TOPIC: Redondo BBlue 1972 TS185 Sierra

What can I say, it is on the other side of town, $450 and looks very complete if rough. Partly bought it for the rear rack to go on the red one . This is the first bike purchased with the sole intention of doing some work on and flipping it.

Brings back fond memories of my blue TS185, it gave me street legal transportation at 14 years old riding with a full face helmet so cops couldn’t tell my age...

JGersh if you need a project she could be yours, I picked it up on a whim and am garage-less so it's not really an ideal time to have a project.

That said, I picked her up in the dark last night and got to take a good look today. Very complete for the age of the bike. As always I tend to look at images of bikes for sale with rose tinted lenses as they say. It was last registered in 1985 and while the owner said it was started 15 years ago, yet I wouldn't be surprised if it hadn't been run since '85, looks like it was parked outdoors since then too. A lot of rust for a California bike, but it's all relative, nothing too bad, but the sun fade has the tank white on top.

The rear rack wasn't standard and is pretty hard to come by, so that's a nice addition. Not sure if I'll leave it on or transfer to the red TS185 that I plan to keep as a stablemate with the CT2.







The rubber tank strap looks like it was still in place when the bike was parked, and rotted some time in the last 34 years.


Tank smells horrible due to the old gas, has some light spot rust inside, petcock is useless, carb will come off for a rebuild. It has compression. New tires, tubes, brakes, battery, seat cover, and fork seals needed. It won't be a full restore, just looking to get her up and running, looking decent and then out the door to a new owner who will hopefully appreciate it.

Waiting on parts so it’s been cleaning time. I’ve never worked on such a dirty bike. Weeds were still wrapped around the wheel spokes. It had/has an oil leak somewhere (banjo for oil to cylinder was a little loose) and the transmission was covered in oil and dirt. Maybe five hours of elbow grease and repainted the exhaust, she is already looking better.

I have not had much time to work on her, but all the parts came in over the last few weeks and I got a moment today. Curiosity took over, I wanted to know if it would run, so in went the o-ring went to the carburetor, a Uni NU-1409ST Air Filter as Meis had suggested for my '72 CT2. It'll squeeze on the Suzuki but unfortunately their frame gets in the way and it's a pain to get on. Gas tank had been filled with vinegar to remove a bit of internal rust. New spark plug, some premix in the tank and here is a little video of the first attempt to start this bike which was last registered 34 years ago. Previous owner claimed it ran 15 years prior. I think it shows part of the reason we all love these old bikes.



Oil was moving up the lines from the oil pump, a great sign as it's critical on these bikes and it's nice that they used clear line so you can see the oil flowing to the crank. Tried to change the tires today but learned that tire irons that don't do well after a fire, they're very flexible now. Perhaps it's a good excuse to let the local shop change the tires as it's a task I despise anyways.

Been busy working on the "new" house, yet making some slow progress on the side. Re-acquiring a DR350 and getting it to where I want it has taken some time away too.

New seat cover installed, muffler painted, new brake shoes, new tires & tubes. Paid someone to do the tire install for the first time ever, not cheap, but really nice not to hassle with it since the fire de-tempered my tire spoons and they were like noodles.


Sanded down the forks, they were painfully rusty. Installed new fork seals and oil. Really different than Yamaha to disassemble the forks, yet they use the same seal, go figure.


One headlight ear was cracked and the other was starting. The seat pan was pretty rusty and one mount tore right off, wire brushing and JB Weld to the rescue, we'll see how it holds up.

Headlight bucket installed, in the real world the bike has enough imperfections you don't really notice the crack. Let's hope the JB Weld holds up.


Classic situation on a classic, the headlight wasn't working. When I cut the bulb out one element looked ok, but the handlebar switch was broken so I never tried the high beam.


The hole just isn't large enough for the H4 6V Halogen bulb.


Glued in place, since it can always be cut out to be replaced

$10 and I attached it to the original wiring off the headlight so it plugs into the factory harness.


Installed and ready to go.


I wish I'd put these on my Yamaha and put the old grips on the Suzuki. The rubber is soft and comfortable, they must have been stored well. Funny to think that back in the day, even knockoff parts were made in Japan.


There we go!


Next up is the tail light. Getting power to both bulb contacts (running light and brake when the pedal is pushed), now to figure out why it's not turning on. Also had to drill out a broken bolt in the rear brake backing plate, and find a new one to fit. She is getting close to some road testing.

I wonder why the tail light wasn't working?


She is about ready to test ride and it's time to get the sandpaper out for the repainting the gas tank and oil cover. This'll be my first time doing a metallic sub coat, feeling a bit intimidated but it can always be sanded down and begun again. Leaning towards painting the stripes, although they seem to be more complex to paint than the Yamaha oval. They were originally painted, yet there are decals out there, but $70.

With the lights working I made a quick store run with no issues. Not knowing the condition of the bike I was glad to find the clutch work as well as all the gears. It's not as smooth to shift as the other TS185 but it's not terrible either.

Up and running, much cleaner than when I got it but now about that gas tank...


You could say it's a little sun faded.


I am curious to see how Suzuki layers their paint.


1990's Suzukis are notorious for low quality paint, and apparently that's a tradition that went back to at least 1972. Taking the paint off this bike took about 1/4 to 1/10th the time as a Yamaha of similar year/condition.

Interesting layering, white base coat that was the stripes, which were masked, then a silver metallic, well kind of metallic, none of the shine of the CT2 but you could tell some was under there. Then the blue on top of that. I'm hoping to do a primer coat, then metallic, then my blue. After that I'll either mask and try the white stripes or use a decal set. I've never been able to get clean lines when masking and letting paint dry, so this will allow me to pull it while wet.

Ready for the primer.