Posts
3753
Joined
4/1/2008
Location
GB
Edited Date/Time
7/27/2013 9:02am
I re-built my CR500 over the winter/spring. It's a '99 although it doesn't really matter what year it is seeing as they're all the same from what, 1992?
I had restored it when I first got it about 5 years ago but used it last year and it needed some clean-up again. I didn't intend to go to town on it, just tidy it up. Hence I didn't re-powder-coat the frame as it wasn't too bad. There were a few chips off the frame rails which I just touched up and covered with white vinyl (which is now peeling off in the sun). However as I got into doing it (and I had no other projects on the go) I got carried away and ended up changing loads of parts and re-plating (myself) or replacing every fastener as well. The bike is pretty good now.
Too good to get dirty of course. That's the problem. You do a good job and get it looking great and then it's difficult to bring oneself to go and undo all that work by riding it!
I had restored it when I first got it about 5 years ago but used it last year and it needed some clean-up again. I didn't intend to go to town on it, just tidy it up. Hence I didn't re-powder-coat the frame as it wasn't too bad. There were a few chips off the frame rails which I just touched up and covered with white vinyl (which is now peeling off in the sun). However as I got into doing it (and I had no other projects on the go) I got carried away and ended up changing loads of parts and re-plating (myself) or replacing every fastener as well. The bike is pretty good now.
Too good to get dirty of course. That's the problem. You do a good job and get it looking great and then it's difficult to bring oneself to go and undo all that work by riding it!
I've done one other bike with that kit and it's quite satisfying. But it's a little time consuming and so it wasn't worth messing around with bolts I could just replace at little cost.
What is kind of cool with that electro plating kit is that you can take something like a brake hose and just plate the whole thing. The plating of course takes to the metal but nothing else. So the once-corroded ferrules on the ends of the brake hose come out like new even though they're still attached to the hose. Same thing with rim locks.
cleaning the drool off from all the lookers than from you riding it-lol
The Shop
You HAVE to ride it.....maybe just once, but that bike needs to take a lap or 10 around an MX track!
Then you can park it and let your friends drool. Lots of time for that!
I'd be interested in hearing how that DIY plating holds up over time.
I used a DIY zinc plating process on some of my early restos. It looked
bright and shiny for about a year, then began to dull. I ended up sending
all the hardware out to a plating shop for cadmium re-plating. It's been
several years now, and so far, no dulling. Cad is the same process Honda
used on the hardware to start with.
dogger
I did quite a few parts on Honda Dax ST70 (Mini Trail?) that I restored a couple of years ago and although I haven't used the bike much (and not in the rain either) it has gone through a couple of cold, damp UK winters sat in the garage and those parts are all OK so far.
(Crappy phone photo, sorry)
The 'White Dax', or 'Lady Dax' in the brochure below came with a flower power seat cover.
It's a very cool bike. I bought it in the 80s when I was racing. We would be all set up at GPs from Thursday evening / Friday morning so I needed a road-legal bike to be able to go to the store in the local town for provisions. I would never sell it at any price. It's part of the family.
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