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-   -   Rejuvenating My Yamaha RX100 (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motorbikes/133292-rejuvenating-my-yamaha-rx100.html)

Back in 1995 - I told my dad that I needed a bike to go to tutions and stuff. His reply - NO ! Then came 1997, I asked the same question and his response "Lets ask Bhaimiyan (My eldest uncle) and see what he says". My uncle told me to walk down to college as it was within a km range !

All the dreams were shattered. Then in 1999 dad finally was ready to buy a bike for me. Then came a shocker. RX-100 production stopped in 1996 ! hunted for a second hand one - it was being sold for a margin over the purchase price.

Finally landed up with a HH Splendor. CBZ was also there but then Splendor was the one dad zeroed on. Rode her for a good 9 years. Then came in a 'Zma, then came in a ZMR, then again a 'Zma. There was no excitement left.

Come 2012 Jan - out of a blue my carpenter comes to office and says that he is looking for a decent person to sell his old bike. I asked him which one - he replied RX-100. All the shed excitement of owning one resurfaced and I purchased the bike without any thought.

After an hour or so the bike came to office. It was a silver color, shabby, rusted, stinky, cockroaches coming out of the seat kind of a bike. My cousin asked me that he will start it and use it for a while.

All that needed to be done was oil change, carburetor cleaning and the bike started. he used it for about 9 months and then handed over the same to me.

This is how it looked when it came to me.


Now the restoration agenda:
I am a very busy person and find time only on weekends. Hence this will be a three stage process.

Stage 1
This is where all the engine will be taken care of. Had to redo the engine block, piston, bearings, kick shaft mechanism, carburetor cleaning, oil pump etc. Total damages were close to 1500 Rs.

Stage 2
This is where the mechanical parts will be taken care of. New cone set, repaired the front shockers, new wiring kit, new blinkers, new headlight, new seat, new speedometer assembly, new wheel hubs, new rims, new spokes, new tyres, new battery, new yokes, new cables, new handle - 'Zma handle as it looks alike however it is a little taller. Total damages - Tyres Rs.3300 for a pair with tubes - standard MRF for front (upsized to 2.75- 18)and MRF MOGRIP MOTO-D (upsized 3.0-18) for rear. Other stuff costed another Rs. 3000 something. Will post a detailed price report for the two stages soon.

Here are some of the WIP snaps so far:

Handle cone set being installed


Old wiring loom being striped and you can see the new SF battery


This is how the old tyres looked. Also seen is the new MINDA blinker set


Old speedometer comes out. I am dead sure that the vehicle had ran much more kms than what is indicated here.


New Tyre from MRF. new hub, new rim, new spokes


Its going to be a while when I will start Stage 3. That will only take care of the cosmetic stuff. Chemical wash of the chassis will expose all the places which need to be re-welded to retain the strength. New tank, new side panels, new silencer, new guards will be procured. Chassis will be powder coated. Two sets of body panels will be available for paint. I will retain the silver on the existing one and will paint the original cherry red shade on the other set.

I know stupid: to have two sets, but then the 1996 RTO book has the color space left blank! I confirmed with a traffic police constable he said that they only focus on Environment tax and the chassis number of such old bikes.

Please correct me if I am going wrong somewhere. I do not intend to violate any laws whichever are applicable.

Ahmed, nice to know you're restoring the RX!
Regarding the paint, you're quite safe if the RC doesn't mention a colour. No one can really prove what colour it originally was, maybe it was painted 2 or 3 times before you even got it!

However, my choice would be the silver itself. Looks great!

Please do keep us updated on the restoration.

Cheers,
Rahul

Im happy to hear about your progress in restoring your Rx100.

I used to own a black one in the early nineties when I was in college. I still remember the old adverts.

In terms of colours, your bike was either silver, red / maroon, light blue or black. Since theres nothing mentioned in book I guess you can paint it in any colour that appeals to you.

Nice one there mate, appears that you have a got hold of a good example. From the initial photo it appears that the bike has not been molested on grounds of restoration. Take care of it well and ensure you restore it to how the bike looked when it came out of the showroom.

All the best Mate

*You have aptly named the thread, rejuvenation rather than restoration*

Ahmed, thanks for the thread and congratulations upon getting a Yamaha RX 100, though late.
Spares are plentifully available with Yamaha dealers, mostly at a reasonable price. Please go ahead and replace the unwanted or ugly looking spares on your bike right away. Who knows? Maybe the spares become difficult to come by after a few years.
We are RX 100 enthusiasts, but many owners feel it consumes a lot of petrol. Most owners of this kind are selling their bikes. Luckily, the second hand RX 100 bike prices are high or else these would become gullible to scrapping.
And less scrapping as of now means more and more examples survive. This translates into adequate spares availability at least for now.
I have been a proud owner of this bike since 1990. It is in a class of its own and still does the duty for me whenever I need it.
During the first ten years, it only needed money for petrol, oil and for a few routine replacement spares like the air filter, petrol filter, bulbs and so on.
I have used my bike rashly ,recklessly and even carefully at times but I can proudly proclaim that it is among the best ever two wheelers launched in India. It has never ever let me down. And that is why I have never thought of ever selling or replacing this gem of a bike.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motorb...-rx-100-a.html

Man, you invoke nostalgia. I had a RX100 from '90 thru' '97 and have fond memories. Drove her a lot. I passed her on to a friend as I moved out of Pune.

