Restoration RC36 1995

[Sheep61]

Hi there !

Following a wee accident, I'm taking the chance to cherish my VFR this winter.

I thought the process of repairs and the painting might interest a couple of members.

Please feel free to make any suggestion

Cheers !

Here are the work done so far : Plastic repairs with hot staples, reinforced with fiberglass and resin at the back

 

 

 

 

 

[Sheep61]

Hi People !

 

Here are some updates on my work. Prep of the fairings is nearly done as most of the big repairs. The hole for the screw on the lower cowl was a bit complicated but I got there in the end.

 

[Sheep61]

And yet another weekly update.

 

Most of the fairings are ready to be primed. I've found another cracks on the rear cowl so I've put a couple staple and some plastic filler.

 

I've had a rather bad surprise with the fuel tank, it is quite badly rusted inside and out and will need a good clean as well as a sealant treatment. I have also dismantled the fuel cap as it was a pain to work and I will save the lock to fit onto a new one.

 

[Sheep61]

Hello everyone !

 

A wee update : Last weekend I've managed to sort out my rusty tank by using a Por-15 tank sealer kit. Quite a long and strict process but it came out quite nice at the end. Hopefully that will keep the tank in shape for a couple of years.

 

In the following pictures you'll the original state, how it looks after the after the cleaner and the metal prep step, and the last one how it is now.

 

 

 

 

[Sheep61]

Good (chilly 🥶) evening to you all !

 

Another step achieved today. The first stage of the painting job is done. Nearly all white is there and a good bit of red has been sprayed.

For the record, the tank has been etch-primed prior to high building.

All plastic parts were first sprayed with a plastic promoter for safety, then a high build primer has been applied on all parts.

After that a wet-on-wet primer has been sprayed before the final basecoat and lacquer.

 

The primer phase

 

Underbelly decal

 

Final look

The poor indicator who has seen the road a tiny bit too close 👀

 

[Captain 80s]

Yum.

[Lucca]

Nice job!!  Did You paint Indicator light as well with gloss transparent lacquer? 

[Sheep61]

Thanks ! 

 

Yes, I've buffed it from P500 to P2000 and put two quick coat of lacquer on top of it. Now I need to do the rest of the indicators as well as the rear light !

[Sheep61]

Good evening everyone ! 

 

Just a quick update on the bike. She's coming along slowly but we're going forward. I made my first draft for the graphics, looks alright so far, at least to me 😬) 

All the plastics have been wet sand and are ready for either the next color or another coat of lacquer. Will do the rest of indicators and tail light at work this week.

Still unsure for the wheels. Gold, white or black, can't really decide yet.

 

 

 

[Sheep61]

Hi everyone,

Yet another update. Some finished parts of the bike.

Should work on the blue colors over the weekend 🙌

 

 

[Sheep61]

Hello ladies and gentlemen, 

 

Some news from the paintjob, it's coming along nicely, some step back and correction to be done but happy with how it turns out at the moment

 

 

 

As seen on the above, I ran into some trouble while demasking my basecoat, I'll correct that with an airbrush after the first batch of lacquer.

[Lorne]

I admire everyone that takes on a challenge like your rebuild project. Mine always start with great enthusiasm but my follow-thru lacks commitment.

[Sheep61]

It's important to do everything step by step, and to set yourself several small goals, it helps to manage that "I'm never gonna finish that" feeling. Or at least, this is what I'm trying to do. 😁

 

[Sheep61]

And yet another batch done. Once again, I had issues with the basecoat peeling off with the tape, leaving "dirty" lines, which I'm going to sort out later. Might worth mentioning that I'm using Octoral with the red and the black color but when using Standox basecoat (on the dark blue at the moment) it comes out great.

 

Anyway, still happy with the progress 😁

 

[V4 Rosso]

Looks like the angle of the front of the black panel of the seatcover doesn' t match the angle of the black panel of the rear lower side fairing.

 

I guess this is close to what you are aiming for?

[Sheep61]

Yup, that's what I'm looking to do.

 

I understand what you mean, but it is because I chose to take my line straight along the curve of the back seat, like so 

 

I'm not sure if that's gonna look right or dumb, I guess I'll have to see later 😬

Thanks for the heads up though !

[V4 Rosso]

Ah, got it 👍 Looking at the other picture I thought the front edge on the lower fairing was also a bit tilted backwards. I am sure it is going to look nice.

[bmart]

Perhaps make the angle right and just move the break between the black and white rearward a little. That would also move the bolt and hole into the white section. 

[Sheep61]

It is a tad tilted @V4 Rosso you got that right, but I belive it matches the angle of the seat cowl, or that was my aim so far. If it does not look right, I'll just correct it with a couple of extra hours of work, to this point, I've stopped counting 😂

 

That's a good idea @bmart if plan A doesn't work, this should be plan B 👍

[Sheep61]

Good morning everyone,

 

Here are the progress and set backs from this week and last weekend.

 

A lot of masking, painting, bleeding, re-masking, airbrushing, repeat. If anything, that job is teaching me patience and accepting my mistakes.

 

Still unsure about what happened about on the "RC36" on the right hand side on the seat cover. Most likely a mix of airbrushing too thick, too soft sanding (p1200) and possibly a bad vinyl ? But once again, that will be adjusted on the next step. Slow and steady wins the race ! 🐢💪

 

[Sheep61]

And yet another lot done !

From now on, it might get a little slower (yup, even slower than now 🙄) as I just moved out and don't have a space on my own to work from, I'll have to do whatever I need at work during breaks.

 

Also, before I put her back together, I've got to spend about 1k in parts and quite a few hours, the lady needs a lot of attention ... The most worrying is that constant oil sweating at the top of the engine, I've moved the bike to a storage unit 3 days ago and noticed today that it keeps leaking a bit under even though the engine has been on for over 6 months.

 

[Sheep61]

Hello everybody !

 

Some well due updates !

 

I have painted the wheels today, and I'm very glad on how it turned out.

 

The back end is coming back together nicely now, finally got the bearings sorted out as well as the caliper and master cylinder which I have rebuilt.

I got the forks back last weekend, they've been refurbished and cerakoted. And I change the steering stem bearings while I was at it (not easy !)

I also fitted a voltemeter to the dashboard and changed the lighting.

Front calipers have been rebuilt and painted too.

 

I should soon start to fit the front end back together.

 

I can't believe it has been already a year since I started this 😅

 

[Lorne]

Keep plugging away, you'll have a lovely, unique VFR when it's finished.

[Sheep61]

Hello hello people !

 

Another update on the VFR ! 

 

The front end is nearly done.The forks and the wheel have been put together as well as the discs and calipers. The front master cylinder has been rebuilt and the brake and clutch bled.

I started to fit the front fairing, just to have a sneak peek at how it's gonna look as I still need to clean and paint the radiator.

 

When I attempted to change the front sprocket, I noticed that the cover and the clutch slave cylinder were in a very terrible state. So started to clean up everything, and I noticed some damage to the inside of the cover. Not sure what happened there, I assume it was during my wee crash ? 

 

I got to clean up some bit of the swingarm, as well as the chain guard. The rear brake has been bled too. And yeah, I went a bit mental with the chain guard paint job 🤡 For the record, it's a black metallic with a dust coat of gold from the wheels 💁