Speedway Scorpion project is Underway!

[cruhr1]

I picked this bike up late this past summer in non-running condition and spent a few months gathering some parts to get it mocked up and running. Overall the bike is in very good shape but it doesn't look nearly as good in person as the picture makes it appear. There is plenty of pitting on all the chrome and rust pits all over the frame so it's getting stripped down and either new paint or powder coat. I haven't decided which way to go yet. I will be having some of the chrome redone like the wheels, exhaust and front fender. I have an NOS rear fender for it and the handlebar chrome is good. Tonight I got it all disassembled so the real work can begin. Lots of parts to clean up, the front forks are frozen, the wiring harness is butchered and the driven sheaves on the jackshaft are slightly bent. It should be a fun build now that the parts hunting is over. Thanks for looking

Chad

 

[ole4]

They are great driving mini bikes. Yours is starting out in better shape than any I have gotten, good luck with your build.

 

[cruhr1]

They are great driving mini bikes. Yours is starting out in better shape than any I have gotten, good luck with your build.

Thanks Ole. I am looking forward to this one. I agree they do ride very nice even with the frozen forks. I do have a second set of forks that aren't frozen so hopefully between the two I will have the parts I need to make one good functioning set.

Chad

 

[manchester1]

That bike looks in pretty good shape. Make her look real purdy.:thumbsup:

 

[John G.]

Nice bike, I remember seeing it on craigslist i think. I love my speedway, great riding bike. Much better than that four letter word company and not as common. :laugh: Keep us posted on it, good luck :thumbsup:

 

[Harleys Papa]

Looking good :thumbsup: Those wheels might surprise you and clean up, mine did :thumbsup: well most of them

 

[cruhr1]

Tonight I dropped off the frame, gas tank, swing arm and lower shock tubes at the powder coat shop. I'm going with a red candy metallic and he quoted me a total of $150 to media blast, spray the chrome base coat and powder coat the parts. I've never had anything done in powder coat before but that sounds extremely cheap for all that. I was expecting at least double that price.

 

[cruhr1]

Looking good :thumbsup: Those wheels might surprise you and clean up, mine did :thumbsup: well most of them

Can I ask what process/products you used to clean up your wheels?

 

[cruhr1]

Nice bike, I remember seeing it on craigslist i think. I love my speedway, great riding bike. Much better than that four letter word company and not as common. :laugh: Keep us posted on it, good luck :thumbsup:

This was a craigslist bike and it has been discussed a couple times on here. It was for sale last summer and I had paid the guy via PayPal only to have him sell it out from under me before I picked it up. Long story short the guy who bought it was in over his head and reposted on CL few months later along with another scorpion roller and a couple engines so I bought the whole works from him.

 

[paa60]

great price on the blasting and paint, especially 2 stage paint

 

[GammonBike72]

Awesome project... I just joined up today. I have a 72 Speedway Scorpion. HOW RARE ARE THESE? What are they worth? Where do I get info and parts? Where do I begin? Please help... or point me in the right direction? Also I may be willing to part with a few parts. I'm going to start my own project log as well... Man I got a lot to do!!!

 

[cruhr1]

Awesome project... I just joined up today. I have a 72 Speedway Scorpion. HOW RARE ARE THESE? What are they worth? Where do I get info and parts? Where do I begin? Please help... or point me in the right direction? Also I may be willing to part with a few parts. I'm going to start my own project log as well... Man I got a lot to do!!!

Welcome to the group. The first thing you should do is read the forum rules. We don't give appraisals. Your bike is worth what someone will pay you for it. Speedways in general aren't what I would consider rare. What is rare is finding one with all or most of its original parts still in tact. There are several parts that are very difficult to find and if you do find it be prepared to pay for it. For example if your missing any torque converter parts, clutch cover, front fender, front brake caliper or electrical components you will have your work cut out for you. Good luck with your project and post up some pics of your bike!

 

[GammonBike72]

Thank you much. The value of my Scorpion is the least of my concern. It's not for sale. I don't want to do the wrong thing though and I respect the rules. I will start by getting pics of the bike and what I have going on. Next I will start a project log. Yes, the parts, the parts, the parts... I sort of get hung up there. I think for the most part I have a complete bike though.

 

[cruhr1]

A quick update on this project. I have the engine completely disassembled, stripped and I'm waiting for some parts that should be here this week before I can put it back together and get it ready for paint. The engine will have a new piston, rings, new valves, oil seals and gasket kit. I already have the correct water slide decals and the carb is rebuilt. The frame and tank are at the powder coat shop and I haven't decided what to do with the wheels yet. I have a quote request in at a couple chrome shops so we'll see what it will cost to get them chromed. I tried to clean them up but they're top far gone. I took the front forks apart and have them all rebuilt with good seals so they are ready to be reassembled. I'll post progress pics soon.

 

[fistfullabar]

some inspiration

 

[Harleys Papa]

Can I ask what process/products you used to clean up your wheels?

The centers I just used a soft wire wheel we use for cleaning parts at work and then I cleared them with Duplicolor high temp clear, the outers I used the same wire wheel as best I could and painted them with Duplicolor high temp semi gloss black and then clear :thumbsup:

 

[cruhr1]

Finally an update on this project!

The past few weeks I've been working on the engine for this bike. I disassembled everything and found that the end gap on the piston rings was over .060". The cylinder wall was very nice with no ridges so I left it as is and found a new piston and a set of rings for it. I also installed a new intake valve as the original one was pitted up pretty bad. The exhaust valve was in good shape so I left it. I lapped both valves and ground the stem of the new exhaust valve for proper lash. Then I painted everything in duplicolor semi gloss black engine paint and reassembled with new gaskets and oil seals and this how it turned out.

Today I assembled a make shift engine stand and ran the engine for about 15 minutes. It runs great, idles nice and it no longer smokes constantly. A big thanks to Dr. Shop Teacher for the "rats nest hs40 rebuild" thread. I followed his steps to do this engine.

My frame parts should be back from powder coat this week so stay tuned, I'll post pics as soon as I have the parts. Thanks for looking.

Chad

 

[fistfullabar]

Looking good so far:thumbsup:

 

[cruhr1]

Powder coated parts preview

I picked up my powder coat parts Friday afternoon and they look amazing. I decided to do the bike in red candy metallic. Here is a pic of the gas tank. I decided to have the wheels done in chrome powder for now as the price of real chrome was a little hard to digest. I will try to get more pics up tomorrow and if time allows this week I hope to start reassembling!

 

[Ajf]

Nice. :drool: