YamaParts

Where do you even begin to describe the process of disassembling two whole motorcycles... You know from the start that you're in for a few surprises with each of them but you have no idea what: Will some of the screws be next to impossible to remove? Will the oil have turned rancid and stink up the whole room for hours? Will the frame be mended using 'special' methods?

The first surprise came pretty much right away when I started work on the blue AS2J, after the petrol tank had been emptied and removed it was time to disconnect the battery. First thing to note is that the contact had oxidized and was stuck so I had to remove it by opening the fuse container. Something tells me that this bike had a bit of electrical problems when it last ran: the fuse was a nail!

The oil in the engine was about as fresh as can be expected but at least it didn't smell all to bad. Unfortunately the wire holder on the generator was broken, I can't understand why this is the case on most of the bikes we get. Other than that the engine and components were in good order, the clutch carriage is fresh without marks, the plug next to the drive sprocket is whole and the carburetors look good.

Next however came the biggest of the problems: the swing axle that needs to come out in order to remove the right exhaust. It had rusted completely stuck, even turning the head to rotate loose the rust didn't make the job of removing it any easier. In the end the solution was gratuitous amounts of violence! A hammer can solve those tricky problems. I used a plastic tipped hammer to avoid damaging the metal. A little later both exhaust were removed.

The handle, light and front fork all came off easily. A nice surprise was that the light indicator on top of the headlight had a blue AS3 lens in good condition instead of the standard red AS2J lens. I don't know the exact reason but the red lens is much more common than the blue lens.

Up next was the second AS2J, the red one!

This one had been up and running on the roads as late as last year, when I started draining the oil out of the oil tank it was as fresh as when it comes out of the bottle so I saved the clean, early flow for when I next might need some oil.  Unfortunately the oil drained so slowly that the sun had time to set before the tank was empty. I let the last oil drip out during the night and continued work the next day.

Unfortunately oil turns out to be the theme of this bike: everything was covered in a nice layer of oil and dust from the road. The exhaust pipes were absolutely full of oil, it's always good to have a box ready to let them drain into when you've removed them so they don't spill oil on the floor. Other than getting plenty of oil on my hands everything went well until I came to the kick: the splines must have broken at some point because the kick had been welded to the kick axle. That means that the angle grinder will have to deal with the kick but that's for a later day.

What's remarkable about both these bikes are how well preserved the front and especially rear fenders are. Usually the rear fenders have severe rust in them, very few are even salvageable to get rechromed, but both of these were in great condition. Especially the one on the red AS2J was spectacular, it was covered with a thick layer of dirt underneath but there isn't a spec of rust on it!

Enjoy the pictures!

AS2J Disassembly

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The AS3 came from a seller in Stockholm a few days ago. It's taken a few hits, the fuel tank has got a pretty big dent in it, something that probably broke the gear lever because it was replaced with one from Puch...

The kick was also broken from its holder, the axle it attaches to was broken in half! The entire bike is completely was completely covered in oil and grime from the road, there was even oil in the hinges for the saddle. The front engine holder was full of dirt from over 30 years, when we removed the screws the metal stuck to the grime, had to pry it off with a screwdriver. It looked like the exhaust pipes were covered in liqorice. All that oil had one big advantage though, it had preserved the bike, there's almost no rust on it! A lot of the parts look like they are brand new once we cleaned all the oil off.

It looks like no one has tampered with it either, a lot of the factory original details that people usually miss when they assemble them themselves are still there. All in all it's a real bargain :)

As of yet we haven't decided what to do with it but time will tell.

AS3 20090503

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The somewhat black AS2J we got a while back is in very bad shape and it lacks proper paperwork. We're going to harvest it for parts instead!

The seat has been damaged sometime in the past, but repaired very creatively with a lot of duct tape and a plastic bag from ICA...

The wiring was too damaged to save, so instead we saved some time and just cut the wires, makes removing the electrical system a lot easier.

It's a funny thing, lately all the motorcycles we disassemble have damages to the engine block, most commonly damage just above the drive sprocket from where the chain has hit it! A funny thing is that not only are the cylinder heads from an AS3, the piston on the right is turned the wrong way! A restoration top tip, the arrow on the piston should face the exhaust, there are different size cut-outs at the bottom of the piston and if turned the wrong way it will damage the performance.

When removing the engine, you should have someone around to help, we were two when removing it but even then we hit a snag and almost broke a few fingers when the engine got stuck and dropped from the frame.

spareparts AS2J

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Miguels carburettors are done and about to go back to brazil but they've left something for everyone: A complete pictoral walkthrough on how to rebuild a carburettor :)

Carburettors 20080804

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Our friend Miguel in Brazil was having some problems with his carburettors and asked if we could help him with them. Said and done, a few weeks later they arrived in the mail. The problem is that sometimes different petrol mixes can corrode the metal, something that has happened here, but we will do our best to fix them :)

Carburettors 20080608

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In the new years eve update we showed you the engine blocks for the second AS2C and the new AS3. Glen at yamaha center has done a great job putting the engines together, they turn smoothly and as always they're made only with NOS parts. This is the first update in a long while, and the second ever, that needed posting in the general part :)

Engines 20080106

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The carburettors for the AS1 and AS2 project are finished! They're all as new, NOS parts have been used for them down to the very last tiny screw.

Carburettors 20070615

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