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Message started by Dave on 02/22/17 at 03:40:43

Title: Hill-Billy!
Post by Dave on 02/22/17 at 03:40:43

No....I am not calling anyone names - it is the name of my new motorcycle!

A friend called and said he was working on a motorcycle for a fellow, and it needed more work than the fellow was willing to pay for....would I be interested in being the new owner. Well.....anybody that lives here in KY could not possibly resist owning a Suzuki Hill-Billy!

The bike was made between 1965-1967. It is 80cc and it has dual sprockets on the back - you can move the chain over to the large rear sprocket for off road use, and back to the small sprocket for road use.

This one is pretty nice and is complete. It is not all banged up or rusty - the fenders have a couple of cracks, the paint on the fuel tank is a bit faded and there are some areas where touch up paint was brushed into scratches. The engine was running for a while - but then it got to where it was really hard to start...then it wouldn't start at all unless you kicked and kicked and kicked......then it would start and the engine would race - I think the crank seals are leaking air which is a huge air leak on a 2 stroke engine. The bike does not have a title - and I may try to get one from VT if I decide it is worth spending the money to get one - but if I just ride it around the farm or to church on Sunday mornings I may not bother. Luckily it appears the crank seals can be replaced without splitting the center engine case - it will just need the stuff taken off both ends of the crank (magneto and drive gear).

This will be a project for later on - after I get the Ninja Cafe' up and running.

http://i66.tinypic.com/2ijixbd.jpg

http://suzukicycles.org/K-series/K15.shtml

Title: Re: Hill-Billy!
Post by Steve H on 02/22/17 at 04:07:10

That's a sweet little bike, Dave.

Good luck with it. Hopefully it won't be too bad to fix. You can have a blast on little bikes like that.

Title: Re: Hill-Billy!
Post by Ruttly on 02/22/17 at 04:08:16

Looks all there , fun restoration , a survivor , very cool !

Title: Re: Hill-Billy!
Post by Dave on 02/22/17 at 05:20:41

I would really like to stumble across a nice 1970 Suzuki TS90. I bought a used one of those around 1973 that needed a new piston/rings. It was a bit abused when I got it, and I stripped off the lights and road gear, installed knobby tires and number plates, and I rode it in Hare Scrambles events, and I actually won several races with it. In hindsight is is pretty amazing that it was a competitive racer - but there really weren't a lot of 100cc race bikes back then.....Hodaka was the only company that really made a dedicated race bike (I think Kawasaki made one....but I never saw one except in advertising literature). The little TS90 was incredibly durable, and I rode it hard and it just kept on running. Later on Suzuki made the TM100 and Honda made an Elsnore 100.....and the little TS90 could not keep up with them as they had more power and handled much better.

Title: Re: Hill-Billy!
Post by bobert_FSO on 02/22/17 at 05:54:15

Oh to be 15 yrs old again. In the late '60's, a neighbor kid had one of those, beat the crap out of it and it still ran. My brother and another friend had the street version which they got from an MC rental business liquidation. At the time, I was riding a Honda S90. None of us had a drivers license yet, so we were content to terrorize all the nearby farms and woods.

Title: Re: Hill-Billy!
Post by Gary_in_NJ on 02/22/17 at 07:07:20

Nothing beats a free bike!

I'm with you Dave, I have a soft spot for small 2-stroke Suzuki singles....and Honda XL & SL's too. I have strong feelings for the SL350.

Title: Re: Hill-Billy!
Post by Dave on 02/22/17 at 07:19:13

Gary:

When I first started riding, the "cool" places to ride were in the abandoned strip mines. They were scattered around the area where I lived, and they had plenty of haul roads and flat areas to ride on, and really steep hills. The "bad boy" motorcycles at the time was the SL350 - it was the bike best suited for climbing up the steep hills in places where there were no paths to follow - they could claw their way up the loose shale banks. In 1968 - 1970 the choices for bikes to ride off road was pretty limited. Yamaha/Suzuki/Kawasaki/Honda all made Enduro bikes - but if you wanted a real race bike it had to be a Husky/Bultaco/Montessa/CZ/Maico/Ossa/Penton/Hodaka....or the even more obscure stuff like AJS or some kind of an engine in a Rickman frame. Before long he Japanese companies started to make good off road/race bikes.

Title: Re: Hill-Billy!
Post by Serowbot on 02/22/17 at 08:31:16

I lusted for an SL350 when I was a teen...
Very cool bike...

http://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/Gallery_A-L_16/Honda%20SL350%2003.jpg

Title: Re: Hill-Billy!
Post by Tocsik on 02/22/17 at 09:05:24

Very cool bike, Dave! I grew up in rural Southern California where dirt bikes were king (San Diego East County). The bikes just coming into play were the Husky's, Hodakas and a couple from the Japanese manufacturers. That was in the late 70's/early 80's so a little after your new little beauty there!

Off topic here, but since you are a moderator and it relates to your posts....
I notice the pics you include in your posts don't display when I'm using my work internet connection (on a PC or my Android phone). If I disable WiFi on my phone and reload the page using data, I get the pics. I know there are probably restrictions in place on the connection here, but other pics will display (like the one Serowbot posted). Any thoughts on that?

