My rides [Archive] - Sports Car Forum

Thanh-BKK

07-21-2008, 02:59 AM

Hi :)

Now i've read the rules about posting pictures, and then i se "you may not post attachments"...... weird? Or do i have to have x amount of forum posts before i am allowed to actually post pics?

Anyway i have a car and a motorbike - the car is a '94 Volvo 460 GLE, 2.0 automatic, all stock except for the 15" mags and the "fart cannon" type exhaust. The car is blue and i have a Sony CD-radio in it - no amps, no woofers, it's just a regular daily driver. Good condition for it's age despite having had two crashes and me doing next to zero maintenance. I often have problems with electrical gremlins, but apart from that a good car. I only use it on weekends or for long-distance travel, such as up north to Chiang Mai.

My bike is way more special - as that is what i use daily (as the Volvo is a gas guzzler and i live in Bangkok, the world traffic jam capital). This is a '94 (again!) Yamaha RXZ, 135cc two-stroke, stock 20 HP and 150 km/h. Originally it's kind of a sporty bike, but mine is modified to have a perfect sleeper - dual shocks in the rear, top case, rear disc brake, chrome headlight, chopper-style windscreen, "bullbar" etc. It looks (and actually is) quite heavy, hence i named it, appropriately, "Bulldozer".

The best about it is the engine - the stock cylinder is bored up to 150cc, ported, and does around 35 HP with stock exhaust and carb. This is good for more than 170 km/h top speed, and the bike certainly does not look like it could go anywhere near that fast, but it does :)

If someone explains me how to get pics uploaded here i will gladly do so.

Best regards.....

Thanh

xbeakerx

07-21-2008, 03:05 AM

some people use http://home.imageshack.com/

Thanh-BKK

07-21-2008, 03:34 AM

Hi :)

Thanks for that, but it doesn't seem to be an option for me - whenever i go there and click the "join" button it throws me back to the home page.....

I have a website myself but haven't done updates in years, however one of the pages is about the car, and a bit a story around it (also pictures of course, one actually shows me in the car, i'm the Caucasian). Granted i still have that car, just few things changed since back then - tyres now 185/65/15, the fart cannon, and the Sony R/C with non-working CD changer has been replaced by a CD head unit. Oh, and it's got 141,000 kilometers clocked by now. Link: http://aod-thanh.tripod.com/car.html

Is a hosting-service like Image Shack the only way to get pics up here? I'd love to show off my bike (i can even take the required personal pic as the bike is standing outside (i'm at the office now) while the car is at home, and i've got a camera phone and a bluetooth thingy to upload them to my office crappy computer :)

Best regards.....

Thanh

xbeakerx

07-21-2008, 03:38 AM

just upload the pics to your website and click on the little planet thing w/the chain in the post section here and copy and paste and there you go

wow where do you live? its 3:38am here in the US.

try here also.

http://photobucket.com/

Thanh-BKK

07-21-2008, 04:23 AM

Ok :)

That one worked, and i uploaded 7 pics of the bike, including one "personalized" as required. Will post them here:

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC01041.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC01022.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC01024.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC01023.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC01025.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC01010.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC01040.jpg

I hope this works as desired (i have no experience with this sort of thing, usually on forums one can upload directly). I got loads more of the bike :)

Pics of the Volvo will follow tomorrow (as mentioned it's at home while i'm at the office) and, to answer that question, i live in Bangkok, Thailand, local time here right now 3:25 PM.

Best regards.....

Thanh

xbeakerx

07-21-2008, 09:43 AM

very nice... but i am a suzuki guy but still nice...

Thanh-BKK

07-21-2008, 10:17 PM

Hi :)

Suzuki, Yamaha, Kawasaki..... as long as a bike's engine does NOT have valves and rattling gear to operate those, i am happy with it - i am 100% a two-stroke guy. Havinggrown up in Germany, i rode Zuendapp - pretty much exclusively, from 50 to 175cc. I also owned a Suzuki 200cc (X5/200) and it was fun, too, unfortunately it burned out the alternator and a replacement would have cost as much as two of the bikes, second hand that is..... it was a short, but hot, affair... me and that Suzy :)

Anyway, i tend to stick to my promises,. and here's now a bunch of pics of my blue Volvo, starting with the required personalized one:

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC01042.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC01043.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC01044.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC01045.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC01046.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC01047.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC01048.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC01049.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC01050.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC01051.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC01052.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC01053.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC01054.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC01055.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC01056.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC01057.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC01058.jpg

As i said before, that car is nothing special, certainly no Ferrari (but i'd love to have one of those), but it's a car after all.

