Parts bikes, "New bike"

[dna9656]

I just picked up 2 '83s, they got the clock above the Computer...One has 24K on the odometer! I'm resurrecting that one! The other shows 47 or so K. They are disassembled quite a ways; the sellers was going to part them out but life happened. I have what looks like all the hardware and he didn't cut any wire so it looks doable.

 

 

Edit: Corrected your title for you (was Mew) - Eck

Edited June 23, 2015 by Eck

[bongobobny]

Hey, whichever one you can get running! 47K is hardly broken in...

[Venturous Randy]

First of all, are you sure it is not 124,000 miles? When I am looking at a potentially low mileage bike, the first thing I do is feel how much of a grove there is on the outside edge of the rotors. Also, at 47,000 miles, that is just about the point when the 2nd gear problem starts.

Randy

[dna9656]

Well I suppose I'm not SURE of anything. The plastic that forms the meter face isn't weather worn, the body work has very minimal repairs needed; no busted tabs on the front fairing halves that the side panel pokies fit into (that break off but are intact on the fairings I now have), the edges on the corners below the mirrors aren't busted all to crap, everything isn't dull and worn like nearly all the other bikes I have seen. The 47K bike is black and VERY glossy just like the 24K. They look (unless the guy buffed out the weathering) pretty new to me. The body work would have to be buffed out before removal from the bike because there is no way they would survive the action of a buffer off the bike. It's been my experience that parts sellers RARELY clean up much less buff the parts they sell on eBay. So while I'm NOT SURE the mileage is accurate, anymore than any sworn statement on a title attesting to the truth of the odometer guarantees accuracy I think it's factual. Besides they are exempt from the odometer laws anyway. Isn't there a provision in the odometer law that says when a the numbers roll over there has to be a visual way to tell? Anyone know what year that took effect?

Since it's my money that was spent; all that really matters is what I believe. The seller is happy and I'm happy. Win/Win.

 

UPDATE!

 

Having been a vehicle painter for 16 years I have learned that factory paint (in most cases) looks different than re-finish paint. That is getting to be less evident though as the factory paint on domestic (USA) vehicles gets more gloss to it. In the past domestic factory paint looked a bit dull while the re-finish paint was WAY more glossy. Also another thing to look for: unless the re-paint was done by a very professional detail-er (the person that buffs out a re-finish paint job) there is almost always "trash" (dust, dirt) in the paint. Often there is "orange peel" (a texture in the paint that is hard to avoid in a a lot of shops) but it gets sanded out and then buffed (unless it's base coat/clear coat) by the detail-er. No, I think the odometer hasn't rolled over.

Edited June 26, 2015 by dna9656
Poor expression skills.

[syscrusher]

Since you brought it up, what can you do about base coat/clear coat?

 

I have a car with a difficult sort of directional metallic finish I'm told.

After an accident the shop did an "up-and-over" which they said would be the best to match and eliminate termination borders.

The trunk lid wasn't supposed to be included, or at least I thought do.

Anyway, I ended up finding orange peel on the trunk that the body shop swore wasn't their doing and I'd like to consider getting it smooth sometime.

[dna9656]

You can "color sand" the clear coat. The color coat is just color, (now this is what I knew/know when I was painting cars in the 80s and 90s, maybe the chemistry has changed) and that means it has no properties other than color/metallics. The part of the paint that stands up to it's environment and provides the gloss is the clear coat. Get some 1000 and 1200 grit wet/or dry sand paper. wrap it around a sponge (some folks use a "block" a semihard chunk of rubber made to sand the paint in a FLAT way....see if sanding with the hand and you sand in the direction the fingers point the paint under the fingers will be sanded to a deeper point because of the pressure applied by the fingers in the surface than the areas (low pressure) between the fingers. You'll never feel it with the hand but after buffing (to polish the clear to get the gloss back) or after applying clear OR paint, the eye will see it... trust me) After you sand the orange peel out STOP there and buff with a electric polisher or by hand. I highly recommend you pay a professional to do this; it's REAL easy to sand through the clear into the color, then you have to worry about burning through the clear to the color maybe through the primer down to the metal. Then you'll feel just like John Hammond....

[jasonm.]

if you have black '83. THE FACTORY PAINT HAS RED PEARL you can only see in the sun or close up with flash light. Obviously they clear over that. The clears have been known to fog up on bikes not garage parked most of their lives.

[dna9656]

Yeah I remember something about that clear going flat or "fogging up" as you say. Look a the '83 Ford pickups, the clear peeled right off....