A lot of thought has gone into the level of restoration to perform for this project. I had initially planned to do a showroom level “brand new” level of restoration. However, much has been made of the “patina” of old bikes- that is the signs of use that show this has been a well loved machine over 47 years. Whilst the expression “it’s only original once” is a little glib, there is some truth to it. After a complete restoration the bike would be new but have lost its links to 1973. But of course, once a decision has been made to try and undertake a sensitive refurbishment rather than a complete restoration the obvious question arises: where do you draw the line?
So what is patina? and what is just crap that should be fixed or replaced??
To help me navigate this decision making process I came up with some rules in my head:
- If it’s broken, doesn’t work as it should or falling apart: REPLACE
- If it’s an item that is replaced periodically anyway (seals etc) REPLACE
- If it’s rust or bad wear that will eventually cause the machine to fail then rebuild/replace
- Otherwise, where possible: clean, polish and preserve
- Avoid unnecessary refinishing, painting or replacing
There are some obvious areas where this balance will be delicate- the tank has lovely patina on the original paint, but is rusting inside. The headlight bucket is showing its age but has a lot of exposed surface rust.
So it was with that intention that I set out. However as the tear down proceeded I discovered more and more that the “good original condition” R75/5 I had bought actually was in pretty bad condition. The paint on the tank and the mudguards was badly weathered and not polishing out. In addition there was a lot of oil or varnish staining on the rear guard that I could not remove. The front mudguard had bad stone chips on it. The headlight housing was not only weathered but in fact dented and showed signs of some kind of impact.
More and more as I stripped the bike down I realized that I was going to need to essentially restore every component. So the goal has changed back to what it was originally- a complete ground up period correct restoration. Where possible original parts will be cleaned and used. Re-finishing will be undertaken as required to bring parts up to “as new” standard.
