Honda VRX400 1995 "barn find" restoration

[evil len]

Just got an insurance quote ... £75 with 0 NCB. Think I can live with that, lol !

[Rollin]

evil len said:

Well THATS a st start to 2016.

Was buffing the tax disk holder ring when it caught on the buffer, jagged, flew up and hit me in the face.

Not bothered about the cut lip and tongue, but I've knocked a HONKING great chunk of my front tooth off. Any dentists in the house ... will they be able to repair this ???

Warning, bit of blood hence spoilered for any squeamish.









At least no-one can say I've not put blood, sweat and, er, teeth into this project ...



Happy new year.

Get to a dentist for an xray to check no root fracture has occurred.

Trauma to a tooth can cause death of the pulp. Watch for colour changes and swelling in the gum. May need root canal therapy at some point.

That's worst case though. Just a white filling is all that's usually required....about £50 at an NHS dentist.

[evil len]

Rollin said:

Get to a dentist for an xray to check no root fracture has occurred.

Trauma to a tooth can cause death of the pulp. Watch for colour changes and swelling in the gum. May need root canal therapy at some point.

That's worst case though. Just a white filling is all that's usually required....about £50 at an NHS dentist.

Thanks for the tips Rollin. Plan on ringing the dentist first thing Monday to get it. Not been in a while though, so hope I'm still on their books ! This is the annoying thing ... 47 years old and only one tiny filling, now this !

I have a very fat, blood laden lip.

[STO]

The bikes looking great Don`t worry about the tooth, they`ve given Shane Macgowen new teeth. So a nhs dentist should be able to sort you out.

[Sushifiend]

Yup, get well soon Len. And I vote for the Roadster stickers - you've gone to all these lengths to make the bike look original, you may as well make it look as if it was offered with your paint scheme from the factory!

[crofty1984]

evil Len said:

Still to come :
- first (official !) run and post rebuild de-snagging
- MOT
- a summary of the costs incurred on the project
- a picture of all the parts I didn't use / replaced

Are you insane? Why would you do that to yourself?

[evil len]

crofty1984 said:

Are you insane? Why would you do that to yourself?

Because I'm weird like that. It's the geek in me.

So, anyway, here goes ... brace yourself ...

Bike (*1) - - - - - £220.00
Parts - - - - - - £1,462.69
Chrome - - - - - - £867.00
Tools (*2) - - - - £245.35
Paint - - - - - - - £600.00
Wheels - - - - - - £825.10
Services (*3) - - £560.00

(*1) incl delivery charge
(*2) either specific to the job, or ones I didn't have, includes workshop manual
(*3) incl blasting and powder coating, fork reconditioning, card ultrasound etc

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

GRAND TOTAL £4,789.14

(excluding dental work next Thursday, *cough*)

Think I'm going to go and have a quiet lie down now

On the bright side, got an insurance quote and it's only going to be about £80 !




Still waiting for the seat to come back (included in the costs above), plus the mirrors. The aftermarket "copy" mirrors arrived and they were poor quality and not actually a copy (!) so they went back, I'll have to bite the bullet and buy new ones for £126 (included in the costs above)

Head light bulb did arrive though, so fitted the headlight. I'll align it properly at the MOT station.



(I see photobucket is being an arse again and rotating photos ...)





Working on the principle of throw NOTHING away till the restoration is complete, here's all the bits not used / replaced by new. Only things missing from this shot are a) the original knackered rear rim and b) the orignal seat cover. Recognise any of these bits from the last 15 months ?

[Private Pile]

Well done Len, the bike looks amazing. I'm not convinced on the side panel stickers tho.

Looking forward to some final pictures.

[Some Gump]

Len, the total might be higher than you planned, but you now have what is probably the best condition example of that bike in Europe, and all from a 220 quid another destined for ruin. You've got to be proud of that..

You've also not kept it 100% original, so IMO the "roadster" stickers can stay off - they work on dark blue, not so sure on bright orange..

Question - are you going to ride it, or is it now too shiny to ride?

[Ilovejapcrap]

Considering all you've done you may as well find 2 more side panels, spray um and stick the roadster badges on, best of both worlds

Truly looks amazing and in that colour just wonderful, well done.

This need to be in practicle sportsbikes with a nice photo shoot

[BuzzBravado]

Really impressed with the quality of the finish. You can see good money has gone into it.

[evil len]

Cheers for the kind words folks

Here's a video to bring youtube up to the same point as this thread (i.e. waiting for seat and mirrors)

https://youtu.be/4j44HtR6o8M

[evil len]

Genuine Honda wing mirrors have arrived from Japan ... less than 2 weeks (UK parts dealers were quoting 'March') and for the same price as aftermarket ones (UK parts dealers were quoting double what I paid).







Picked up the seat yesterday from P&K Classic Bikes, went for a slightly 'grainer' vinyl. They also repaired the big chunk of missing foam. Very nice job.









And that's it ... she's finished ! Just got to wait for a dry, clean day to go and get her MOT'd ...








(stupid photobucket)







(if anyone knows of a 1970's Japanese bike for restoration in the Midlands area, PM me )

[Soft Top]

Stunning work. I doubt there is a better one. Well done.

[D-Angle]

Wonderful. I agree with what others have said, this needs a magazine feature.

[moanthebairns]

Amazing loved reading this.

[SteelerSE]

Huge congratulations Len, what a terrific bit of work.

[tr7v8]

Not a biker but have been following this, that is stunning. The seat is a fantastic piece of upholstery.

[moto_traxport]

Absolutely wonderful, it sorta doesn't deserve the level of attention you've lavished on it, but a wonderful job nonetheless.

If you fancy doing my ropey old R1 in your spare time then you're welcome.

[Yazza54]

moto_traxport said:

Absolutely wonderful, it sorta doesn't deserve the level of attention you've lavished on it, but a wonderful job nonetheless

Agree, great job. It's probably the nicest VRX400 going now! Many people wouldn't have chosen to spend so much time, money and effort on one but you've done a brilliant job and that's the great thing about bikes, there's so much variety and opportunity to make your own mark on them. The paint in particular looks brill, I wasn't expecting you to go for something like that but it just works.

Edited by Yazza54 on Sunday 24th January 22:34