Work Is Underway...

The project has been shelved for a few years but I'm getting back into it. The ol' Triumph Bonneville is now out of storage and onto at least the back burner.

I bought this pile of grease and rust back in the summer of 2004 at a yard sale. I spent the following year stripping it down and selling off parts on eBay, keeping only what I needed for a bare-bones bobber.

My intent was to build a fancy, shiny bike but the cost of such a restoration, including paint and all, was more than I had to spend on it.

Well it sat in storage for two years while I was overseas and collected more rust and dust and I still don't have the "spare" money to get it all nice and shiny.

So now I've decided to skip all the expensive paint and chrome and just get the bike running. This is the philosophy of the rat bike, a bike that runs reasonably well but looks less so to most people. Because after all, the whole bike thing is about riding, not about looking good for the neighbors (even though a lot of ratbikes look damn good in my opinion).

So I'm going to get a can of flat black paint spray paint, scrape off the rust and go to town. I may go with a flat white for the tank just so the whole thing is not black and it will have that retro bobber look.

I'm thinking of painting the frame with truck bedliner and a paintbrush. That should give me a durable, rustproof cover that looks mean and nasty.

As I make progress on the bike, I'll be sure to post updates and pictures. Like these...

Engine removed and top end removed and shot of chassis as of today...