Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/1445637
As fate would have it, my old friend Gary Montminy, the "G" of G&G, had listed a 175 OR on Marketplace one evening, and with a belly full of beer, I commi ed instantly to the purchase. The pics weren't the pre est, but looking through the dust and dirt, all the compo- nents were there and unmolested. The back story was the bike had been ridden a fair amount during the mid to late 70s, then parked in a basement. My friend Gary had ended up with it during some horse-trading and decided to part ways in favor of other projects. Within a week, the 175 OR was up on the bench at Trail Rider Headquarters. A er a thorough pressure-washing, we dove head-first into the project. Having no use for mannequins that sit sta c and sterile, my inten ons were to replace all the consumables, freshen the cosme cs and basically wake up what appeared to be a rela vely low use (but well enjoyed) survivor. With only 1400 miles on the working speedometer, the bike wasn't hammered to death like most New England enduro bikes of the day. The original bri le plas c rear fender was s ll intact, along with the factory leather tool bag. Somewhere along the line, the front fender was swapped for a Preston Pe y, and the swing arm was modified for forward moun ng the shocks — a popular mod at the me. Oh, as a bonus, the stock shocks were swapped for a pair of red, white and blue Fox Gas units. As a performance upgrade, the huge bulky silencer was tossed, and the pipe cut and modified for a short, glass-packed cone. First order of business in waking up this bike was the top end. Typical of most vintage bikes that have sat for any length of me, mice had infiltrated the exhaust pipe, building a large house at the header, s cking the piston. Upon inspec on, we found the cylinder to be on the original bore. With a quick visit to the Vintco website (vintco.com), we ordered a new first oversize piston kit (includes rings, piston pin and clips). Vintage Roost (vintageroost.com) had the needle bearing and base gasket. Our friends at Claxton Powersports (interes ngly enough, located in the original G&G Cycles building) handled the cylinder boring, and we were ready to begin the process. Luckily, the bo om end looked perfect, with no play in the connec ng rod and all bearings rolling smoothly. It was then we elected to bolt on the fresh top end and concentrate on the re- maining components.