Restored : My Bajaj Super – ‘82


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THE BUYING PROCESS:

Lazily at long last I did get down to jotting a few lines!!!

In ’73 when I was all of 13, my father booked this scooter at Commercial Motors, Lucknow for a princely sum of Rs.500/-, and he was told that the waiting period was 10-12 years. He gave me the booking card which was like a postcard when I was 21, and told me to write to them about the change of address (we had moved to Kanpur), and the possible delivery time, and forgot about it.

Lo and behold around June/July ’82, I received a letter from Bajaj that, my scooter is ready for delivery. If I remember correctly the Govt had started opening the mfr. sector, and Bajaj had ramped up its production.

I took along my FNG owner Parker (I had a Vijay Super)with me by bus to bring back the Bajaj Super (I could choose the colour I took the light blue)from Lko, I remember the scooter was for Rs.6,500/- or so, and when I was in the showroom, a dalal approached Parker & asked if I want to sell my scooter, he was ready to pay me 4/5 K in black, that was the premium then.

ACCESSORISING:

The first accessory was a stand lock, basically a ring (lacha) welded on the body and another on the stand, so when you put the scooter on the stand these rings used to overlap each other and you put a padlock. Then tanki lock, stepny lock, and a switch in the dickey to switch off when you park the scooter……that is how precious Bajaj Scooters used to be. Then the usual seat, stepney cover, rubber mat, mudguard rubbers, handle grips & back view mirrors. Many years later they made the dicky & engine rexene half covers (the ones that you see now in the restored scooter).

LIFE GOES ON….

In this 33 years my scooter must have covered more than 75k km, with many a trip to lko (which is about 90km), early morning kick start would be open the fuel tap, pull the choke, tilt the scooter towards the engine side and one kick, it would never fail, there was no governor during the running in period (unlike the Vijay Super, Lamberatta), simple engineering, and never ever remember being stranded, excepting for a puncture.

Met my wife in ’83, got married ’84, son in ’85 daughter ’89, both married and settled. Arree love marriage main aisa hi hota hai., period!!

To be contd...
 

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Thread Starter #2
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Contd...

Zabardasti kutch naya karne ki khujli….

In the interim in ’94 bought a second hand Dr. owned ’84 make SS80 for 50k, moved to Riyadh in ’97, and every vacation on reaching home, gave the car & scooter to FNG for basic service, and they were good to go, simple.

In ’08 I was talking to my FIL (our weekly exercise), he mentioned tum log chutti peh aa rehe hoo, scooter ka paint purana lag raha hai, paint karwa doo, (his condition was main paise donga) lo and behold I said go ahead with my FNG, not Parker, he had closed shop (old age) and moved back to Lucknow. I chose this chap as he was just near my house, and had beautifully restored a Rajdoot GTS (Bobby) for his personal use.

Now the khujli begins:

I talked to the mechanic and asked him to scan and send me the color chart, which was done with some bhaag daud (bhaiya batti nahi aa rahi, internet hang ho raha hai etc etc). Stripping of the scooter had started, I asked my wife to choose the color, phir spark ignite hua, let me go over the top.

I asked my man if he can get the handle, front mudguard, dickey, engine cover & the wheels in chrome, he said he will check, and for the body I will tell him the color.

Kahani main twist:

In the interim years I did not realize that, this mechanic had got into bad habits/company, he would close shop for days on end even months and go to his gaon, with excuses bhaiya kya batain yeh ho gaya woh ho gaya long yarns and on the sly keep taking money from my FIL (all I knew was he used to eat gutka and cigarettes), previously he was slow and lazy, but would never cut corners for my jobs.
Anyway, in the coming years I could not go for my vacation, changed jobs, transfer papers and related problems, and this chap was running helter skelter, with my scooter and many others just strewn around his makeshift workshop.

Finally:

Ultimately, on one of my vacations I took whatever was remaining of my scooter from him, (Original handle, 2 wheels the engine bonnet missing)and gave it to my neighbors FNG, a decent person, who got the scooter all done up within a short notice of 15 days, all is well. Total kharcha about 9k.

Enjoy the passion, of my nostalgic ride.

Regards

Vinod
 
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Thread Starter #5
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thanks GM,

I did have the cash memo of the works done by the new mech, shall try to locate.

SS80 was sold, as we moved from India.
 
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Hi,
Restoring the old beauties can be done by people who love automotives a lot. Concentration is a must in this kind of restoration.
Congratulations and ride safe.
 
Thread Starter #8
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Hi,
Restoring the old beauties can be done by people who love automotives a lot. Concentration is a must in this kind of restoration.
Congratulations and ride safe.
Thanks Ambylovers, for your kind words, coming from a guru in restoration is heartening.

regards

Vinod
 
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NIce Job man.. Commendable work by the mechanic. The color is come out nice. it takes a lot to get all the details right while restoring. and this one just does that. wish you many more happy miles on this.
 
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Hello Ilangop,

A very cool idea, (the electric starter) which I shall try on my '82 Bajaj Super, restored as under...

http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/nostalgic-era/24056-restored-my-bajaj-super-82-a.html

I will do the mods as a retirement project, in a couple of years, if i'am not mistaken the later chetak models had 12V ES, so wiring harness & starter motor and handle should be a straight lift, will surely need your inputs then.

regards

Vinod
Dear Mr. Vinod,
Nice to see a well kept Chetak. The whole idea of self start was carried forward from LML Vespa. To convert to self start you would need the toothed flywheel, stater plate, starter motor, Battery bracket & the magneto housing of a Button start model Chetak Or LML Vespa. Wiring is not a problem, I can extend a helping hand through this forum itself.
BTW, I do have a toothed flywheel, starter motor & the stator plate coils removed from an LML Selfstart model. Can sell it to you if interested. Beforehand please check with a veteran LML & Bajaj mechanic if the flywheel bosses are same for LML & your engine.
All the best.
 
Thread Starter #13
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Dear Mr. Vinod,
Nice to see a well kept Chetak. The whole idea of self start was carried forward from LML Vespa. To convert to self start you would need the toothed flywheel, stater plate, starter motor, Battery bracket & the magneto housing of a Button start model Chetak Or LML Vespa. Wiring is not a problem, I can extend a helping hand through this forum itself.
BTW, I do have a toothed flywheel, starter motor & the stator plate coils removed from an LML Selfstart model. Can sell it to you if interested. Beforehand please check with a veteran LML & Bajaj mechanic if the flywheel bosses are same for LML & your engine.
All the best.
Dear Ilangop,

Thanks for the compliment, this is a Bajaj Super, as the original handle (with the oblong lamp)was lost/misplaced by the earlier mechanic, so I got this handle. As I mentioned once I start this project I shall take inputs/help from you.

I do have an experience mechanic, who finally completed my scooter, and as I am out of the country, will look into these options on my next vacation, or when I start with this project.

regards

Edit: Many thanks for your input and offer
 
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