Project lil' Nipper, tale of an unloved Nippi.

[Flyboy]

So here is the background to how lil' Nipper became a resident in the garage.
Having a love affair with classic motorcycles is an affliction of a powerful kind and there is no known cure for it, so I am forever on the hunt for unloved classic bikes that could do with some love and bring them back to their former glory so they can be enjoyed and loved by someone once more. So of course I have an alert set up on a few of the online for sale sites, now nine times out of ten, going through them in the morning is a waste of 20min of my life that I will never get back, but we live in hope.
But every now and again one jumps out at you and says me, me, me, like that one dog at the pound that just has that take me home look that you just can not ignore, and so it was with lil' Nipper.

According to the seller, she had broken down on the way home and was pushed the last 3km home, parked, or rather left out in the weather next to the house a year ago and there it has been since then.
The seller said he thought that it was the battery that needed replacing, that the paint had some sun damage and that the papers were all there and the licence was last renewed in 2015, so just short of a year behind.
Now the one fact of life is that previous owners lie, so well they could lie for their country in the Olympics, so the "battery" story went straight in one ear and the other, and I was already mentally replacing the CDI and the coil.
Anyway it was cheap enough , and it looked pretty nice in the picture on the advert.

Well seeing lil' nipper in the flesh, it was immediately clear that a lot of love was needed, she was really in a very bad shape, so I explained to the seller that taking drugs is not good for him and he should not do that, and that he must have been juiced when he set the price, so offer was made and accepted and lil' Nipper came home for some much needed love.

The phrase, "nice from far, far from nice" comes to mind, I guess I should have told him, thanks, but no thanks, but you know how it is, most of a scoot is covered in body work and regardless, a man without a project is a very sad state of affairs.

Some of the nasty

Rear fender hanger fashioned from zip ties

Battery cover made from a piece of licence plate

Never seen a bike held together with so many zip ties,.....

Botched airbox repair job

Just nasty

 

[Flyboy]

So after picking her up I managed to make a start, the first priority was to get her running before tearing her down, to check for any unwelcome engine noises and to diagnose what the real problem was.

Seller said it had spark, which I doubted, the battery was dead after standing for a year, so I put a fresh battery in and there was strong park.
Engine seemed to have good compression so that left only one thing, fuel starvation.
Squirted some fuel into the plug hole and she fired right up on the first turn of the engine, idled strongly and quiet, I was happy.
The fuel that was in the tank looked like it came from a swamp, really black.
The inlet pipe had been repaired with a smear of silicone .....eish, some people's children.

So today was put aside to rip the carb off and give it a good and thorough strip down and rebuild.
Once the carb was off, it was clear why there were issues, the slide was stuck solid and would not lift, even by being coaxed with a finger.
It was horrible down there.
A couple of hours and carb is done and looking better than factory new.

Life and the "honey do" list has been getting in the way of spending quality time at the workbench, but I finally got a couple of days in and got stuck into making progress.

The first order of business was to strip the scoot back down to the frame and start from the ground up.

Running gear on the bench.

Frame cleaned, stripped and prepped, ready for paint.
There are two schools of thought on this, paint vs powder coating, and each to his own, I prefer to go with a good 2K paint, for the simple reason that although powder coating is more durable and takes the knocks better, it is not immune to getting chipped and scratched and general wear and tear, and when it does, pain is a lot easier to touch up and repair, powder coating, not so much, all about ease of future maintenance to keep your scoot looking good for years.
On a Chinese scoot, cost is a big factor too, to powder coat a scoot would easily see you over capatilising on the project, plus a scoot frame is pretty well protected under all the body work, and anyway, 2k paint is tough as nails.
Just my take on it.

Paint down and shiny, looking good in her new little black number.

 

[Flyboy]

Those horrible forks were next on the list to sort out, they made me shudder every time I looked at them.

A few hours later and lots of sanding, buffing and polishing and they were looking good once more, probably better than when they left China.
Also fitted a set of boots to protect the forks from getting all grungy again.

The weathered, oxidized and tired looking front wheel got the same sanding, polishing and buffing and a fresh coat of satin black, to bring back the "like new" look.

With the frame painted, the forks and front wheel returned to an acceptable state, it was a matter of slapping in a new set of steering head ball bearings and bolting the front end back on.

The plastics had also been battered from the sun during the long period of standing outside uncovered, the headlight cover and instrument, looking much worse for wear.

Lots of elbow grease, sand paper and polish later the Headlights are crystal clear again, I am still busy with the instruments, they are clear, but still have a faint yellow tinge I can’t get out, I am going to replace the plexiglass in them.

I am thinking of doing the headlights smoked Black, or Euro Yellow, will still decide.


And, that, as they say in the classics, is all folks, for now, will keep the updates coming as I get stuff done.

 

[bonanzadave]

Whoa ! I thought you went the way of Amelia Earhart. Hanging out is the South pacific with JFK and Elvis. Nice job on the resto ! Keep up the good work !!

 

[bccap]

Great to see you again Stan. Sounds like a fun project. Subscribed............. { Nice to see the GS in the background. }

 

[dorkburger]

Looking good. I find a it oddly enjoyable tinkering on my old scooter. It's a study in miniature when compared to working on the GS.

I see you added a fairing to the GS. Me likey....

