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Bike Rejuvenation Project


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THREAD RENAMED AS THIS IS NOT A RAT BIKE PROJECT ANYMORE.


Just after I took this photo of my bike onto of a dam wall near Applecross I had an accident and fell off onto the boulders on the water side of the photo. The bike was left upside down with me trapped for a while under it until I was able to wriggle out. I then had to lift the bike until I could get it onto the dam wall on its side. Then I turned it round still on its side until I could get it back up right.


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7167/6801479445_390b6763da_b.jpg


You can see to the left of the photo the dam wall drops down steeply. I got down OK, it was trying to get the other side when the problems started.


So I have damaged the hand guards, scrapped panels and front mudguard, bent the footrest and gear selector and put a big dent in the bashplate. One of the bits holding the bashplate onto the frame is also dented. The frame for the top box has snapped and it is scratched. The end of the clutch lever has snapped off, but there is still a stump so I can change gear.


The bike runs fine and after some thought, I am going to make it into a rat bike. EDIT - changed my mind, it is being rejuvenated. I want to remove the gold coloured transfers from the front mudguard (it is badly scratched anyway) and side panels. I want to paint the silver frame parts and bash panel black as I don't like the silver and it is corroding. I will bodge a repair to keep the top box in place ( I used a spare bungee to get home).


So far I have ordered a new clutch lever (£5.79), used a small hammer and my monkey wrench to straighten out the bashplate and used a ratchet strap round the gear selector and foot peg to band them back more or less into place.


Any tips on removing the transfers and what paint to use would be appreciated. I'll take photos as I go along. :cheers:

Edited by Throttled
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Step 1 - wait until wife has left house so she does not know exactly what you are up to.


Step 2 - use sink, washing up liquid, old wheel brush and kitchen wipes soaked in Intensive Tar remover to clean and degrease parts to be painted


Step 3 - use kitchen table to paint parts, starting with metal primer. Use big brush found in the shed for best results. Before first coat sand thoroughly and then using finer grade sandpaper sand between each coat. Wait 2 hours to dry between each coat. Apply three coats of primer.


Step 4 - use Vidal Sassoon Pro Elite hairdryer to warm transfers. Use a finger nail to start removal and then slowly peal away transfer as it is warmed. Use hairdryer to warm and remove any glue left on panel. Rub off with kitchen towel. (If you are unsure about hairdryers go to any hairdressers and ask a lady there for a demonstration)


Failing the above, powder coat


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7068/6896766995_19501fc321_z.jpg

Edited by Throttled
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My piant job of the pillion peg brackets ahs failed. The undercoat went on nice and smoothly even with an old brush, but the top coat was rubbish. It had lots of brush streaks and even though I obeyed drying times between coats and sanded the top coat barely stuck. I have painted metal with Hammerite before and it went on a treat with no streaks. I have no idea what went wrong this time. :crybaby:


So a new plan is that there is alloy wheel refurbisher in Renfrew who now has the peg brackets and the bash plate and he will powder coat them in matt black for £40. :D

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Looking at rat bike images, I want it to be sorted underneath with a good layer of proper paint and ACF 50 and then let it get a patena of much and scratches and dents over that. Think of it as a well groomed rat :D

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Transfers and parts for powder coating removed


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7044/6896764269_f824d8694c_b.jpg


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7069/6896762037_bc7da31c95_b.jpg

Edited by Throttled
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Yes. I saw they had a frame on their website and if it can be powder coated they will do it. If I was looking for a really good finish I should have got them to shot blast the parts first, then sanded and filled the corroded parts and given them back for powder coating. But I don't mind the slight rough and ready look.


I am in two minds whether or not to remove the Kawasaki and or KLE500 transfers.

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Progress so far, when I got it and now


http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6018/5993728622_c3f0e110e7_b.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7195/6917010887_399812a853_b.jpg


It is not at obviously different as I thought it would be. The gold still stands out on the frame and the part of the fairing that is gold. All the transfers and the tank pad have been removed. The seat has a gel pad (brilliantly comfortable). The pillion peg frame parts and bash plate are black now. Still to be done


- powder coated the side stand

- turn the white plastic lower chain guard white to black

- maybe paint the lower front forks, but they match the cloured part of the engine

- change the silver bar ends, either black or gold

- paint the silver exhaust shield black

- maybe remove the Kawasaki and or the KLE500 transfers


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7054/6917009925_0fa9461c01_b.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...
Hey there...!! Thank you so much for sharing this great stuff with us. It was truly very interesting and informative stuff..!!

 

Thanks and welcome to the forum. Not many Australians here :cheers:

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  • 1 year later...

I am resurrecting this as more progress has been made now I have somewhere decent to do the work.


http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3670/8984367311_6b4df4c82d_z.jpg


The insides of the bike have been thoroughly serviced. The outside is being made even blacker as I have hand painted the front forks and removed more of the decals. The rear spokes had gone from silver to rust and so have been treated with Kurust and painted black.

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Just for clarity.


Rat bikes are not 'made' they 'become'. You cannot make a bike into a rat bike. It happens by keeping a bike on the road in all weathers, doing the bare minimum to keep it safe and legal, and NEVER and I mean NEVER washing any single part of it, if you drop it, and it gets dented or scratched naturally, that is cool, if you try to make it look old or dented on purpose, that is NOT a rat bike and is just a bit sad.

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Just for clarity.