I will post more pics of my Yamaha later on, got to search for them around my computer.....

Have a nice day......

Thanh

silentm

07-22-2008, 10:22 AM

woo a Volvonaut, interesting interior 'styling' ;)

RC45

07-22-2008, 12:13 PM

Welcome and enjoy.

Just one question - why relocate from automotive heaven (Germany) to the transportation hellhole of the world (Thailand)?

On the run from Interpol? ;)

Thanh-BKK

07-22-2008, 01:12 PM

Welcome and enjoy.

Just one question - why relocate from automotive heaven (Germany) to the transportation hellhole of the world (Thailand)?

On the run from Interpol? ;)

Hi :)

Yeah, too much speeding tickets :) Nah, not really...... "automotive heaven" depends on how much money one got - and i was always on the lowest end of that scale, never able to afford a "real" car. I had a bunch of mopeds (in fact i collected those, Zuendapp is the brand) and in the end, finally, also no less than three cars - first one a '83 Volkswagen Polo CL with a monstrous 55 HP carburetor 1.1 litre engine, second one a '86 VW polo Coupe "Fox" with an even smaller, 1.0 litre engine and 45 HP (speed freak yeah!) and finally, after that first one (the Coupe was driveable but had accident damage, which was why i got that one - for free in fact) broke down once too often i applied for a loan (and got it) and bought me a '93 Volkswagen (yes!) Polo G40 Coupe, this was a decent performer at least with a supercharged 1.3 litre engine and some 115 HP. Was a lot of fun that one, altough the insurance was one heck expensive.

So for a short while i had three Polos, the first one i was able to sell for cheap (500 DM, back then some 250 US $), that second one i gave away (instead of having to pay for having it scrapped!) and the G40 i drove until a week before i left the country.

My reason to go to Thailand was because i found my current boyfriend via the internet (long live IRC chat!) and sinc i planned since my early teens to move to Asia i then finally did just that - sold all my posessions (which wasn't much), and got on a plane to Bangkok with a one-way ticket and some 2,000 US $ in cash with me, my luggage only containing my computer and a few CD's and the clothes on my body.

That was 7 1/2 years ago and i have never looked back - Germany and it's "always rain" weather is nothing i miss, and the Autobahn - well, here in Thailand is a 120 km/h speed limit on overland roads but therefor nobody complains if you do the same 120 km/h in the city (provided there is enough space to do so). Heven't seen a speed trap in the 7 1/2 years and if cops stop you it's a matter of a 100 Baht (3 US $) bribe and you're off, regardless if you just ran a red light or cut a short via the wrong side of the road or the sidewalk (by motorbike obviously).

Cars are ridiculously expensive in Thailand, for the price of a Toyota Corolla you can as well build a house....... and imported cars top that by far, for example a Ferrari, you sure can get them here - a cheap one for around 35 Million Baht, which is roughly one million US $. "Import Tax" is the reason, and it also used to make my Volvo (imported "completely built-up") a luxury car - at it's time it did cost more than a (locally assembled) 5-series Beemer.

I love it here and won't go back, ever.

@silentm
What exactly do you mean? Everything is stock inside...... except for that stereo. If you refer to the coloured fabric stuff around the steering column, that is something religious (my boyfriend is, like most Thais, Buddhist).

Best regards.....

Thanh

nthfinity

07-22-2008, 02:19 PM

Welcome to Motorworld,

Considering how little I know of Thailand, it seems that the Volvo is quite the luxurious ride over there :)

A friend used to have a S40 turbo 5, which felt pretty good; and always safe ;)

RC45

07-22-2008, 05:06 PM

My reason to go to Thailand was because i found my current boyfriend via the internet (long live IRC chat!) and sinc i planned since my early teens to move to Asia i then finally did just that - sold all my posessions (which wasn't much), and got on a plane to Bangkok with a one-way ticket and some 2,000 US $ in cash with me, my luggage only containing my computer and a few CD's and the clothes on my body.

Welcome...

And isnt Thailand rumoured to be known for both its unending supply of little girls and little boys (pretending to be little girls) - so for the sake of simplicity should we assume you are the fem to your Thai boyfriend??

Not that there is anything wrong with it if you are not the fem

Thanh-BKK

07-22-2008, 08:17 PM

Hi :)

Thailand is primarily known for spicy food and beautiful women. All the rest is bad publicity pushed by greedy press people - there's more "little boys and little girls" going on in other countries but for some reason everyone always talks about Thailand. Did you know that prostitution and pornography is illegal here and one can be jailed for the possession of a dildo?

Not that it stops people from having them, tough.

