Junkyard trawling for some cheap treasures

It has been a few weeks since my last post. In those short weeks the world continued to change and some of those changes have been good. Restrictions related to the pandemic have lifted in my area to a degree that finally let me go for a long ride. The weather has been unpredictable enough that my weather app is merely a suggestion. Last weekend the clouds parted, literally, and I got out on the road to do some shopping at one of the very few motorcycle junkyards anywhere in Japan. Take a look at the pictures and read on to see how it went. I guarantee you that this place will show up again on the blog. Maybe very soon! Enjoy!

Located about an hour away by car or bike was a place called Shonan Junkyard. I found this place by watching some Japanese YouTubers after they visited to buy a Honda Cub project. I set off bright and early on a Sunday morning so that I could get there just after they open. The XJR400 seemed very eager to get out and stretch her legs on the freeway after a couple of months of speeds no higher than 35 mph. After a bit of hassle with my GPS sending me on the wrong route and then getting caught in the rain, I arrived. Once I walked in, I caught this glimpse of a pack of mini bikes ripe for the riding. I was eager to search and explore every nook and cranny. I love junkyards. I grew up with my dad being the only licensed driver in the house and three cars in the driveway. We would go to a junkyard for something or other a dozen times. It is like automotive archaeology.

You can see just a fraction of the bikes this place had. There were at least three separate areas of concentration that were accessible to patrons. There were at least four other areas that had bikes in them that were off limits. In the patron areas, the bikes had varying prices attached. Ranging from the lowest at ¥3,000 ($30 USD) for some junk parts bikes to somewhere north of ¥120,000 ($1,200) for more popular models. There were every level of bike as well. Lots of 50cc scooters. A few older sport bikes from the 90's. Crusiers, naked bikes, Cubs and the mini bikes as mentioned earlier. Plenty of variety to interest almost everyone. Ostensibly I came to find an FTR 223 so I could get back into flat tracking. They did have one as seen above. After getting an idea of the pricing of what was available, I decided more research was needed.

Parts, parts and more parts. Did I mention that they had a bunch of random parts? If you had a keen eye, you might be able to identify something that matched your make and model. No prices were posted and none of the parts were labeled. Most of these were just take off parts, probably from wrecks too far gone to save. I did a once through this area and made a mental note of what was there for future reference. The most promising pile was the multitude of handlebars. If the bars are cheap enough, I may pick up a few sets with different bends to see what feels good. If I ever need to replace a shock or get a spare wheel, I'll give this area another try. Any really good parts or custom pieces were hung up in a cashier area with labels and price tags. The prices seemed reasonable enough. They had a few expensive looking exhaust sets and some body work that might just be the thing someone is looking for if the price was right.

As much as I was looking with a purpose, I also love to see all the weird and wonderful things that end up on the scrap heap waiting for a second chance. In these pictures you can see a couple of Yamaha cruisers that were completely spray bombed black. When I say completely, I mean it. Even the gauges were covered in spray paint. The one in the background had a bunch of parts fitted to it to give it the appearance of an older Indian with the big fenders and floor boards. After looking them over and sitting on one, I got the idea that maybe these were some riding props for a movie or TV show. I imagine that a producer might not want to inadvertently advertise for Yamaha without compensation. Maybe the black paint was to keep errant reflections from ruining a specific shot. Either way I'd like to know the back story behind these bikes. 

Some cool vintage looking iron were this red, Chinese two stroke and this great looking, green BSA. While I know the BSA was actually vintage, who knows how old the Chinese bike is. The name on the side of the take is in cursive and I believe it reads "Xinghi". It also has the characters "幸" and "福". In Japanese they mean happy and luck. The BSA was very classically British. The rear brake and shifter were reversed from modern bikes. I haven't looked either of these up to guess their age, but I really wanted to pick them both up. Both of these are such simple technology that I'm sure getting them running, if they aren't seized, would be a simple affair of getting, fuel, air and spark in the right place at the right time.

While I walked away with all of my money firmly still holding down my wallet, I will be back. What I pick up may surprise you. I have been itching to get a project going. The pandemic lock down just reinforced the need to have a hobby project at hand. As I type this I am a few days away from my next weekend. Maybe you'll see something interesting if you follow my Instagram account. Take care and ride safe if you can friends. Later!

Mat