Rat bikes are not 'made' they 'become'. You cannot make a bike into a rat bike. It happens by keeping a bike on the road in all weathers, doing the bare minimum to keep it safe and legal, and NEVER and I mean NEVER washing any single part of it, if you drop it, and it gets dented or scratched naturally, that is cool, if you try to make it look old or dented on purpose, that is NOT a rat bike and is just a bit sad.


Muchly enjoying reading this so far - tis a tad harsh Matty - comment fine but calling it sad? :|

Not nice - sad face!

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Just for clarity.


Rat bikes are not 'made' they 'become'. You cannot make a bike into a rat bike. It happens by keeping a bike on the road in all weathers, doing the bare minimum to keep it safe and legal, and NEVER and I mean NEVER washing any single part of it, if you drop it, and it gets dented or scratched naturally, that is cool, if you try to make it look old or dented on purpose, that is NOT a rat bike and is just a bit sad.


Muchly enjoying reading this so far - tis a tad harsh Matty - comment fine but calling it sad? :|

Not nice - sad face!

 


Sad is quite tame, you want to hear what the rat bike fraternity would say! :)

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Just for clarity.


Rat bikes are not 'made' they 'become'. You cannot make a bike into a rat bike. It happens by keeping a bike on the road in all weathers, doing the bare minimum to keep it safe and legal, and NEVER and I mean NEVER washing any single part of it, if you drop it, and it gets dented or scratched naturally, that is cool, if you try to make it look old or dented on purpose, that is NOT a rat bike and is just a bit sad.


Muchly enjoying reading this so far - tis a tad harsh Matty - comment fine but calling it sad? :|

Not nice - sad face!

 


Sad is quite tame, you want to hear what the rat bike fraternity would say! :)

 

that is a bit harsh, hes just trying to do something interesting with his bike. no need to get nasty about it....


Although, he has a bit of a way to go until it looks like this!!!

http://s1.cdn.autoevolution.com/images/news/gallery/medium/grabenratte-the-grave-rat-bike-photo-gallery-medium_1.jpg

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Why is everyone on my case? all I did was clarify what a rat bike is. And by the way that pic is a custom not a rat.


you can all smeg off if you are that sensitive, I am out!

 

LOL Have a snickers... :lol:

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You are right, it is not truly ratted. I should just go mad with black paint.


As for cleaning it, it is clean at the moment so I do not get filthy servicing it and so the paint sticks. It was on its last legs and rat bikes need to work and be safe. Two hard winters of salt and crud had caused various parts to seize which would have failed. The back brake piston had shed a seal and neede over hauling. The front brake is in a sorry state is in bits ready to be cleaned.


More pictures to come.

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Why is everyone on my case? all I did was clarify what a rat bike is. And by the way that pic is a custom not a rat.


you can all smeg off if you are that sensitive, I am out!

 

I appreciate your criticism. Is the phot a custom bike because it has been made to look that way? Or is it a survival bike because of its look?


My bike is maintained by me doing as much as possible to keep it safe and on the road. I gave up fixing damage a while back. I see it as a baby rat that will through time and nature grow to be a full rat bike.

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Why is everyone on my case? all I did was clarify what a rat bike is. And by the way that pic is a custom not a rat.


you can all smeg off if you are that sensitive, I am out!

 

I appreciate your criticism. Is the phot a custom bike because it has been made to look that way? Or is it a survival bike because of its look?


My bike is maintained by me doing as much as possible to keep it safe and on the road. I gave up fixing damage a while back. I see it as a baby rat that will through time and nature grow to be a full rat bike.

 

I would say they are all custom bikes (except rat bikes, which are not) but that is called a survival bike because of the style in which it has been customised. I really do like survival bikes, can see myself doing one!

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I have been reading up on the scene. There appears to be a huge overlap between styles. I prefer more or less matt black with few add ons. I do not like the bikes with lots of weird stuff stuck to them. This video on rat bikes by a Scottish lady sums up what I want to do with my bike.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj6TBoCS ... detailpage


Her top ten tips include get a cheap bike (check as I handed over £800 plus my fifth hand YBR for mine), running on a shoe string and spend as little as possible (check, I am doing this with as little help and cost as I can), proper maintenance checks (check), buy second hand and have cable ties (check), take you time and let the project develop and evolve (check), be original (check, I intend to do that), do not copy be inspired (not yet), name your bike (er no, its a KLE500), make it practical (check, I have made the seat more comfy and adjusted the handle bars), start a rat box (no I do not want to stick stuff on my bike for the survival look), ride often (check, mine has been all over Scotland and to Ireland), do not wash except when the roads are salty (check, mine is unwashed until the end of its season and then it gets a thorough clean to get rid of the salty crud.


She accepts her bike is survival/rat and such bikes have evolved from the traditional old bike just being run, no worries about the looks and it does not even need to be black. I think mine will end up more like this


http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc210/chrisyabass/Transalp%2020010-%202012/transalpphotosfromphone073.jpg

Edited by Throttled
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according to lots of folk spray a bike matt black it becomes a rat stick twin healights on a bandit it becomes a streetfighter so some tend to think,me i think each to their own and live it love ride it and abuse it (unless its a harey then it spends more time in shed being fixed than ridden) :mrgreen:

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There needs to be more sub sets. Rat bike applies to traditional, not cleaned cheaply maintained as well as everything else. Survival bikes is a clear well established sub set. Mat black but otherwise as the traditioal rat bike is a sub set. Then the bikes that have lots of stuff stuck to them are another sub set.

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