83 125XC with 175 top end

I became the caretaker of this bike in 1996. it appeared new when I found it, with maybe a couple of rides on it. no visible signs of wear. the clutch didn't work but it ran and I figured the clutch plates were stuck together from sitting for years and this was the case. I was just coming off of a long hiatus from riding due to marriage and babies so this was my only bike for the next 4 years. it was used most sundays in the florida woods and saw a lot of stinking florida mud. I ran it hard but it never broke on me.

those 4 years were fun but I eventually ended up with newer bikes and must confess I let this one sit in sad shape and mostly ignored for many years. about 10 years ago I got a wild hair and decided to make it right. I tore it down to the frame, glass bead blasted all the metal, primed and painted with automotive basecoat/clearcoat and replaced all the rubber and plastic parts.

I have to admit that I regularly cleaned this bike with purple power cleaner to get all the stinking gooey florida mud off. it ruined the anodizing on the gold rims and on the shock reservoirs. the shocks were taken care of when I did the basecoat/clearcoat (they were also rebuilt) but the rims I never got around to refinishing.

so after ten years I finally disassembled the wheels, drove to Tampa and dropped them off to be re-anodized 2 days ago. I'm very excited to finally complete this project.

still had the original Trelleborg. sidewalls were cracked.

nice work, the 83 and 84 bikes are super comfortable.

cushy. the stock white springs were always too soft for the abundance of sand whoops here in central florida.

Good job! Glad to see you are freshening it up and making it look good again. The 83 125 with the 175 top end are pretty rare to find these days!

Marty

Thanks Marty. the 175 parts were NOS and I only rode it twice with them right before I redid the bike. not sure I want to ride it now and scratch it all up LOL.