Restoration project: I have one!

We've got a live one here!
It ain't pretty, and there's a lot of work to do, but what an awesome project if I can pull it off!


From what I can gather, it hasn't been run for the last fifteen odd years, and spent around ten of those sat by a pool, three sat on this fence post, with scarecrow aboard, and the last two lying on the ground after it fell off the fence post!

I was in two minds about taking it, but it's a Bombardier Can-am T'n'T 175 and, being as I've owned a few 250's, couldn't miss the chance of taking on another.  Besides, I hate to see anything rotting away.  That's the boot of Doug the dummy and yes, it looked like a dead body!

So Angus, the present owner, fetched the Bobcat and lifted her over the fence so we could have a proper look and I became the proud owner of yet another Bombardier.  For the princely sum of a bottle of Scotch.  Does it get any better than that?

So what can I tell you about it?  This particular bike was made in 1975 by Bombardier.  Known for making planes, trains, snowmobiles etc., their off-road motorcycles were called Can-am's.  This is a T'n'T 175 (short for track and trail).  Powered by a Rotax 2-stroke, disc valve engine with the obvious capacity of 175 cc.

There's a lot missing and a lot that may need to be thrown away.  Is it worth restoring?  Probably not, but restoration shouldn't be about the money - more the enjoyment of problem solving and the pride you get with the finished article.  I wanted to showcase a restoration - showing what could be achieved and, although this could be pushing the boundaries somewhat, will try to do a good job.  Wish me luck.

We lay it in the back of the Falcon and took it home.  Dave, who actually found it for me, was a legend!  We unloaded and quick as a flash he was there, hosing the bike down, then trying to get the seat and tank back on.  He was as excited as I was to see what it would look like.  Even Gaby said she liked it but I'm not sure I believe her as yet.

This is Queensland, Australia and the wildlife wasn't too impressed with the move! Huge spiders living aboard suddenly decided to hop off and make tracks but the ants nest in the front drum still seems to be going strong!

All in all a great weekend and I got what I wanted.  Hopefully Angus is as pleased with the Scotch as I am with the bike.

The clean-up operation will commence soon!  (I promise.)