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Post by Phil on Jul 2, 2016 21:06:16 GMT
This will be the story of how I started with a Black knackered Superdream and turned it into a Blue one that shines and looks good as new.
The picture below is how I first got the bike many years ago.
I know some people will look at it and think it doesn't look to bad. I bought the bike from a guy in Manchester because for some strange reason it just called to me, lol. I originally had one of these back in the good old days when I was seventeen and you could ride them on "L" plates. Oh while I think of it here's me as a skinny seventeen year old with my pride and joy (check out the clothes and old cars in the background).
Anyway as I said I bought the black one from a guy in Manchester and believe it or not I actually rode the bike all the way back down the motorway from Manchester to Bristol. One good point about the bike at the time was that it was fitted with one of those giant Rickman fairings including rear rack, top box and side paniers. Bloody thing almost looked like a police bike from back in the day. The fairing helped a hell of a lot on the very long slow trip. I kept the bike at 65mph or below and stopped at every service station to let her cool off for a half hour or so.
To Be Continued
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Post by BritPete on Jul 2, 2016 21:22:29 GMT
Sorry - think it looks better in black - might be the beach and pier influencing the opinion - has to beat the back drop of the high rise
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Post by Phil on Jul 2, 2016 21:29:15 GMT
Like I said the Black one doesn't look too bad on the surface but as soon as you look a little closer you start to see just now the 30 odd years have taken their toll. I'm not really sure what made me buy a Black one because what I really wanted was one like the one above in the Candy Tanzanite Blue which I'd had as a young lad. After looking up close at it I decided to do a bit of a spruce up to put it mildly. There was tons of rust and many years of built of grease and crud. here's a couple of photos of the breakdown to give you the idea.
And so the fun began........................................To Be Continued. |
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Post by Phil on Jul 2, 2016 21:34:49 GMT
Sorry - think it looks better in black - might be the beach and pier influencing the opinion - has to beat the back drop of the high rise
That's Weston Super Mare beach with the old pier in the background before it burned down a few years back. I think you might change your mind when you get to see the finished bike as it is now. (unless of course you have a Black one and your bound to be biased ) lol.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2016 1:29:19 GMT
These pictures ring true.
Phil......are you Mousey (on the old forum). ?
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Post by BritPete on Jul 3, 2016 6:58:16 GMT
Sorry - think it looks better in black - might be the beach and pier influencing the opinion - has to beat the back drop of the high rise
That's Weston Super Mare beach with the old pier in the background before it burned down a few years back. I think you might change your mind when you get to see the finished bike as it is now. (unless of course you have a Black one and your bound to be biased ) lol.
Phil - You guessed it - mine is black Bought it this time last year and like yours did not look too bad on the surface but as I delve deeper it really needs a full strip and powder coat
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Post by Phil on Jul 3, 2016 10:25:21 GMT
These pictures ring true. Phil......are you Mousey (on the old forum). ? No not me sorry. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2016 11:25:50 GMT
Hmmmm.....clearly mistaken then mate. Sorry. Must be an age thing.  |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2016 11:28:11 GMT
P.S who were you on the old forum? I mean your name - because you were on there - I recognise the classic pic of the blue 250.
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Post by na44superdream on Jul 3, 2016 11:39:25 GMT
I can understand wanting the same bike as the one you had in the 80s, that's why initially I was going to restore a black CB250NA, but have at present a silver one as luck had it.
(I have to ask what you will do with the black tank? It does look good, would you respray that or get another tank? or is it also better in the photo, than it is?)
I've never had a Blue bike (yet), it's a nice colour that blue.
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Post by Phil on Jul 4, 2016 7:54:47 GMT
P.S who were you on the old forum? I mean your name - because you were on there - I recognise the classic pic of the blue 250. Yea I was on there a long while ago, think my name might have been Nukem or something like that. |
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Post by Phil on Jul 4, 2016 8:01:21 GMT
I can understand wanting the same bike as the one you had in the 80s, that's why initially I was going to restore a black CB250NA, but have at present a silver one as luck had it. (I have to ask what you will do with the black tank? It does look good, would you respray that or get another tank? or is it also better in the photo, than it is?) I've never had a Blue bike (yet), it's a nice colour that blue. Ah well that black tank again is a classic " looks OK from a distance" job. but up close it had a few dings and dents along with rusty seams so I completely stripped it, repaired it and re sprayed it. The new blue is really good match to the original one in the photo. think you'll agree when I start putting the currant photos up. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2016 9:58:26 GMT
P.S who were you on the old forum? I mean your name - because you were on there - I recognise the classic pic of the blue 250. Yea I was on there a long while ago, think my name might have been Nukem or something like that. I reckon we were all Nuked in the end. Ho hum. Enjoy the forum Mousey I mean Phil.  |
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Post by Phil on Jul 4, 2016 19:44:01 GMT
So anyway I actually did the first part of the restoration a couple of years ago and after having it sat for a while and using the bike now and then there were things about the first restoration that just niggled at me and so with a great deal of moaning from my long suffering Mrs I decided do drop the engine out again remove the wiring loom, and strip the bike down to its component parts. My main problem with the bike and the reason for the second over hall were things like I hated the fact that all the little bits and bobs, brackets, screws, nuts and bolts, spindles, Rods, and stuff like that just still looked old. Ok they were clean and not rusty but they just looked their age. To solve this I wanted everything this time (and trust me there were loads) looking new as possible. The answer was to have all those small pieces Zinc Plated they were when the bike came out of the show room. After getting a price for this work I nearly had a heart attack. There was at least an answer to this and that was to do the Zinc Plating myself. After doing a lot of reading and checking around I decided to take the plunge and assemble all the equipment needed to do it. What I wasn't ready for was the amount of man hours needed to do it. The thing with Zinc Electroplating is that preparation and cleanliness are king! Now baring in mind that I don't own a sand blaster I had to clean everything by hand (well with a bench grinder fitted with wire wheels) my bloody hands took a right beating. After many many hours and a lot of trial and error I taught myself how to do it and even if I do say so myself the end results are fantastic.
Here are a couple of photos kind of in the sequence needed to take them from rusty dirty old to shiny clean and new............. These photos don't show all the parts that I Electroplated they're just a fraction of the total but it should give you the idea how they look start to finish.
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Post by Phil on Jul 4, 2016 19:56:20 GMT
Another thing that was annoying the hell out of me were the various things that I had painted black instead of doing it properly and getting them powder coated. These included things like Swing Arm, Center Stand, Side Stand, Front Brake Calliper, Top and Bottom Yoke, Battery Tray, Rear Mudguard to name only a few. I just felt like I had cut corners the first time round by spraying them. After just a couple of years the paint was starting to look old and crappy and not the kind of finish I was after for the Blue Angel. I love the solid deep shiny look of Powder coating but even that leaves you with plenty of work to do mainly re tapping all the threads that the powder has drifted into during the process.
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