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[simon]

Also disassembly is a logical and obvious progression reassembly...not so much.

[Anders F. R.]

An inexperienced owner and "restorer" will probably think that the best way to start a resoration project is to take everything apart into molecules, and then sorting out and fixing every little bit one by one before assembling them again into a complete bike. .-.-.-.-.-.-.-.- I have been there, although with a 1954 VW Beetle I bought when I was 18 in 1984. It was very close to good running condition, free of rust and only a few cents and scratches on the exterior. All i really should have done to start with was to fix the stuck brakes, the faulty gearbox and the hole in the sunroof, and I could have had a decent, unrestored car until I got the money and knowledge to improve it. .-.-.-.-.-.-.-.- What I did was to take it home and disassemble it completely, not having a clue, really, about how to proceed with the work or how expensive it would turn out to be. All I knew was that I was going to "restore my first car"...... .-.-.-.-.-.-.-.- After 10 years I sold the project. At that stage I had completed the chassis and brakes, done some small fixing to the bodywork and confirmed that the engine was good to go. Keeping that pace menat I would be lucky to get it on the road before I would be 75 years........ The best that came out of this was a lesson learned. .-.-.-.-.-.-.-.- I have a wise friend that collects vintage cars. Not new ones from 1930 and thereabout, but 1921, 1913 etc. He has thaugth me a good method: Restore on the way down! I.e. dismantle ONE part of the car, say the carburettor. Fix that one, preserve it, wrap it up and put it on the shelf. Then take the generator. Then the starter, the complete engine, the gearbox etc. etc. After some time you have a stripped frame that need some work, but a shelf full of complete, refurbished parts ready to be fitted to that frame as soon as the frame itself is ready. Just think about it, and figure out all of the benefits of doing it this way. Keeping track of all the small parts is just one little detail...... Regards, Anders F. R.

[simon]

That does make sense Anders, in my youth my father and I restored a few old Rileys and we would have had an easier time using that principal. Another point of view is not to restore at all but to maintain on the same basis. If some part fails you remove and renovate it to as near a new state as possible and then put it back together and use it. My older brother has kept a 12/4 Austin and a Standard 16/6 on the road for thirty years plus using that method. It drives me a little crazy but he still has them and they still go. He also has a 1970's 350 Bullet that gets the same treatment. It is in remarkably original nick and apart from a new exhaust valve has had almost nothing done to it in the last ten years he has owned it.

[Dean]

Norm, not just in your neck of the woods. I just bought a 2004 bullet from a father who had bought it for his son, who then proceeded to strip it down with the intent of painting it (frame and all) a different color. should make for a good project, as long as all the pieces are there.

[Norm]

Dean, you could be lucky you have bought it from the person who pulled it to bits and that probably only a few years ago. The problem with most is after they get pulled to bits they get dragged aound the auto jumble scene and each time they get moved something gets lost and the lost bits are always the hard to get bits

[Dean]

looks like I'm hooked. wife is concerned that I may be beginning a collection of these bikes. I say, why not. she was feeling left out, so I bought her a 2011 bullet. nice enough bike, but it just doesn't seem old enough to be all that interesting.

[Greenbat]

Look on the bright side, they might have reassembled it with a severe degree of f*ckwittery then sold it as "Been rebuilt, nearly there, definately worth top money mate", like a certain crusader sports...

I'm a definate fan of restoring on the way down. Saves losing bits, losing interest and spreads the cost. It's also much nicer to reassemble by picking up a plastic bag and slapping a sub-assembly straight on.