These are the two 'before' pictures of the bike, it had been stored in a garage/woodworkshop for around ten years as can be seen by the thick layer of sawdust, Rob, the previous owner, had the foresight to cover the chromey bits in WD40 before consigning it to the workshop.  under all the grot it was pretty sound and with just a clean out of one carb, several quick (but uncomfortable) rides were had before it was relocated to my garage........ The bike was transformed from this to this in just 4 Hours!

The frame, Swing arm and other various bits and pieces were sent for powder coating as one of the first  jobs, Then lots of lovely Stainless Steel nuts and bolts were glued on. The fork bottoms and top yolk assembly went elswhere for some unimpressive powder coating. I won't be going there again!

Exhaust system, gear levers and brake levers and lots of other bits were sent off to be chrome plated then polished, a few threaded parts were damaged during this process but nothing irreplacable was broken. The engine unit has been stripped and vapour blasted, the barrels were painted with high temperature black paint then pre hardened in the oven (Jane was out). Carbs were stripped and also sent to the vapour blasters, all came back just like new. Wiring harness has been stripped and new wires added to allow for an oil level warning, the indicators- indicator has been converted to separate left/right arrows on the instrument cluster leaving the orange lamp free for an oil warning lamp, A 'Blade' type fuse holder has been added and an electronic flasher unit from a car has been wired into the harness. A high brightness rear lamp has been sqweezed into the rear light unit and although it is less than impressive its not worth taking it out again!

The swing arm assembly was fitted, but this will not be staying, the wheels are also not staying too long, engine has been rebuilt and refitted, carbs rebuilt and refitted, no problems were found with either, that fat tyre looked ugly when I first saw it but I must admit that I am starting to like it!  brand new tall handlebars have been fitted and switchgear from a  GPZ500, The wiring was suitably altered to accept these. The cables however are not going to fit  without a fight! I will probably need to replace the levers as they now no longer reach level with the handgrips, but I was thinking of replacing them anyway while adding a better front disc brake caliper. (update, the front caliper may be staying until later on).

Now complete with front end, Exhausts could be fitted since it no longer needs to stand on a block, Cables have been lashed on and It was given quite a prolonged run this evening giving me time to set the tickover and synchronise the throttle openings. For the eagle eyed amongst you, the Tank has not yet been painted, I have been getting a few quotes for the work, Powder coating sounds pretty good and they can cope with the colour scheme that I want, the only snag being that they can't cope with the front Mudguard because it is made of fibreglass. That back Tyre looks better every day, I think that I'll go in search of that matching front one...... The throttle and choke cables have been sorted out and work properly although there is very little throw in the choke and I can forsee the nipple giving way at some point due to the strain, I think the GPZ lever was only intended to pull one mechanism instead of three. As a slight aside and while there is a lack of degrees 'c' in the garage, I have been modifying a Granada Rev counter to fit the clock casing, this now just requires the face and glass refitting and it means there will be no fat cable to go into the right hand oil pump cover, (neat!). The sensor is not finalised, Either: an output from a signal coil, amplified or regulated coil input voltage or even two magnetic sensors around the ignition rotor.
I bought some VFR clocks at a recent Autojumble (Rufforth) the electronic Speedo from these is just small enough to fit inside the original casing Rick at RB's has supplied some super new clock faces for both of these.
Not much has happened since last pictures, grab rail and fuel cap went to the chromers and have returned lookin' good, left hand side engine covers have had a bit of a polish and have been fitted, I had a nasty turn when a pool (slight exaggeration) of oil appeared underneath, the oil was coming from a seal behind the drive sprocket, I had visions of this being a major stripdown for replacement but, by drilling two small holes in the seal and putting a couple of screws in I was able to yank it out with some big gripppers and fit a new one, disaster averted!
Tank, Sidepanels, (Steel) Mudguard and Hump are all at the Powder Coaters, final Colours are still TOP SECRET.
I hope it looks as good as I hope it looks, There are still Lights, Indicators, Front Brake and Seat to sort, I think the seat is going to be a problem as the base is rotten the cover was torn/worn and had to be cut off the base and the foam has been cut/shaped by persons unknown for reasons unknown (see 'before' pics above).  also some Mag wheels are imminent.
I'm still fiddling with the electronic clocks but now things have warmed up other things have taken prescedence...
Like going out for rides and autojumbles etc.
April 1st, Rufforth Autojumble produced a square headlamp and matched bikini fairing from a Suzuki 125, I believe, which is black (for now) and some cheap and cheerful blue indicators, I don't think that the indicators will be staying too long, they look tinny & tiny and "ships and ha'peths of tar" come to mind every time I look at 'em, I also bought a Tax disc holder... it feels a lot nearer completion now!
 
