Basket-case motorcycle restoration: Tear-down and parts replacement

The Sabre before restoration (Photo: Todd Wallis)

What do you do when you've just won a pile of junk that used to be a motorcycle? Maybe, like the owner of the first ticket drawn, you say you don't want it, draw another ticket.

Or maybe, like the owner of the second ticket drawn, you work on that pile of junk and bring it back two months later looking great and running great, too. In that case, you would be Todd Wallis, and the bike you just restored would be his 1966 Sears Sabre, a 50cc two-stroke made for Sears by Puch.

Todd has no professional experience doing restorations but that hasn't stopped him from restoring cars and motorcycles. His first effort was an AMC Javelin. Why a Javelin? First off, he likes the car, but secondly, "I like having something different than anyone else. You get a lot of attention. Pull into a restaurant and people will stop eating and come and look at your car. It's smiles per mile."

Todd latest restoration fell into his lap recently when he attended a meeting of the British Motorcycle Association of Colorado (BMAC).

"I didn't have time to look at the bike beforehand, they were having the raffle, so I put in $20 for 20 tickets. They drew a number but that guy didn't want it so they drew again." The second ticket was one of Todd's.

When Todd got the bike home he started tearing it down. Texas plates from the mid '70s suggested how long it had been since the bike ran. The tires were flat and shredded, the speedometer was smashed, and some of the shrouding was off and missing. Nevertheless, "The salvation to the bike is that it had good compression," says Todd.

Shooting numerous photographs for assistance in putting it all back together, Todd disassembled and cleaned or blasted just about everything. Good compression notwithstanding, the engine had sludge inside that "dripped out like slow molasses" and was very dirty. For that, he mixed oil and gas and poured the mixture into crankcase. He then turned the crank by hand, drained it, and repeated the procedure until the engine was clean inside.

Replacement parts

One surprise was how many parts for the bike were still available, such as the rubber boots for the spark plugs. The points and condenser are also available but Todd just cleaned what it had and used them. The original coil was fine.

What proved to be a problem, however, were the spokes. When Todd tried to remove the spokes so that he could clean the hubs, they just broke. No problem, he figured, he'd just cut the old ones out and replace them. That turned out not to be such a good idea.

"The spokes were the most expensive part of restoration. I had to have them custom made."

The muffler also presented problems.

"I couldn't get the exhaust pipe apart to clean out the baffles, so I cut it down the side to get the baffle out, then rewelded it and will have it rechromed," he explains.

The seat, as shown in the photos, was beyond repair so Todd located some upholsterers who created an entirely new one in the original style. When it came time to install it, however, it turned out the seat was too big and had to be set back one inch. Todd made all the brackets that he needed for that.

Some things he just replaced, such as the handlebars, grips, levers, and cables.

The headlight and trim ring were not available, but Todd found one that was almost the right size and he altered the headlight ring to fit.

The ignition key was not easy to come by but Todd found an old German locksmith who was able to come up with a workable key that was, however, too fat. He ground the key down and cut it and it worked fine.

The real triumph of the quest for parts was the speedometer. There was no repairing the old one but in an Internet search, Todd managed to locate a new old stock speedo, still in the box, in a shop on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. That unit presumably sat on that shelf for more than 40 just waiting for Todd to recognize the jewel that it was.

Todd's work on the body and frame, and then reassembly, follows in Basket-case motorcycle restoration: Hard work, and then satisfaction.

Note: National Motorcycle Travel Examiner Patty Davis is in the process, with her husband, of restoring an old Triumph. Follow along as they dive into this adventure.