Rolling frame in 3, 2, 1...

In short, the shocks you see below are the same pair. I had them disassembled by Allen's Cycle here in Spokane before I spent a few days sanding and wiping and painting. They quite nicely surmise all the work I've done on the bike so far. The entire thing was generally quite dirty, multi-colored and, as they say, ridden hard and put away...well, you know. Now, with the tires remounted after cleaning up the rims, it's time to start bolting things back together. I will admit that I skipped painting the front wheel. I'm going to have it sand blasted, then paint it, but my goal for this year has been to get it back to "rolling frame" (on tires, that is) status. I certainly should have an update tomorrow evening or I'll be kicking myself.

Ordered first part!

I've taken great care to keep from spending very much on this project. I didn't want to start buying parts, only to find out that the engine was seized or otherwise screwed up. When the bike came to me, no one was sure it even ran.

Recent posts outline the process I went through to determine that the electrical system and then the engine, were in fact worth investing time in. While in this phase, I continued to spend little money on it, only purchasing small, inexpensive parts, wiring and cleaning materials.

Last night marked the first time I purchased a part that was needed in the reassembly phase. I purchased a steering bearing kit from p-k-n on ebay. After shipping, it came to about $50 and as of this morning is listed as "shipped". Now I'm waiting.

In the last post, I featured the painted items that are now needed to be reassembled. Next, I'll need to clean up the wheels, paint, new rubber for the rear tire and I'll have a rolling frame. This was my goal for this summer.

Materials list

The "paint job" on this bike is laughable. For the most part, the frame, with its chipped and spattered black paint job was not enough to make me want to put that much work into it. Someone, in their infinite wisdom, decided to paint the engine a gray or silver-ish color using spray paint. For what ever reason, laziness probably, they neglected to remove the engine from the frame or mask anything off. You can image, but luckily, I have pictures.

Notice the drips of paint next to the exhaust

I've known for quite some time that I would not be giving this bike a "professional" paint job but I was certain that I would be cleaning it up. I looked briefly into having it sand (or other media) blasted and then painted by a shop but my budget would never allow that. For the time being, I've resorted to the below products and the number of cans I've used in parenthesis.

• (2) Rust-oleum Auto Primer - Fast Drying & Wet Sandable - 2089 Dark Gray Primer
• (3) Rust-oleum Specialty High Heat - 7778 BAR-B-Q Black
• (3) Jasco Premium Paint Remover

Progress on paint [The little things]

I've been slowing stripping and cleaning up the parts I would like to repaint. The little things such as brackets, kickstand, center stand and such are going easily...

...while the frame is remaining to be a huge pain. I thought I would be able to spray on some stripper, scrub a bit and start priming in much the same way I've done other pieces. I was wrong. Parts of the frame are bare metal and look really good. Other parts are not.

I am really happy with how the headlamp bucket turned out. It gives you an idea of the flat black with a little chrome concept that I'm moving toward.