Hello good people of the Forum. It’s been a while, since I visited you regularly.
I started to write this story, but erased it as it might be too boring. The point is, my 1991 ST sat in a storage , untouched, since 2009 . I kept thinking about bringing it back to life every spring, but life went its own way. Finały this past winter, I packed the bike and shipped it to Poland, where I was to spend several months. Also, as it turns out, the labor is less expensive in Poland, however the parts not always. I found a shop, that would revive the ST, but they got busy, and I ended up repairing the bike myself, with the help of my cousin, who owns a car repair shop. The moto mechanic rebuilt the fork, and did some carb work and synched them.
Surprisingly, the gas in the tank was quite clean and good. It was dried out and gooey in the carbs. With the new battery, the bike fired up quite easily, but ran only on two cylinders - after 17 years ! And the disassembly began.
I knew about the obvious repairs I would have to do, but there were more, and more, and more… issues that needed to be addressed . The first, even before the battery, was the fuel pump. The original didn’t work. And I went from the front to the back, and from the top to the bottom.
One hiccup were the tires - the OEM sizes not easily available here. But thanks to this forum, I learned that the 120 tire will fit the rim and the bike, and I knew the 170 would fit the rear. It took me a while, with some mistakes I made - and it extended the time of the repair. But the bike runs quite well now, although it’s thirstier than I remember from the past. Some may be the result of the mechanic’s adjustments to the carbs - he enriched the fuel mix, and maybe the Chinese carb repair kits, came with the larger jets. I will deal with that later. I also need to repair couple of cracks in the bodywork, I believe from the shipping.
I will put the whole list of the repairs, if anyone is interested.
One other item remaining not fixed is the Progressive 420 shock. I don’t remember when I bought it, but I know it didn’t have many miles on it. It showed the signs of an oil leak , and it turned out, that the gas bladder deteriorated inside the shock, and the oil seeped through the valve. The mechanic worked on repairing it , but without success . Unfortunately I was brushed off by Progressive, when I inquired about maybe part available to purchase. No support from them whatsoever… So a new shock is on the horizon.
I hope this wasn’t too long of a post, but wanted to share with you the experience.
And I am glad to ride the ST again.
Cheers,
Peter
I started to write this story, but erased it as it might be too boring. The point is, my 1991 ST sat in a storage , untouched, since 2009 . I kept thinking about bringing it back to life every spring, but life went its own way. Finały this past winter, I packed the bike and shipped it to Poland, where I was to spend several months. Also, as it turns out, the labor is less expensive in Poland, however the parts not always. I found a shop, that would revive the ST, but they got busy, and I ended up repairing the bike myself, with the help of my cousin, who owns a car repair shop. The moto mechanic rebuilt the fork, and did some carb work and synched them.
Surprisingly, the gas in the tank was quite clean and good. It was dried out and gooey in the carbs. With the new battery, the bike fired up quite easily, but ran only on two cylinders - after 17 years ! And the disassembly began.
I knew about the obvious repairs I would have to do, but there were more, and more, and more… issues that needed to be addressed . The first, even before the battery, was the fuel pump. The original didn’t work. And I went from the front to the back, and from the top to the bottom.
One hiccup were the tires - the OEM sizes not easily available here. But thanks to this forum, I learned that the 120 tire will fit the rim and the bike, and I knew the 170 would fit the rear. It took me a while, with some mistakes I made - and it extended the time of the repair. But the bike runs quite well now, although it’s thirstier than I remember from the past. Some may be the result of the mechanic’s adjustments to the carbs - he enriched the fuel mix, and maybe the Chinese carb repair kits, came with the larger jets. I will deal with that later. I also need to repair couple of cracks in the bodywork, I believe from the shipping.
I will put the whole list of the repairs, if anyone is interested.
One other item remaining not fixed is the Progressive 420 shock. I don’t remember when I bought it, but I know it didn’t have many miles on it. It showed the signs of an oil leak , and it turned out, that the gas bladder deteriorated inside the shock, and the oil seeped through the valve. The mechanic worked on repairing it , but without success . Unfortunately I was brushed off by Progressive, when I inquired about maybe part available to purchase. No support from them whatsoever… So a new shock is on the horizon.
I hope this wasn’t too long of a post, but wanted to share with you the experience.
And I am glad to ride the ST again.
Cheers,
Peter
