So ....
My mate Paul is a bike trader, he usually only deals trade to trade but occasionally he's offered something too good to refuse. This is a 2001 triumph TT legend 900cc triple which, when he bought it, wasn't running, but it was a steal so the deal was done.
Paul is very knowledgable about motorcycles but his mechanical skills leave a lot to be desired. He wanted to convert this bike to a bobber style but had only gotten as far as having a new starter fitted to it to get it running. Towards the end of last year he was starting to loose a bit of heart as in order to move things forward the work was going to need to get serious! I suggested initially that he could bring the bike to my workshop where he could come and work on it as and when he wanted, he'd have access to all my tools and equipment and I'd be on hand to help him out if he needed it.
In mid January the bike arrived. Paul had made a start already, the front and rear mudguards were removed, the chap who'd got it running for him had removed the air box and fitted cone filters.
Paul had also gotten brave with a hack saw and cut the rear subframe short to the length he really wanted it. Other than that it was pretty much stock. Paul had ideas on how he wanted it to look and had even bought a set of 9" Z bars ..........
Within an hour or so it became apparent that Paul would actually like me to do all the work for him from start to finish,
Time to get stuck in then I reckon!
The original plan was to strip the bike down to the frame and engine which Paul would then clean with his array of various chemicals.
I fairly quickly stripped the bike down and made plans for all the various components, either paint, plate, modify or replace.
In order to get the required look the wheels would need to be rebuilt. 16" front and rear with new wider black rims, chrome spokes and black powder coated original hubs.
The day came for Paul to come over to do his cleaning bit, the idea being that the bike could go up on the bench and be gradually built as and when the refurbished components were ready to go on etc
However while standing there pondering how well the original finishes would clean up we decided to just go the whole hog and refurbish absolutely everything. There won't be a single component, bolt or finish that'll remain untouched, essentially it'll be a fully refurbished custom (ish) bike.
Here she is, all butt ugly naked!
Inevitably the worst bit of the engine was around the exhaust studs (some of which came out voluntarily, some had to be persuaded)
The only absolute bastard was one alternator bolt which actually claimed the lives of no less than THREE T40 torque bits before I admitted defeat and got the grinder out ......
Sump
As with all projects, there's a period of initial tedious drudge of prep prep prep, it feels like a real slog with little achieved.
The engine is going to be finished in matt metallic grey and the frame and running gear all in gloss black.
The engine itself is powder coated in textured satin black, it's a bugger of a surface to work with.
Time to get suited up for a couple of hours in the blast room!
Then into the booth for a coat of etch primer
Now, the front sprocket cover is quite a large, bland casing which also has the clutch slave cylinder mounted to it, I suggested to Paul that maybe we do something with it, the cain + sprockets will be new so why not see a little of it ......
More ......
MUCH more to follow!
My mate Paul is a bike trader, he usually only deals trade to trade but occasionally he's offered something too good to refuse. This is a 2001 triumph TT legend 900cc triple which, when he bought it, wasn't running, but it was a steal so the deal was done.
Paul is very knowledgable about motorcycles but his mechanical skills leave a lot to be desired. He wanted to convert this bike to a bobber style but had only gotten as far as having a new starter fitted to it to get it running. Towards the end of last year he was starting to loose a bit of heart as in order to move things forward the work was going to need to get serious! I suggested initially that he could bring the bike to my workshop where he could come and work on it as and when he wanted, he'd have access to all my tools and equipment and I'd be on hand to help him out if he needed it.
In mid January the bike arrived. Paul had made a start already, the front and rear mudguards were removed, the chap who'd got it running for him had removed the air box and fitted cone filters.
Paul had also gotten brave with a hack saw and cut the rear subframe short to the length he really wanted it. Other than that it was pretty much stock. Paul had ideas on how he wanted it to look and had even bought a set of 9" Z bars ..........
Within an hour or so it became apparent that Paul would actually like me to do all the work for him from start to finish,
Time to get stuck in then I reckon!
The original plan was to strip the bike down to the frame and engine which Paul would then clean with his array of various chemicals.
I fairly quickly stripped the bike down and made plans for all the various components, either paint, plate, modify or replace.
In order to get the required look the wheels would need to be rebuilt. 16" front and rear with new wider black rims, chrome spokes and black powder coated original hubs.
The day came for Paul to come over to do his cleaning bit, the idea being that the bike could go up on the bench and be gradually built as and when the refurbished components were ready to go on etc
However while standing there pondering how well the original finishes would clean up we decided to just go the whole hog and refurbish absolutely everything. There won't be a single component, bolt or finish that'll remain untouched, essentially it'll be a fully refurbished custom (ish) bike.
Here she is, all butt ugly naked!
Inevitably the worst bit of the engine was around the exhaust studs (some of which came out voluntarily, some had to be persuaded)
The only absolute bastard was one alternator bolt which actually claimed the lives of no less than THREE T40 torque bits before I admitted defeat and got the grinder out ......
Sump
As with all projects, there's a period of initial tedious drudge of prep prep prep, it feels like a real slog with little achieved.
The engine is going to be finished in matt metallic grey and the frame and running gear all in gloss black.
The engine itself is powder coated in textured satin black, it's a bugger of a surface to work with.
Time to get suited up for a couple of hours in the blast room!
Then into the booth for a coat of etch primer
Now, the front sprocket cover is quite a large, bland casing which also has the clutch slave cylinder mounted to it, I suggested to Paul that maybe we do something with it, the cain + sprockets will be new so why not see a little of it ......
More ......
MUCH more to follow!
