[350biker]

I had pretty much decided when I bought my Jawa in the start of this year - This is my last bike. Nothing more after this coz I have already got 2 other bikes one being the bullet and other being the Yezdi.

However, God has some different plans. The other day I was sitting nicely sipping a cup of tea in my sasural when my father in law suddenly asks me if I am anywhere interested in a Rajdoot. My brain said "NO" but i guess the tounge is directly connected to the heart and it followed what the heart said - YES

The story is that my father in law had this 1978 Rajdoot with him which he gave away to one of his workers since he was not using it. The worker used it for some days and parked it in his farm for good !!

Anything to do with old bikes or cars and I get a call from my family and friends - are u interested? So we called up this employee at 10.30 in the night to check if he still has this bike. "Yes , very much" came the reply and we asked him if we could see the bike next day.

The next morning at 8.30 we landed at his farm and yes, the bike was standing in his farm (rather it was a part of his farm now) with small plants growing on the bike itself!!

We checked if we could start the bike and sadly it couldn't. So we got it loaded into a transport vehicle and got it delivered at the same garrage where i had restored my Yezdi.

Posting some pictures of the activity till today:

[download2live]

Love the simplicity of the design of the old bikes.
In contrast bikes today are design wise so dense and crowded.
Waiting to see the final outcome.

Give it a deep glossy Red color.

[350biker]

Update as on 21.09.2013:

As i had mentioned earlier, the bike was a non runner for quiet some time. Besides, she was standing in the farm for almost 2 years with practically no protection whatsoever. Time had taken its toll and therefore the kick too was jammed.

When we got her to the mechanic, the first thing that we checked was whether there were any traces of oil in the engine. Luckily there was some oil and therefore one tension was over.

When we opened the clutch cover of the bike, I was shocked to see that it was completely filled with water and mud and therefore rust had now taken over on absolutely all possible parts.

I am posting some of the pics that we took at that time:

[350biker]

Originally Posted by download2live

Love the simplicity of the design of the old bikes.
In contrast bikes today are design wise so dense and crowded.
Waiting to see the final outcome.

Give it a deep glossy Red color.

Haha. Thanks a lot @download2live. Yes i too agree with you about the simplicity of the design of these bikes. One more thing is that the kind of riding comfort that these bikes give is really amazing.

Regarding the colour, I have really not decided as to what should it be. I am consulting google baba and t-bhp threads but I don't see many Rajdoot enthusiasts here.

Right now my only agenda is to start the bike. We have right now planned to clean the rusted parts with diesel and then give it a try. Keeping my fingers crossed that the bike starts.

[Viju]

Hello 350biker

Glad to see a Rajdoot being given a second chance. I have always fancied one, but with the other projects going on, never got around to it. I even collected a few parts for it a few years ago.

I wish you would retain the glossy black finish which looks the best on this bike. If you are stuck for parts, do post up here and I am sure you will get help.

Regards
Viju

[350biker]

Okay !! I agree i have been lazy in updating this thread.

Let me add some pictures of the step by step procedure that we did.

Day 2 of restoration :

We opened the clutch cover and the magnet cover earlier day and had found that the magnet was completely rusted. Besides, a lot of muck and water had already come out of the magnet cover. Next day what we did was we tried to move the crank since the kick was jammed but the crank was completely stuck.

Tried putting some petrol on the magnet cover and the nut but no luck !!

Next thing that we did was opened the head to check the condition of the block and the piston.

When we opened the head, i can tell you it was as if i had just recovered this bike from underwater - you could say as if i had recovered this bike from Titanic. The condition was so bad that when we put a little water over the piston, even not a single drop escaped from it. IT WAS COMPLETELY JAMMED.

We some how managed to free the magnet from the engine but the next thing was to free the block and the piston.

It took 4 of us to separate the block and the piston and in the end the connecting rod broke !!!

The block was completely completely completely rusted from inside and the piston was in a similar fashion.

After freeing the block and the piston, the next step was dismantling the rest of the engine.

Next progress will be updated in a short while....

[350biker]

Day 3 of restoration:

After the engine was dismantled, next thing was to send the block for boring and the piston was to be replaced. Along with this, the crank needed to be refurbished and we needed a new connecting rod.

Also, water had done some substantial damage and therefore all the bearings needed to be replaced. Similar was the case with magnet coil and we found out that the starter coil had gone kaput.

The clutch plate and pressure plate had no life left and therefore they too needed to be sourced.

Some items that we sourced on day 3:
- New Clutch plate
- New pressure plate
- Starter Coil
- Bearings
- Point
- Condenser
- Oil seal set
- Rajdoot Piston size 050
- Connecting rod (Sourced from Aurangabad)
- Spark Plug
- Engine Oil 20 W 50

[ku69rd]

Nice going mate after the heart wrenching pictures of seeing the barrel and piston in a bad jam. With the amount of rust are you sure that the barrel will work with just a .5 mm of shave? In the sense aint the rust too deep? Will the rebore cover all of the rust ?

Appreciate your thread mate.

[350biker]

Originally Posted by ku69rd

Nice going mate after the heart wrenching pictures of seeing the barrel and piston in a bad jam. With the amount of rust are you sure that the barrel will work with just a .5 mm of shave? In the sense aint the rust too deep? Will the rebore cover all of the rust ?

Appreciate your thread mate.

Thank you so much for the encouraging words

To answer your question, yes just the .5 mm of shave is going to be enough since the rust was on the surface and not so much deep.

[aruncheloor]

Great to see someone taking so much pain to restore a Rajdoot 175 Std model. Hats off to you buddy. All spare parts are still available if you look around. Do let me know if you need any help from my side.

[gearbox]

I really like Rajdoot, simple and powerful, I did try it out a few times, a friend has it and he has been using it for ages now. His father had passed away and since he has only maintained the doot with regular services, no major work done. Love the sheer power that it has too.
Glad to see you working on a really nice bike. Hope you get the desired output after all the work is done.

[350biker]

Originally Posted by aruncheloor

Great to see someone taking so much pain to restore a Rajdoot 175 Std model. Hats off to you buddy. All spare parts are still available if you look around. Do let me know if you need any help from my side.

@aruncheloor : Thanks a lot !! yes, Nasik being a small city surrounded by farmers, the parts for Rajdoot are pretty much available here. Will surely let you know incase anything is needed.

[350biker]

Day 4 of restoration :

The Block came back after boring and the piston was set properly.

Similarly, the crank and the connecting rod were set as required. The original Rajdoot connecting rod was sourced from Aurangabad since most of the local shops in Nasik had the connecting rod of the latest models and not the old ones.

Posting pics of both.

[350biker]

Day 5 of Restoration:

After the block, crank and the connecting rod were "reincarnated", next thing was to start assembling the engine and the gearbox.

Posting some pictures:

[aargee]

Rated 5* for the contents, passion, dedication & superb quote of "Forget tigers, save 2S". This is the least I could do.

I've a neighbor who owns a this bike from 1960's (Single owner) & still rides. I was offering him to help, but he didn't want a complete restoration due to practical issues. Hence I'd to walk out.

Hoping to learn one or 2 things from this thread.