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Quelques photos de la Suzuki Cobra

admin — Tue, 03 May 2011 05:23:53 +0000

En attendant mieux. Le moteur démonté est celui qui va avec le chassis. Matching numbers. Il faut démonter le moteur de 74 qui est dans le châssis (il tourne) et l’utiliser pour remplir les carters d’origine, microbillés pour avoir une machine conforme à l’origine.

Suivant mon emploi du temps, je le ferais avant de livrer la machine.

Le siège est celui d’une 70. Je suis en train de préparer une série de repro de siège et mousse Cobra, elles sont différentes des autres, évidemment…

Les rondelles chromées sous les pattes de phares seront remplacées par le bon modèle (simplement pas montées). Idem pour le compte-tours que j’attends sous peu. En gros, à part la selle (j’ai une couverture neuve en peu retournée), elle est complète.

Les selles sont quasi impossible à trouver, nous allons lancer une refabrication. Elles se cassaient au milieu grâce au poids du motard américain moyen. Ça passait pour un essayeur japonais…

Auction Watch: Paul Miller T500 Cobra reaches 9’000 Us $

admin — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:59:10 +0000

This might be the start of a new section, but for the moment I’ll add them to the model category.
You don’t see very often Cobras up for grab and certainly not in that state.

END Result: 54 bids, 9’055 US $ Final Price.
That’s for a quasi-entirely restored Cobra… I think that price is in line with the work involved. Bear in mind that a 100% restored (all new) will be entitled to a couple more grand, although I have yet to see another bike of that caliber.

In the words of Paul himself:
Vehicle Description
Japans 1st superbike ! totally blew away the american public in late 1967…..the 1st Japanease 2 stroke 500…….wow! This is the bike that started the superbike craze! 46 horsepower, 14 second quarter mile and a top speed of 110 mph

This is a very special resto, i wanted it to be the best you can find, and i beleive it is ……..look at the very detailed pics…you can see….triple plated chrome, mint perfect paint, brand new.

Emblems and badges, new gray cables that match perfectly ….nos parts everywhere, bolts and screws that look like they just came from the factory…..
Look at the seat…..it is the swede like material……it has been proffesionaly rebuilt by world class seat man Daryl Waller…what a fantastic seat…..better than new……new buttons and hardware too.

There are things you cannot see:
completely rebuilt crankshaft with new bearings and crank seals (done by crankmaster!)
all new clutch plates and springs
new 1st over piston and rings
new gaskets, seals, orings, grommetts
even the grease nipple on the kickstart is brand new nos!
the bike runs like a swiss watch, starts 1st time …….has the original tool kit and comes with a brand new owners manual

State of Ct will not title a 1968 vehichle , but it is currently registerd and the registration is tranferable which is honored as a title in all 50 states!

so if perfection is what you want……this is cetainly it!

Suzuki T250 1969 model Road test.

admin — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 13:02:53 +0000

The previous test being slightly disappointing, I moved on to the 69 T250, which hadn’t moved since over a year!
I quickly reinstalled the regulator, but that caused a problem: I could hear the battery boiling over. So it had a short somewhere. Further investigation showed that only the the wire to the turn signal was shorting. So I just left it out of the system after isolating it carefully. This means that the charging system goes through the reg, but the turnsignals are fed directly by the alternator. Blown bulbs are normally the result of a system wired like this, but since all US T250 were wired this way I doubt that there’ll be a problem… maybe if I throttle it madly while switching on the signals.
Not likely.

Test ride was a nice change from the previous ones… everything worked faultlessly.nHandles well, shocks a commendable OK, fork just as the T350 i.e. well suited to the bike. The engine, which still needs to be run-in, is a riot!
Brakes work decently, although not the best I’ve had. very nimble, thanks to the large bars.

I understand why people do them up as racers of cafes.
The exhaust note is very pleasant, I suspect Suzuki paid special attention to it. Mellow but raspy, it makes the bike feel much larger in the capacity range than it is. A big thumb-up! Makes me feel like restoring the T20, so that i can compare them again… I was very impressed by the T20 and had a hell of a good time with it.

Needs to be done:

General check all over the bike.
Needs also a battery door.

This one will get plated chop-chop.

Although the paint is quite faded, that Mojave orange paint is still quite something to look at. Have a look at the gallery to see the many unique details Suzuki built in their bikes at the time. The 69 model is also a rarity and has design features unique to this year’s model.

