I had this off my brother in law about 18 months ago, he wasn't using it and it was stood outside unloved but covered up.
It was a bit sorry for itself and I had to do a little bit of work to get it through the MOT; new tyres, pads, fork seals, electrics, bulbs, wheel bearings, steering bearings, a few loose bits and bobs, new bars, etc etc.
Here it is when I got it home:
https://imgur.com/MY2eENL
I remember my brother in law calling me up and saying he'd had it painted a nice blue colour. Well, the blue is OK I suppose, but the finish...............whoever did it needs to be dragged over white hot coals very slowly.
You see this patch on the tank? That's where the paint lifted in the sun because it hadn't been keyed properly under neath. That white colour is the original paint and it still has the shine on it. Not a sign of any rubbing down at all. Small wonder it lifted and peeled.
I did ask him whether he paid for it to be done or was it a favour. He didn't answer that one.


The rear caliper may as well not have been on the bike for all the good it wasn't doing, and as for the front calipers...........well, lets just say that I'd have been doing a Fred Flintstone down the road to try and stop it.

Filthy Caliper:

The crap that was inside the caliper due to not servicing them brake system..............ever!!!!


And the now stripped and re-furbed working end product:

All the calipers had to be done, plus new pads all round but I'm still not 100% happy with the efficiency of the rear braking so that will get looked into throughout this re-build. Maybe a master cylinder upgrade from something else will sort it out, normally does.
Once all that was done, along with replacing the tyres for something with tread on them, I moved on to the electrics. No headlight, no tail lights, brake lights only on the rear pedal, indicators on one side only, the stuff of nightmares for some people, but for me, I LOVE IT!
I knew of the problems with the reg/rec, over heating and burning out the plug, so that was a point of interest for me. Glad I did. Look what I found.

One burnt through connector bock. The reg/rec was still working albeit about 1.5 volts down on standard output, but with the bike idling for 5 minutes in the garage it was getting really hot to the touch, so it got changed for an updated finned model with a new connector block both ends; plus the rated output went up to the recommended 13.6 volts at 5000rpm. Happy days there then.
Bike all sorted, it sailed through the MOT but I did find the seat a bit on the slippy side. It will get recovered during this build but good enough for now

Using it for about 12 months, playing with running and stuff, the take off wasn't as crisp as I'd like, I stripped the carbs, changed the emulsion tubes and needles, made it a bit better, replaced the air box with open pod filters but it was a bit too loud for my liking and it felt like it wanted a bigger main jet at around 70 mph, seemed to run out of puff. Working away in my garage, my mate pops round, having a chat, can smell petrol. But nothing is running......................quick look and I've got fuel leaking out the carbs. S-O-A-B!!!!

Stripped the carbs out AGAIN and found the choke slides are shot.


On to NRP carbs for a new pair, sorted that out.
Anyway, the MOT and insurance ran out in October last year and I thought that it really was looking very tired and needed a cosmetic overhaul, so I parked it up. Now I have the time and space to strip it and bring it back to it's former, if not better, glory.
I've given myself 5 weeks to get this sorted, stripped right back to bare metal where it's needed, zinc coated and re-sprayed. The plan is to have it ready for the 22nd April, BIKE4LIFE weekend, so I'm on a mission.
Started stripping it a few days ago and I'll post the progress as I go.
This is where we're at now:
Body work off

Engine out

Completely stripped

That's one grubby engine

I've got a whole weekend to finish stripping the frame and swing arm and get them painted...............at least!