The Beginner’s Guide to Classic Motorcycle Restoration: YOUR step-by-step guide to setting up a workshop, choosing a project, dismantling, sourcing parts, renovating & rebuilding classic motorcyles from the 1970s & 1980s

Chapter 1

Work area

Before you begin looking for your project, or begin work on one you already own, set up and organise your work area. It’s more likely that you will succeed in finishing your project and achieve a good result if you are comfortable where you are working.

To begin with, establish where the workshop is going to be: is there access to a garage, shed or even a spare room? If so, is it big enough? An area outside the house is going to be more suitable, given the smells and noises that come from carrying out a restoration.

The working area needs to be organised, of a comfortable temperature, with good lighting, and above all it must be safe. Addressing areas such as draughts, insulation, lighting, heating, and shelving or racking for storage, will help make work much easier. You need to know where you put things and how to find them quickly. If your fingers are cold and the light is dim, your project is going to take longer, and you could lose interest very quickly.

If you do not already have a work bench, you will need one now! It needs to be strong enough to hold an engine. Either buy one – it will have a maximum weight shown – or make one. If making a bench, make it as sturdy and safe as you can – it needs to withstand the weight of your engine and other equipment. You may only be working on a small 100cc Yamaha this time, but if you go on to do another restoration, your could be dealing with a hefty Honda Goldwing engine! Length is also important: bolt down your pillar drill, bench grinder, and vice.

Should you choose to make your own workbench there are free plans available on the internet, and they provide a lot of detail. The main point is to make it strong and sturdy. The size will depend on the space available, but try for a minimum of 600mm (2 foot) deep and 1m (3 foot) high. Wooden fence posts are strong and economical for the legs, and get some 100mm x 50mm (4in x 2in) wood from your local DIY store and a sheet of 25mm (1 inch) plywood for the worktop. Use either coach bolts or decent sized crosshead screws to bolt everything together.

Safety

Accidents do happen, so ensure you do everything possible to avoid them. Also, remember that safety precautions apply not only to you, but to anyone else who is present in the workshop. Following a few simple rules every time you work on your project will make work easier and quicker, and once they become a habit, it will not feel like a chore.

1.1 Begin by ensuring you have a first aid kit. They are very inexpensive, and are essential in a working environment. You will have hand tools, machines and chemicals to deal with, and any one of these can cause injury. Ensure you are prepared.

Once you begin work, ensure you keep the workshop as clean and tidy as possible. It’s easy to get carried away and end up with a cluttered work area. Put tools away at the end of the day – not only will you know where they are next time, the work area will stay trip-hazard free. Trips and falls are high on the most common accident list, and are easily avoided if the floor is kept tidy.

If you are working on your project alone, it might be worth getting someone to check on you occasionally to ensure you are okay. Some tasks involve lifting or using machinery – get someone to assist if needed.

The book highlights safety equipment necessary for each task. Safety equipment is not expensive, is widely available, and must be used. Read each chapter before you begin the task to ensure you have all the necessary safety equipment. Never avoid wearing safety equipment that can prevent serious injury. It has been designed to protect you – wearing it could ensure you never have to go to the accident and emergency department.

Next, remember to keep all combustible items away from sparks. Have a fixed place to store fuel cans, thinners and paints, well away from grinders etc.

1.2, 1.3, 1.4 Remember to wear safety goggles, gloves, and a face mask when appropriate.

1.5 Make a fire extinguisher a part of your workshop. You will be using petrol, oils, paints and thinners – all highly flammable liquids. Get a multi-purpose dry powder extinguisher. These are best for fires involving solids and liquids, such as grease, fats, oils, paint, petrol, etc.

Ventilation

Paints, paint-strippers, solvents, and other chemicals can fill the air with fumes and contaminants that are highly combustible, deadly to breathe, or both. It is essential, in whatever space you choose, that there is sufficient ventilation to remove harmful gases, fumes, and dust. It’s a good idea to install a fan to vent air to the outside and replace it with fresh air.

CAUTION! Even in well-ventilated areas, it is essential to wear protective respirators or air-filters when working with a substance that generates harmful fumes or dust.

Children & animals

If you have young children and animals, restrict access to your workshop. At the very least, place all tools and hazardous chemicals in locked cabinets when not in use. Children should never have unsupervised access to workshops, tools or equipment at any time.

Comfort

Simple things placed on the floor, like flattened cupboard boxes or an old piece of carpet, will help keep feet warm on cold winter days, and are not expensive. There are some good quality space heaters available that are well worth considering. They warm up large areas quickly, but can be a little noisy. Alternatively, if you want to keep your workshop at a constant temperature, oil-filled radiators have built in thermostats and run almost silently.

Fit some draught excluder around all the doors and window frames. This keeps the workshop warmer, and saves on heating costs, too. Consider insulating the roof – this is where heat will escape, and if it is insulated you will stay warmer for longer.

