Quick Fix - Yamaha L2 100c Little Yellow

Restoring the 1969 Yamaha L2 100cc: The postie bikes of old.

In our latest restoration job, we took on the revival of a classic 1969 Yamaha L2 100cc, that we’ve affectionately named 'Little Yellow'. Our goal was a full restoration for both the paint and body, bringing this fun size classic bike back to its former glory.

The restoration began with the wheels and other chrome parts. We stripped down and cleaned as much of the chrome as possible. With some elbow grease the wheels, fenders, indicator bodies, headlight surround, airbox, and bars were all prepped for rechroming and sent off.

The heart of the Yamaha 2t, was next. We removed the engine before pulling it down for bead blasting. Once apart we discovered that the barrel could do with a bit of love which resulted in it being recoated before the rebuild process. Fuelling can be one of the biggest issues with these little bikes so the carb was pulled, deep cleaned and rebuilt before the engine went completely back together.

The exhaust system underwent a complete rebuild due to it being a main aesthetic piece of the bike, while also being quite important for tuning and how the bike runs. It was removed, stripped down, cleaned internally, and the exterior rechromed before assembly.

Wiring on the bike was a task demanding attention. Retaining the factory loom we’ve stripped out a number of faulty and poorly made connections to make sure the restored switches and lights function properly. On start up we encountered a spark issue that had us chasing a voltage drop under load, causing a misfire. With a bit of help from Lee at RustNSoul, he was able to diagnose a faulty stator and swap it out for a spare he had sitting on the shelf. Sometimes you just can't beat the experience on these old machines. These challenges make restoration work a real specialty, while also showing us how much the wider motorcycle-building community is just happy to help.

The final touches went into the paint. Justin from Popbang, did yet another fantastic job of reproducing the oem fleck, giving Little Yellow a bit of life back.

With all of the restoration work completed, the Yamaha L2 was pieced back together with a few new OEM replacements for things like indicator lenses, chain and sprockets, and remade brake/clutch cables. To finish it off we installed Purpose Built Moto Scrambler Mirrors from the lever pivots to give the classic a little bit of modern functionality on today's busy roads.

Bringing little yellow back to life was more than just a repair job; it was a revival of a real gem that would make any rider smile still seeing it on the road. The result was not just a restored motorcyclebut a piece of history brought back to life, ready to smoke up the morning milk run.