A true story...
 

Once upon a time there was a really sad Bloop that had been locked in the evil wizard’s shed for 30 years, who got rescued, fixed up and treated to an oily rag restoration. Bloop was much happier, but every time she looked in her mirror she could see she still had a really ugly exhaust header that let down her otherwise good looks.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...66ab14f2f6.jpg
The pipe leaked a bit and had been patched up many times, it made Bloop a bit sad. Then one day someone found Bloop a shiny new old stock genuine Suzuki B100P header that was even older than she was, but had been sitting on a shelf for over 40 years, still in its original Suzuki wrapping:
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...c903131d17.jpg
It took only a minute or two to swap Bloop’s old scabby exhaust for the new, shiny one, and she even got a new gasket that happened to be in her spares box. Bloop looked and sounded marvellous:
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...616f5b16b1.jpg
Bloop’s life was complete, she looked beautiful, went to the ball and lived happily ever after with her friend SV:
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...01dc41fe9b.jpg


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Re: A true story...
 

Haha, I love a story with a happy ending :D:D:D

Re: A true story...
 

Shiny shiny, me likey da story

Re: A true story...
 

Now you got to polish and clean the rest to match the pipe<BFG> :D

Re: A true story...
 

... I may get a new oily rag :-)

Re: A true story...
 

Nice story, nice bike, looks fabulous.
I like your wee Bloop, great to see it unrestored and bearing the signs of use.
Would be completely spoilt if you removed the aging.
Old restored bikes are like women with facelifts, they just don't look right.

Re: A true story...
 

Re: A true story...
 

Thank you for that vote of confidence. I agree, the problem with restorations is where does one stop? From the outset with the Bloop I decided I'd only replace parts that were either mechanically or electrically broken or worn out, and the rest would just be preserved as it was (more or less). I had bodged the header pipe and knew that one day I'd have to do something about it, so I was pleased when the NOS part appeared last week. It looks a little shiny compared with the rest of the bike, but that contradiction is fine.

I took the Bloop out for a run this afternoon - about 10 miles I should think, it now does 60 MPH and even holds 50 MPH uphill! I came back with a huge smile on my face - it was being 17 again.

As Aaron Kaufmann would say: I'm as happy as a little girl.

Re: A true story...
 

Love it! Spent months trying to find a decent seat for my B120 (which yours is, B100P had the lovely chrome/rubber tank panels), and eventually found a new/old stock one in Canada though it cost a small fortune by the time shipping was added on. Proper rocking horse poo. That header is a very lucky find, mines useable and better than your old one but would like to get another NOS one unless that was the last one on the planet.

Re: A true story...
 

I think you are right about my bike being a B120 (I didn't know the chrome tank was the difference though) - it used to have a sticker saying '120' on the battery cover, but that must have fallen off over time. Bloop is much easier to pronounce - and the engine type is still stamped 'B100' (I suspect they all were, Suzuki didn't change much in 30 years) so I still call her Bloop.

The header came from a private seller on eBay for £45 (a bargain?)- part of a garage clear out I think. I've just checked on eBay and the seller seems to have lots of older bike bits (many Suzuki), I have sent you a message with his eBay user name, it might be worth dropping him a line to see if he has access to another header?