Juv's Strom "Restoration"

[Juvecu]

Figured I'll start a thread about the work I'm going to be doing to the Strom in the future. I'm planning on respraying various bits and perhaps changing the colour of the bike to orange instead of the current blue. It's done more than a 102k miles now and it's been through several winters without much love other than the occasional Hosepipe wash and ACF50 spraying. If I were to sell it I'd get ~£1000 for it in it's current state and I'd likely get as much for all the little extras it has. It isn't worth much in monetary value, but it's been a great tool that I've decided I don't want to part with just yet. I've been looking at getting another bike for a while and recently got myself a DR-Z400SM in yellow. The SM is a hoot and there are loads you can do to pimp it, I'm also going to get off road wheels for it. Because I have 2 bikes now I can take one off the road at any time to work on the other and this is really lovely. No worrying if the part is going to arrive in time or if you'll get the job done. I can work on the bikes in a relaxed manner and I don't care if I don't finish it today, there is always tomorrow (like the Irish would say )

I'm planning on painting everything that isn't looking decent any more... that's just about everything. The frame, swingarm, fork lowers, headlight cowl frame, pannier rails, foot rest mounts, wheels, etc. They will mainly be sprayed in black, possibly all using VHT All Weather Epoxy paint. The engine will likely also get some paint love, I've yet to decide what colour, but I'm leaning towards using a flat black and silvery/aluminium/titanium colour combination. I'll probably respray the radiator while I'm at it (or even replace it.) Might even add some nice coloured radiator hoses. All the hot bits will get done with VHT Engine Enamel and will get oven baked at ~93 deg C to cure. I'm going to repaint my Madstad, the original paint isn't the best and will be making and painting a better satnav mount too.

In addition to the respraying I'm also going to be refreshing fork oil and will get the fork stanchions rechromed. I'm going to (finally!) add my satnav wiring and my Stebel heart attack generator. I'll be polishing the feint scratches out of my headlights and restoring most of the plastics. I need to fit new heated grips before winter and I'd like to fit a new screen, mine is very scratched, I might even try to buff the scratches out. While I'm in there I will fix my fuel injector wiring properly, it's still bodged and going strong, but I'd feel better if I did a proper fix. I'll likely be checking the rest of the wiring loom too. The Strom will get LED indicators and an LED compatible flasher relay too. I'm considering adding an LED rear light as well. I'll polish the fine scratches out of the clocks, might even change the faces to white ones, I've yet to make up my mind. The gear and brake levers will get attention too, particularly the gear lever, it's worn and I'm thinking of getting a folding lever replacement along with fitting wider foot pegs again.

I'm sure I'll think of more to do along the way. I'm on a budget so I can't get everything professionally done. My time is free though and I'm handy enough to do pretty much everything myself.

You might be asking why I don't just sell it and buy a new one. I asked myself this too and in the end I don't really know. What I do know is that it would be nice to see the Strom in good condition again after the hard life it's had and good service it's given me. I figure this won't cost me as much as a new bike and I already know I like this bike enough to keep it for another year or two. I also know that when this is all done the Strom is going to be one tidy looker and that it'll have a better lasting paint job than most bikes fresh out of the factory 

The idea is to take pictures as I go along so that there is a good before and after comparison. Photos are all going to be put up at this album link. Unless the camera dies on me all the photos will be taken with my ageing Canon PowerShIt A400 on a tripod (otherwise they will be blurry.) At least it's good in low light

Some before photos to get us started then:

[Descolada]

What's that covering the oil cooler Juvecu?

Des

[Firestorm]

I'll find this very interesting. I've done one or two similar projects since I've retired and watching the transformation is the best bit. Hope all goes well (I mean cheaply really!) and looking forward to the updates

[Jacko]

That's seen some riding hasn't it.

[Juvecu]

What's that covering the oil cooler Juvecu?

Black duct tape In winter the bike always seems to bounce the temperature gauge (goes down to 2 bars and then back up a while later.) You've probably seen taxis and older cars cover up their radiators in the winter so that the engine doesn't get too cold on the move. Same effect here except that I only cover the oil cooler and not the radiator. The radiator has a thermostat, but the oil cooler doesn't. I don't get the bouncing temp gauge. In summer I've ridden it like this and the fan has never come on, neither has the temp gone above 3 bars. I considered wrapping the front exhaust pipe previously to get the same effect, but wrapping the oil cooler was cheap and nasty and did the trick. I no longer travel as far as I used to in winter so it's probably not needed any more and I will remove it when I can be bothered.

