Barn find Yamaha! Old dirtbike buried behind a bunch of junk

So quite a while ago my brother told me his neighbor had an old bike stuffed in the back of a barn. I managed to sneak a peak at it at one point, but wasn't sure I wanted to pick it up.

It festered in the back of my mind for a whole year. They were in and out of town, our paths just never seemed to be able to cross, until... FINALLY... I was able to go back and make a deal! Hauled it home on the hitch carrier, and after a few basic checks, gave it the old boot. What do you think? Not bad for a barn find!? Check out my new shirts!!! https://www.teepublic.com/user/rusty-phoenix-motors Connect with me here! https://www.youtube.com/c/RustyPhoenixMotors https://www.facebook.com/rustyphoenixmotors https://www.instagram.com/dorkpunch_rustyphoenixmotors/?hl=en https://www.instructables.com/member/Rusty%20Phoenix%20Motors/ https://rusytphoenixmotors.blogspot.com/

What if my gas tank is rusty? How to seal and coat a fuel tank!

 So... Don't ever take your hand off the funnel when pouring tank liner in...

SUPER common problem when working on old motorcycles- the tank is rusty, has pinholes, or it's just filthy dirty. RED KOTE to the rescue! I've used this stuff several times with great success.

You can find Red Kote here: https://ebay.us/LPRnEx

How to buy parts for a project mini bike! Amazon and Ebay to the rescue!

 Have you ever struggled to find parts for a project?  I'm going to let you in on a few secrets...

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DIY Seat Cover for a Vintage Dirtbike! Don't tell my wife...

 I might have snuck my wife's sewing machine down to the workshop for this one...

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DIY Minibike Frame Restoration in Action!

 The "build" vid for the frame!  Would love to hear your thoughts on this!!!

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Disaster Strikes...

 Here's what was left of the muffler after the pressure washing...

Going to need to come up with something else!  If it's that bad, attempting to weld it up will just make it worse.

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And so it begins... DIY Motorcycle Restoration Commences with Frame Cleaning and Paint!

 Made a little progress this morning. Got the frame cleaned up and painted.

Love this paint, it goes on thick and seems to hold up well to years of abuse. Takes forever to dry though... VanSickle tractor paint, I find it at CAL ranch.

Knocked out the swingarm and chain guard while I was at it.









It's a start. Have a loooonnnnngggggg ways to go still.

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Stripping the poor minibike down!

First video.



Been shopping for parts, and man this could get expensive! Going the budget route for now. Plan on fixing / cleaning / painting everything I can on my own, but there's a couple of things I haven't found at decent prices used- muffler, gas tank, and front end. Think I'll buy repro's for the tank and front end, and trying to make my own muffler using the stock header pipe.

Spent the afternoon pressure washing the big parts. Most of them came out great. The one exception is the exhuast... The pressure washer punched all the rust spots all the way through. Don't know that I could save this one even if I had all my tools accessible.

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Before and after- Saving a vintage Honda minibike that should have gone to the scrapyard.

So 3 years ago, I found a Z50 for my 3 year old. I figured it would be an awesome fun project for us to work on. I teach. I have all of my boys with me during the school year, and no time to work on fun stuff. In the summer, the boys go to mom's. I have plenty of time, but no kids to work with.

It's time to make a go of this, because he's already tearing it up on his older brother's Z.



A few "before" pics we took just a couple days ago:








Annnnddd.... where she's at now.





It is MEGA rough. But I think we can save it. Going to need a few harder to find parts- front end, muffler, rims, maybe a gas tank.

Not going to restore it. A 6 yr old will be thrashing on this one, just like his older brothers did on theres. They got them for Christmas 12 years ago. https://www.advrider.com/f/threads/hope-my-boys-like-second-hand-junk-for-christmas.646877/

Stay tuned for more. Planning a whole YouTube video series on this one! Goal is to have it done by August 10.

Think I can do it?!

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