Yamaha Moto-Bike #3

Two of the Moto-Bikes that I restored were missing the headset plug.  The plug is plastic and held in place with rubber that is compressed by tightening a screw on the top of the plug.

Using an original plug as a model, I made a replacement from 1″ delrin rod, rubber tubing, a tee nut and a screw. The delrin plug was turned on my lathe.

The replacement seat that was on the bike didn’t look much like the original banana seat.  It was also well worn and was not easily recovered, so I tossed it and searched for a replacement.

After spending a considerable amount of time searching, I settled on the Sunlite Polo Seat This seat that was the same length and appeared to be the same shape as the original Moto-Bike seat.  It didn’t look close in real life. There was way too much padding which made the seat look too big next to an original seat.

After removing the cover, I reworked the seat by bending the sides in to match to width of a Moto-Bike seat.  I also relocating the mounts to match an original seat and ground material from the bottom edge of the seat to thin it. My wife made a new cover.  I first tried cutting the original seat foam but the result was too bumpy, so I replaced the foam. The bottom of the seat was painted gloss black like an original Moto-Bike seat.

We’re very happy with the result. The new seat is difficult to tell from an original.

Stripped and bead blasted all of the painted parts to prep them for primer. All the parts were primed with TCP Global white epoxy primer.  Handlebars and top triple clamp are satin black. Seat and bottom fork clamp are gloss black. Frame and swingarm are Yamaha yellow.

I purchased a frame holding jig for motorcycle frames off eBay. It was designed to be used with an inexpensive engine stand. I copied the design, scaled down the head tube and made this one for bicycle frames.

I cleaned up the repair welds on the frame and swingarm with a hand file.

I found this Moto-Bike on Craigslist in Seattle, contacted the seller and worked out a deal that included shipping it across the country.

The seller got it second-hand and put a lot of miles on it growing up. The frame has weld repairs in two places and the seat loop is bent. The seat, fork crown and crank-set are well worn replacement parts. The front tire is an original “Tractor Grip” tire (made in Japan) and is almost bald. It had been repainted with all of the original decals still in place.