By Joe Gresh
My idea of a good restoration and your idea of a good restoration may differ, but you know deep down inside that I’m always right. I am the arbiter of cool. I am the final word, I am…Omni Joe. Here are 5 common restoration mistakes that drive me crazy.
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Sin #1: Gas tank liners.
That sealer crap people pour into their motorcycle gas tanks is the worse invention of all time. Guys swear by this junk but don’t listen to those lazy bastards. When I read the words, gas tank liner and/or Caswell sealer in a motorcycle description I know an amateur’s hands have been fiddling the motorcycle. Who would pour that devil’s goop into a nice motorcycle gas tank? It makes me wonder what else they screwed up. The way to fix a leaking, rusty gas tank is to get rid of the rust and weld/braze any holes. Any other method is destined to fail. There’s no excuse for using devil’s goop, YouTube is lousy with videos explaining how to clean out a rusty gas tank and how to stop it from re-rusting.
Sin #2: Repainting serviceable original finishes.
Nothing annoys me like a guy posting up a 90% perfect, original-paint motorcycle and asking where he can get it repainted. Stop! If the paint has a few chips or is faded a tiny bit leave the damn thing alone. One of the most underused old-sayings is, “It’s only original once.” No matter how shiny and beautiful you think your topcoat turned out its still vandalism. There are many phony re-pop’s running around, don’t make your motorcycle one. By painting over your once desirable survivor you lower its historic value. Listen, I’m not against repainting really bad original body parts, lord knows my Z1 needs it but I know anything I do that covers over the factory work erases a story, and vintage motorcycles are commodities without a story.
Sin #3: Over restoration.
When the Japanese bikes that are considered classic today were first sold they had acceptable build quality. For some strange reason many motorcycle restoration experts go way overboard making the motorcycle a show bike that bears little resemblance to real motorcycles. Chrome back in the day was thin and yours should be too. Nothing depresses me as much as these tarted-up travesties. The nerve of some Johnny-Come-Lately with a fat wallet and no soul thinking he can render a better motorcycle than the factory. Keep it simple and try to match the level of finish that you remember. Otherwise, what’s the point? It’s already worth less because you damaged the original build by trying to improve the bike. Why pour money into the thing making it something it never was?
Sin #4: Giving a damn about numbers.
As people get deeper into the vintage bike hobby they grow ever more insane. It’s not enough to have the correct parts anymore: Now you must have the exact build date on the part to suit your motorcycle’s VIN number. This is madness. Nobody except lunatics and bike show judges will care that your sprocket cover was made a year or two after your bike left the factory. The only part number that matters is the one that can get your bike registered for the road. I’ve seen people on vintage groups debating a slight casting change or a vestigial nub as if it were the most important thing in the world. People like that have no business owning a motorcycle; they should go into accounting or better yet, prison.
Sin #5: Parking it.
The final and biggest sin of all is to restore a motorcycle and then park it. I can over look all the other sins, even tank sealer, if the owner rides his vintage motorcycle. Get the thing muddy. Do a burn out. Ride it to shows in the rain. Honor the motorcycle by using it. A show motorcycle that is too valuable or too clean to ride is nothing, less than worthless. The machine was built for you. It has a seat and controls for you. The engine wants to pull. Do the right thing by your motorcycle and your sins will be washed away, my brothers.
Keep up with the Zed resurrection!!
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Great story. When I restore a motorcycle, besides making the mechanical parts perfect, I get rid of all rust and dirt. I leave the original paint alone outside of a coat of Mothers wax. If there’s a ding in the tank when I bought it, good, no longer a virgin, one less thing to worry about. From ten feet it looks great, like a bike well cared for. Good enough for me.
Marcus,
That pretty much how I feel about the situation.
JoeII !
I have never agreed with you more.
My only “maybe” is tank liner.
Some bikes like BMW have factory lined tanks. And then there are fiber glass and plastic tanks that melt when exposed to E gas.
In order to ride these bikes in any real capacity , Caswell liner could make that possible.
My Norton had a glass tank and I bought 5 gal can of racing gas . Very pricey . But the tank never had E gas in it so I kept it that way and did not line it.
Lining sucks. I agree. But there could be uses that outweigh the disadvantages.
It’s only original once is a creed of mine. And I usually include period mods in that as well . Depending of course .
Over restoration is sin!
Hack,
Those fiberglass tank may be the exception to the rule.
Hi Joe-
I love your prose.
I suppose I resemble some of your “sins,” but definitely not in some instances as well.
1. Never, EVER use a liner. 100% deserves to be #1. It’s almost impossible to get the interior surfaces clean enough for the liner to adhere, forever. I know, I’ve been the recipient of 2 enduros with peeling “lined” tanks. Make the effort to clean the tank insides as best possible and avoid the stupid liners. The surface inside doesn’t need to be shiny, it can be rough and discolored, and is fine once you do the work to remove all the scale.
2. Agreed. Original paint in fine condition is ALWAYS the way to go.
3. Guilty.
4. I try my best to fit period correct parts but cannot stress or bench race over LOT numbers.
5. Maybe this should have been #1? Another 100% YES. MUST ride your stuff regardless of level of restoration! Saran wrap over grips and the phrase “never fired after restoration” make me NUTTY.
Thank you Joe!
I would add a sixth sin. The Concours exhibitors who show bikes built by others then gleefully accept trophies.
Two Triumphs are currently in my garage. A long-owned ’68, VIN’ed as a TR6C, now wearing TR6R clothes. And a ’66 T 120 modified to suit my taste—high pipes, twin carbs, Johnson T65 cams, battery-less ignition. Both bikes have been apart and together so many times, I can prolly fieldstrip them in the dark. Original paint tin, powdercoat’s OK in my book. I re-cadded all fasteners and replaced the monkey-fugged, wrench-abused ones. They look right to me. I never show bikes but I do keep them surgically clean. No runs, no drips, no errors.
Good info to heed on cars too. At the start of an 8 year restoration of a 67 Mustang I began making sure all the door gaps, hood space, etc. was all but perfect. A guy then told me, they were turning them out as fast as they could and nothing matched. Just put things together and sorta make them match and you’ll be fine. He was correct. I have never found a mustang in the 65-69 era that anything matched.
Same advice as you’re giving us.