1.6 In colder climates and in winter months, a small electric space heater heats up a large area quickly.

1.7 Small organisers are great for storing nuts and bolts and other small items, and labelling the drawers makes it quicker and easy to find what you need when you need it.

1.8 A low-cost set of shelves helps ensure a tidy workshop, and frees up floor space.

If you are lucky enough to live in a warmer climate, I for one envy you. Keep good ventilation and plenty of drinks available, but leave the beer until you have finished working. A friend of mine came to help me lift out an engine one time and he could hardly hold himself up, let alone an engine.

The use of small domestic containers such as washed out plastic margarine tubs with lids or old jam jars, together with a simple labelling system, will help keep everything organised and will not add to the cost of your project. After all, you want to spend any available funds on the project itself.

It will help in the long run if you have a designated area just for the project, with as much space as possible. When it is time to strip the bike, put the parts away in an organised fashion – this will help you locate the parts easily when rebuilding. Some strong shelving for the heavier parts and a racking system for the smaller parts will help keep the floor space clear for work times.

Ideally, get an electrical supply for power tools, heaters and lighting. If you have a detached garage or shed you can always use a small generator for lighting and recharging battery hand tools, but most readers will have a power source already installed.

1.9 A small generator is needed if you do not have an electrical supply, but remember it must be used outside – the exhaust fumes contain deadly carbon monoxide.

Chapter 2

Tools & equipment

Your restoration project will be much easier with the correct tools to hand.

In this section we go through the tools and equipment needed for your restoration. Assess what you already have: will it do the job, or is it just going to hinder your efforts? If you do need to buy tools, buy the best you can afford. You do not have to get brand new tools – well-made secondhand tools will be cheaper and as effective.

Check your local hire shop for tools only needed for odd jobs, such as a torque wrench, or maybe borrow from a friend.

The amount of work you are happy to carry out yourself will dictate which tools are needed. For instance, if you intend to send the fuel tank and other painted items to a professional sprayer, you will not need any spray equipment. Likewise, if you’re asking an engineer to rebuild the engine, than you will not need engine specific tools.

Some engine work requires specialist tools. These tools are bike specific, and are not listed here. In many cases there are ways around using the specialist tools, but this will make some tasks harder to carry out.

This is the minimum needed:

A selection of spanners

A selection of sockets

A set of different sized screwdrivers

Allen keys

Wire cutters and pliers

Stanley knife

Club hammer

Rubber hammer

Circlip pliers

Feeler gauges

Some wire brushes

Bench vice

Torque wrench

Safety goggles and gloves, masks etc

Hacksaw

Spanners/WRENCHES, sockets & screwdrivers

2.1 These are going to be the tools that you use for the vast majority of jobs, with some sizes used frequently. On Japanese or European bikes you will use a 10mm, 13mm and 14mm spanner/wrench or socket on almost every task. If your project is an American model or an old British bike, you will need an imperial set of spanners and sockets.

2.2 A good set of flatblade and crosshead screwdrivers is essential on any project. Buy a set with an good assortment of sizes. Magnetic blades are useful for fishing out small screws that have dropped.

2.3 There will be times when you come across a nut or screw that just will not budge. This is where the impact driver comes in. These are not expensive to buy, and, if used as soon as you know a nut is solid, will save having to drill out a nut or screw that has broken inside the thread. Although you will undoubtedly have one or two that will break off and need drilling out, using an impact driver will keep these to a minimum.

2.4 A good sharp clout with a hammer and well-fitting driver bit will get most stubborn nuts or screws moving. The impact driver works by slightly rotating the bit at the same time as the impact shocks the joint.

Hammers

2.5 Use a rubber mallet on softer materials to prevent damage.

2.6 A good hammer helps with tasks such as knocking out rusted-in spindles, bushes, and shafts, gently easing in or out bolts or bushes, or gently tapping the end of the screwdriver to help split mating surfaces such as casings etc. Fitting tapper bearings to the headstock also requires a firm tap. A rubber hammer is very handy when working with delicate surfaces, too.

Craft knife

2.7 A sharp Stanley-type knife is used for cutting to size fuel and breather pipe hose, cutting old wires, and trimming gaskets, seat covers, etc.

Pliers

2.8 A good set of pliers is essential for cutting, squeezing, holding and handling small parts.

2.9 Mole (vice) grips act like a third hand, and are invaluable when firm clamping is required.

2.10 Circlip pliers are used mainly when dismantling brake and engine components. These are not expensive, and are essential on some occasions.

2.11 If possible, buy separate circlip pliers. These may be more expensive, but are less fiddly and stronger than the universal circlip pliers in the first photo. Remember: circlip pliers come in internal and external types.

2.12 Feeler gauges are used to make very fine adjustments (1000th of an inch, or 10th of a millimetre) in contact breaker points and valve tappets. If you are going to service the engine yourself, these are needed.

2.13 Wire brushes are used on badly corroded frame parts prior to priming, or on badly rusted bolts to remove rust from the threads. You may