Crispy One point Five

I found this DR400 in the local classifieds this week. Hopefully I will get time to go and have a look at it sometime over the weekend. The add says it does not run, but is fairly complete. As long as the carby is OK, and the rear rim is good (so I can use it on the front) it is probably worth around $250. Judging by the non-standard plastic tank I think it was the same bike that sold before I got a chance to look at it a year ago. See my blog post on March 4, 2010. I bet its the same bike. Looks like its been poorly spray painted silver and blue. Engine is probably very worn, and hence owner has lost interest. Its amazing how many people think a lick of paint will miraculously make a bike run like new again.

Cost has also gone backwards

Going backwards still….

Unfortunately all my efforts to try and mate 17 inch supermoto rims to old school drum hubs have been in vane. It is a bit hard to tell from the photo, but the angle of the spoke holes in the rim is not quite right and so the spoke does not seat properly in the rim. The joys of customising, its taken about a year to get to this point, only to start over again.

The next plan of attack is to go for 18 inch rims front and rear. If I can source a rim that is drilled for an old style hub, say from an old open-class Suzuki motocross bike them it may fit. I could get 17 or 18 inch rims custom drilled with custom spokes, but that is probably about a $1200 option. I still reckon its possible to do it for around $500.

Back to the old drawing board, stay tuned folks, its going to get even more interesting.