[umashankar]

Hi, I am looking for a good mechanic for my Rx135 1999 model. Could you please let me know if this guy will repair Yamaha bikes? If yes, could you share his contact number and address?

[AVL500]

Congratulations and kudos to you for doing such a fantastic restoration. There would hardly be a person in this country born in 80s or earlier who has not ridden one or at least cannot identify one. My dad too had a white split seat Chetak, it was no less than a car for us be it rain or shine, it eventually got passed down to me and served me well for years even after I have moved to Delhi for job. It was nothing less than a super bike for me, couple of times I just tied the bag on rear seat and rode all the way to Chandigarh on it. Your post brought all those sweet memories back

[arun1100]

Lovely restoration thread, Karthik!

My Dad bought this scooter in 1997, on Aug 19th. Bajaj Classic was the other option; he chose the Chetak for the popularity and future parts availability. He used it daily for few years from Jayamahal to Vijayanagar for regular office commute; total of around 28k kms till we hibernated it.

Glad you took up the restoration work to make it roadworthy. I never imagined this scooter to have a new lease of life! Happy and safe ridingl!

Here is the only thing left with me of the scooter.

[condor]

For quite sometime, I have been feeling remorseful about neglecting our Chetak. Dad finally sold it many years ago. Looking at the posts here, I wish I could locate it again.

It was a F-Green 1986 model, Bangalore registered number CAR-4005. RTO records indicate that the scooter was not transferred by the buyer

[BLACK1]

Great job of restoring such a machine. I myself ride a bajaj super excel for my daily commute. The details of my scooter are
MODEL: Bajaj Super Excel
YEAR: Purchased brand new by my father on 31st March 1996
COLOR : Metallic blue
CONDITION : Original color . No modification , no engine work done till date. Clutch plates replaced twice. Meter does not work. Left side indicators do not work. Slight leakage of gearbox oil from the kick starter. Meter console lights don't work. Footmat missing. Regularly wash & wax every month with waxpol polish. General maintenance carried out by myself only.

This is the only two wheeler that I have ridden. I learnt riding on this scooter itself. Now some photos of my ride.

[BLACK1]

Hey funkykar can you tell me whether the speedometer in the below pic is new or refurbished one? I am looking for this speedometer for my ride but unable to find one. If a new one is available at your place can you get me one ?

[arun1100]

Hey Karthik. Here's a pic of 2009 of the scooter restored by you. See how bad it looks! Thank you for restoring it!

[Leoshashi]

Originally Posted by funkykar

Ye zameen yeh aasman,
Ye zameen yeh aasman,
Hamhara kal hamhara aaj,
Hamhara kal hamhara aaj,
Bulandh Bharat ki buland tasveer,
Hamhara Bajaj hamhara Bajaj,
Bulandh Bharat ki buland tasveer,
Hamhara Bajaj hamhara Bajaj.

It won't be wrong to state that this thread reminded me that there is an old scooter in my backyard as well, our family's first ride. A 1980s Bajaj(Maharashtra Scooters) Priya. While the body is rustfree, cosmetically it needs a complete overhaul. Have been collecting some parts off late and this is what I have managed till now:













Speedo unit-The only part I haven't been able to get close to original. This has Vespa written, while the original one was black with Maha Scooters logo. Any help would be greatly appreciated.









Regards,
Shashi

[funkykar]

Could you post pictures of original speedo. I can ask around.

[Leoshashi]

Originally Posted by funkykar

Could you post pictures of original speedo. I can ask around.

Thanks a lot boss for this kind gesture. Attaching pics of the actual speedo on my scooter:





The outer ring used to be chrome, the glass got damaged once and the mechanic installed black ring.

A pic of the original speedo I found on the internet:



Regards,
Shashi

[ashwinprakas]

Originally Posted by funkykar

After the...

If its not much trouble could you post detailed pictures of how your seat is mounted to the motorcycle?

Mine is a split seat variant 1999 Chetak and I was contemplating shifting over to a single seat so as to add security to the fuel tank cap which on mine is the hinge and screw type.

Restoration is nearing the end of the tunnel and I can see the light pretty clearly though ironically I can't seem to source the headlight and a few other parts such as the reed valves etc.

Thanks in advance.
A.P.

[funkykar]

Sure, I will do it by Monday. Scooter is parked in my office basement for few weeks as there is some road digging in my area and extremely dusty conditions. PM me and lets connect over whatsapp. I will check spares availability locally and try and see if I can be of help. Why dont you post some pics of restoration?

Reed valve? IS it a Bravo?

[ashwinprakas]

Originally Posted by funkykar

Sure, I will do it by Monday. Scooter is parked in my office basement for few weeks as there is some road digging in my area and extremely dusty conditions. PM me and lets connect over whatsapp. I will check spares availability locally and try and see if I can be of help. Why dont you post some pics of restoration?

Reed valve? IS it a Bravo?

The engine work was completed a long while ago after a seizure I faced, soon after I'd handed over the motorcycle to a friend and fellow enthusiast who is a professional painter, him being a very private person is not a fan if documenting progress but I did manage to get a snap recently.



This being a 1999 Model Chetak the parts are a mix of Chetak and Bravo model parts, which was a PITA when we were rebuilding the engine as most often I'd get the wrong parts, in fact I believe to have spent quite a bit of money sourcing the absolute wrong parts that I now use as paper weights.

As far as specs go mines a 5 Port Reed Valve Type, with Bravo Format Clutch in Chetak Size, yeah, its confusing and only god knows the effort I put into sourcing parts.

As far as the chassis goes, we have made a few retro mods to it as I had faced some concerns with the placement of stock separate rear blinkers, hence have converted rear blinkers and tail lights to the combined type cluster present on your model.

To speak of there is a lot of detail that I'd pen down and post once the motorcycle is in perfect showroom condition.

Cheers,
A.P.

[awinriez]

Originally Posted by ashwinprakas

If its not much trouble could you post detailed pictures of how your seat is mounted to the motorcycle?

Mine is a split seat variant 1999 Chetak and I was contemplating shifting over to a single seat so as to add security to the fuel tank cap which on mine is the hinge and screw type.

Thanks in advance.
A.P.

My dad owns a '94 model that came with a single seat from the factory. I remember him mentioning he wanted to get it changed to split seat as it felt more comfortable after driving one that came with a split seat. Back then, I never could comprehend the difference it could make. In 2009, the scooter got a complete restoration and he did get a split seat configuration done. I remember driving the scooter a couple of times earlier, when it used to have the single seat layout, but the split seat layout did bring a lot of difference in terms of driving comfort(or rather should I say bum comfort?). I have driven it more post the seat mod and the first drive experience did bring a fancy grin on my face (with the jumping seats)!

I'm not quite sure how this sounds to you, but I would suggest keeping the split seat layout if you use it quite often. My dad did try to modify the single seat with extra padding and stuff, but I believe he didn't quite like it.

but then, the odometer cable snaps quite frequently, leaving the odo dead for most of its life. It is still in daily use, but for shorter distances and my dad thinks it should have clocked at least 3 lac kms (considering the age and the fact that it is the only vehicle he uses and doesn't drive cars). I remember replacing the cables at least 10-12 times, but never used to stay beyond a couple of months.

The fitness/reg is valid till July this year and its time for another restoration. Any suggestions where I can source one from or is it something else that needs to be fixed?

[Aditya]

Thanks to Ayush Kamat for sending these images in. Heartfelt gratitude for sharing them with other enthusiasts via this Team-BHP page!

Here are some images of his nicely restored 1994 Bajaj Chetak 12v Electronic.