Post by muttsnuts on May 5, 2014 19:27:29 GMT 1
This bike has been with me for nearly 2 years now !, the owner finally contacted me 20+ months after dropping it off with me to let me know that he had decided to get it back on the road and to have it tidied up a little, but NOT a full resto.
So this is what I started with, doesn't look so bad really does it.........
so it went from that, to this,
then on closer inspection of things, it ended up like this........
as you can see, there wasn't much left to strip after this
anyway, after a lot of hard work to repair, replace and overhaul all of the parts that had been removed, the bike finally started to be assembled again with new and repaired parts
so going back to the first photo, I reckon most of you would have paid a hansome price for it like it was, now if I now said that to get it roadworthy and back to the state you see below it was going to cost well over a grand in parts and needing approx 80hrs of labour, I reckon most of you would not have beleived it, well it has and it surprised me how much work was invloved in getting this thing capable of being roadworthy again, it just shows what can be hiding on what looks on the surface to be a good bike.
So here is the finished article, not a full resto by any means, just everything fixed that needed to be fixed and a light touch and resto to make it look something like it, and believe me I could have easily spent another grand and 40hrs making it even better than it is, there is still loads of things I'd liked to have put right, but since the chap will ride and use it, this is plenty good enough for that and at least it keeps the bike repairs to a sensible cost
The owner hasn't seen it yet, so I am hoping he will be pleased with it !
So for those of you thinking of buying an RD500, be aware that they can easily hide many a horror and expensive repairs, so do your homework and check a bike carefully, otherwise expect some expensive invoices........
Just got the mirrors to fit after I've made some new parts for them and then an MOT and she is good to go........after nearly 2yrs with me, I'll miss the ole girl !
So this is what I started with, doesn't look so bad really does it.........
so it went from that, to this,
then on closer inspection of things, it ended up like this........
as you can see, there wasn't much left to strip after this
anyway, after a lot of hard work to repair, replace and overhaul all of the parts that had been removed, the bike finally started to be assembled again with new and repaired parts
so going back to the first photo, I reckon most of you would have paid a hansome price for it like it was, now if I now said that to get it roadworthy and back to the state you see below it was going to cost well over a grand in parts and needing approx 80hrs of labour, I reckon most of you would not have beleived it, well it has and it surprised me how much work was invloved in getting this thing capable of being roadworthy again, it just shows what can be hiding on what looks on the surface to be a good bike.
So here is the finished article, not a full resto by any means, just everything fixed that needed to be fixed and a light touch and resto to make it look something like it, and believe me I could have easily spent another grand and 40hrs making it even better than it is, there is still loads of things I'd liked to have put right, but since the chap will ride and use it, this is plenty good enough for that and at least it keeps the bike repairs to a sensible cost
The owner hasn't seen it yet, so I am hoping he will be pleased with it !
So for those of you thinking of buying an RD500, be aware that they can easily hide many a horror and expensive repairs, so do your homework and check a bike carefully, otherwise expect some expensive invoices........
Just got the mirrors to fit after I've made some new parts for them and then an MOT and she is good to go........after nearly 2yrs with me, I'll miss the ole girl !
what parts needed replacing, assume fork seals, tyres, brake lines?
