Tora

[Toystoretom]

Instead of chasing the GTR down in Springfield (which I still may do) here is what I did today:



It was on Craigslist under "Rockford".

It turns over but it makes a bad noise, like rusty bearings maybe. It is missing some stuff: The exhaust, gas cap, left side cover (did these even have one? Did the upswept exhaust cover that side up?), tail light, headlight, chain guard (might not of had that either?) and of course... no key and no title. Exactly perfect! Missing the carb cover too.

If any of you have any of this stuff email me, maybe we can trade 

[ztnoo]

Is this the one you picked up?
http://kansascity.craigslist.org/mcy/2367111713.html

[Toystoretom]

Yes sir, it sure is.

It's actually not all that bad of a little bike, its kind of cute. It sure is light, I lifted it on and off the trailer without the ramp, no problems. The guy I bought it from had a Honda Dream and some smaller old Hondas, a real nice guy.

 I just saw it and had to buy it, I have no idea what I'm going to do with it

[moonpup]

Here's another one on CL...... looks like it's missing alot of the same stuff your's is. Does look like there's a chain guard though. 

http://williamsport.craigslist.org/mcy/2357032845.html

[reed]

Totstoretom
I like the smaller motorcycles as much as the bigger motorcycles!
You will have a lot of fun rebuilding the engine and tidying up the
Motorcycle.
Thanks.
Steve.

[Toystoretom]

$200 for that?? I got a better deal 

That bike doesn't have a left side cover under the exhaust, and after looking at mine more closely there are no brackets or hooks to mount one. I'll bet they never had one.

I saw somewhere that there were two Toras, a standard and a deluxe. The deluxe had lights and reflectors, so mine was a deluxe. At least they didn't cut the harness. I'll bet there was a kid that thought it would go faster without that stuff and took it off and set it up on a shelf, where it probably still is today.

Mine was sold at a BSA dealer in St Joseph Missouri. When this bike was new BSA was already out of business, maybe for a couple of years. I wonder how long they waited to hear from the factory before they gave up 

The exhaust on mine is broken off, the flange that bolts to the head is still there but the pipe is gone. They must have hit a possum.

[OldSwartout]

I've got a Tora in the barn, one of those projects of the future, a little worse than the one you just bought.  Last year, one of the granddaughters decided she wanted a dirt bike, so I was going to fire up my old KDX175.  My wife and daughter both said that it's too big for a starter bike, so it looks like I'll be digging out the Tora and working on it.

[Toystoretom]

I think I have a book called "Tora in the barn"......

I pulled the head and the cylinder off of mine and found that Toras have a pressed in steel liner instead of chrome bores. I do believe that mine will be OK with a little TLC.

The bad noise is coming from the bottom end and it looks wet and rusty down there. I think I'll yank the engine and tear it down and see whats up. The noise sounds like a scraping sound, all I can think of is maybe a bearing problem.

I worked with a guy (a long time ago) who had a mini bike when he was a kid but it didn't have an exhaust (like my Tora). He went in the house and grabbed the chrome tubes from his mom's Electrolux and jammed them on there. He got a beating that very night 

[ztnoo]

Toystoretom,
There's a couple of used Tora exhausts of eBay right now.
They aren't showroom new by any means, but could probably be repaired and made to work if you aren't looking for NOS.
Search for "Bridgestone exhaust".

[Toystoretom]

I saw that... I may pull the trigger on one of those. I'd like to yank the engine out first and see what is making that noise. There was a complete bottom engine case on Flea bay also and I may need to buy that first. Maybe all I need is some bearings and seals. It does shift easily through all 4 gears and the clutch pulls in and out.

I took the chain off of it, it was rusted and had sections that were locked up and wouldn't roll around the sprockets. The Tora shop manual here says it's a 420, its some small stuff!