Think i have found a marathon and need advice for full rebuild. I have not had time to check the frame numbers before going away to work. The bike has all the right parts, ally rear tank with dakar 92 sticker on, water storage in the sump guard, large air filter acses, looks like the pics i have seen on this site. That is the good the bad is it lived on the deck of a boat doing nothing for 2 years. Everything is rusty and coroded. Main problems are the wheel rims are scrap the ohlins shock has pitted and damaged the seal, engine paint flaking off and rear disc and caliper fused together. The ugly The previous owner (a friend) who sufferd ill health and no money, gave it to a school for excluded children, in a hope they would resurrect it. What they did was paint it with hammerite and threw fiberglass at the pannels then put some more hamerite on. The plan is to totally rebuild it, if it turns out to be an original marathon then good money will be spent, if only a replica then just a small fortune with rdo3 parts. what i need help with is finding parts and what can be used from the standard rd03. I need wheels, shock or shock rebuild, tank protector stips ( seen them on the marathon story site), The pannels that link the front fairing to the tank and rear caliper. Any help would be greatfully recived, will post pics when get home.
Welcome to the forum.
As mentioned above pictures please.
Wheels - Get them rebuilt.
Shocks - Replace
Bodywork - Use a sander and remove the crud, repair properly. Win the lottery and get it professionally restored.
Sounds very interesting, I've got sets of rear Marathon panels and tank protection panels available should you decide to do the rebuild.
If you do get it, and depending on where you are I would be interested in seeing it if possible to get some measurements of the rear aluminium tank etc for fabricating new ones.
Nice to know another poor old Marathon is to be saved! On my website AFRICA TWIN MARATHON - HOME you could find many useful pictures and if you need more please get in touch. If you let me know the frame number I'll be able to certify at 99% if it's an original. Pictures please!!!
The bike is in Cornwall. Strip down starts When i am home over christmas. I am interested in the tank protection pannels. You are welcome to get some measurements of the rear tank. Matt
This is what i know so far. frame number rd03-6000??? engine rc31f 6000???. Raced in 90 & 91 dakar by Tony fawlkes and Spanish Baja by Neil bruce. Featured in Trail bike magazine as a staff bike March 1998 Issue 32. I think it is an original marathon but Can not find any race numbers stamped in to its parts.
The bike has now been stripped and is sitting in my shed collecting new parts while i work away for 3 months. It is going to be a long rebuild due to the nature of my work and wanting to do things right.
Will put up some pics if i can work out how. If i pay to becombe a member, will i be able to upload pics?
This is what i know so far. frame number rd03-6000??? engine rc31f 6000???. Raced in 90 & 91 dakar by Tony fawlkes and Spanish Baja by Neil bruce. Featured in Trail bike magazine as a staff bike March 1998 Issue 32. I think it is an original marathon but Can not find any race numbers stamped in to its parts.
The bike has now been stripped and is sitting in my shed collecting new parts while i work away for 3 months. It is going to be a long rebuild due to the nature of my work and wanting to do things right.
Will put up some pics if i can work out how. If i pay to becombe a member, will i be able to upload pics?
This is quite exciting, possibly the only genuine Marathon bike I know of in the UK (please correct me if I'm wrong)
You don't have to subscribe to upload pics, as you could host them on a picture hosting site and link to them, HOWEVER, there really are major benefits to subscribing, including being able to upload pics, use the WANTED/FOR SALE area, and probably more important to you, being able to use the PM facility to possibly contact other subscribed Marathon owners.
I think you'll find the forum a friendly helpful place, and I'm sure you'll get a host of new mates gagging to know more about your special bike.
You may want to consider masking some of the bike details (VIN and engine numbers) you've posted. Just edit your original post, or I can do it if you want, or contact admin.
Just for your safety, otherwise we could have 50 other Marathons out there with your ID's.
nice to have more news of your bike at last! I was pretty sure it was the Fawkes one, interesting to know that it raced Spanish Baja too... would be great to have some photos in action from the old owners! The frame number is one of the missing from my list (the half still missing, actually!). Hope you can go on with the rebuilding and please ask for any info you could need
good luck with the bike. From memory in the early 90's Honda offered a service whereby you could buy a Marathon and had the cost of entry to the Dakar plus some sort of support thrown in . Tony Fowkes I remember had one of these packages -I don't think he finished but wrote up the story for Motorcyle Sport . I would be suprised if this was the TBM bike which I think was sold to a guy in the North of England who was a member of the Big Trail Bike Club - should be easy to discover as TBM ruined the bike by painting it yellow!
good luck with the bike. From memory in the early 90's Honda offered a service whereby you could buy a Marathon and had the cost of entry to the Dakar plus some sort of support thrown in . Tony Fowkes I remember had one of these packages -I don't think he finished but wrote up the story for Motorcyle Sport . I would be suprised if this was the TBM bike which I think was sold to a guy in the North of England who was a member of the Big Trail Bike Club - should be easy to discover as TBM ruined the bike by painting it yellow!
Thanks for the intrest. It has got me off my arse to find m password for the site.
Things are moving along slowly. House move and long stints working in south Korea and the netherlands, have put the project on the back burner for a while. This is the story so far. A local professional bike restorer had the frame for blasting and powder coating. This was away for 9 Months got sent back 3 times to be redone along with parts that were done in the wrong coulour. Took the rear wheel to a diferent restorer, he sent it to central wheels who took an age to fit a nasty coulour gold rim and powdercoat the hub in gloss, not satin black, not impressed. The rear shock was sent to Gibbs performance for paint rechrome of damping rod and rebuild. A good job done.
While this has been going on I have been cleaning and painting parts. Degreasing, wire wheel cleaning, rust proofing and painting. Looking through the parts I have done I have noticed rust is coming back. So things have not been going so well. I now have some time off so will be getting on.
How it stands now. Standard forks and wheel in, untill I can afford to get the marathon forks rechromed and front wheel rebuilt. Shock was taken out by previous owner who lost the bolts as well as the keys. So When I get some replacment bolts I can rebuild the back end and have a rolling chassis.
Wireing loomb still a problem. after the hastle I have had with professionals I do not know who to trust for fixing or making a new loomb. Not evn sure if a second hand one could be converted.
Still very much up for the challenge of bringing this bike back from the dead. any help or advice would be much appreciated.
Mt dad's got a spare loom from an RD04 if your interested?
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