So I picked up this 01 F4i 2 weeks ago. It's had a hard life, and has been through a lot.
My goal is to have it completely rebuilt over the winter, and I'm starting now with things that don't put it out of commission.
This is how it started out.





Last night I spent 1.5 hours sanding my gas cap. It started out as the same orange as on the rest of the bike.

This is done the outer ring.



And this is done sanding the whole thing.



Over the next couple days I'll polish it, and as soon as I get my dremel, I'll be doing the stanchion bolts and adjusters.

I'll keep updating this thread as I do more work to it.
This thread isn't to show what I'm capable of though; it's to show everybody else that you don't need to be a mechanic or an engineer or a body man to do a good job. Just have the patience to **** up and move past it.

Any and all advice is welcome!

-Nathan

 

First stage of polishing. You can see the contrast between the center cap and the mounting ring. This was about 40 minutes with Meguiers Scratch-X, do after work I'm going to pick up a harder polishing compound.

 

See this for how to post pics... https://cbrforum.com/forum/forum-hel...-posts-104022/

 

Awesome; thanks!

 

Over 2hrs into the gas cap alone? Dude you were born to be a bodyman with that kind of patience. Or a school teacher. Either way Im amazed as theres no way I could spend that much time sanding and buffing something. Should turn out great!

 

This will be a great thread to subscribe to. Good luck!

 

Keep at it! Rebuilds and restorations are a new found appreciation for me. They take massive amounts of time but you realize you don't need to be a wiz to restore stuff. I have a friend who is constantly working on cars and bikes in his garage and after helping him with his most recent project, I've discovered I loved it!

Best of luck on the bike!

 

Boredandstroked: thanks man! I'm neither of those things though I'm a warehouse manager. Working on my vehicles in the evenings is a great way to release my frustration at the people that work for me. Crack a beer, grab some tools, and enjoy the sunshine. As for the time commitment: I'm single! Haha. I have all the free time in the world.

Kevin: rebuild and restorations, like you said, aren't something just for mechanics and tradespeople to undertake. I know tons of people who buy project cars just to learn about them, so they can fix their DD. I see this as a prime opportunity to learn the inner workings of the bike.
I'm glad you discovered your love for wrenching and improving though! The road can be long and hard; countless nights spent working on it until 3AM because you can't quite figure something out, or a bolt won't go in nicely.
You'll end up hating everything you've accomplished, and the vehicle itself. But when you finish it, and you take it for your first drive......you're on top of the ****ing world.

And now for my update!
I've been having issues with blowing the fuse for my gauges. So tonight, I ripped the front cowl off, and got scared at what I saw:

Rats. Nest.
I knew the PO had installed HIDs, and the wiring wasn't top-notch, but I did NOT expect this level of chaos.

Wires everywhere! I'm pretty sure he has added or redone every wire behind the cowl. And poorly. Non-weatherproof butt connectors, twisted-together wires with no tape, speaker wire used as wire on my flush-mount indicators....a disaster like Sparta has never seen!
So I ripped it apart, I replaced wires, I cleaned them up, I connected them somewhat properly. Unfortunately, I don't have my soldering iron here, so I couldn't do it how I wanted to. But I did use weatherproof spade connectors to facilitate easier disconnects on future endeavors, once I can solder them.

This is the (for tonight) finished product:



Little cleaner, no bare wires, nicely zip tied up out of the way (for the most part), and not hanging down by my wheel any more.

Polishing the gas cap and fork stanchion bolts has been put on hold until I can get my dremel from my dads place. So my project until then will be misc. jobs, and installing my windscreen and mirrors when they get in.

-Nathan

 

This looks awesome. My bike is my DD so I don't have the time to do some stuff. I can't wait to see it done.

 

Pretty stoked about this build. Good luck man!