I was given this K11P by a customer who has owned it from new (1968). He took it apart in 1975 and it has been stored (badly) in his shed ever since. the plan is to rebuild it, using as many of the original parts as possible, and then sell it on, with all the profit going to a local offshore lifeboat charity of which the bike's former owner is a patron. I bolted together some of the big bits to see if it was feasible and rather foolishly decided I could make a half-decent bike out of it. Little did I know...................
Doesn't it make you cry when you find stuff that has been neglected like that. If it has done a million miles and was totally worn out then it has done it's service and needs rebuilding, but just left to rust is a crime.
It does. And the last thing I needed right now was another project bike. But I just can't let a bike go to the scrap tip.
First thing to check was the condition of the pressed-steel frame. Here in the UK, we have climatic and road conditions that prey upon pressed-steel frames. After shot blasting, the front looked good to go.............. not so the rear.................. ooops!
But all was not lost. A forum member in the UK had kindly donated a couple of boxes of NOS and used K10 / K11 spares to the cause, along with a K10 pressed-steel frame. The front section of the K10 frame is different to the K11's, but the rear section is the same. I made a v-shaped jig that picked up on the steering stem at the front of the bike and a rod that passed through the rear shock absorber mountings. A drop link ran from each arm down to the bottom engine mounting hole. With this in place, I took measurements to where there was good metal on the K11 frame and cut off the rotted rear section. Same with the K10 frame - jig in place and cut at the same measurements. The two parts were then tack welded together, plated on the inside and then seam welded on the outside. Once dressed, the frame was sent a mates for powder coating and when returned, the still visible weld seam was cut back to metal, filled with body filler, rubbed back until the joint was seamless and then the frame re-painted with 2 pack gloss black. Here's the result..................... should be good for another 40 years !
Ah, the K11P - my very first bike over 50 years ago, setting me on a lifelong affair with Suzukis, both 2 and 4 strokes. Yes, I've had other makes, Ducatis, and all the main Japanese players, but my softspot for Suzukis can be traced back to a red K11 P which carried, somewhat unhurriedly, myself and future wife to Teachers College for 18 months until i scraped together the deposit for a secondhand Suzuki T20 Hustler. Geez, what a rocket that was , after tackling the road up the hill to the college each day driven by a dizzying 8 hp put out by the little 80. In The U.S. Last year, I was amazed to come across a well kept original K11P in a shop in a town on the old Route 66 in Arizona. Brought back lots of old memories. Please keep us updated on your progress with the resto. P.S. I have mountain bikes with wider tyres than the K11P ( and faster top speed!)
the guy who gave me the bike wandered into my pub yesterday and handed me a large, plain brown envelope, adding that I would find the contents of great interest. In a locked, darkened room, I opened the envelope and............... 3 photos, taken around 1971, of the actual bike I am restoring
They are a great source for reference. Interesting how badly the bike had fared in it's first 3 years - the chrome panels on the petrol tank painted as they were rusted, signs of corrosion evident on the pressed-steel frame, bulb horn to replace the original, heat shield missing from the exhaust, no stands etc.
Interesting photos. Yes, it had copped a hiding in a few short years. Here in Australia, mine came with a fully enclosed chain guard, painted in the same colour as the bike- mine was red. I also thought my front guard was chromed, but maybe it was just silver. Memory can be a bit hazy after 50+ years. Somewhere, i may have a photo or two.
In my Suzuki parts book for the K10/11/15, the section for the Australian market indicates that the front mudguard was chromed steel. For the UK spec bikes, it was painted silver. It also shows the chain guard to be a chrome-plated "open" item, not fully enclosed. The Australian market bikes were also fitted with folding rider foot rests - we got the solid bar type.
another piece of the bike's history unearthed - the original log book from 1968.......... originally black, then changed to blue, then red & white. Which is at odds with the bike itself, as there are no traces of red or white on the original parts - they were all blue when I got it.
This is gold. You are fortunate to find it. I am wracking my brain to remember if the footpegs on my bike were folding or solid. My mate recently sold a K10 to Kiffsta recently in a pretty mixed state, ( the good , the bad and the ugly), the footpegs on that were solid. I think on my K11P they were folding. Keep the resto going.I look forward to more photos as you progress.
I am awaiting the return of bolts and brackets from the platers, then I can start assembling some of the bike. Be nice to get it up on its wheels at least.
yes - still here. Only just got around to continuing the K11P's resto - now a rolling chassis for the first time since it was dismantled in 1975.