My cousin who bought his RX100 in '89 still rides it and she still fires like she was new!

Good luck with your restoration. I will track your thread for updates.

Nice to see another RX getting life, do let me know if you need any kind of help as last year even i was about to pick RX and restore it, but my decision of moving to SBK halted the whole plan, I have collected NOS tank and panels, exhaust pipe, cylinder kit from 2002 batch, seat, crank, set of three different size pistons etc.
Best of luck with your restoration and bike.

Thanks voodoochild. Got in touch with the first party owner (My elder brother in Law) and he mentioned that this was a cherry red bike. He had changed it to dark green later and sold it to a sand vendor. He changed the original tank and side panels to fake black ones (God knows why..:Frustrati). He then sold this bike to my carpenter who colored it silver, chromed the engine side covers and the block head.

Thanks theqca. I am trying my best to keep it running at this stage after the engine overhaul. Maybe ride it for a thousand kms before stage 3.

Thanks ku69rd. Previous owner had changed a lot of stuff. Rear shockers, under-seat grab bar, headlight mount brackets, both the stands, wiring, headlight yoke socket from a totaled Avenger. He switched parts and let the Avenger go !

Thanks anjan_c2007. There are plenty RX100s around in my town. Availability of spares - both genuine and fake - is plenty. I have used all the branded spares so far - apart from the spokes I guess, they are chrome and Yamaha has galvanised ones. Front rim is a genuine Hero Honda one - I found it better in terms of chrome. Handle as mentioned is also from a Karizma.

Charmed with your kind words NinadJoshi. I have never gotten away from this state so far since I started the project !

Thanks Ajaybiz. All the chrome stuff order has already been placed with the Yamaha dealer here in Aurangabad. Should be here in approx a weeks time from now. Specifically the seat grab bar, silencer, front mudguard, headlight bracket, front leg guard etc. Will shout for help if need be for sure.

As far as the updates go - petrol cock is acting weird, it stars leaking if in OFF or RES mode. Think I got a fake spare in an amazing packing! Needs a change now. Cone set needs to be adjusted, have been riding since last two days and feel that there is a play developed in it as the cone has set in. Rear brake shoe springs 'snapped'!!! got them replaced with OE Splendor ones. Rectifier went kaput! was from JC... Getting these changed today after work.

Correct me if I wrong here once again dear fine bikers - Is it advisable to 'not' rely on the 2T pump alone and fill in oil with petrol also. There are many people here who have advised this and also mentioned that the engine seizes if not done so. Shouldn't a bike smoke if there is too much oil in petrol and loose pickup, ruin piston region?

Also - Looking for a good media blaster to blast engine side covers, block head, chassis for stage 3. I am open to take the stuff to PNQ, HYD or BOM for that matter. Or is there a better option?

To answer your query about adding 2T oil to the tank - for the RD's as well as RXs that I've owned, I've only done that when the 2T oil in the oil tank was over, if the pistons were new or if the oil pump failed. Some people put some oil in the petrol tank to prevent rusting but that's a minute quantity only.

Would suggest you stick to the oil tank option only. You can pull out the oil pipe near the oil pump and adjust the screw to control the amount of oil being pushed to the piston if it's smoking too much later.

RX oil pumps are full proof no issue using them, apart from that use 5ML per liter Motul fully synthetic 2T oil in tank, it will prevent rusting and bike will sure perform better. But don't forget to rejet the bike after putting oil in tank.

@Ahmed:- Wonderful to see RX100 is getting resurrected here. One good thing about RX100 is, spares are not that difficult and could manage to get them if we have time and patience. Thanks to its popularity that its value carries over decades and still resale value is quite good. Untill you complete the restoration and do the run-in, kindly keep all the old parts before you part away if at all. They are some goodness having those old parts(nut, bolt, screws, washers, etc), who knows they come handy when you find the new one miss to gel well. Hope this bike came with 12v electrical?!?!

@Ajaybiz:- Why is that we need to rejet if going pre-mix? You mean up the size of jet?

Ok I need some serious help with my RX100, if anyone is watching any thread on RX100 (I have posted on many of them) please message on the forum asap. It's regarding the autolube pump.

Alright so the Third stage has started. Total dismantlement of RX100 is complete. Chrome items handed over to Hyderabadwale Chrome house, Aurangabad. Chassis was deep scraped and needed welding in five different places. All chassis parts, Tank, new panels, Magnet cover, Clutch Cover, Head, Front and rear wheel drums and plates given to Haji Bhai Painter, Aurangabad. First tank gets Metallic Turf Green Color. All the paint stuff should be complete tomorrow. Chrome and Zinc items are taking a while. Pics shall pour in tomorrow. Ciao !

Waiting for pictures eagerly, especially the turf green. :thumbs up

As promised (and broken), finally the WIP pics: lol:

Zink'ed (Rather galvanised) Nuts, bolts, axle rods etc


Front fork bottom tubes painted in real silver shade


Rear foot rest, rocker arm, more new stuff like monograms, logos, blinkers. That rear lamp was returned and a Minda one was bought


Chromed Sari Guard, Handle bar, Silencer bend pipe, front fork tubes etc.


New rear shocks and old blinkers


More old and new stuff


This is not chromed, just finished with 3M Finesse It


Tires a year old now - ran only 4K kms.


Mine is the last August '96 Model RX100


Another shot