Vintage Tote Gote 760

#42
Not a lot of building going on this week as winter finally Came to Southern Michigan and the temp made it all the way up 9 today (but sunny).. So my wife and i took a little road trip to pick up some OEM brake handles, and a new front Wheel and various parts, from a collector in Mt Pleasant, Mi.. I also ended up with 2 more bikes he was looking to get rid of.. I now have the parts I need to replace most of the rusty stuff on the 760 and a couple of nice original tote gotes to play with later...
 

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#51
I know this might sound crazy but, today I finally feel comfortable saying this bike is restore-able back close to stock.. I know I put a lot of work into this guy but i was hiding the fact that I could not get the fork bolt to release... I soaked that guy for weeks in penetrating oil and it wouldn't go.. in the box of parts I bought in Mt Pleasant ( From Rick Bunker Racing) there was a fork bolt.. so with that I figured i would try to " really" get it to release with a breaker bar.. and if it broke I now had a spare problem solved! well it broke loose and I was able to finally get the front fork off, bolt intact..
Now the fun really started I needed to get the innards, of the front suspension out and see of they were salvageable and not rusted together to bad as they didnt move... the flat head screws came out with out any heat so things were looking up.. I soaked the the forks in 3m oil all morning and one side the assembly popped out relatively easy... the other side needed a rosebud to persuade it to come out but it did.. now all I had too do was free the cartridges and disassemble.. Again it was a battle but they came loose I replaced the bushings (not too hard with a shop press and a lathe) and cleaned everything up.. the fork ends will need some paint as they pitted a little, but now everything works... this bike will be a stock rider shortly..., now all I have to do is everything!! (Plan B was to use a set of 404 forks! I didn't say it was a good plan) 20190126_110551.jpg 20190126_110621.jpg 20190126_110749.jpg
 

Davis

Well-Known Member
#55
I’m glad you got them out as I don’t think the 404 forks would’ve looked right on that bike as there shorter and narrower.
 
#59
Big day today!!! 2 days ago it was, about -31 degrees with the wind chill and today almost 40 degrees outside.. I took advantage of the warm weather to use the sand blaster Mr Pat gave me to strip the paint of the 760's fame and forks.. still have to do the swing arm and wheels but that little bugger did pretty good job!! made a mess of the snow and the driveway but its going to rain tomorrow and wash it all away!! I got the front forks in primer today, the rest ill do some other day.. another big hurdle in this build completed... (I also used a sanding disc I didn't sand blast the complete frame just the tight areas!! ) 20190202_161903.jpg 20190202_161845.jpg 20190202_163425.jpg 20190202_161836.jpg
 
#60
Big day today!!! 2 days ago it was, about -31 degrees with the wind chill and today almost 40 degrees outside.. I took advantage of the warm weather to use the sand blaster Mr Pat gave me to strip the paint of the 760's fame and forks.. still have to do the swing arm and wheels but that little bugger did pretty good job!! made a mess of the snow and the driveway but its going to rain tomorrow and wash it all away!! I got the front forks in primer today, the rest ill do some other day.. another big hurdle in this build completed... (I also used a sanding disc I didn't sand blast the complete frame just the tight areas!! ) View attachment 239556 View attachment 239557 View attachment 239558 View attachment 239559
Looks good Eric!
Hey did that have the paint on it when you bought it?
When I seen it, it was bare rust...
 
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