GPR Camp: Replica Racers

In an effort to get things ready for GPR Camp this year I've been picking up some bikes, and getting them ready to ride. Steven bought an 075 that was in really tough shape. He decided to give up on it, and I have to agree this bike should have been sent to the Spanish equivalent of Valhalla. Louis and I actually tried to buy this bike some many years ago. It didn't work out, but I couldn't let this little GPR die, so I picked it up from Steven. In some of the photos it doesn't look too bad. But once I started taking it apart there were a lot of things that would have to be replaced.

This bike had some pretty hokey things done to it. For instance the throttle was JB Welded to the bar! I've got in nearly taken apart. Once that happens the frame and such will get either painted or powder coated. The engine seems to be okay, but I'll have to check it out. The plastics are in very rough shape, but they make be okay under the flat black paint.

To take the bike apart I used a lot of liquid wrench on the bolts. This helped a lot for taking it apart. As I wrenched I would liberally spray more liquid wrench on the various fasteners. Because of this I didn't break a single bolt, or even smash a knuckle.

A couple more shots, and the All Balls came in today for the forks.

Jimmy swung by to pick up some of the parts for his bike. He's got a lot of work to do!

Izzy came by the other day and helped me load Jimmy's bike into the Saab. Hopefully we'll see some real action on this bike soon.

I've been learning a lot about tires this past year which leads me to believe that a 120 is too wide of a tire for this wheel. The way the sidewall comes out at an angle and how tight the profile is on the tire are big clues. When compared to tires on the 17" GPR wheels of the same width employ a 110 width tire, and produce a proper profile, and a side wall with much less of an angle. I suspect that a 110 with tire on this wheel would produce a better handling bike. Of course finding tires in these sizes is going to be the challenge.

I should really change the name of this thread! Ed was able to get one of Jimmy's wheels ready, but the other one had a failed valve stem, and since the older wheels employ the smaller stems he wasn't able to swap it out. I knew I had one somewhere and today I found it. This will help move the bike another tiny step forward.

It's amazing what you can put in the back of a Saab!! I've had this photo for a while, but didn't remember to post it.

A little more progress.

One of the bigger issues we’ve had with Jimmy’s GPR was getting the swing arm spindle free of the bike so that the swing arm could be removed. I was able to loosen up the rear engine mount unit, but I could not get the spindle out. So I enlisted Ed in the aid of this project. His first attempt was also met with failure, but with added effort today he was able to make some serious progress for this project!!


With the use of his bus axle persuader, a lot of heat, and a rather large sledge hammer Ed was able to remove the spindle. Next stop: The Powder Coater!!

Made some tiny progress cleaning up parts destine for the power coater.