What's the stance on Restoration/Changes?

[ghostrider]

OK - so this is my first bike, new to riding, etc.  The bike I bought has tiny dents in the tank, the paint on the tank is beginning to bubble, there is some rust on alot of the metal parts and the plastic flaring is also cracked.

I would love to keep my bike bone stock but if I start fixing all of the things that are cosmetically wrong with my Vision, should I be trying to keep it as replica as possible?  After viewing the gallery, I really like the red paint jobs with white accents, but my Vision is Black with Gold Accents.  If I were to change it to Red & White, would that be a bad thing?  Would I be able to revert back to Black and Gold in the future? 

As far as the tank is concerned, how difficult would it be to have a replica tank built that looks identical to the stock tank?

I want to repair my Vision, but I do not want to do it, if it is going to make the bike out to be some gimmicky p.o.s. 

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance,
GR

[The Prophet of Doom]

You seem very confused.  Do what you want - it's your bike.  But remember that one person's gimmicky piece of shit is another's rare and loved gem.  Don't criticise too hard - you might be on receiving end of comment yourself one day.

Any tank builder should be able to build a replica - the tank is unique, but nothing special in terms of construction.  It will cost you though.  Alternatively some tunnel mods should allow you to use a non replica.  A bit of paint bubble does not necessarily ruin the tank though.  Do a search on POR15, and bondo

If you have a full fairing, it's made of fibreglass not plastic.  you will need to use firbreglass repair methods rather than plastic ones.

[ghostrider]

Prophet of Doom - very correct on my confusion, but I wasn't being critical to those who customize their machines.  I suppose my fear originates from the fact that, if I move away from being a stock Vision, how difficult is it to get back to stock?

[Rikugun]

The further you stray from anything the harder it is to get back. So why would you go back or worry about how hard that may be? If your fear is ruining resale value, fear not. Even stock running examples don't fetch much $. Modify to you tastes and don't worry about it.  :) If your fear is simply you may not like what you created, hey, no risk taken nothing gained right?  :)

[fret not]

I see two elements at work here.  One is to keep the bike absolutely (mostly) bone stock, and the other is to "customize" it.  Both ways can be a good choice, especially the bone stock idea.  You can't go wrong keeping it stock and if you ever sell the bike it will be what a buyer will expect.  The customized path is a tricky one but can be very good if you do a spectacular job of the transformation, otherwise it can become a ratty nightmare of bad judgement calls ending in frustration and much reduced ability to sell the bike.

Have you ever done modifications to a vehicle?  Are you good at painting?  Metal work (welding, fabricating, etc.)?  Even to keep the bike stock you will have to do some fiberglass repair and as a result some painting.  These are skills not out of the reach of most folk but need to be honed if you want good results.  (It takes a lot of practice)

[ghostrider]

I see two elements at work here.  One is to keep the bike absolutely (mostly) bone stock, and the other is to "customize" it.  Both ways can be a good choice, especially the bone stock idea.  You can't go wrong keeping it stock and if you ever sell the bike it will be what a buyer will expect.  The customized path is a tricky one but can be very good if you do a spectacular job of the transformation, otherwise it can become a ratty nightmare of bad judgement calls ending in frustration and much reduced ability to sell the bike.

Have you ever done modifications to a vehicle?  Are you good at painting?  Metal work (welding, fabricating, etc.)?  Even to keep the bike stock you will have to do some fiberglass repair and as a result some painting.  These are skills not out of the reach of most folk but need to be honed if you want good results.  (It takes a lot of practice)

Very good advice - thank you, fret.  I have not really done all that much restoration work with anything.  My idea was that I could increase my technical skills while at the same time having fun making my machine look good. 

I am more inclined to go the Bone Stock route.  However, I know that I am probably going to need to get an entirely new tank and I am not sure how difficult it would be to have a mock Vision tank fabricated.

Anyway, the bike is about to be in the shop.  When I get it back from them I will have a much better idea of what I will need to do.

[YellowJacket!]

I've done a full restoration on mine but then did a whole lot of customization's.

The heart of it is an 82 but I changed over to an 83 front end with dual calipers and then added progressive springs.  Then added the crash bars with halogen driving lights... then added the Shark Fairing.... then redid the electrical system and moved the R/R... then  added the custom saddle bags with rebuilt mounts.  Then decided yellow looked good... oh wait, that was first.

Then decided I wanted a custom seat.  ..... and about 300 other things....

So, its restored and customized to my taste.

David

[ghostrider]

Awesome work YJ!!!

How much effort went into building saddlebags for the XZ550?  If you do not mind, do you have any pictures you could share?

[Jimustanguitar]

The other guys are right, do what you want to your own bike, and leave the value concern out of it. It's not a collectible that you'll defile or hurt the value of, and it's not something that you'll get your add ons back out of in resale value (are you worried about resale on a 30 year old bike worth ~$1k anyway?). Do everything to it that you want, but do it for you.

Make it run well and start reliably, make sure the brakes, suspension, triple trees, swingarm, wheel bearings, etc are are good and tight so it doesn't handle clunky, and enjoy!

It's rough once in a while going on a ride with a buddy's new shiny chrome whatever, but oh well. You're not in shiny chrome debt :) The vision is just fun anyway, some bikes are very sterile in comparison. If you want to repaint it or strip and repair the rust, go for it! When it's all said and done, just remember that none of that matters when you roll on the throttle coming out of a curve.

Happy riding!

[YellowJacket!]

Here is a good (self promoted) thread on restoration vs changes.  Tons of pictures


http://ridersofvision.net/rovforum/index.php?topic=14919.0

David