Well I took some more detailed photo's of this new bike, trying to get some advice on how to clean it up a bit. It seems the PO or the owner before him did alot of painting, and paint removal.....and ALOT of overspray! A Honda dealer is going to take a look at it tomarrow, hopefully I can get a little insite on the overall mechanical shape of the bike.

If I may, I'll go picture by picture, and see if I can gain some knowledge here.


In this first photo, a picture of the left side. The PO told me the bike had been laid down.....does this look severe? Where else could I expect to find damage if it was laid over on the left side?


Here is the swing-arm and rear suspension from both right and left sides. Just alot of overspray and drips from what I'm guessing was some wet-sanding? This should clean up easily with a degreaser right? You can also see a good deal of the hoses/wires back here have alot of white overspray/drip-dry on them....Any advice on how to clean these up?







Next up is probably one of the worst cosmetic flaws on the bike, the bridge has had MOST of the paint removed, and just looks crappy I think.
What could I do to make this look better at all?


Next is just the frame in general. Was this bike available with a brushed billit frame? I ask because the paint doesnt look like something Honda would put out, even for 11 years later. General chips, nicks and dings throughout, with more of a healthy dose of overspray and wet-sanding drips. To refinish the fram would require heavy duty disassembly. Can I get some advice here?





I'm not expecting this bike to come back to original condition here, but am I off-base thinking that pulling all the fairings and applying some elbow grease to the frame/swing-arm/wiring and hoses with a degreaser would do alot to improve the over-all appearance of the bike?

As always, any and all feed-back is welcome.

Thanks, Matt.

 

Welcome Matt.

First off, yes, the 1999 & 2000 model would've had a natural brushed aluminum frame...not black. So, your frame appears to have been painted.

To ans your question about how to handle this situation... Its a judgment call on whether touching up the black & being done w/ it will be ok w/ you, or will putting it back to orig condition be the only solution for you. Personally, w/ the way it is, I'd weigh the time, effort, & money constraints...& probably choose to just touch up the black paint the best way possible.

The stator cover does look well used but not bad, per say. W/ the bike being black, I believe I'd sand, prep, & paint the stator cover black to match the rest of the bike. I'd do the same for the triple-tree.

Also, why is the fuel-pump not properly affixed to the subframe?...& why is there a cloth wrapped around it? Definitely make sure its working properly & secure it to the subframe w/ bolt/nut. If the fuel-pump is missing the bracket, rig up something to secure it to the subframe.

YES, "elbow grease" is definitely where you need to start & a good way to describe what you need to do. Plus, detail cleaning the bike will allow you to inspect everything (so to speak) on the bike.

Be sure to check your brake pads, all hoses/lines, tires, chain, sprockets, etc. Change fluids & filters as necessary.

Hope this helped some. Good luck.

 

first off i see a fuel pump bracket with no bolts in it, get that rag off there(figure out why it is there) and secure the fuel pump correctly. also you can get simple triple clamp covers that are stick on that look good, mine had a carbon fiber one that was on there when i bought it and it looks good. i'd also have to agree with gotcbr on the paint, if you have a tone of time to **** away sand that paint off but touching it up should br pretty easy, just talk to a paint shop on how to prep aluminum

 

I got the bike back from the Honda shop today after a detailed look over for anything in mechanical error. Ofcourse the fuel pump was noted, and the bracket is missing, and I'll guess the towel is there because the rubber boot that surrounds the pump is also missing....Both of which are on order. Dirty fuel filter also. The mech. said the bike seems to be in good condition otherwise.

I got it into my storage area and took off all the plastic.
Heres what Ive found so far:
1. No front blinkers, and rear right blinker doesnt work.
2. Alot of missing fairing hardware.
3. Thankfully there is little overspray on the motor, but everything else has plenty of paint. It was suggested to me that using aerosol carberator cleaner to strip the frame-subframe/swingarm would be simple, and wouldnt hurt the hoses/wires if not left on for a LONG time...So I might spray some scrap wire and hose to see how long I can let it sit for before washing it off.
(Thoughts on this method?)

 

I dont think that carb cleaner is going to take the black paint off of the frame.. you could put some paint thinner if you are adventurous to try it.. but keep it away from plastic stuff... as was said before just touch up the black and be done with it.

I have a set of 2 wire aftermarket front signals if you are interested.. I'd let them go really cheap... they arent doing me any good sitting around.

the hardware you could get from ronayers.com or servicehonda.com
Prepare to be nickle and dimed to death though.. its amazing how fast the little stuff adds up.

My bike was missing just a few fairing hardware and clips.. nothing major, but I wanted it all complete... quickly it turned into like $15 lol

 

Good to hear that the bike is in good working order. Sounds like you're taking a very smart approach. That's good. Install your signals & straighten out your wiring. If the wiring has been cut up by the previous owner, take the time to redo it properly w/ connectors. Hopefully, its just a loose wire preventing your rear signal from working.

If you're going to "strip" the paint from the subframe, I recommend removing the subframe from the bike to do it. Aircraft paint stripper (avail at walmart & eslewhere) is great for this. If you're going to do the same to the swingarm, you'll want to remove the rear wheel to gain access to all areas. Would you remove paint from the frame as well? Keep in mind that all of this will be a detailed process. You'll need time & patience. You can do it though if you want to bring it back to stock-ish condition.

As for cleaning, the grime that soap & water won't remove, you can use Simple Green, wd40, mineral spirits, brake cleaner, etc. Yes, hoses are a concern. I wouldn't use anything on the hoses that will dry them out & cause cracking/damage.

Look forward to your reports. Hope it goes well.

 

I have a quick question....The bike has to be running to test the lights/signals right?

 

not running.. but ignition must be 'on'

 

Footpegs and Brackets stripped and re-assembled.
Whoever said they didnt think Carb Cleaner would work was right. Way too slow. I wound up using some aircraft stripper, which works pretty darn well.

 

Seat rail coming along slowly but surely, theres alot of nooks and cranies in this guy.