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Joined: Jan 24, 2010 Posts: 54 Location: Long beach, CA
Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 11:10 pm Post subject: My 67 K15P Hillbilly rebuild project. Updated 2/8
Found this thing on CL. The guy had it listed for 350, but needed cash today so he offered it up for $275. Drove over and was impressed with what I saw. He had taken it all apart and stripped everything down and did a just okay rattlecan job on it. Everything is there except for a battery, cables, tank emblems and left side cover. He tore the engine down and said everything looks great, and the thing kicks over like butter. It needs a new carb, so hopefully I can find some fairly decent to replace it with. Actually need to do a bunch of research because I know next to nothing about these bikes. What I do know is that it's oil injected, but the oil pump is shot. The guy said I could just premix if I didn't want to fix it. It also needs tires too but I want to put street tires on it anyways.
I'm gonna tear it all down over the next week or so and start repainting the stuff that needs it. Put a new seat on it, so low bars, new grips etc. I'm thinking a hammered black with gunmetal accents? Open to suggestions.
Anyways, tell me what you think!
Possibly original miles:
All the parts, bolts, washers etc and the pipe with spark arrestor.
Last edited by undertheradar on Mon Feb 08, 2010 4:52 pm; edited 2 times in total
Joined: Jul 10, 2008 Posts: 1598 Location: Galveston County, Tx.
Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2010 6:42 am Post subject:
At the risk of putting member 'retiredguy' on the spot..........he also acquired one of these(or it's cousin '66 'Hillbilly" ?) as a gift from his and our late friend ' Blue'. I am pretty sure he, by now, knows this little fella pretty good. He visits occasionally and perhaps he can give you some pointers on some of the problems you may come across. Good luck and have fun!
Joined: Mar 31, 2009 Posts: 52 Location: Menasha, WI
Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2010 11:25 am Post subject:
Nice bike. I'm helping a friend sell a bunch of bikes her husband owned and that is one of them. Problem is, I don't know what to ask for it since these bikes don't come up for sale too often.
Joined: Jan 24, 2010 Posts: 54 Location: Long beach, CA
Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 3:21 pm Post subject:
I think I'll use this thread to update my progress as I move forward. Got it completely torn down. Small parts bagged and labeled, larger ones laid out for prep and paint. Couple unexpecteds:
There were no bearings in the headtube/triple tree. From what I can tell, these came with loose bearings, so I plan on doing the same. Some good grease and appropriate sized bearings from ACE should be fine.
Some idiot at some point used sheet metal screws to affix the gas tank covers in place. Of course they went all the way into the tank. So now I have three holes to patch in an otherwise perfect tank. From what I can tell, it shouldn't be a big deal to patch with jb weld. We'll see.
Joined: Jul 10, 2008 Posts: 1598 Location: Galveston County, Tx.
Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 4:24 pm Post subject:
....You don't mess around ,do you ? Actually, that is a pretty good spread of parts that may look good on ebay. I don't know how sought after the K15 is but have you considered just having fun doing what you are doing....that is taking it apart cleaning as needed. getting very familiar with the bike and maybe selling the parts and look at buying another K15 or something similar in a closer to or actually running condition? Did you get a title on the one you have? As has been suggested by many people on this message board in similar situations......now would be a good time to evaluate a projected cost and check in advance about what parts are available. etc. Just one of many examples for instance....the oil lines. Crank bearings and seals? Not to mention other internal parts that could be bad. I hope you can get some responces from the K15 guys over that other site I gave you.. on some of the problems they have had with parts, etc. So what do you think? How gungho are you on this particular example of the K15? Parts look nice...could be your ticket to another even more fun and less trouble free project. You da man....it is of course your call. _________________ _________________________________
GONE.......WITH A PUFF OF SMOKE AND A BLUR OF SPOKE........
_______________________________________
Joined: Jan 24, 2010 Posts: 54 Location: Long beach, CA
Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 4:59 pm Post subject:
I had never even heard of the K15 till I stumbled on the ad. But yeas...I'm dead set on turning this thing into a running, great looking bike. I know that these things always end up costing more than we think, but based on some estimates I've made....I don't think it will be too bad. I bought the thing for less than $300, so if I can spend less than $700 on the other stuff I need then I'll stay out of trouble with the wife. Of course I won't know about the state of the motor itself till I can get it all put together, but the fact that it's not seized and turns over really nicely is good enough for me. Paint and cosmetics will all be done by me, so most expensive will be the carb, tires, and lines. I have another scooter that I ride now, so I can take my times with this.
This is my 2006 Honda metropolitan with a 150cc motor swapped in.
Thanks for the advice though...I appreciate it!
Joined: Jul 10, 2008 Posts: 1598 Location: Galveston County, Tx.
Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 5:22 pm Post subject:
OK folks.....you 'heard him'. 'undertheradar' ........Play Ball! .......and I will be more than be happy to 'eat crow' when you have finished and present it to us! _________________ _________________________________
GONE.......WITH A PUFF OF SMOKE AND A BLUR OF SPOKE........
_______________________________________
Joined: Jan 24, 2010 Posts: 54 Location: Long beach, CA
Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2010 2:24 pm Post subject:
Well.....I'm fully into this project now. Everything except the front fork tubes have been painted "hammered black." I think it looks great and makes everything look brand new without requiring months of body work.
I've ordered all of my cables, oil pump gasket, manual and parts lists.
I knew I wanted some straight drag bars on this, so I was able to get a solid 3/4" aluminum bar from my local fastenal. It fits the clamp and controls perfectly! Light weight too.
Patched the screw holes in my gas tank with tank repair epoxy. This stuff worked great. Was able to smooth it out great with a sanding disc and passed the water test with flying colors. I think I've decided to not use the tank side covers and instead make my own tank pads to stick on the flat area. Still need to source some decently priced tank badges though.
