The Main Strip

Today I was feeling enthusiastic so I got the majority of the parts off the bike. I left the wheels and suspension in place for now. Hit a few minor hitches, main one being the completely tin worm infested fuel tank.

A brand new replacement is £350 so I need to find a much cheaper option. Once I've blasted it I'll know more about the condition and whether I could possibly repair it. The carb is quite a state too but could be saved if the choke can be removed, but it's stuck fast.

I have cleaned most of the parts up and got most of the gunk, old oil, muck and mud off them. They're all going through the blaster next week so they'll look even better again. 

I really wish Honda had made the tank out of the same steel they used to make the rear fender. I'm also wishing I had a decent workshop. Maybe a workbench or 2 would be handy.

The bike is now in it's final stages of strip down but I won't be taking the wheels and suspension off the frame until I'm ready to send it for powder coating. It had a good pressure wash earlier but is still quite dirty with a fair bit of built up crud in the nooks and crannies. When the frame is cleaned up I'm going to look into blocking up or bonding some of the nooks when the majority of the crap gathers just to make future cleaning easier.

On the positive side the rear shocks although a bit rough looking are in pretty good working order so I think I'll be keeping them and tidying them up. The bushes have expectedly perished and will need replacing and the wheel bearings are very loose but these things are easy fixes compared to putting the engine back together.