And "boys pretending to be girls" are called transsexuals, and the Thais have the manners to accept these without fuss, which is why there's a great many of them here. I personally know some of them, great people really.

I personally can't stand prejudices of any kind, so if you have any against Thailand, transsexuals or gays, you may keep them quietly for yourself or write them for me to see, all it does is enlarge the number of "people that can kiss my ass" by one :)

And for those who hadn't guessed it, i am the "fem" side to my boyfriend but that doesn't make me a woman. But you may call me a queen, as i'm a totally open gay person, yes the fem side but i'm still the mechanic while he does the cooking, but in everything else that role is reversed :) You might call me a "power queen" if you will.

Best regards.....

Thanh

pitfield

07-22-2008, 09:52 PM

loveing the Dover my man, awesome, I've beenin Thailand a few times and have buddies there, the price of cars is mental, and there's no way to get about other than by bike, although risky and a bit warm, cars are just slow in BKK.

I ive in Brighton, which is as camp as a row of tents incidentally.

Welcome to the fine world of the artist previsously known as Jabba.

Loving your brembo action.

D.

RC45

07-22-2008, 11:04 PM

nthfinity

07-22-2008, 11:33 PM

It's none of our business how you live your life, and by no means are we here to judge others choices

short of becoming keyboard jockeys when it comes to opinions on autos and such... :thumbup: We love a good discussion

We are happy to have you part of the MW community :)

Thanh-BKK

07-23-2008, 03:29 AM

Hi :)

Thank you very much for that - i highly appreciate it :) I still haven't gotten to those pictures as i keep getting held off - some things come to my mind and i do them first, and quicker as expected there comes the time to go to work........

I hope i'm able to do that tomorrow :)

Best regards.....

Thanh

Thanh-BKK

07-23-2008, 04:19 AM

Hello again :)

Hereb is what i was working on today - this goes into the box on my Yamaha. It's a genuine "GIVI" box and it is already prepared to have a brake light there, however such was not installed (i have never seen them WITH the light installed.....) and since i recently built myself a LED tail light (with brake light function) and therefor had to order 100 of the LED's via E-Bay, i had 80 "left over" - i needed something to do with them :)

So here goes my extra brake light:

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC01062.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC01063.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC01064.jpg

I have not yet wired it to the bike as i need some sort of connector first, otherwise i won't be able to take the box off again. I probably won't get to that before the weekend.

By the way i am currently also playing with the idea of doing some LED tail lights/brake lights for the Volvo........

Best regards.....

Thanh

jagermaster

07-23-2008, 04:19 AM

i second that "tank" caption, i rolled an old ass 240dl and still was is good shape besides the paint scratches

Thanh-BKK

07-23-2008, 09:55 PM

Hi.

So now i'm done sorting out the pictures, sitting here and looking at the Photobucket site.... crawling at speeds worse than a 14k modem!

I hope i get that done before i have to go to work again........

Thanh

Thanh-BKK

07-24-2008, 12:12 AM

Gosh.

More than TWO HOURS have passed, i have completed wiring my brake light... and stupid Photobucket still has not uploaded even one single picture!

I have to go to the office now, so i'll try this again tomorrow.

Best regards......

Thanh

Thanh-BKK

07-24-2008, 07:34 PM

Hello :)

Today Photobucket has a better day, so here i am again, finally, with the promised pics. I will start with how the poor bike looked when i got it - a pile of junk, with nothing but the engine still working.... every single one (!) electric bulb was burned out, the battery was dead, indicator relay and horn were missing, speedmeter and tachometer cables missing, both brakes no function.... in short, REALLY poor condition.

But see for yourself (pictures then taken with Nokia 3230 cam phone):

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/Thanh3230125-1.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/Thanh3230126.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/Thanh3230127.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/Thanh3230128.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/Thanh3230129.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/Thanh3230130.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/Thanh3230131.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/Thanh3230132.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/Thanh3230133.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/Thanh3230134.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/Thanh3230135.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/Thanh3230136.jpg

But then i paid only 5,000 Baht for it - that was in August or September 2005, and by then still cheap for a bike like this - the gas prices had not yet gone through the roof and people were still loving two-strokes for their power.

To be continued.

Thanh-BKK

07-24-2008, 07:43 PM

As both tax and insurance had expired longer time ago, i had to expose the bike to a "road-worthiness" type of test in order to change registration and bring it back on the road. The following picture shows the bike just a couple of days after i bought it, and minutes before taking off for that test:

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/Thanh3230172.jpg

Only the "absolutely necessary" things had been fixed - new tyres, all electrical bits working, brakes working, speedmeter and tachometer cables installed, new seat leather (vinyl or something), tank cap, all foot rests and chain/sprockets set. Also i removed other unnecessary bits (that front fairing and the main stand).