T350 test ride

admin — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 09:55:28 +0000

Back from the ride

Test ride day… Did over a 100 km with the green T yesterday and was pleasantly surprised.
Two-three things remained to be done: chuck out the original and rusty shocks, they might as well been solid struts. There’s a huge amount of lateral play in the swingarm, probably the results of the very heavy rider and super tight chain (see my post about sprockets). I suspect I have to now time the beast to the nth degree, but other than that… it was fine.
I did see 80 mph on the clocks (~130 km/h) which is a bit low according to specs but the high bars make that sort of speed very uncomfortable. That was just before it did a light heat seize on me… what with trying for top speed during ten minutes. It also wouldn’t rev out to the red zone in 4th and 5th. This could be down an old airfilter or maybe the sprocket sizes.

I still nedd to sort out the pilot light for the MOT and I might have a problem with the paperwork, as I don’t have the original US papers with me.

I can’t really comment on the Dunlops K81 I fitted due to the rear swinger, but they felt slightly less grippier than the BT45. They would slide on pavement repairs in a less reassuring way than the Bridgestones… bit unnerving.

Sorting out the glitches

admin — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 10:39:22 +0000

My T350 is a US model… means no pilot lamp and a sealed headlight unit. Whoever thought of that ought to be shot: if you blow the bulb (remember, no regulators on these), you have to change the complete unit. For the Expertise (MOT test) here we need a functioning pilot light. Off you go in pile o’ parts to find a suitable donor.
Back view

Front view

Euro headlmap

Modified headlamp… it works now and even looks standard.

T350 Pipes are bl##dy hard to find.

admin — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 10:30:00 +0000

It took me 3 month to spot a pair for sale on eBay.
250 bucks later, they are here.

First run of the Titan

admin — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 08:43:53 +0000

Well, All I had to do was to reset the ignition, and replace the plugs and plug caps and set the clutch cable.
The bike had an annoying tendency to go only on one cylinder… It’s a good thing they’re so large and well-built: You can actually limp home forever on one cylinder B)
I also had to replace the Cobra handlebar we fitted with Valentino, as they were bent, so now it sports lower handlebars.
The noise from the intake side is really something on the large carburetted Suzukis… something that got lost with the later models.

First try with the Ultrasonic cleaner

admin — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 10:51:59 +0000

The T350 were due for a cleaning and were the ideal guinea pigs.
they also feature an interesting correcting jet on top of the main jet.

One of them nearly got stuck. Damage barely avoided. A bit of gas and in 3 kicks, she fired! These ultra sound seem to really work! One of the carbs is still sticking wide open, I suspect the throttle stop rod (adjust the slide height), a weird Suzuki speciality is bent again. I also need to change the sprockets and chain… never seen them THAT worn.

Carbs also have new internals where needed (choke plungers looked dubious and were changed as well as the float needles) The Keyster carb kits don’t have the corrector jets…

Post delivery assessment

admin — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 08:43:09 +0000

Well it ain’t too bad.

The LH sidecover is missing, classic, they all do that. The front fender looks like it comes from a Cobra, this could be some bartering argument in the future. It basically needs sorting out with a good tune-up.
I also want to install the turn signals, I have them in stock. Paint is bit faded and the saddle needs the correct cover (that might be difficult).

The Brake spring seems strangely located…

The Titan arrives.

admin — Sun, 25 May 2008 08:42:30 +0000

The Titan’s seller, Valentino, offered to deliver the bike to my front door. Bloody nice of him you if you think of all the travel implied. Ticino is the italian-speaking part of switzerland (south close to Milano and Italy) and I’m living close to Geneva, in the french-speaking region.

Of course, it was pissing down the day he came, what I didn’t expect was to see that:

A Smart… I wondered where the trailer was… until he told me the bike was INSIDE! 88|
You will see, it is possible to fit a T500 inside a Smart, although it is not as easy as it seems.

Of course it was dissambled a bit…

Here it is, Valentino had to remove a seat to fit the whole thing inside.

We had to hook up a sling to tow outside the car and then we just reassembled it, kickstart 2 times and it runs.

These are the details I really like… somebody forgot to “wipe off face after break-in”.

All in all, good was had by everybody. I suspect there is still a bit of work to be done, but according to valentino, the motor was real clean inside, a host of seals changed and he also left me a parcel of new parts.