns out my jumper pack is dead.
Guess I'll wait. Maybe it will fire on Thanksgiving.
You need a Fez
ShawnG said:You need a Fez
And absolutely don't paint it!
Shriner bikes may have low miles, but if you've ever seen them riding in parades they're hard miles...check the clutch/chain and sprockets/brakes for excessive wear.
Forgot to update this. The event was EXCELLENT. 10/10. Absolutely planning to go again once we find new bikes. The bikes? Mine ran great. Ben's ran great. Jeff's ran. The results? I won the whole dang thing.
Yes there were Fezs involved.
Man the roads around there are awesome and the Dragon is next level fun, even on a slow bike.
If you were on the fence, don't be. It's a lot of fun. The organizers are good guys. They get it.
This is how you dominate a slow race btw.
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