Time to make a start on the rebuild (again)

Well after a couple of years inactivity I have findally decided to make a start on the rebuild again (1975 candy red UK ST70).
Peviously I had completely rebuilt the engine and acumulated a huge pile of new parts from David Silver & CMSNL but there it stopped due to lack of interest but I finally decided that it was about time all those lovely new parts were put to good use (also I got fed up with the bike being in the way after a complete re-arrangement of my garage!).

When done it will hopefully be a top-spec rebuild but with a few subtle changes such as:-
Rack. I can't abide a bike without some way of carrying even small amounts of luggage, the CMSNL one is a nice example and is slightly smaller than the genuine one which I have had in the past.
4.00x10 Knobbly tyres. I prefer the look and having used similar ones in the past I have no concerns about road-holding.
Stainless steel fastenings. Apart from where high tensile is required everything will be replaced with stainless steel, I have used these on other bikes plus my Land Rover over many years and know they work well.
Raised gearing. Previous experience with my dads ST70 has shown that when in good condition they will pull a slightly higher gear which can be handy in modern road conditions so apart from the slightly oversized tyres I have also changed sprocket size, it will be interesting to see how it compares to my old dads (which always was a good one).

First job is to weld the frame.
The forward engine mounting has cracked (probably due to the engine not being bolted in correctly) and the bracket that the steering-lock engages into has snapped off and is missing so I will have to manufacture a new one.
PHOTO REQUEST. I can see from the parts book what the bracket should look like but if anyone could take a few close-up photos of the headstock & steering-lock assembly I would appreciate it very much. PM me and I will let you have my e-mail address.

How about some pics ???.
ps were do you get knobbly tyres from + what size did you say you are using,will they fit straight onto stanard rim size??

Unfortunately it is a pic free rebuild at the moment, I never took any when I first bought the bike and it has been in a state of undress for the past 3-years and as of this afternoon little more than a rolling chassis and several boxes of bits! Forks will come out when I have made up the new bracket for the steering-lock to engage into and then it is welding time!
I will certainly remember to take a few photos of the rebuild itself, I might even manage to get some of the bike in its present form with all the parts spread about.

Tyres are from MonkeyBike UK, 4.00 x 10 Duro Trail Knobbly Tyre at £28 each inc VAT. Don't forget to buy new tubes as well, your old ones might do the job ok but they are cheap enough not to worry about.

Don't give up the rebuild this time Litch.
Remember: it's all about having fun, so enjoy the work!
Good luck and I'm anxious to see your progress and final result.

It's funny but when I rebuilt one of my Laverda Jota's just a few years back (I had two, greedy or what!) I rebuilt it in under a week!
The frame, swinging arm, wheels, fork lowers, stand etc had been powder-coated black and were ready to go, the tank, side-panels & tail unit were painted silver and wrapped in bubble-wrap, the chromework as back from the platers (not 100% great finish but time was not on my side to send it back as I was selling the bike straight away to make way for the new BMW), I had a large supply of new SS fixings plus all the components to make a complete new wiring harness from scratch.
The ST70 is going to take ages as I haven't the 'get up and go' I did then plus I know there will be lots of bits & pieces I still need to get.

The following isn't really relevant but so what, in the absence of photos of the ST70 this is the last bike I rebuilt!
Rolling chassis after just a couple of hours, engine & ancillaries the next evening, wiring over the next couple of evenings and finishing off at the weekend. MOT, test-ride and sold all within the next week.

Ouch! What a stunning looking bike!
You say you got two of them, hu?
Very very nice, lovely job!

Thanks.

I had two of them but they both had to go when I bought the BMW.
I had owned the silver one for quite a long time but after being accident free for many years (in my youth I had quite a few accidents) I crashed it twice in 6-months which meant it needed quite a thorough rebuild so I bought the green one as a stop-gap. I had a deadline for rebuilding the silver one as I had already ordered the BMW (3-month lead-time) so everything had to be sold in time to make room in the garage. Both bikes sold within a week (very sought after) and for the first time since I was 10-years old I didn't own a bike until the BMW was available for collection.


Not bad for a stop-gap bike for pottering around on while the other one was being rebuilt!




Both had to go to make way for this (which I still have but a new Honda CB1300 is looking very attractive at the moment).



It's funny but in all the years I have been riding bikes, no matter how big & powerful they are there is still a great amount of excitement to be gained from riding something like the ST70. Sometimes when I was off to the bike-club meeting I would leave my main bike at home (Honda's in those days) and take my dads old ST70 and have a great time riding it.
When the ST70 is rebuilt I will certainly be riding it a lot, no point letting it sit in the garage doing nothing.

My god ! BMW bikes are ugly they should stick to making cars Give me a yam any day

I agree it is ugly but in a functional way.
It is so bulky that I could carry the ST70 on the back as a 'spare'!