restore cost....ouch!

john robert bould · Oct 30, 2013

Bead cleaning doe's not improve the item, infact the finnish looks some-what un natural.the blast process peens over the foundry blemish's ..i soak off the crud and air blast it when loose.
Again powdercoat is to me a bit plastic looking, thick ,very durable i agree, but a good coat of enamal looks better...plus future re-touching is easy..Powder forget it.

Rohan · Oct 30, 2013

Vapour blasting (= water blasting, plastic beads blasted in water) does a marvellous job of restoring a factory finish to cast aluminium cases heads etc.
Doesn't remove metal either, so preserves the dimensions and fit.
Agree about the powder coat - It is just melted plastic after all - and looks plastic.
Although it makes a good undercoat for enamel, if you are stuck with receiving parts already powdercoated.

Mr Ben is laying down the law there about not restoring Commandos.
But we haven't seen any Commandos that he owns - unrestored or not - or if he even owns any ?

john robert bould · Oct 30, 2013

A good clean "oily rag" ,is my seen....i dont have to check the weather before going out..just incase there is a chance of a shower

and yes the aqua blast is good.

Rohan · Oct 30, 2013

john robert bould said:
A good clean "oily rag" ,is my ( scene)..

There was discussion here a while back that 'oily rag' condition equals a rusty old rat-bike type condition ?

P.S. I have no idea how folks can say 'never ridden in rain' - when you go out on a sunny day, and then it buckets down.
What do they do - send the bike home in a bus. ?
Find a taxi, and put it in the back seat ??
Hide under a bridge, and wait until its sunny again ???

john robert bould · Oct 31, 2013

Total disagree; a oily rag bike,,,well here in the the uk is a bike that the owner wiped a new bike with oil to keep the rust at bay , and the original finnish kept good, problem was the dust stuck to it...rims and spokes where vasalined .....no one does this today, because back then 50 years ago a new bike was a major purchace..often on the never,never...but the owner wanted the best price when changing up later...so a quick Gunk off and the bike is top trade in price...It all made good sence then.
To day owners want glitter!

Rohan said:
john robert bould said:

A good clean "oily rag" ,is my ( scene)..

Click to expand...

There was discussion here a while back that 'oily rag' condition equals a rusty old rat-bike type condition ?

P.S. I have no idea how folks can say 'never ridden in rain' - when you go out on a sunny day, and then it buckets down.
What do they do - send the bike home in a bus. ?
Find a taxi, and put it in the back seat ??
Hide under a bridge, and wait until its sunny again ???

Rohan · Oct 31, 2013

If you look out on the net, there are clearly 2 different interpretations of oil rag condition.

And when it was discussed here before, only lightly, both views came forward.
Concours and oily rag condition would commonly seem to be at opposite ends of the scale. (?)

oily-rag-t15472.html

Rohan · Oct 31, 2013

chasbmw said:
Nortons from new did not remain standard for long as owners tried to deal with the various well known issues of a standard bike.

40 years on, the problems remain, but traffic is heavier, it's much faster and coming home on the back of a breakdown truck gets old and expensive very quickly, so if you want to actually use your 40 year old bike rather than showing off its patina at the local coffee shop you rebuild your bike improving reliability, handling and braking.

Good comments.
If folks didn't think they could build a better mousetrap, we'd all still be riding penny farthings.

chasbmw said:
Beng is a romantic.
.

Thats putting it very politely.
Rivet counter, anorak or anal retentive are words not infrequently seen in a motorcycle context to describe near the same thing. ?!!
Not that there is anything necessarily wrong with having intense passion for a subject, but when it becomes all consuming,
to the point of dictating to other owners what they should or should not do to their own bikes ....!! ??
Gentle persuasion is sometimes more effective than trying to use a blunt instrument... !

phillyskip · Oct 31, 2013

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q166 ... 707ec1.jpg

So far my "Free Norton" (basket case ,sat outside for 20 years) has cost me $5000 USD in parts,$1000 in painting and powdercoating,$1000 in machine shop and fabrication services. I do all of my own work. I have 99% of all parts needed to finish and anticipate a total outlay of $8000 to complete the project. It is not a nut and bolt restoration,and is being "built" to my liking. I will have her finished by April of 2014 so that I can ride her into the Gathering of Nortons in Pennsylvania.......Skip

john robert bould · Oct 31, 2013

Yes there is...one right one wrong...have you lads over the pond ever heard of Duck oil?....mayby not! we over here used to travel over salted roads in winter,the councils loved spraying the stuff ...never said a oily rag was concours! and no a oily rag is far from the end of scale...its a pity there are no old school bikers on this forum :twisted: I worked with one....he went all over Europe ...in some remote part his NSU nipped up it's big end....he stripped it at the road side...cut a piece from his leather belt soaked it in oil, stuck it in the rod and returned back home....They where real bikers....Now a fuse blows and its on a recovery truck!

Rohan said:
If you look out on the net, there are clearly 2 different interpretations of oil rag condition.

And when it was discussed here before, only lightly, both views came forward.
Concours and oily rag condition would commonly seem to be at opposite ends of the scale. (?)

oily-rag-t15472.html

Cheshire bloke · Nov 4, 2013

So after spending all that dosh on the bike, be careful you might just turn into this bloke .......
Sure I saw him at Stafford!

Had a bit too much time on my hands today, looking through old magazines!

CB

Unclviny · Nov 4, 2013

The custom '71 (Commando Bizarro) I am building is "raising the bar" costwise into the Stratosphere but will be used and if it gets road-dings on it so be it!!, I have never understood bikes that couldn't be ridden.

Vince

Hobot · Nov 4, 2013

The NTNOC at Lake of the Pines has a 30 mile run and no wipe off before judging or loose big points. Ya can be as wise and careful as best in the world but can still be caught out to ruin your ride no fault of your own, so I'm putting on crash cage for public use and remove for track days on what may be one the most expensive and fastest Cdo's ever fielded. May not look that pretty to others but me of course.

john robert bould · Nov 11, 2013

Check out the Ebay Commando..in Denmark...£15000 restoration!

restore cost....ouch!

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