Restoring V5301

[jcsmith]

Obama-ination

  What does the above have to do with anything on this site?

 BTW , that is an awesome restoration Rob. I wish I had the talent that you and several others here have.Beautiful work.  Chris

1974.5  Mint 400
Frame 54 410 78640
engine 4 5500708

[Ron]

You have a beautiful bike and you did an outstanding job!
You should be very proud of what you've done.

[Daniel P. McEntee]

Hey Rob;
    I was reviewing the whole thread again,(really enjoying the view!) and was wondering if you just went with polishing the spoke nipples out like you mentioned? I got some wheels that I was wondering the same thing about, and now that it is beginning to look like Old Man Winter is about to release his grasp, I will be getting back into the garage and pick up on some projects where I left off. I still need to take care of some details on my brother's '71 Berkshire to make it more complete and mechanically sound. Still think I'm just going to leave it all original but this restoration you did is an excellent guide to go by for anyone wanting to do a similar project.
   I'm envious of your work shop and tools! You do things very thoughtfully and a lot of times it's the little things that make a project really stand out. I like to do as much work myself as possible and have access to lots of equipment at work, but room to work is my main issue. Just can't bare to part with anything yet to create more room! I have to move some stuff outside when I work, so that is what curtails me during the winter, and this winter has really been a major pain in a lot of ways!
   Again, very nice work.
  Type at you later,
  Dan McEntee

[rob w]

You guys here are absolutely the best. I was beginning to lose it, and I think you could sense that. Koen, George, Al, Sean, Dan, Dale, Bill, JC, Ron, and Dan, thank you all for lifting my spirits. I was never looking for attention, or recogition, I just sometimes wonder how a topic here can have 300 views, and no response. But I understand it is what it is, and that's what it is, and accept it.  Up 'til last Friday, it had been 107 days of nothing but freezing temps (on a good day, in the teens), and snow, and snow, and more snow (120"). I should have never started that lame Facebook comparison garbage. Mostly I'd like to apologize to Clark for going off, getting snippy and defensive. I'd like to clarify to Clark that today I love Enduro racing, have nothing but respect for enduro riders - wished I had ridden them in my younger days - and my personal favorite motorcycles that I own, are Pentons in full enduro trim.

Dan M, those small soft wire wheels on a Dumore worked wonderfully, it turned out not to be rust though, just caked-on hardened dirt/junk.





Here's the next one I did after the Steel Tanker

[Jason Rowland]

She's a beaut, Rob, and if it had a facebook page (and I knew how to use it) I'd "like" it, and "follow" it on twitter...or the racetrack.  JR

[hotrod392]

I'll officially chime in and say that both the steel tanker and the 501 look great. The only thing I see wrong is that they aren't parked in my garage...

Nice job!

Shane

[Daniel P. McEntee]

The Maico looks awsome. I think the first real dirt bike I ever saw was a square barrel 501 Maico like this one. I was maybe 13 or 14 years old at the time ( maybe 1968 or '69), and had just started to notice motorcycles. I really didn't know squat about them other than they looked neat! The house we lived in backed up to a power line right of way that we used for all sorts of stuff, including riding when we eventually go to that. One day, I heard this gawd awful loud noise out in the field and couldn't figure out what it was. Then I saw this yellow motorcycle  go by, but not real fast.The guys had no helmet on, and was just putting along, but I remember wonder what was wrong with it to make it sound like that??? I had no idea what two strokes were about much less what an un-muffled, open expansion chamber sounded like. You guys remember those days? When I finished rebuilding my Hodaka Super Rat a few years back, I ran it for a while with the stock open pipe just to relive that! I saw the same guys several more times over the next few days, and my older brother Ted informed me about two strokes and expansion chambers. Whenever I see a nice 501 Maico, (which isn't too often,) I immediately think back to a column Super Hunky had in Dirt Bike magazine years ago and about dreaming of a nice, lush golf course, and what you could do with it on a 501 Maico with a 5.00 Trelleborg knobby on the back!! I think I would like to maybe take a few staright line rides on one of these, if some one would let me and start it for me!
  Hey Rob, did I meet you at one of the early Park Hills, MO ISDT Reunion Rides, and you were on a nice, fresh white 400 Penton? 2001 I think was the year? One could probably do a very nice job on a golf course with one of these also!
   Very nice work,
  Dan McEntee

[Daniel P. McEntee]

One thing I forgot to add in my previous post. I just got finished watching SuperCross, and is it me or do all the bikes look the same? That was one thing about the vintage bikes, they didn't need a name plate. You could tell a Maico from a Husky from a Bultaco from a Penton from a Montesa from a Yamaha etc. just by looking at them, and even by the engine sound if you had a good ear. Just a mild rant, hope I don't offend anyone.
   Type at you later,
    Dan McEntee

[Todd Rovello]

Beautiful rebuild. Thanks for posting pics of the process.  Working on one myself, so this gives me inspiration. Where do you get your zinc plating done?

[rob w]

Hi Todd, I appreciate the compliment on the bike, and the restoration thread / topic.
On zinc plating, I have my done here locally in Grand Rapids, I think you'll find someone that does it in most medium size cities.

[ccmnova]

Where did you get the Penton tags ?

Also, did you buy a new carb or just rebuild the old one ?

quote:Originally posted by rob w


Off with the Sachs raised letters. Putting Penton tags on the side cases.