Project Completeted ! Back On The Road

[Dutchbike]

Finally she’s finished !! after 6 months off & on working on it, my NSR 150 SP is back on the Thai roads.

A report for anyone who like to read about NSR’s or want to take on such a “project”

When I first came to Thailand I really liked the older 2 stroke sportbikes, but there are not many around anymore and the ones still running are mostly being “abused” as workhorses or sometimes even transformed to driving foodstands with sidecars welded on to it.

After some investigation on internet to find info on the different models and history about these bikes I decided I wanted a NSR and when an add on Thaivisa in my region came up the deal was quickly closed.

It was a nice looking bike, and the engine run well. According to the seller ( a Farang) a lot of work was done recently ( piston/clutch/crankshaft bearings,CDI) later it turned out he was not telling exactly the truth ( but that later on in this story)

It was my first 2 stroke sport motorcycle ( apart from mopeds and motocross bikes when I was a teenager) and I was surprised about the power on this little bike, tucked in 175 km/h on the meter, pretty impressive for a 150.

All went well for about a year ( I didn’t use the bike so much, busy with settling in and building a house) but had some nice rides with it.

During a ride last October all went bad, after coming back from a 200 km ride the engine made a very strange “noise”, a awful rattling somewhere inside the engine.

Time to get to work, dismantling the bike and taking the engine out of the frame, once on my workbench and taking of the cylinder the problems revealed themselves, the piston looked very very bad and the connecting rod bearing was gone, some of the bearing rollers where in the engine, Oooops.

So the engine was in need of some serious work, I can change a piston, but to separate an engineblock I don’t have the tools ( bearing pullers etc) and knowledge, so I brought the engine to the local Honda dealer where a mechanic who drives an NSR RR did all the work.

I told to use only original parts and went all the way with a complete new top end ( cylinder, cylinder head, piston, connecting rod) also the crankshaft bearings where in need of being replaced and while at it a new clutch and oil pump where thrown in, and that things where exactly the things the seller was telling he had done ( or maybe I wasn’t listening well at that time and he was telling what have to be done ha ha )

The gearbox was still in a good shape.

While the engine at the dealer ( it was the time of the floods so some parts took a while to arrive) I did my own work on the bike cleaning it, respraying the frame, and sorting out the CDI problem, my NSR had to 2 CDI’s, an extra one was fitted ( like on the older RR models) to control the RC valve . A cheap Thai style repair, so a new OEM CDI was mounted and it took me a while to sort out the right connecting order for the wires ( they where cut)

By the time the engine was ready, I had made up a nice list of all kind of small parts so another waiting period started. I polished the engine covers and ordered from Tyga performance an exhaust. By the way, many thanks to Matt and Paul from Tyga, they gave me many tips and advice about the NSR and they know what they talking about.

After getting a big box full of parts it was time to put back every thing and slowly it started to look like an NSR again, after all was back on ( except the fairing) I brought the bike to the Honda dealer ( they told me to get a warranty on the engine rebuild, they wanted to start it up and to do the adjustments) The mechanic did a good job, it runs great and smooth, The Tyga exhaust looks and sounds great.

Did my first rides with it and I’m very happy, I still have to go a bit slow (running it in) but the power is back.

I’m sure a lot of you are curious…. How much ??? well…. way too much. ha ha

As with most restorations/rebuilds you will never get back what you put in, but I’m not intended to sell this bike, I want to keep it for a long time.

When I add on all the things I spend on this rebuild I’m looking at approx 50 K mostly on the engine and mechanical parts, ( a OEM cylinder is 9K !! )

Together with the purchase price I’m looking at the price of a new CBR 150 or almost even a CBR 250, but that are not my kind of bikes.

The body work was still in good shape and in the year I drove the bike I had the rims resprayed.

Apart from the Tyga exhaust I kept the bike stock ( it’s fast enough for me) the cosmetic changes I’ve made are: removing the indicators, cutting off the rear fender ( making a bracket for the licence plate) now it’s got a nice clean look at the back, and putting on HRC decals ( I think a NSR is worthy wearing them)

Here’s a list of all the things changed /done

New top end ( cylinder/head/piston/connecting rod)

New crankshaft bearings.

New clutch.

New oilpump.

All new seals in the engine.

Tyga complete exhaust

New CDI.

New fork seals and springs.

New front disk.

New radiator.

New ignition coil.

New sprockets and chain.

And numerous small parts like cables/bolts/nuts/seals/rubbers and so on.

Again, a lot of money but for me, it’s worth it, I really love this little bike.

For those who want to take on such a project be warned, some parts are not cheap and when you want to do it right you may be spending more then you where intend to spend.

Good NSR’s are hard to find these days so if you got one: cherish it!!! it’s a bit of Thai bike history.

This bike turned me into a 2 stroke fan and next to this NSR I’ve got an old Yamaha TZR (= next project) a Honda Tena and recently a brand new Yamaha TZM 150 R (but that’s another story, also somewhere here on the Thaivisa forum) my only 4 stroke is a KLX 250 thumper.

Greetings and drive save.

Dutchbike

[flying]

Sweet !

Congrats on a good job!

[SumetCycle]

Well done, it looks like a brand new bike.

[JonnyF]

Looks great, I love the older 2 strokes as well. I bet it's a blast to ride.

[moe666]

Nice job, great looking bike.

[wantan]

Perfect, thanks for the nice story. Looks like it was an interesting project. Wish you much fun with your new bike

[monty1412]

Dutchbike, great story and the bike looks sensational. Great job.

Im really struggling with a cbr400rr NC29 repsol I have , sell it or do the same as you did.

undecided at present but certainly your story helped swing me in direction of start doing it which I dont know whether to thank you or curse you for.

[apetley]

Nice story and a beaut of a bike, thanks for sharing.

I have a 150sp myself and am planning to do the same as you and restore it to former glory.

How is the tyga pipe for noise?

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[macknife]

Wow! It looks very nice.

[JeffreyMcCollum]

5 or 6 years back I did the same thing. Still have mine, kept in the house as a show peice and take it out to ride once or twice a year.

Be very careful using gasahol in the bike. I seized 2 motors that way and had to buy new crate motors from Honda.

The SP is a fun bike, enjoy !

[Garry]

Dutchbike, it looks ace. Nice job on the restore

[Dutchbike]

Nice story and a beaut of a bike, thanks for sharing.

I have a 150sp myself and am planning to do the same as you and restore it to former glory.

How is the tyga pipe for noise?

Posted with Thaivisa App http://apps.thaivisa.com

let me say it like this: with the Tyga exhaust you get noticed, the soundtrack is different then the stock exhaust it's not extremly loud, but when you get in the higher revs it screams!!!!

According from the guys from Tyga it's not road legal and if you want to purchase one send them a mail ( it's not on the new Thai website) One big + is that it is about 1/4 of the weight of the stock exhaust ( which weighs a ton)

To everybody else, thanks for all the compliments.

My next "project' will be tranforming my old shabby looking TZR ( technical in good shape) into a sort of retro looking cafe racer, a low budget project this time.

When it is completed i will write a report on it.

Keep the 2 strokes alive !!!

[KRS1]

Drag race betwen NPro and TZM please .

[BSJ]

It looks great, well done.