Ordered some new Michelin Gazelle street tires for it. I bought the 3" wide ones, and I'm hoping they will fit. The stock 2.75's are pretty wide with the knobs, so I think it will be okay.
I still need to find the the line that goes from the oil tank to the pump. No luck on ebay yet.
I also need a left side frame cover, but I don't see anything around. I think what I'll do is just make a flat cover out of aluminum and paint it to match.
That reminds me that I still need a battery too.
Anyways...should start some assembly in the next week. Pictures when I do.
Joined: Jan 24, 2010 Posts: 54 Location: Long beach, CA
Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 7:22 pm Post subject:
Made some progress on my project the last few weeks. Everything is painted a black hammered finish. Looks good enough for the budget build this is.
Ordered some Michelin Gazelle's in 2.5x17 since this will be a street only bike.
Ordered a new 420 chain.
Ordered a couple B7S spark plugs, rubber exhaust union, new clutch pushrod and seal to replace the bent one, and a new oil pumo gasket.
Found a new battery at Cyclegear too.
The carb on this bike was destroyed, and since an oem unit is expensive and kinda hard to source, I decided to go with a Mikuni VM-18 round slide carb. It's almost identical in spec to the oem carb, but it doesn't have the flange to mount it to the head. To solve that problem, I found a moped intake that matches the 39mm bolt hole spacing on the head.
New control setup. 3/4" solid aluminum bar. I also have all new control cables in my possesion.
Fresh paint:
The tank covers that came on the bike had several screw holes in them, and the knee pads were old and not flexible. I decided to go without the covers, but wanted something where the pads would go. Thought of a few things, but then found the perfect stuff in my kids arts and crafts bin. Adhesive foam sheets. Cut to size and stuck right on. Not sure what I want to cap the emblem depressions with, but I'm sure I'll come up with something.
I knew that a project like this would reveal some hidden surprises, and I found one with the rear wheel. I was pulling the old tire off and found a bunch of rust on the inside. A 3 inch section was particularly bad. Poked my screwdriver right through it. The front wheel is perfect, and so is the hub on the rear so I'll either replace the whole thing, or get a new rim and respoke it.
Joined: Jul 10, 2008 Posts: 1598 Location: Galveston County, Tx.
Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2010 6:51 am Post subject:
Here is hoping your 'dark horse' lives up to the term's definition. I have to admire your enthusiasm and ingenuity on your self admitted low cost project. What retail outlet did the rubber/foam sheet come from? I might think of some other uses for it on non-motorcycle related stuff. It appears similar to the material some mouse pads are made of. You want to paint the spokes and their nipples? It looks like you are moving right along. Good luck and have fun. _________________ _________________________________
GONE.......WITH A PUFF OF SMOKE AND A BLUR OF SPOKE........
_______________________________________
Joined: Jan 24, 2010 Posts: 54 Location: Long beach, CA
Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2010 12:42 pm Post subject:
dorT500 wrote:
Here is hoping your 'dark horse' lives up to the term's definition. I have to admire your enthusiasm and ingenuity on your self admitted low cost project. What retail outlet did the rubber/foam sheet come from? I might think of some other uses for it on non-motorcycle related stuff. It appears similar to the material some mouse pads are made of. You want to paint the spokes and their nipples? It looks like you are moving right along. Good luck and have fun.
The foam came from Michaels Crafts. They (and probably any other craft store) has a whole section of whole sheets as well as cut out shapes, letters, etc.
The wheels were already painted when I got it, so I was going to re-do them in same color as the rest of the bike.
Thanks for the kind words. I'm having a blast. I've learned from past experiences that I can't let the little setbacks get me down.
The other setback I've encountered is that a large section of the seat pan was rusted out, so I'll need a replacement. Don't want to do new from thailand unless I have to, so I'm trying to get a used longer seat from a K11 that ended on ebay with no bids. If that doesn't work, I make just fab my own custom shape with fiberglass.
Joined: Jan 24, 2010 Posts: 54 Location: Long beach, CA
Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 4:54 pm Post subject:
Made some more progress last night and tonight. Rebuilt the headset with all new loose ball bearings and put the front end back together. I like the way the forks look with the exposed springs. (FYI: 22 3/16 bearings top and bottom)
Put the rear shocks and front fender on too. Basically I just want to keep as few little painted parts laying around to get jacked up.
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So now I have three holes to patch in an otherwise perfect tank. 
From what I can tell, it shouldn't be a big deal to patch with jb weld. We'll see.
....You don't mess around ,do you ? Actually, that is a pretty good spread of parts that may look good on ebay. I don't know how sought after the K15 is but have you considered just having fun doing what you are doing....that is taking it apart cleaning as needed. getting very familiar with the bike and maybe selling the parts and look at buying another K15 or something similar in a closer to or actually running condition? Did you get a title on the one you have? As has been suggested by many people on this message board in similar situations......now would be a good time to evaluate a projected cost and check in advance about what parts are available. etc. Just one of many examples for instance....the oil lines. Crank bearings and seals? Not to mention other internal parts that could be bad. I hope you can get some responces from the K15 guys over that other site I gave you.. on some of the problems they have had with parts, etc. So what do you think? How gungho are you on this particular example of the K15? Parts look nice...could be your ticket to another even more fun and less trouble free project. You da man....it is of course your call. 
I know that these things always end up costing more than we think, but based on some estimates I've made....I don't think it will be too bad. I bought the thing for less than $300, so if I can spend less than $700 on the other stuff I need then I'll stay out of trouble with the wife. 
The front wheel is perfect, and so is the hub on the rear so I'll either replace the whole thing, or get a new rim and respoke it.
