I bought this 79 model at an auction in January 2008 for $200 in a very sorry state both visually and mechanically.

All the alloy had a furry growth on it while the rest of the bike was badly rusted with the fuel tank in need of serious repair.

First off was the frame which was stripped back using a grinder and wire brush and then painted in Killrust gloss black spray paint.  New swingarm and steering head bearings were fitted, forks and shockies were sourced from a wrecker as the old ones were pitted and seized.

I could have gone the easy way and sent everything away to be fixed, but then where’s the challenge in that – hey.

Many hours of cleaning and painting various items followed before the engine rebuild began.  New pistons, seals, reconditioned crank etc. were purchased through the online X shop. Rebore done and new gearbox bearings were fitted.    As of July, 2008  all that needs to be done is petrol tank, side covers etc. to be fixed and painted, mufflers and pipes to be re chromed, new tyres, roadworthy, and then “Look Out”, another middle-aged hazard terrorising the road in a cloud of 2 stroke smoke – ah memories.

Wheels were next with a clean up and then repainted in charcoal hammer tone spray paint.

When it was time to start on the fuel tank, my first thoughts were to bin it and find a good one to put on, but the chances of that were 'buckleys'! so here's how it went...... First up was to get the paint off using paint stripper which revealed all the dents and a ton of rust, not a pretty sight! Next up was a good hour or so spent cleaning it up which revealed a small hole in the top left side which was fixed followed with a good dose of rust converter. I didn't want to try and blow the big dent on top out in case the tank fell apart, so I just filled it all in with bog, which took about three 500g tins and about three weeks to get it looking straight again. A few coats of spray putty followed before sanding back smooth and applying a few coats of primer. The paint I used is mid blue lacquer spray cans bought from a paint shop and all up used about five cans to paint the whole bike. The tank turned out pretty well considering it was all done outdoors and  I had that master of disaster - 'Murphy' along for the ride the whole way, making the bog go off before you can use it, making the wind blow a gale as soon as picking up a spray can, having insects land on the fresh paint, having the spray can shoot blobs of paint out, sh%#, but I got there in the end.                                           Tony.