Before you begin a restoration, you need to have a plan. You assess what parts can be saved, what parts need replacing, and what work you're going to get done by specialists. If you have time you can do most restoration yourself, but it pays to know some specialists. In the end they can save you a lot of frustration. It also pays to know some good parts sources, whether they are other dealers, good sources of reproduction parts, or your buddy from the web forum you regularly post on. You have to network, use all your parts sources, swap, comb Ebay, look for old dealer stocks.
Where to begin?
The front end has an Earls Fork, which is an English design. All bikes from 66-69 were Earls Forks, but the last two years of production of the /2 series of bikes you could get a telescopic front end. When we inspected it, we discovered that it was a U.S. model, which had a telescopic front end. So the fork had been changed, sidecar added, side car lugs welded on the frame, the head light was from an earlier period, and front engine cover had to be earlier as well to fit the fork.
Getting it Back to the Original
Here's what we need to do. When possible we list our parts sources:
- Get the correct air cleaner
- New front engine coverMachinery and Design in South Carolina
- Complete telescopic forkForking by Frank
- Fender Braceshad to order reproductions from Germany
- Fork Braces S. Meyer in Germany on Ebay
- Headlight gears sourced from Boxer Works in Georgia
- Steering Dampener parts Boxer Works in Georgia
- Complete Headlight bucket Ebay
- HornFrench Klaxton
- Seat 5 options, probably solo Denfeld seat
- Rack still deciding
- Front brake backing plate had on hand
- Painting
(fenders, tank, headlight bucket/ears, taillight housing)Rhonda Hoffman
Sending Out to Be Refurbished
- Carburetors soda blasted, true the flanges, thread repairs Bing International
- Powder Coating and bead blasting
(all aluminum parts including the engine)Powder and Performance Coatings - Fitting Pistons to CylindersBoretech
- Exhaustfabricated in stainless by Epco
- Heads rebuiltRandy Long
- SpeedometerPalo Alto restoring the original
- WheelsBuchanons polished, straightened, new stainless steel spokes
- Tiresfinding a source, Metzlers or Avons
- Intake tubechroming from local chromer
In-House
- Transmissiondisassembly/reassembly, all new bearings, gaskets, and seals
- Engine Rebuildall new bearings, gaskets, and seals, new pistons, oil pump
- Final Drive
(inner pinion bearing, gaskets and seals)lower geared final drive put in last couple years to make it faster. - Disassembly/Reassemblynew wiring harness
- Project ManagementDon't underestimate this part of the project. Finding the parts, communicating with various sources, and waiting for parts to arrive is a critical part of the restoration process.
