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It doesn't need to look brand new.

5K views 60 replies 18 participants last post by  RDickens 
#1 ·
I enjoy browsing these threads, and seeing the photos of members restorations. Some of these bikes are truly works of art, the workmanship and time involved is amazing. ( I try to avoid the girls on motorcycles thread, as it's bad for my heart. ) However I can't help thinking that maybe there are some members who don't show their projects. Many people nowadays are on limited budgets, or limited time, or both.
Maybe they feel that there projects don't meet the high standards of many of the resto projects on here? Just remember that breathing new life into a dead, neglected bike is in itself an accomplishment. So I can't speak for others, but I personally would like to see some members projects that were done on a limited budget. A bike is made to be ridden, so lets see some bikes that were saved from going to the scrap metal dealer.
 
#5 ·
I understand the emotion, although any roughness is , in my case, a work in progress - even if that temporary roughness turns out to be 10 years.
I knew a guy who had an apoplectic old codger shout at him for riding a "rough as a badger's arse " goldie to a building site.
He was banging on about museum pieces when the owner just liked it as was, and on a limited budget, thought a working bike was better than a beautiful "thing" that didn't work. Plus it beat going on the bus.
 
#20 ·
Dave, I can relate to that. There's a bloke lives in my local area who restores bikes to exact factory specs. I got off side with him as he figured I should sell my bike to him, rather then do it up myself. I recently had a run in with him over the color I chose to spray my fuel tank. He got quite irate, telling me the original color was nothing like what I had chosen. He really spat the dummy when I said that I thought the original color looked like dogs vomit. He hasn't spoken to me since. True story.
If I do up a bike, it will be how I want it. Not how the factory dictated it should be, 58 years ago.
 
#6 ·
I've seen some rattle can paint jobs that look very good on restoration projects. But as pointed out, some of these projects people tend to not put up on here or any forum, because they feel shadowed over by the big money professional projects.

Myself I like to see the average Joe do overs.

Put em up guys.
 
#11 ·
I saw a Tiger Cub a couple of years ago with an outstanding paint job in that grand 1950s opal blue colour. Owner said he had used spray cans.

For myself, I run bikes in the old manner. Change oil on the dot but otherwise nothing gets fixed unless it drops off. Here is the 500:

[/url]DSCF0353 by doug748, on Flickr[/IMG]

Original rims, exhaust, engine and flaking frame, complete with oil leaks, split gaiters and saddle. I may put the tank back to the original red but that is about it. 55,000 on the clock so it may even be true :)
 
#8 ·
Where I live there's a bloke flogging around on a 1949 Ariel NH 350, completely original, nothing missing with nice patina mechanically quiet as a mouse. I love Ariels so I told him to give me first refusal if he gets sick of it.

The worst thing that could happen to it would be for some concours trophy chaser to get it and ruin it like they do. Sometime ago I saw a very early Henderson Four in an auction. The owner had chromed everything even the frame & spokes FFS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don't think they came from the factory like that ! And don't get me started on Ariel Square Four CHOPPERS !!!:mad:

My Triumphs are clean, good paint & chrome & quite presentable, and I haven't spent a small fortune restoring cosmetics as they need to be ridden on classic bike rides which I do a fair bit of which can be detrimental to cosmetics. I also ride my classics on all in rides.

I've seen blokes spend fortunes on bike & car restorations,then get bored with it all & sell at huge losses due to over capitalization.

If anybody bitches about my bikes (and they have) I just tell them I'm not spending another red cent just to make them happy0:)
 
#10 ·
here is a pic of my "budget" build -complete nut and bolt rebuild right down to the sludge trap in the crank - idea was to build a bike that looked like a "survivor" - used parts were cleaned and checked for condition - nothing rechromed -rust spots on rims were wire brushed out and wiped with ACF50 some fixings were dull zinc plated with a home kit - frame down to bare metal then rattle canned- tank was copied from pics of Steve McQueens desert racers -
 

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#12 ·
All of my projects were done on very limited budget and took years to complete.
Here my BSA in the shape I liked her, looking like home market 66 Lightning but really being 70 Thunderbolt :



I was forced to rebuild, re chrome and paint my big tank ( covered with some kind of fabric ) and paint side covers bought raw from Ebay.
Nothing else was polished, re chrome or repainted. I refurbished the bike mechanically and electrically , but my loom is still original with changes forced by electronic ignition and modern regulator / rectifier.
Same with my T150V, only part painted was a frame:

 
#13 ·
I think to a lot of owners of newer bikes, those that have never owned an old pommie bike, probably think of a lot of the older stuff as the deplorables of motorcycles. But in truth, they were the pioneers, the trailblazers.
With the invasion of the Japanese bikes came a lot of neat stuff, reliable electronics, oil tight motors, and a whole lot of other neat stuff. I have owned quite a few late model Jap bikes, but to me something was missing. Let's face it, apart from a dog peeing on a post, what else marks its territory as good as an old triumph? But seriously, to my way of thinking a lot of the late model bikes seem sterile. They just lack the magic of the old pommie bikes.
If you parked a vincent, bsa, triumph, norton, and matchless side by side they all looked completely different. Now they seem to want to look like wannabe GP. bikes, or harley lookalikes.
But keep the photos coming, nice to see every day bikes that don't look like they just came off a showroom floor. And don't limit it just to triumphs.
 
