One step at a time, or one mail delivery.

1. It looked so good on ebay ...

The tank that looked so good on ebay, and actually didn't look too bad when it arrived, was found to be pretty grim when we took the rubber knee pads off. The knee pad mounts were rusted away, there were pin-prick rust holes in the tank and a few dents that had been filled with bog and brush painted over. A trip to our "tank man" and the tank returned looking much better. We will still line the tank with 2 pack epoxy but it's now very good. On the subject of knee pads - please contact us if you know a supplier of knee pad sets for this model. They are slightly different than others and do not seem to be listed by the spares suppliers. We have kept the old rubbers and will clean them up.

2. Forks on

Both forks assembled - a remarkably simple process - and slid into the triple trees.

3. The airbox

The airbox is a colossal, heavy cast aluminium device. It is of two piece construction with rusty steel bolts which have locked solid in the alloy. Many of the heads snapped off and the bolts were drilled out. Just getting the airbox apart took two days.

4. Airbox open.

Finally it parted. Flaking paint, oxidised aluminium, random dirt and a curious steel "trumpet thing". That's what we called it anyhow. Some work to be done here.

5. Airbox ... one week later

The airbox has been sandblasted, the threads repaired and the box powder coated. The air intake tube has been zinc plated. Looking a lot better!

6. Airbox together

Both halves of the airbox are bolted together, the sliding plate that separates the airbox section from the tool tray has been zinc plated (did we mention that the airbox also forms the tool tray?). Finished off with an air filter from Jawashop. A circular lid with a spring clip (not pictured) mounts on top of the air filter to press it down and form the air seal.

7. Airbox finished.

The restoration of the airbox is complete and it is ready to be mounted in the frame. The two tubes on the top draw air through two holes in the seat base. We have read that this convoluted arrangement chokes the motor and some simple changes can be made which result in better airflow (and more power). Initially we will assemble as standard and then explore other options once the motor is run-in.

8. New shocks.

The old shocks were in very poor condition. Actually, we should say "shock" as one was missing. We contacted the man from JBS who provided a set of shocks with the required eyelet sizes, distance between mounts and springs to match our weight. We've used these on other bikes - excellent budget shockers.