1979 Suzuki X5 Long term rebuild

[mister c]

Hi.
I seemed to have put my rebuild in the wrong part of the forum. If you would like to see how this started, the thread is here https://forums.sv650.org/showthread.php?t=231180


So, with Christmas upon us, progress has been slow. New tyres were fitted & not a lot else has happened. I've ordered some new parts & even found a couple of impossible to find bits in Indonesia of all places .
The 1st impossible piece is the handlebar cover. This is a small piece of plastic with "Suzuki" embossed on it. Sat on Ebay at stupid o'clock in the morning & came across this part after hours of trawling.



The Suzuki part isn't painted on the X5, so I took some very fine wire wool & sanded it all off. I then had to make a bracket out of some aluminium plate I have in the shed & fitted it. I'm really pleased as it looks OE.


I also noticed that when the tyres were fitted, the shocks looked wrong. I was correct, when I measured them, they were 280mm centre to centre, X5 shocks are 300mm. I found a compnay called TEC, their shocks look just like standard & were a great price too. They arrived within a couple of days & were really easy to fit. They have made one heck of a difference.



I've also found a brand new old stock chain cover from the same place in Indonesia & a brand new tail piece cover from a seller in the UK, but waiting for these to arrive.


Today I had some indicators & the front mudguard arrive, so, after work set to in the shed to fit them. The indicators were nice & easy to fit, but the pattern mudguard was a different story. I've had to drill the mounting holes, so used the original as a template. When I drilled the holes & mounted it. Unfortunately, it's sitting a little high, so, tomorrow after work, I'll do some jigging & filing to get it sitting right.



Hopefully I should have a few more parts turning up over the next few days.

[garynortheast]

This is really coming together nicely now Col. It looks so close to being there.

[Craig380]

It's looking great! I have a memory that the plastic handlebar trim on my old X5 had the lettering picked out in silver, but that may not be correct.

[maviczap]

A labour of love there Col, especially sourcing those difficult parts

[Sir Trev]

Col - you're quite the magician my friend. Wish I had the patience to do something like this.

[mister c]

Originally Posted by garynortheast

This is really coming together nicely now Col. It looks so close to being there.

Still a fair way to go yet Gary. I'm thinking of removing the engine again as the middle crank bearing is a little noisy, I can't make my mind up as I won't be riding it that often

Originally Posted by Craig380

It's looking great! I have a memory that the plastic handlebar trim on my old X5 had the lettering picked out in silver, but that may not be correct.

I'll be honest I can't remember on my original one, but all of the pictures I've seen, they are black

Originally Posted by maviczap

A labour of love there Col, especially sourcing those difficult parts

I think that sourcing parts is one of the fun parts of the build, it takes a while, but you feel quite accomplished when you find them

Originally Posted by Sir Trev

Col - you're quite the magician my friend. Wish I had the patience to do something like this.

It takes my mind away from reality Trev, plus, I should have a nice bike when it's all done

[Bibio]

looking superb

[mister c]

Came home from work today & found that another couple of items had dropped through the letterbox. The correct kickstart & a pair of fork reflectors, so, after going food shopping with the missus, I headed off into my leaky shed to play.


The kickstart was plug & play, so a quick tap with a mallet & tighten a screw, it's on



Next on the agenda was lowering the front mudguard. It didn't take me too long to re drill 4 holes a little further down the ribs & check to see what it looked like. In my opinion, a lot better. It could go lower still, but I think it looks right now. I took the grinder to the excess webbing & ground it to tidy it up.



The last part today were the fork reflectors. I ordered 2 from China for £2.20 delivered. When I opened the packaging, there were 2 PAIRS in the bag. So I had 4 reflectors for £2.20 delivered from China, how on earth is that possible?
I did have a slight problem as the screws on the reflectors were 6mm & the holes in the yoke are 5mm. I took a reflector apart to see how they were made & it had a screw bonded into the plastic. I used my grinder to get rid of the excess plastic, removed the screw & replaced it with a 5mm one. I screwed it into the yoke & replaced the reflector top. It's as good as new

[garynortheast]

I assume the hole in the mudguard is for a speedo cable guide/fixing?

[mister c]

Originally Posted by garynortheast

I assume the hole in the mudguard is for a speedo cable guide/fixing?

It is mate, yes