Title: Re: Hill-Billy!
Post by HAPPYDAN on 02/22/17 at 09:09:36

I don't remember ever seeing one of those, but it's amazing how much it resembles my 1986 Honda CT110 - now THERE'S a Hill-Billy bike if ever there was one! But y'know, those little jokers can be a lot of fun.

Title: Re: Hill-Billy!
Post by MMRanch on 02/22/17 at 09:48:00

Dave ,

if ya have to put a different motor ... the China copy of the honda 50cc goes up to 125cc. I've got a 100cc version that looks like it would fit on the old 65cc honda I had for a first bike. Your Hill-Billy looks like a 2cycle version of the same thing.

If ya find ya need it let me know , :)

Title: Re: Hill-Billy!
Post by Dave on 02/22/17 at 12:14:14

MMRanch:

No engine transplants for me. I either get this one running, or I will pass it along to the next person.

The only issue I am having right now is ordering the parts - all the online parts lists stop at 1972. I do believe I was given a shop manual wtih the bike....maybe it has part numbers....or the dealer can look up parts for pre-1972 bikes. It may also be possible to get a generic seal once I know what size they are.

Title: Re: Hill-Billy!
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 02/23/17 at 04:41:22

A title is required if you sell it. In some states you can get plates and insurance without ever showing a title. Just the VIN, make, model, and an honest face and you should be good.
Ohh, well , maybe you should get your wife or maybe Lili, surely Someone you know has an honest face.
Seeing the picture after reading what it's designed for, and looking at the front travel, the overall Moped look, I went back and looked at the dates.. Yeah, that was definitely pre Elsinor 250,,
Get healthy sprockets and chain on it, tune it, maybe spill some model airplane fuel in it and go beat up on some Harleys leaving the light.
Otta have them for fifty feet..
It's in good hands, paint looks like it would clean up. I'd probably go straight for function, repair cracks, and let it look like the survivor it is.
The hill climbing setup otta be a shocker leaving a stop sign.
You gonna hafta build a derailleur.

Does it have a separate oil tank, and it's Supposed to mix it for you?
I'm kinda leary of that, but it might be perfectly fine.

Title: Re: Hill-Billy!
Post by Dave on 02/23/17 at 05:45:46

Kentucky is not at all agreeable about getting new titles for stuff that doesn't have a current KY title on record. An original owner can file for a replacement for a "lost" title - but they have to be the owner of record. In KY it is impossible to get any kind of a title (salvage/rebuilt) for a car/truck/bike that does not have a current title.

I got nothing in it at this point.....so I can just get it running and ride it around the farm. If you own a vehicle in KY you pay taxes on it every year, and have to have insurance on it if you want a license plate - I don't want to have to pay taxes on this thing every year. The easiest way to obtain a title would be for me to find somebody that has a title for the same year as thins one....and just get a matching plate made:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/SUZUKI-TRIAL-K15P-Frame-Data-PLATE-HEADTUBE-plate-with-your-numbers-engraved-/282176491265?hash=item41b3078f01:g:yMsAAOSwPRlXnyou&vxp=mtr
Not sure if that will ever happen, as the bike most likely will never be licensed while I own it - I have better bikes for riding on the street.

The tires look to be new replacements, chain and sprocket are great...the bike only has 2,600 miles on it. It does have the "Posi-Lube" to mix the fuel/oil...and they worked great when new, and I will make sure the oil pump still works.

I did get a Parts Book for the bike that lists the seal numbers, and the cool thing is that it also lists the OD/ID/width of the seals - so if I can't get the factory parts I can buy generic seals to use.

Title: Re: Hill-Billy!
Post by Papa Bear on 02/23/17 at 05:56:03

My first bike was a 1965 Suzuki T-10 in '66. Great little machine. ;)

Title: Re: Hill-Billy!
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 02/23/17 at 07:19:32

Just try getting insurance, walk in and see if you can get license plates. Who cares if you have a title? In Texas, I get plates and never showed a title. Doesn't mean they don't run a check, but as long as the VIN isn't on the Stolen list, the worse that can happen is they say no. Cancel the insurance and you're out thirty bucks, but the time and money to secure the title isn't spent. It's a gamble..

Just how good of a sport is your wife? I mean, she wouldn't be Really mad as long as you got her bailed out the same day, would she?
Women, as unpredictable as a cheap battery.

Title: Re: Hill-Billy!
Post by Dave on 02/23/17 at 07:27:09

JOG......KY will not issue you a plate if they don't have a title on file.

Kentucky has an incredibly difficult Title/License procedure.....every year when I go to get my renewal sticker - I feel like I have had a major victory if I get it right the first time!

When I took the Ohio Title to the County Clerk's Office to have the title for the ST1100 transferred to me, I had a copy of the listing that showed the asking price was $3,500, I had a signed Bill of Sale from the owner that stated I paid $3,500, and the Ohio Title had $3,500 stated as the sale price, and the signatures were notarized. The Clerk could was not allowed to accept that I paid $3,500 as the sale price......because I did not use the official KY form - she had to charge me on a $4,200 price as that is what NADA book had listed as the value. I just paid the extra $60 in taxes....as it was not worth a 2-3 hour trip to go get the previous owner to sign the "Official Kentucky Form".

Title: Re: Hill-Billy!
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 02/23/17 at 16:27:12

Bummer dude,, Well, you have a cool project either way.