Next picture is a few days later, after i had my new license plate (with the iconic "404 - file not found" number) and fixed the last bits, such as the seat locks:

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/Thanh3230332.jpg

To be continued.

Thanh-BKK

07-24-2008, 07:53 PM

Now, TECHNICALLY up to standard, i had to do something about the still "junk-like" look of the bike. As we have some rather weird laws in Thailand, concerning motor vehicles, it is illegal to change such vehicle's colour. Which means no less than if my bike rolled off the assembly line in black, it still has to be black the day it is scrapped and de-registered.

However it is not specified WHAT TYPE of black. So i went for a somewhat radical paint job - flat black, please, all over.

Now, i use that bike daily, and for that reason i had no time to do a decent job. It may not look like it on the pictures (still with my Nokia 3230), but this paint job took no more than a couple of hours - the bike was NOT taken apart (!!) and certainly not sanded, not even really CLEANED before spraying 4 cans of flat black over it. Still looks pretty much ok for such a sloppy job:

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/Thanh3230384.jpg

The very next day i enhanced the looks further - that old stock headlight and stock indicators had to go, chrome please - these bits are actually Kawasaki parts, for the GTO Mk6. But look nice on a Yamaha RXZ, too! Also the mirors were replaced, and both front and rear mud flaps installed (those are home-made by the way):

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/Thanh3230445.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/Thanh3230446.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/Thanh3230871.jpg

To be continued.

Thanh-BKK

07-24-2008, 08:14 PM

Now, at some stage i installed the rear box onto the bike, and also the thing which, a little later, would yield the bike's nick name "Bulldozer": The bull bar!

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/Thanh3230987.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/Thanh32301022.jpg

And so here we go, for an interim summary, conditions and looks of the machine on November 26th, 2006, over a year after i bought it as a heap of junk (the rims have since been swapped for high-quality aluminium ones from Japan, a second brake light has been installed with blue LED's, and 13,000 kilometers had been done as i got it with 41,000 on the clock:

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/Thanh32301068.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/Thanh32301069.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/Thanh32301070.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/Thanh32301071.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/Thanh32301072.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/Thanh32301073.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/Thanh32301074.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/Thanh32301075.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/Thanh32301076.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/Thanh32301077.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/Thanh32301078.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/Thanh32301079.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/Thanh32301080.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/Thanh32301086.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/Thanh32301087.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/Thanh32301088.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/Thanh32301089.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/Thanh32301090.jpg

To be continued.

Thanh-BKK

07-24-2008, 08:28 PM

Next, i went for a more radical overhaul once again - the second, and so far last, paint job. Flat black is a nightmare to keep clean, so i went for glosy black again....... this time i actually took the bike apart, at least partly, and also for the first time the "Bulldozer" theme is applied.

Also a steering dampener had been installed meantime:

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/Thanh32301566-1.jpg

And then i finally went to do something about the frame. Maybe you have spotted it on some of the previous pictures and wondered - the bike doesn't really look "straight", right? Correct you are. The accident which the previous owner had with the bike must have been a pretty heavy one, as the rear frame was broken in several places, and they had welded it very amateurishly, using rebar pieces as reinforcement. That welding, judging by the burn marks on several surrounding bits, was done like my paint job - without taking the bike apart. As a result the rear frame was about as "straight" as a banana - it didn't bother me too much, HOWEVER as i often ride wit hpassenger (my boyfriend) or carry heavy stuff on that bike, it bent more and more, and at some stage even broke once again.

So i decided to intall what i had seen on several motorbikes here in Bangkok, specially those that haul gas cylinders and other heavy goods:

The V-4 suspension!

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC00708.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC00709.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC00710.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC00711.jpg

The sole purpose of this is to stop the frame from bending further downwards. it takes away all comfort as the suspension becomes VERY hard (hardtail Harley riders anyone? THAT's how it feels like!) but also it maes the whole thing more stable - i guess i can drop a 500 kilogram load onto it and won't have a problem. Also note the somewhat weird-looking metal contraption that serves as an additional support for the top case - it serves the same purpose :)

And as you can see on those pictures, i was meantime also able to finally find the (probably last one in Thailand) genuine Yamaha "Lemang" type exhaust that is supposed to go on the older model RXZ.... it has a very nice sound (the old, stock, one was too loud for my taste - i HATE loud two-stroke engines!) and also more decent power curves - more torque specifically.

To be continued.

