They! followed me home, I swear.

Was hoping to have more good to report… but just bad and ugly haha

IMG_9655.jpeg

IMG_9659.jpeg
IMG_9661.jpeg

IMG_9671.jpeg
IMG_9672.jpeg
IMG_9673.jpeg


At first I thought the oil tank was fiberglass when I knocked on it haha

Lots of what appears to be jb weld as a filler. Still pretty soft too.

Any one got any suggestions on how I might go about removing the dent?? I’d like to try and save this if possible. A replacement is about as expensive as what I paid for the bike itself.

It’s a tricky one to get a spoon/shovel into to try and lift/press it up from the inside.
 
I pulled a tank dent in my XS with the glue kit. It helped to put a little air pressure in the tank, not that I think that's safe, but I did it with a regulator and wore a face mask from the grinder, and ear plugs... Yours looks fubared. File 13 imho.
 
Well that sucks...
Any idea what gauge that oil tank's made from? It looks like a good candidate for one or those glue on puller systems, but from here it's looks like the metal is a bit too stout for it. :shrug:

It’s thick stuff. At least twice the thickness of a tank.

It would have to be weld on with a pull hammer to do it from the outside.

My guess is, being a dual sport, it took a spill and landed on a rock.
 
I pulled a tank dent in my XS with the glue kit. It helped to put a little air pressure in the tank, not that I think that's safe, but I did it with a regulator and wore a face mask from the grinder, and ear plugs... Yours looks fubared. File 13 imho.

It likely is. They are available but it will cost me.
 
Not sure how it looks ..with the dent .
But read that it is possible to cut a hole from the non visible side and then work through that hole.
Afterwards patching the hole via soldering --- Using another piece of steel with overlap.

If thick TIG the patch maybe possible
 
Not sure how it looks ..with the dent .
But read that it is possible to cut a hole from the non visible side and then work through that hole.
Afterwards patching the hole via soldering --- Using another piece of steel with overlap.

If thick TIG the patch maybe possible
I've seen it done before on fuel tanks, it must make a really difficult job easy with just a few minutes cutting.
Just a bit of a bummer if the damn thing explodes while you're welding the hole up
 
Not sure how it looks ..with the dent .
But read that it is possible to cut a hole from the non visible side and then work through that hole.
Afterwards patching the hole via soldering --- Using another piece of steel with overlap.

If thick TIG the patch maybe possible

Yes that is possible - I could also cut off the fill neck and get at it from the top.

I could also prop down $100 bucks and get ones that’s clean and straight.

It’s a time/money equation on my end. I’m thinking since that will probably be my biggest expense, outside painting it I will opt to make my life a little easier if possible.
 
The grime continues…

IMG_9858.jpeg
IMG_9860.jpeg


But the motor is out.


IMG_9865.jpeg
IMG_9868.jpeg


And a bit more ugly…

IMG_9839.jpeg


It would appear I am going to need a new piston (and rings). There is a little scoring so I will probably get the next size up and bore it to 2nd over.

The crank also has a bit of rust on it where I think it had been sitting for some time without oil on it.
IMG_9840.jpeg


IMG_9841.jpeg

The crank itself fells in good condition as do the bearings but I can’t say for certain until I get the motor split. I can’t seem to find my case splitting tool so I had to order one so it’ll be a few days.

There was no rust in the barrel and the crank case was full of fresh oil, although it could have sat for a while before the PO had it and put oil in it. Who knows…
 
Have you tried to locate parts for your bike yet? I’ve always wondered how hard it would be to find parts for some of these rather rare bikes.

Parts don’t seem to be too difficult to find but they may be used or nos and there may only be 1 to be had.

I did get cables, a reg/rec, an ignition(key), and coil, all of which are available state side for relatively inexpensive.

The fenders on here are not correct and real ones are NOT cheap. It was only 69 and 70 that had metal chrome fenders. They changed in 71 as there were so many complaints of the bike being too heavy.

Preston petty is still in business so I will be running some period correct plastic fenders. (They are also relatively inexpensive)

I also have aluminum rims, spokes, a correct seat cover, a 6v horn and a brake switch coming from Vietnam. Cost isn’t crazy but shipping is a hit!

NOS pistons and rings are on eBay.

And I think I have devised a plan to fix my oil tank, but we’ll see what happens. More on that later…

Beyond tires, grips and levers, I think that sums up the bike.

I may try to have a few parts chromed but we’ll see.

I do intend to ride this thing off road so perfection is not a necessity.

The upside to the TS is that it was made into the 80s. Parts changed for sure, but there is a decent following for them.
 
Last edited:
The upside to the TS is that it was made into the 80s. Parts changed for sure, but there is a decent following for them.

The guy who used to do my MOT tests in the UK raced a Harris framed GS1000.

I took a ratty TS250 in for testing, and he was telling me that they had quite a fearsome reputation for ROAD RACING in UK production racing.
Apparently the light build of the TS, and its narrow profile gave it a significant advantage over most of the two stroke twins of the era.
Power output of the single cylinder was impressive when tuned correctly
 
The guy who used to do my MOT tests in the UK raced a Harris framed GS1000.

I took a ratty TS250 in for testing, and he was telling me that they had quite a fearsome reputation for ROAD RACING in UK production racing.
Apparently the light build of the TS, and its narrow profile gave it a significant advantage over most of the two stroke twins of the era.
Power output of the single cylinder was impressive when tuned correctly

I believe as early as the end of 69 they even had factory (Suzuki) race kits you could buy as an option. Called a hot up kit and bumped you from about 23hp to over 30.

A new barrel, head and exhaust.

Pretty cool!

I am planning on some light port work on this but reliability is key on this one.
 
Anyone got ideas for best practices for fixing this frame??
IMG_9907.jpeg


My ideas so far are 2 different options.

Option 1 - cut a notch in it and weld it, then cut some plates to weld over it on both sides to reinforce.

Option 2 - cut a window and drop in a slug, drill some holes, weld in the slug, then cover the window with a plate and weld it up.

And I guess option 3 would be both…

I’m leaning towards 2 but getting a curved plug may be difficult as I don’t have a way to heat and bend it, although I’m sure I could figure something out if need be.

It would seem the crack in this area was common enough that by the following year they added reinforcement in this area (like option 1).

Ideas? Thoughts? General ramblings about my wasting of time on this frame?
 
If you use a slug, use a hollow (tubular) one.
A solid piece of bar is just too rigid, you'll probably get more cracking issues.
That's a nasty crack in a nasty place.
Suzuki should have known better than to design it like that.
Method 1 would probably make a better repair if you design it right, even if it looks terrible
 
Back
Top