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Just picked up a 500W project that has been off the road for a long time. Is KGO628T known to the club or any of its members? My reason for asking is to try and gauge if the mileage recorded (in kms) is anything like correct. I know it was UK registered in 1990 and it appears to be an early version by the frame number. It is pre kinky frame and with stainless guards. I think I've saved it from a rebirth as a 'cafe racer/brat' type mess.
I'll be posting ads for wanted bits soon and probably swapping/selling some of the surplus stuff that arrived with it.

Hi Steve,
It sounds a lot like mine! So I shall be interested to hear how you get on with it, and in the interest of encouragement, despite a number of setbacks, I’ve found it a lot of fun to work on and great to ride. Good luck with it and how about a couple of photos?

Joe.

penman wrote:Hi Steve,
It sounds a lot like mine! So I shall be interested to hear how you get on with it, and in the interest of encouragement, despite a number of setbacks, I’ve found it a lot of fun to work on and great to ride. Good luck with it and how about a couple of photos?

Joe.

Hey Joe, yes I think it will be a familiar story. Two previous owners, both start with lots of enthusiasm then realise it's an awful lot of work, expense and searching for answers. They both then have a half hearted attempt, spend money on cheap parts from somewhere East of Europe, poor powder coating and then bolt it all together making as many mistakes as they can on the way.
Still, there is a happy ending to all this. Muggins here comes along and pays full whack for their customising efforts and rescues the poor, decent, honest work a day bike. By the time I'm done it will be worth less than it's cost me, even when all the labour is mine.
I might not even paint it properly, maybe there's a place in the custom world for another category? How about 'Rat Bikes that Work and can actually be ridden legally' ???
I could start a whole new world of shows and fashion disasters, even grow a beard (again) and when I have a drink tonight the plan will get even weirder

I'll try and get some pics but won't have any 'before' pics as the remedial work has already started. Plus I still don't know how to post them here...

Hi Steve,
I don't even try to add up what it costs! Restoring a classic bike is never a cheap option in my experience, but I enjoy doing it and that's about as good a justification as I can come up with. My 500 has frame number 500W 03032 with a year of manufacture of 1978. As received it looked like this:



I quite like that photo, but the camera was rather kind to it, in reality everything was a bit tired and the tank was full of dents. The side panels and the tailpiece all had cracks and in fact the seat base still has a crack in it now. It was a non-runner for various reasons. The starter drive chain had broken and wrapped itself round the sprocket, so turning the engine with the kick-start resulted in an awful scraping noise! The starter had problems anyway and I had to rebuild that. The alternator was open circuit and I had to rewind that and once that was working, it was clear that the reg/rect wasn't working either. In addition to these things, I had to overhaul all the brake calipers and both master cylinders - worth it though, the brakes are excellent. I had to do the front forks and eventually I replaced the rear shocks and as you'll see elsewhere, I'm now in the middle of overhauling the gearbox. But now it looks great, goes well and I love riding it.

Good luck with your restoration, it'll be fun (mostly)!

Joe.