Thanh-BKK

07-24-2008, 08:33 PM

This is a single-picture-post for a reason. Some day i just HAD to stop in the middle of the road (on a bridge actually) to take this photo of my speedometer. You won't get to see that type of thing all too often :)

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/666666.jpg

To be continued.

Thanh-BKK

07-24-2008, 08:45 PM

And now i got another interim series of pics - dated February 26 of this year, 2008. As you can see, new additional headlights have been installed in the bullbar, and further reinforcements to the rear of the bike - it didn't bent down any more, but started going more and more towards the right. More to THAT issue later :)

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC00782.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC00783.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC00784.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC00785.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC00786.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC00787.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC00788.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC00789.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC00790.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC00791.jpg

To be continued.

Thanh-BKK

07-24-2008, 09:14 PM

Now with these additional lights there, something had to be done with them. The elctrical system of the RXZ does not supply enough power to run them the way they are supposed to, as headlights - so i made them additional indicators, outfitted with blue LED "bulbs". But that wasn't enough :0 I managed to get hold of a pair of "angel eyes", these BMW-style light rings. With a little modification (had to make them smaller!) i got those in there, have a look:

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC00887.jpg

And also i installed new, decent, hand levers for clutch and brake:

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC00893.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC00894.jpg

And a new gadget as well: The digital speedometer. With it's help i found that the bike didn't go 160 km/h as indicated on the original speedo, but only about 140! Still fast enough for that frame. here's that speedo:

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC00899.jpg

Magnet on the brake disc, it is screwed in as it has a small bolt on the back, i just had to drill a 3mm hole and cut a tread into it:

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC00900.jpg

The sensor:

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC00901.jpg

And also, meantime (and forgotten to post, aargh!) i did install the rear disc brake, this is mad of a (fake!) Brembo caliper designed for a Piaggio EX 8, a home-made adaptor to get that on the RXZ, a Honda NSR brake pump with another home-made adaptor to get it on the RXZ, a Yamaha VRR rear hub and an oversized brake disc for a TZR.

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC00793.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC00794.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC00795.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC00798.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC00809.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC00810.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC00811.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC00817.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC00818.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC00832.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC00833.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC00834.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC00836.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC00837.jpg

That brake caliper has since been replaced by a GENUINE Brembo one, because it was impossible to find spare brake pads for that fake one.... and buying a new caliper every time the pads are down? No, thanks :)

To be continued.

Thanh-BKK

07-24-2008, 09:31 PM

Last for now :) Next thing i have done was one i should have done MUCH earlier....... something about the FRAME.

As it is impossible to get a spare frame as a whole from Yamaha, i had to find a "spender RXZ". And i did just that - i managed to find an "illegal" one, that had been modified for racing and had no papers, hence could not be legally registered. In the meantime, the price of petrol has skyrocketed in Thailand (used to be 16 Baht per liter when i got the bike, yesterday when i filled up it was 41 Baht per liter!) and the RXZ is no longer a loved bike - two-strokes generally lost much of their favour. So i got this one for no more than 2,000 Baht - and it included a Showa-fork which alone is worth around 10,000 Baht and a highly modified engine, amongs other things containing that bored-up and ported cylinder which has 150 cc displacement and has, according to my mechanic who really knows these things, the potential for 55-60 horsepower with matching expansion exhaust and 34mm carb. With my setup, the Lemang pipe and stock 28 mm carb, it makes approximately 35 horsepower - more than enough and well more than the stock 20 :) Here is the whole bike that i got:

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC00982.jpg

As you can see, this is the older type where that Lemang pipe belongs to. I like that styling even more than mine - so i took not only the rear part of the frame, but also side panels, rear fairing, tail light and of course that cylinder and piston onto mine. I would have taken the whole engine but that racing clutch is such a hard thing, suitable for racing it is but driving around Bangkok on a daily basis would require me to do body building for my fingers :)

Now, i could not take the whole frame from it due to the frame number - and that frame had no papers. So i simply cut of the (perfectly straight) bit and then cut off my (perfectly BENT) bit, and welded the "new" one onto mine. Have a look how that looked like before:

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC00994.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC00995.jpg

Kinda hard to believe that i was actually RIDING that thing! But ride it i did, 31,000 kilometers to the day i changed it.

Now the operation of changing it made the RXZ look the poorest ever since i got it - see the poor soul here:

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC00996.jpg

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC00997.jpg

But from there it emerged as what it is today, including genuine GIVI top case and GIVI monorack:

MY BELOVED BULLDOZER!!

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l363/Thanh-BKK/DSC01016.jpg

Pictures of my new LED tail light will soon follow.

Best regards......

Thanh