 

[GS1150Pilot]

Such a fun little side project!

And yes, the quarter fairing looks great on that GS!

 

[ShadowFocus603]

http://www.scrappydogscooters.com/
A buddy of mine runs that place out in Las Vegas NV. Not sure what his rates are for shipping but he literally has everything you can imagine for the GY6 scooters, from stock to 200cc stroker aftermarket and everything in between. Those motors are far more fickle about the valve adjustments than our GS's are. .004 on the intake and .005 on the exhaust. Get yourself a set of of 10 gram slider weights for the variator (front pulley in the cvt trans) and that old girl will get up like no ones business. I spent a number of years building 50cc and 150cc GY6 high performance scooters (you're laughing at that lol) to ride around Vegas to pull clients in to our repair shop.

 

[GS1150Pilot]

A sleeper scooter would be fun ...

 

[Flyboy]

Thanks guys, having a lot of fun with this build and doing a lot of learning in the process, and expanding skill sets, lots of ABS plastic to repair, have acetone and raw ABS, will make merry.
Interesting little power plant this GY6, direct copy of the Honda unit, having fun learning about variators and rollers and the like, and yeah, I am going to be playing with the roller weights, was also thinking around 10g, I think stock is 14g, will see when I take them out to replace them, may or may not also install a 1500rpm clutch spring set, price depending, I really bought it to flip, so dont want to over spend.
But that said, I will certainly be looking out for one for myself, after this, I like this little GY6 and lots of hot up bits available for them, from different rollers to 4 valve heads and 200cc big bore kits, a little sleeper would be super nice.
Hahahaha, Dave, no south Pacific for me, I will leave Amelia and Elvis to it.
Just been hectic the last year, so time has been a luxury, I have discovered you have to work twice as hard and as long when you work for yourself, my boss is a great guy but a bloody slave driver.

Jennifer is running well and I am racking up the miles on her enjoying every minute. With summer here, I am using her more than the car.

 

[rustybronco]

Thanks guys, having a lot of fun with this build and doing a lot of learning in the process, and expanding skill sets, lots of ABS plastic to repair, have acetone and raw ABS, will make merry.

If you have access to the equivalent of Devcon plastic welder II on your side of the pond and you are just fixing cracks, ditch the slurry.

 

[2BRacing]

Hey Stan

Nice to see you doing another resto of the same excellent quality as Jennifer's!

A small scoot like that is very useful to just scoot down to the shops with, instead of taking the GS out each time.

Enjoy!

 

[Flyboy]

Dale, lots of cracks, but more so, lots of refabricating and repairing broken bits that have been broken off, like mounting tabs and lots of oversize holes that need to be filled and redrilled.

 

[Flyboy]

Thanks Ben, but this one is going up for sale as soon as she is done.
Will keep an eye out for one for myself that I can go ape on no holds barred.

 

[Flyboy]

So yesterday I got some more work done on Lil' Nipper.
After getting her home, the first order of business was to get her fired up and check out the engine, running sweetly and purring like a kitten, and that put to bed and mind at ease.
Yestreday was spent giving the engine the beauty treatment it needed.
First a good media blasting.





Once all clean, it was time for paint.






Steering hesd bearings were changed, out with the old, in with the new.


The side and centre stands got a fresh coat of paint and while they were drying, I started with the removal of the old hazed and yellowed plexiglass of the instrument cluster.
Paitience, a steady hand and a dremel tool later.

 

[rustybronco]

Nothing like background product placement!

 

[Flyboy]

Hahaha, you saw that, did you.

 

[chuck hahn]

+1 on the Devcon Plastic Welder. I scuff the area a bit to get some texture to the piece. I also have used it to refit broken side cover tabs.

 

[Flyboy]

Time for a quick update, as I managed to get some quality garage time in.
With the engine sorted and the new intake manifold purchased, it was time to start hanging bits back onto the frame.

Back on her wheels and starting to look like a scoot again.






The back end coming together, still looking for a fuel cap.


Some kickstarter detailing....... I think I need help.


And voltage regulator detailing..... I really need help.


Wiring harness started to go in yesterday, once that is done, I start with the plastics.

 

[Flyboy]

So work being quiet has left me with some well deserved workshop time to tinker on Lil' Nipper and make some progress.
Wiring harness was serviced, all dodgy connectors replaced and cleaned, and the harness installed.
I had to replace the left switch block with a new one because the old one was just too sad to put back on, this required having to repin the connector but happy to say everything is working as it should.



Got around to redoing the exhaust from front to back, replacing all the gaskets, the old loose rivets on the silencer and the old torn, worn out rubbers under the silencer straps, and of course a lick of paint and some polishing.



With the harness in place and a strong blue spark on the plug, it was time for her to breath and live once more.
She fired up and purred like a kitten and pulls cleanly through the rev range and settled back to a rock steady idle. Happy camper.

With the mechanicals done and dusted for the most part, it was time to break out the trusty sanding block and tackle the plastic work.
Repairing and preparing for paint.



And the reward for countless hours of sanding, filling and more sanding.... primer and colour going down.





Will update as the bodywork progresses.
I have gone with 2K rather than base coat / clear coat, purely from a cost point of view, will give the colour a week to gas off and cure fully then wet sand and polish to a shine.