Suzuki Phil in da House!!

[Suzuki Phil]

Hello fellow vintage bike guys.  Suzuki Phil here with greetings from the USA.  Here's some of my vintage bikes.



1980 Suzuki GS550E - Daily driver on occasion



1982 Suzuki PE175Z - Work in progress



1976 Suzuki TC100 with Bassani pipe - Traded this for the PE



Not vintage but my current off-roader, 1996 Suzuki DR350SE

SP

[Tex]

Welcome Suzuki Phil,

That's quite a collection of Suzukis.

Tex

[Suzuki Phil]

Thanks Tex,  Not shown in the picture is a Suzuki car and a Suzuki quad.  Guess I'm a Suzuki freak.  My brother also has a very large collection of late 60's/early 70's Suzuki two strokes.  Runs in the family.

It appears that the PE series of bike is still popular down under while up here they are not too important except to use vintage guys.

SP

[firko]

Oh no..another bloody Suzuki nut. Welcome aboard mate, there's plenty of Suzukiphiles here. Where are you in the USA?

[vmx42]

Oh no..another bloody Suzuki nut. Welcome aboard mate, there's plenty of Suzukiphiles here. Where are you in the USA?

Shhhhhhhhh! Just don't mention the footpegs!!

[mick25]

Welcome phil, you sure love the suks  welcome to da house of nutties

[DR]

My brother also has a very large collection of late 60's/early 70's Suzuki two strokes.  Runs in the family

Welcome Phil, apparently I've distant relatives in the US..maybe you are them! the Suzuki's really do get under your skin after a while..capillaries, arteries, veins..I bleed yellow

[monaro308]

Welcome Suzuki Phil.......i recognised that camo PE175 on thumpertalk
You should enjoy it here and suzuki footpegs are our best subject
cheers.....mario

[Suzuki Phil]

Yep, I'm on thumpertalk, advrider many more forums that I've forgotten about  .  I reside in southern California at the present time. 

Not sure how I became a Suzuki nut probably started when I bought my first Tracker (Suzuki Sidekick) in college and then got worse from their.  Plus my brother has ridden Suzuki's for many many years.  His first bike was a 76 RM100. 

Now for the PE I didn't actually want a PE I was looking for a Yamaha IT175 which I've always liked.  So I call the brother and told him if he can find me one (he has a knack of knowing where every old vintage bike is in southern california) that I would trade him the 76 TC100 shown above.  He says forgot the IT, he just bought the PE and said he would trade me for the TC.  Well he sent some photo's and it looked ok in them. 

So I cruise up to his house and do the trade.  Get it back home and realize it's a piece of sh**.  Trade is done time to lick my wounds.  So I take vengeance on my brother and make him dig through his Suzuki parts for payback. 

Instead of restoring it like I probably should have I decided to fix everything that is wrong without making it a trailer queen.  My plan was to use it as a single track bike for the local forests.  Low budget rebuild.  Camo is cheap and I could still use the plastics that were on the the bike.  Replaced the main bearings and gaskets and slapped the engine back together.  I replaced every seal, bearing, you name it on this bike.  Wiring was thrashed, fixed that.  Completely rebuilt the shock (new seal head and oil), forks are from a 82 RM125, rebuilt them also.  Found old handlebars off ebay with some surface rust, looks good!!

I haven't had it out for a test ride as of yet, no title for it yet which means I cannot get a valid green sticker for it.  Will try for a title this fall.

SP

[firko]

My plan was to use it as a single track bike for the local forests.  Low budget rebuild.

Southern California? Local forests? When I was a resident of Lakewood and Long Beach from 75-82 I did quite a bit of riding in the desert or in the High Sierras up by Big Pine and Bishop but unless there's been a massive tree planting campaign I don't recall many forest areas, at least no forests in the true sense of the word. Whereabouts are those 'local forests' Phil? What part of So-Cal do you live mate?

I've got four of those little TS Honchos, mine are all 90cc and I love 'em. I've also got a PE400Z and two TM250s which is pretty amazing for a guy who isn't really a Suzuki fan at all. I'm more aligned with Yamaha and Maico than anything else but I've got all sorts of weird stuff from American Eagle right through to Rickman Zundapp.
I must admit that I like the Camo look on your PE175. I'm slowly building a 'beater' IT175 that's a bit like a blue version of your PE. Maybe a Camo paint job will allow me to use the faded old plastic and save a buck. The only problem is than when I have my inevitable monster crash, the rescue chopper guys may not be able to see me or the bike!

[Suzuki Phil]

I live 60 miles from Los Padres NF, tons of single track to ride on. What a cowinkydink I ride up in Mammoth quite frequently.  Planning on heading up in a couple of weeks with the family.  In October there is a organized DS ride that bases out of Bishop and goes all over the place. 

I sanded my old plastic to get ride of the old crusty layer, next applied plastic primer and then camo paint.  Krylon makes the primer and camo paint. 

SP