Marko's Workshop

Saturday, 30 May 2020

Race bikes @ MP 20 - 1st of February 2020 - Helsinki, Finland

Here's rest of photos I shot at MP20 motorcycle expo. Check out also my other MP20 photos showcasing Petrol Circus Custom Bike Show 😎

Ice One Racing Husqvarna FC 450 #7 Kimi Räikkönen

American Car Show 2019 - 11th of May - Oulu, Finland - Part 3/4 - Motorcycles

Throwback to last year's American Car Show held in Oulu during mother's day weekend. Here's a set of photos of cool motorcycles displayed at the show. Take a look 😊

1950 Harley-Davidson Panshovel

Classic Motorshow 2019 - 4th of May - Hobbyist car park

Here's a set of photos I took last May from hobbyist car park of Classic Motorshow. I made a very short trip to Lahti that Saturday and unfortunately didn't have time to visit the show itself. Luckily weather was very nice and there were a lot to see outside. Take a look 😊

Ford Mustang Boss 302

LinnaCruising 2019 - 10th of August - Hämeenlinna, Finland - Part 1/2 - Cruisers

More photos from LinnaCruising 😎 Enjoy!

Buick Roadmaster

LinnaCruising 2019 - 10th of August - Hämeenlinna, Finland - Part 2/2 - Muscle cars

Here's second part of photos from LinnaCruising held last summer in event park of Kantola in Hämeenlinna 😊

Chevrolet Camaro SS Convertible

'73 Suzuki GT250 - Part 12 - Mock-up engine

Some time ago I bought a cheap Suzuki GT250 parts bike from an online auction site. Bike itself was in pretty bad condition but I taught I could utilize at least some parts from it. Lots of parts were missing but frame had still front forks, swingarm, fuel tank and engine attached to it. Few extra pieces, like Honda CB125 exhaust pipes, which I sold, were included to the deal as well. After disassembling parts from the frame I turned my attention to the engine. It wasn't a big surprise that it had seized pistons and plenty of rust after sitting outside and water getting in. After taking the engine a part I decided to clean it up a bit and utilize it as a mock-up engine for building exhaust pipes et cetera while I put together actual engine for this bike.

Suzuki GT250 engine out of a spare parts bike

I decided to use soda to clean upper and lower crankcase. Good thing about soda blasting is that it isn't abrasive like sand blasting so it doesn't require as much prep work since you don't have to mask as many spots. Bad thing about it is that it's rather corrosive if parts are not cleaned well afterwards.

Before blasting I used a brush and some solvent like brake cleaner to remove excess dirt and grease which would have just ended up disturbing soda blasting process. Below you can see few closeups of lower crankcase before and after soda blasting. I soaked them in warm water after blasting to get leftover soda out of them. Otherwise it would have ended up corroding the surface.

Lower crankcase before soda blasting

Soda blasting equipment:
gun, water separator for air compressor and soda

I put both crankcases to a big bucket with warm water

after soda blasting to dissolve leftover soda out of them

Lower crankcase after soda blasting

For cleaning cylinders and cylinder heads I decided to use sand blasting. Before doing so I took rubber pieces out between cylinder head fins, removed excess dirt with a brush and some degreaser and masked surfaces which I didn't want to get blasted. I did this at my university's workshop where they have a sand blasting cabinet. I will show it in a post coming up later.

Cylinders and heads prepped for sand blasting

Closeup of sand blasted cylinders and heads

Last step was to bolt covers back on the crankcase which I bought separately. I used socket cap screws for nice aesthetic which I had in stock. I didn't see it necessary to clean up covers yet in this phase since they looked to be in OK condition.

Pieces of mock-up engine

Crankcase covers

Various M6 & M8 socket cap screws

Mock-up engine ready

I will take this engine apart and fit in necessary axles when I will start to figure out how to fabricate brake and gear levers. But before that I need footpegs which are next on my list of things to finish. If you look close at one of pics below you might find an easter egg related to them 😎

Wednesday, 19 February 2020

The Kustom Kulture Show 2020 @ Cable Factory - 9th of February - Helsinki, Finland

This year's Kustom Kulture Show once again displayed lots of cool kustom cars and motorcycles. In addition there were various type of artists and craftsmen such as painters and tattoo artists. Event kicked off on Saturday which ended to a party with bands playing live music and performances such as Burleski and sword dancing. I made my visit during Sunday morning knowing it would be a squeeze to fit in later and hoping there would be more space for photographing. Check out how the event looked 😎

1952 Buick @mast_auto

Petrol Circus Custom Bike Show @ MP 20 Motorcycle Expo - 1st of February 2020 - Helsinki, Finland

Check out photos from this year's Petrol Circus Custom Bike Show which was held parallel with MP20 motorcycle show at Expo and Convention Center of Helsinki. Show gathered together around 100 custom motorcycles to compete in four classes: Custom, Street, Classic and Open.

My personal favourites were Kawasaki powered Sulo Chopper, Kalevala themed Harley-Davidson PanShovel Indian Larry Tribute, brat style/tracker Honda CB400N, 1980 Suzuki GSX750 cafe racer, Suzuki GSX-R 1340 street fighter, 2-stroke Suzuki RGV250 and 184cc Honda Monkey Turbo 😎

Royal Chopper 'Prince of India' @woodlegchoppers

Hanaa Expo 2019 - 28th of November - Lahti, Finland

Last November I went to check to out second annual Hanaa Expo, a Motorsport trade fair, held in convention center of Lahti. In addition to wide range of Motorsport vehicles and teams, which I mainly wanted to see, there were vast group of different vendors and event organizers as exhibitors. Interviews and discussions related to different forms of motorsports from rally to drifting were held in the stage right across the entrance. Check out how it looked 😎

Renault 5 Turbo Group B

'91 Honda CBR600F PC25 - Part 4 - Custom brackets for round headlight

I've had a 8 inch round headlight lying around which I bought originally for my '87 Yamaha RD350LC F2 project but never got time to install it before selling the bike. I had headlight also for sale for a while after that but no one was interested to buy it so it just stayed untouched in my shelf waiting for another suitable project.

8 inch round headlight

Regarding this build I haven't decided any specific style go with but I wanted test how a round headlight would look in front of my CBR600F. It was also good time to do that while I have front fairings removed. I've made earlier similar type of brackets for '72 Suzuki T250J and used them as a reference for these ones too. I made subtle changes and updated dimensions to suite better '99 Honda CBR900RR SC33 front forks I swapped last time. I still need to design and fabricate a stopper for the headlight to keep it from tilting while driving. I'm not 100 percent sure how to make it yet so it will have to wait for the future. There's also things like what kind of gauges I will use to think about.

Assembly drawing

Layout drawing with main dimensions

After making part drawings for collars and plates it didn't take much effort to start fabricating them out of sheets of stainless steel. It's not the easiest material to work with since it tends to wear out drill bits and warp easily with heat. I didn't end up using many power tools other than electric drill and Dremel this occasion so it took a bit longer to finish them. Quickest way of course would have been to get them cut with laser or water jet cutter.