New owner in UK

[kwackertone]

Just bought my first Bridgestone 175 HS. Needs restoring but should be fun

[ziggy stardust]

Welcome kwackertone, any photos? History? Did you get it from DKs?

Z

[Colin]

Hi Kwacker,
I'm from the UK too and just picked up a GTR350 and a Dual Twin 175, only had them a week or so but it's become apparent I need a lot of parts and have a major amount of work ahead, I saw another 175 for sale on ebay from an importer called fatfreddiethefrog, is it the bike he was selling you got, it was very tidy, if i come across any bits here I will post an email to you on here, there does seem to be a small ammount of parts for sale in Ireland for the 175's
Regards Colin

[Bikenstein]

Welcome Kwackertone. Hope you have a good time restorin your 175. Like Ziggy, I'd love to see some photos and hear a little more about your bike experiences.

[redimport]

Welcome !!

If I can be of any help let me know - http://www.redimport.net/bridgestone.htm

A few pics will help .. ray

[ziggy stardust]

Colin,

While we are waiting for kwakertone I'd be interested to know how you came about your GTR, again with history and photos, oh yes and welcome.

Z

[Colin]

Hi Ziggy,

I have a mate up in Aberdeen in the north of Scotland and he imports bikes from the States, I asked him to pick me up a CB450K, a CB360G and a Bridgestone DT175 and if he saw one for sale anywhere a 350GTR, well he came up with them all, I have already restored and sold on the CB450K, I'm about 85% through the CB360G and I have not made up my mind which Bridgestone I'm going to restore first, my head says the 175 because it's all there but my heart says the 350 but it's missing a lot of parts, chain guard, oil lines, badges, exhaust diffusers, it needs every rubber and cable and the engine needs to be rebuilt, it needs a right hand engine cover as thats broken, whew it a lot, it needs all the bolts that are there which is not many replated , frame repainted , wheels rebuilt plus anything else I find and I'm sure I will, oh nearly forgot the bike came from South Dakota and the 175 was near Chicago area,
If I can get a hold of one exhaust diffuser I will make myself a pair, 30 years working as a welder so it wont be a problem.

Colin.
Meant to say , I'm keeping the Bridgestones, I have wanted one since I met a guy out on a run on his about 14 years ago, he was broken down and I stopped to offer help as you do for a fellow biker, don't remember what was up with it but it was minor.

[reed]

Colin
Nice to see more people from the UK join the Bridgestone site!
Welcome.
Steve.
P S and Kwakertone.

[ziggy stardust]

Sounds like you have quite a restoration there Colin on the GTR, most parts are available from RC but you could struggle for certain engine parts, r/h engine cover, chain guard and exhausts.

Check out US eBay regularly.

You may find this useful.  http://bridgestonemotorcycleparts.com/index.php?action=gallery;su=user;cat=92;u=1350

Z

[kwackertone]

Hi guys,
I think mine came via freddythefatfrog but I bought it from a guy near Brighton when I picked up another Kawasaki. You are not far wrong about the work needed. Having rebuilt 2 Kawasaki triples I cannot believe how similar the HS is.

[ziggy stardust]

I've seen freddythefatfrog's bikes, he's had some interesting models though I've never been tempted.

I too have a triple kwackertone that I started restoring about 12 years ago, love it.



Z

[Colin]

Hi Ziggy,

Nice KH, I have had a few triples myself, last one being an H1F, bought a S1 new in 1975 then moved onto an S3 before i started on the big four strokes Z900 then a Z1000J followed by a GpZ1100 then a 1000RX then it's been all Ducatis and Fireblades since then, but I have always pottered around with older stuff and restore bikes as a hobby, never made any money at it though , I do it for fun and It's a good way of trying all the bikes you ever looked at and thought I'd like a ride on that, those photos you have posted will be very usefull to me when I get down to the finer detail stuff, it's always easy to work out where the main bits go but runs of wiring, clips and stuff isnt always obvious, when I get further down line with the restoration perhaps I could get you to take some photos below the seat and in around the battery area.
I saw that 175 for sale kwacker, I nearly bought it, in fact i thought about it overnight and thought what the hell I'm going to buy it but it was sold when I went back to it the next day, the photo he posted of it is my screensaver on my pc, it's parked on the centrestand, facing left to right and some sort of evergreen hedge behind it, nice original bike and doesnt look to be much work in it.

Regards Colin.

[ziggy stardust]

Hey Colin,

I've had the wiring loom off the bike but I did take photos of the original positioning before removal just didn't post it on here, I have loads of photos of the GTR before I stripped it down so just let me know when you want any photos of a particular piece, good chance I'll have it.

Z