Cleaning Parts
For the next several weeks following the unbuild, I spent the majority of my time removing all the black paint that was on 95% of the bike. It was not an easy task. Whoever owned the bike before me literally rattle-canned (spray painted) almost every piece. I took a lot of before and after pictures, but I'm only going to include the after pictures below…just looking at what they looked like before gives me anxiety. The all-black engine was one of the first things I cleaned up along with the shock absorbers. All the grooves in the engine and inability to take it apart due to stripped screws made it one long drawn out process. However, I'm extremely happy with the final product. It looked brand new underneath, with the exception of some blotches on the aluminum. Once I get the stripped screws removed I am planning on having the covers re-chromed and the engine rebuilt with all new gaskets and allen bolt heads. Any phillips head screws will be removed and never put near it again. They strip way too easily and considering how often these need to be taken off for maintenance I'm not interested in reliving this "drilling out" process ever again. I can't wait to hear it purr once it's all said and done!
The exhaust pipes were actually wrapped in a creamy colored fiberglass material, which I took off to reveal the all chrome look. Even though it looked better without the fiberglass wrap on it, I decided to buy some 500 degree tested paint and paint the pipes black and keep the shorty ends chrome. I'm still not 100% sure that I want to put these on the bike because I've been playing around with the idea of getting a 2-into-1 system for the rebuild, but even if I use these old ones, I know they'll still look a lot better than they did before. Worst case scenario, I sell these on Ebay and make a couple bucks to put towards the new ones. What I'll most likely do is wait to see how they look on the bike once I'm putting everything back together. If they don't fit the look and feel I'm going for I'll opt for the new ones. Ultimately, I've gone from trying to make this an "affordable" bike build, to a "fuck-it, I want the expensive shit" build.
Below is just a glimpse into all the cleaned or newly purchased parts I have laying on the floor of my apartment until their time comes to be brought back to life. There are still several things that need to be purchased but I'm just buying a couple items a week so I can still pay all my bills on time. This has definitely turned into a much bigger investment than I had originally planned but I can't even begin to explain the amount of knowledge I've gained in just two short months. It's like night and day. I actually understand a lot of the elements of a motorcycle now, and better yet I know the names for the parts. One of the smartest things I've been doing is keeping track of any and all expenditures for this project on an excel sheet. Everything from the cost of parts, to the fee's at the DMV to have it registered. That way, if I should decide to sell the bike down the line, I'll be able to price it out more accurately. Considering it's my first build, I may never part with it…who knows?
One of my first major disappointments was the tank that came with the bike (NOT the one below). After I stripped all the black paint from it I discovered that it had several large dents and had been patched prior to my purchase. Had I known this before I bought it, I could've driven the price down more because it's not cheap to find a replacement in decent shape for cheap and pay to have it painted. At any rate, I found a similar tank online, got it for a pretty good price and it had already been cleaned and ready for paint. I just had to do some work on removing the rust on the inside of it, in order to prep for the RED KOTE tank sealant I'm going to be applying. This will really make it look like new inside. Once the interior is ready to go, I'll pick a color and design. I've been torn on this but think I've got it down to the top three. Decisions, decisions.
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