Twin Disc Revere v2 - 90% complete

[thatsawkward]

Here are some pics of what my red 1988 Revere looks like today with version 2 of the Twin Disc conversion...

Roughly 90% done, but still a few jobs left to do (complete new exhaust, fit new brake lever (needs slight mod - I've run out of energy!), new rear indicators, frame plugs, one missing bolt from the top of the fairing, general small finishing touches etc). Plus an MOT. But it started first time after 5 months in the garage and runs as expected

This version is fitted with 2003 Deauville forks, Nissin linked brakes (not linked), wheel, front mudguard, clutch and throttle cables.

Also fitted polished late model NTV top toke, higher Deauville bars, new Deauville-length carbon/red brake lines, new discs, new clocks, extended wiring (due to higher bars), various other polished bits (grab rail etc.) and of course the Powerbronze fairing with carbon-look indicators..... plus the hand-made rad cover.









And a couple of pics with my other bike...

[rj2para (Bisto)]

[noakira]

Both fantastically restored Bikes........... Shinning examples of how well the 23 yr old revere's buff's up!

Questions..... especially as you most definitely seem to be "Mr Buff"

Have you made a post about the best ways / techniques to buff. Do you use angle grinder or bench grinder. What paste do you use ? Do you paint strip the lacquer and then reapply after buffing ? (Simoniz Clear)

I've totally come around to buffing Ali parts for the my lightweight Revere project.

Buffing beats painting in that its cheaper / lighter / less technically envolved and turns out as expected.

[thatsawkward]

May 12, 2012 16:40:51 GMT 1 noakira said:

Have you made a post about the best ways / techniques to buff. Do you use angle grinder or bench grinder. What paste do you use ? Do you paint strip the lacquer and then reapply after buffing ? (Simoniz Clear)

I've totally come around to buffing Ali parts for the my lightweight Revere project.

Buffing beats painting in that its cheaper / lighter / less technically envolved and turns out as expected.

Definitely worth us doing a separate post on the whole buffing process. However, I have to confess that I now do it in a much simpler way than when I first tried it a few months back.

Originally, I bought a whole buffing kit from ebay that included all the different blocks of compound and a selection of buffing mops - all drill attachments (I don't have a bench, let alone a bench grinder )

After a recommendation from Rj2para that he often uses Autosol with fine wet'n'dry on his forks, I now simply follow this 5 step process:

1. If the surface is very bad, I use wire wheel drill attachments on an electric drill to lightly sand the surface area. I bought a box of wire wheel/cup attachments a bit like this:

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/24pc-WIRE-BRUSH-WHEEL-SET-for-POWER-or-BATTERY-DRILLS-/170801702652?pt=UK_Home_Garden_PowerTools_SM&hash=item27c49326fc#ht_1356wt_862

They seem to last quite well and by not using immense pressure (but just taking time) they bring the surfaces back to a clean starting point.

2. For those areas that I can't get to with the drill and wire brush, I use varying levels of grit wet'n'dry until the whole piece (e.g. a fork leg) is uniform.

3. I now liberally apply Autosol with my fingers over the larger areas of the piece.

4. I then use the polishing mops (larger going down to smaller for tighter areas) on the electric drill, topping up the Autosol if necessary.

5. For the tighter/harder to get at areas, I use a combination of mini-mop buffer attachments and (you guessed it) hand polishing with cloths. Though the more I do this, the less hand polishing I typically do - I can generally do 95% of most bits with the drill.

Having recently done plenty of polishing with all the different (proper) compounds, it is surprising that I could spend 4hrs on one piece (e.g. a grabrail) but get virtually the same results using Autosol in roughly half the time.

All that said, it is true to say following the proper "polishing" route does result in a higher level of "mirror" finish than I've been able to get with Autosol. But I spent hours and hours on the original polishing approach, but really have saved many hours doing the Autosol approach on my more recent parts. So like anything, I guess you get back what you put in.

I've not paint-stripped anything to date, though in the early days I did cheat and get local chap to aqua-blast difficult to sand pieces (eg. the top yoke). But that was before I had bought the wire-brush drill attachments and was doing absolutely all the stripping by hand - I think if I did it again I could just strip the parts using the drill wire brushes and a small amount of hand-work.

And so far I haven't lacquered over the end result of anything. I've read some people always do that, but others complain that the lacquer can start to look shabby after a year.

Over the next few weeks I'll try to pick a random part and follow the processes with a camera and see if I can put a thread up.... In the meantime, hope this is useful.

[noakira]

Cheers that answered most of my questions......

I used Autosol on my SV last year and it did bring up the shiny bits lovely and in only a few minutes.

How long in your opinion does the polishing last though ?

I've been looking at Anodising aluminium to stop Ali oxidation ?

[rj2para (Bisto)]

As has been said I use Autosol on mine.

Once the forks are done, I can leave them through the winter and within 30 mins they are buff again in the spring.

Don't get me wrong I will never win best bike in show, but she shines enough for me.

[sear]

Bikes look incredible. The white revere is pretty much what I aspire towards for my bike! But probably a bit muckier. Are you coming to Snowdon thatsawkward?

Would love to see your revere in the flesh!

[irishntv650]

i want your red revere!!! it looks like a factory bike,any chance of swapping 6 m&m's and a pack of half melted maltesers for her? haha

[groovylee]

thatsawkward, would you mind saying where you got your front discs from, as i think i'm watching some similar ones on ebay, but don't want to get stitched up with fakes.

Cheers,

Lee

[thatsawkward]

May 18, 2012 17:10:29 GMT 1 groovylee said:

thatsawkward, would you mind saying where you got your front discs from, as i think i'm watching some similar ones on ebay, but don't want to get stitched up with fakes.

Cheers,

Lee

Well, I bought them from this ebay user:

myworld.ebay.co.uk/racingboy8261/

Bear in mind I had to get the NT650 Deauville discs. This seller is in China, but a chap I work with couldn't recommend the seller highly enough - he said they would arrive within a week and I wouldn't be disappointed.

Sure enough, I bought the discs and roughly 4 days later(!) they arrived by Fedex and are excellent quality. So depends what you mean by "fakes"... I always check out feedback and, with the personal recommendation, went for it. Would normally avoid parts from the Far East but on this occasion was a very happy chappy