Here is the first of hopefully many photos of my just started mini restoration.



Mostly a paint change from the lovely Tobacco Brown to Granite Grey or a bit darker. More to come this weekend as the tear down progresses.

Chris

Umm..."Granite Grey or a bit darker" is gonna make you really hard to see, especially on overcast/rainy days.

Just my thought.

I have to echo Neil, you cannot be too visible. That's why I wear a white helmet and yellow fluorescent vest and look just like a m/c Police tax collector. People know those guys can seriously damage their wealth and are alert. There was some research from the US that those motorcyclists that look like Police M/C riders are much more noticeable to the car drivers. Also I ride with my headlight on main beam during the day the dipped is just not eye-catching enough in daylight.
Regards,
K-BIKE

There's a rider round about the Tweed Heads NSW-area who has a white ex-police K bike, and he often wears grey jacket over a white helmet. Upon spotting his bike coming round the bend I instinctively back off the throttle, even if I'm just tiddling along. On both sides of the fairing in large, prominent blue letters where it'd normally say 'Police' he has changed the spelling to 'Polite'. To see the other motorists jump on their brakes in his presence is humorous.

Agreed, bright colours, especially fluoro/white combos grab your attention. Having said that my favourite Airhead is painted gun metal grey and matte black, and my other Airhead is all grey, one of my helmets is grey/carbon and the other titanium grey and my riding jackets and pants are all black. Stealth mode - they don't see me anyway so I ride defensively like I'm invisible. My K100RS is brightly painted in arrest-me red and they still don't see me! You pick your favourite colour and you take your chances!

Nice tidy garage, mine is a mess but I know where everything is. Move a spanner and I roar "who's been in here?"
Ajays

nice chris ...

Hi Chris,

Nice bike, all tools at hand I have an identical pillar drill small world.

BIG D

Quick update on my slow progress. I've got all the painted parts removed and working on strengthening upper faring mounts. I'm hoping to get the parts off to paint this week, no real bike painters in the area so I've talked with a couple of automotive shops and only one is willing to paint it, the other ones say they are to busy with insurance claims.

Here's a couple of pictures of the incredibly clean 23 year old frame after a dust off.




Chris

Finally just about finished with my K100 mini restoration! I got my parts off to paint and then spent a couple of weekends doing what seemed like nothing. The large faring bracket was cracked in at least 5 places and at $200 for a new one I opted to weld and repaint. Only thing other than fluid and air filter changes was a new crank case breather tube. Finally last weekend, I painted some of the black parts, engine guards, top case brackets and got a box of parts from Max BMW. Painted parts were ready yesterday so I spent a few hours last night and most of today reassembling the bike. What a night and day difference with the new color! Hope to have it done by tomorrow evening with more pics.




Chris

wow nice and shiney chris ........good work

You inspire me. I hope to do the same this summer.

Nice job so far Chris.

You gotta wonder why anyone would paint their bike brown.

Just my thoughts...don't start posting in saying that your bike is brown and it looks amazing. It probably does, but it doesn't really.

The first ride of a familiar but threadbare 'bike you've stripped down to its undies and then gone shopping for new clothes and dressed up again is a wonderful thing. She'll purr and sing like new again and you'll feel like da bomb...
:cherry:

Well I was hoping to report I was complete, got to the faring lowers and discovered my painter didn't paint the rear edges. Unfortunately he wasn't open Saturday so they'll be going back today. Hopefully he can finish them pretty quickly. I did run it a few minutes to check fuel pump, lights and leaks. Other than the final body work it's ready to go! No lost though, It's suppose to rain most of the week anyway.

I'll agree with the brown color, probably one reason I got such a great deal on the bike two years ago. It's 1 of 40 88 K100LTs that was originally Tobacco Brown and equipped with the 50 ltr top box, was recalled for mounting bracket modifications due to the weight. It's a whale of a box but can carry just about anything, only bad part is it's a permanent mount verses the 22 ltr box. It's going to be nice riding without the old brown tank staring up at me pleading for new clothes.

Hopefully some completed pictures later this week.

Chris

Finally a picture of the completed project. Couple of trips to work and around town and still holding together! I've included a before picture as purchased and after new paint.

Really nice work! Grey looks very classy!

OG

Brilliant job!
I agree with Oldgoat...classy looking.