I've been lurking here for years, but never posted anything about my bike. Recently, however, my bike was stolen (my best guess is that she was loaded up on a truck and driven away) from right in front of my apartment. Of course I was incredibly sad, and several months passed during which I considered getting a new bike. Lo and behold, however, I got a letter from the local PD saying that my bike had been recovered. I went to pick it up that night from impound (where I was charged $75 for my own bike) and rode her home. I was incredibly surprised that no structural damage had been done--honestly, I had written her off as having been parted out.
BeforeThese are pictures of the bike as it looked when I bought her.
The Damage
This is how she looked when I got her back from impound.
They painted the tank red with spray paint, only halfway attempting to mask off the emblems.
They destroyed the sidecovers as well; this made me especially sad because I have always taken very good care of them. At least the emblems were intact.
Here you can see that the turn signal has been broken off as well.
In case you've ever wondered what a hotwired ignition looks like, here you go. I had just installed this ignition not two weeks prior.
Tons of overspray.
The RestorationHere's a shot of my bike with some Maier aftermarket sidecovers. I may get some original ones later but they are incredibly expensive (in good condition, anyhow).
Closeup of the sidecover.
I'm doing as much of the restoration myself as possible. Since I don't have a spraybooth (and I have zero experience in automotive painting), I decided to send it off the painter. The guy I sent it to has been keeping me updated with pictures, which I will share with you.
Starting the sanding process.
Primer
Early stages of the candy paintjob.
Later in the spraying process, but BEFORE clearcoat...I'm super excited to see how it looks when it's been clearcoated and buffed.
These are the emblems. He stripped them down and he's going to paint them by hand.
I'll take more pictures when I have the tank and sidecovers back. After that, it will be mostly minor detailing to get her back to better-than-before condition.