Suddenly it all comes together with a whoosh! The paintwork arrived middle of last week, and I just couldn't wait to glue it all onto the bike, it really does feel finished now, I gave it a blast up the street yesterday to impress some mates who came to look at it, It was a bit uncomfortable, I think I must have missed something!
I also glued the old brake caliper back onto the front forks just to give it some stopping power. Now I need some decals for the tank and rear hump, the sidepanel badges are coming along nicely in my spraypaint workshop..... OK it's the garage again. dark (BMW) metallic purple with silver faces, Yummy.
 
Nearly Finished!! It is really close to being MOT'd ( I just need that seat), there is only one problem with the bike itself... the front forks have a stiff action when pumped, I can't see anything thats bent.... the fork legs were originally bent when I started but they have been straightened before they were rechromed so I'm looking carefully at everything else up at the sharp end.
There are still some bits and pieces to change/finish off, Those indicators must go, I have some Mag Wheels to fit and some sort of alarm/remote to sort out, .......... "my Kingdom for a seat"
I have managed to make up a seat on the base for a later model, this is just a few inches (remember them) shorter than the earlier machines and leaves a gap at the front but it means that it is finally rideable, The MOT (this is the official mechanical safety test in England) was last Thursday and..... it passed no problems, I gave it a good ride round afterwards and turned up just a couple of snags, I hadn't tightened the brake hose banjo bolts tight enough, a bit of brake fluid was sqweezed out and a few small spots got onto the tank stickers, the exhaust clamps and joints were leaking very slightly and so a few oil runs appeared on the exhaust pipes left and centre, the rear number plate has a tendency to shake the bolts out, I have had to put locknuts on to stop this but only time will tell if this is enough to prevent the plate coming loose, finally the revs tend to stay at around 3000rpm when the engine is hot, a quick call to Rick at RB's and I learned that it is common for the carb slides to stick open when hot, so a bit of swapping around should cure this, The burning question is - "Does it go?" Yes IT does but I don't, what I mean is that the bike sets off like an excocet missile, but I stay put and end up hanging onto the bars and sat at the back of the seat,  I have to hook my toes over the footrests, for anyone who has not ridden anything like this it is a bit difficult to describe the way that cars just disappear behind as a blue hazy blur in the mirrors and the blood rushes away from your brain and into other bits, this is possibly why people describe it as being "better than sex", I need to get some miles on the clock before June as there is a club ride to North Wales and I want to shake out any problems before then..
Wheels are fitted and working a new chain has also been fitted, I was a bit miffed about the chain as I went for a good mid price range chain then needed to buy a chain press to fit the blighter! I have one or two things to add or change but otherwise the garagey bits are over, I suppose I'll just have to ride the damn thing now. CU.

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Latest pictures from 2001,  New seat is fitted (as above), I have dropped the front forks by 30mm cos it was a struggle to reach the ground, I also have some shorter rear Shox to try, Handlebars have been narrowed by 2 inches at each end to prevent my arms aching after an hour or two of riding.
I finally got it up the other day, I was just wanting to nip past a crawling car in 2nd gear but the Bike had other ideas, it was in first.......

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