#14 ·
Hi folks,

Here is my 67 based / 71 engined, dressed up like a 69, TR6, also done with rattle cans,

Last pic is with the small america tank and the first is with the more correct tr6 larger tank.





this is what the larger tank looked like when I got it, was almost too good to strip respray, wonder if anyone here will recognise it ;-)

 
#16 ·
If you go on line you can find some video of guys who have outstanding results with rattle cans. It's really all in the prep.

I painted a seat cowl from a thruxton with rattle cans, and people think I'm pulling there leg when I tell them it's a rattle can paint job.

I watched one of those videos and followed everything step by step.
 
#18 ·
Rattle can painting: You really can get good results & like someone mentioned, it's all in the preparation. Sanding back with reducing grades of wet & dry paper is the key, finishing with 2000 until all fine scratches are removed. I then apply several coats of undercoat, allowing to dry properly & then block down each coat with wet 2000. Same with finishing coat & clear if required. Putting the rattler in hot water for 10/15 seconds first helps to increase pressure and get a finer spray pattern. Leaving it in hot water for too long can cause paint to air dry before it touches the item being sprayed.

I painted the entire left hand fairing of my old BMW with a couple of rattlers. I asked a few guys which one I painted, they looked for a while & said, dunno. The most expensive part of the process was the OEM BMW decal ! ($80)
 
#19 ·
This is my 66 TR6. It's been a rolling restoration for 10 years. It gets used regularly in all weathers year round and is often left parked up in the rain at work. It does not leak and the closest it gets to being clean is a hose and bucket of soapy water. First thing I did was paint it with good quality paint and a cheap gun.



I don't have an issue with rattle can paint jobs, I just hate rattle cans with a passion.

Rod
 
#21 ·
Before I real thru all the replies, I just have to say that I like them all!

Personally, my personal bikes aren't anywhere near the nicest, cleanest, most original, etc.

I just happen to have the job of my dreams, getting to restore client bikes with not a lot of concern as to the price (most of the time).

Yes, I have one or two very nice bikes, but they've only come about over 45+ years of starting from the bottom, and working my butt off to get here. The newest bike I've ever owned was a 2-year-old Yamaha that had 3 demo miles on it, not that I'm into new bikes anyway, but the point is I've never been able to afford new bike prices my entire life. The only way I was able to manage the few really nice bikes I have was taking years of getting a few parts here and there, getting some of my chrome, cad plating, polishing, etc. done with a lot of client parts to take advantage of the volume discounts.

All that said, my regular bikes that actually get serious use are the scruffier ones!
 
#23 ·
Mate, they radiate character. I talk to a lot of young blokes about bikes. I often say that old bikes have a sort of magic about them. They probably think... silly old fart, but that's the way I feel. The shortcomings of the older Brit bikes seem to get exaggerated with the passing years. Comments like ..insanely unreliable, foul handling etc. But the fact that they have never owned one is their loss.
A lot of the immaculate restorations probably never get ridden.
 
#24 ·
I get the objection to bikes that don't get ridden but it's worth keeping in mind that those guys who spend all there time restoring bikes to concours provide a lot of information for chaps who don't want to go that far but would like to have the little bits right. Just because thats their bag does not make it wrong.

Rod
 
#25 ·
I'm not saying it's wrong, just stating a fact. What people choose to do with their bikes is up to them. I have the greatest respect for restorers, this thread is merely to encourage people that can't afford a full restore, to share ways of doing up bikes on a budget. Sheesh, talk about people misinterpreting things.
 
#26 ·
Geoff, I don't mean to misinterpret your comments and certainly not to offend, I apologise if I did. Your very first comments pretty much cover how I feel, it's the chuck away comments that assume a well restored bike will never get ridden that bite me. It just seems to belittle the effort these guys put into it.

Rod
 
#27 ·
Rod, that's fine, I can understand why a lot of blokes don't ride their restored bikes. I have a mate in Queensland who restored a 500 manx. It has never left his lounge room since he finished it. And who can blame him? Imagine going to a vintage race and throwing it down the track, stuff that, it owes him a mint.
 
#31 ·
Looks can really be deceptive, in the early 70s my mates and I on a Saturday night would often head out to brickworks road at Homebush Bay. The car crowd used to go there to drag ( strictly illegal ) We would match up against the cars, gt falcons, monaros etc. You had to be quick off the line, as the cars would fishtail like hell. Anyways, there was a bloke on a ratty looking norton atlas, and the bloody thing was unbeatable. He never would tell us what he'd done to his motor. But the paintwork looked like it had been done with a tar brush. Mind you, the little blonde pillion decoration he had was easy to look at.
 
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