[Juvecu]

That's seen some riding hasn't it.

You could say that You don't really notice how it gets worse and worse over time. One day you just think: "Shees, this thing is old and tatty now! " I have some photos from when I just got the bike and there is a very noticeable difference to how it's looking now.

Here's the first photo I took of it after I bought it, it's at ~29k. It looks very "fresh" compared to what it looks like now. It had 2 previous owners and neither of them took very good care of it either.

[Locky]

I can't blame you for not selling it on . The bike owes you nothing and to say its done over 100,000 its not that bad . The engines been cared for and it could well do the same miles again if looked after .
I once had a Transalp that covered over 70,000 miles and was gutted to sell it , it served me well and never let me down , I think I became attached to it  
I'll look forward to seeing it getting transformed into a nice tidy Wee as it once was ...
I have a spare front mudguard if you plan on renewing it ..PM me if you want it ..

[Jacko]

I must say, the 29k pic doesn't look 70,000 miles away from the earlier ones. It's done well, I'd be keeping it too, it's just not worth selling for what it's worth, might as well just keep it, if even just for hacking through the winter.

[Juvecu]

The good lady is fine with me getting a 3rd bike somewhere in the future, did I mention I love her lots? The only condition is that I just have to wait until we buy that 4 bedroom house with the double garage first

[Juvecu]

Replacement front mudguard secured, courtesy of the good man Locky

[Dracula]

I'm pleased someone else's bike is as bad as mine

[Mr Nick]

Replacement front mudguard secured

I thought you would have just gone for a neater bolt arrangement....

[Juvecu]

I was thinking of shortening it to behind the crack, not sure how it would look, but it was the cheap option. I'm going to get the one from Locky, if I still feel like shortening it I will give it a go and if it looks shite I can use the one I got from him instead. If I don't use the one I'm getting from Locky he can have it back if he wants.

[Tommy3Tanks]

Will keep an eye on this. Ooooh I do love a good restoration!  

[John316]

Do you have a budget in mind for the work?
Always prudent to know how much you want to spend rather than what you're likely to spend before launching out on a project.  Although for its returns, the maths don't always add up!  haha  

[Juvecu]

I'm thinking most of the outlay will be in paint and I know the fork stanchions' rechrome will be in the area of £75 as I've already had a quote over the phone from a local place. The rest of the money will be going towards stainless steel bolts, some tools I might need as I go along and lots of wire wheels and sandpaper. There'll be some costs involved in things like thinners/acetone/etc., but I don't expect that to be much at all. I'll keep track of expenses in this thread too as I go along. If I can get away with less than £1k then I'll be smiling, otherwise I'll just ride it so I can get the smile back afterwards  

[John316]

Whoa Juv!
You're thinking of spending around £1K for a 100k mileage bike valued at £1k, not to mention the costs of blood, sweat & tears involved?  You really are deserving of a medal of some description mate.    
Not many of us have that kind of money to 'invest'.    Apart from a brand spanking new machine of course!  

[Iggy]

Looking at your Wee makes me realise mine's not too scruffy after all.

Don't forget that these sorts of excursions always take twice as long and cost twice as much as you first estimate - especially if you've got something else to be riding around on in the meanwhile.



As for justifiying the expense, as I always tell Mrs Iggy:

A pound spent on a car is a pound wasted, a pound spent on a bike is a pound invested.

Hope it all goes smoothly.  


Iggy

[iansoady]

Whoa Juv!
You're thinking of spending around £1K for a 100k mileage bike valued at £1k, not to mention the costs of blood, sweat & tears involved?  You really are deserving of a medal of some description mate.    
Not many of us have that kind of money to 'invest'.    Apart from a brand spanking new machine of course!  

But he'll then have a bike that looks nice and does everything he wants. Far better than chopping it in and buying a load of new problems....

It looks like a good plan to me.

[Firestorm]

+1 for Iansoadys comment plus the fact that you'll have done it. That in itself is very satisfying and worth a few bob. Given there is no engine work and other than the forks, no replacement part charges other than what you want to do, paint will be the most expensive. Will you paint it yourself? Do you have a compressor and a gun or will you use aerosols? I reckon that, unless you buy loads of bling you'll do a grand job for less than £500. I've been wrong before though!