My Bike, paint, bodywork, assembly

This weeks update is just the collection of parts that were out for painting, prepping some ready for assembly and starting the final assembly.

First off the nose fairing came back after having a full re-paint and having a mystery hole filled by my brother-in-law

Secondly the tank and seat unit were done via Dream Machine Race Paints

Assembly, paint match and wheel prep for new tyres

Faring, mirrors, indicator fir plus tank parts

bearing fit plus cleaned disc surface

seat and rear light fit + add Dunlop decals

paint match check

my bike, sprocket carrier updates

This week I decided to re-furbish the sprocket carrier and get a few more parts on the bike, to help with this I ordered a stainless bolt kit of ebay that was listed for the AF1... 

Sprocket carrier: The carrier had previously been (badly) painted and generally looked poor so I first went over with a course and then a fine wet and dry paper to get the worst off. There were lots of paint flakes that came off as the alloy had oxidised in a couple of places lifting the paint. It looked ok, then I dusted it with primer and quite frankly it looked dreadful. The original paint reacted with the primer and listed anything with an edge on it, the only solution was to paint strip it to bare metal and start again.

paint disaster

paint stripped

From here I masked the critical areas and lightly dusted with grey primer, some parts still didn't look great, so these were rubbed down with fine wet and dry and re-painted with the primer. Luckily it was a hot day and the paint dried quickly, so i could afford to go light and slow. 

primed and ready

The next stage is paint, there are a million silvers out there, I chose Porsche silver as it sounds more fancy...

now as fast as a GT3 RS...

Bolt kit: For ease and because its not going to be a full on factory restoration I decided to buy a stainless steel bolt kit off ebay, the dealer had multiple listings with different models in the title, i chose the appropriate one for my bike. Upon arrival of the kit I was slightly annoyed to see it was a more generic bolt kit and for example it had no M8 x 30mm dome head bolts for holding the sub frame on. I checked the listing and rather frustratingly it said 'a selection of common nuts and bolts and not model specific'. I should of read the small print and if i noticed that I wouldn't of ordered, so don't to what I did, read the listing in full before ordering. 
I ordered some M8 x 30's on amazon and had them the next day so I could install the subframe. With the subframe on its tricky to get the airbox fitted. To do so I removed the lid and filter, it also helps getting the connecting hose on to the air box as you can see inside, then refit the filter and lid.

My bike, powder coating

As part of the freshen up I decided to powder coat the swingarm and rear sub frame. The swing arm is highly visible so desperately needed doing, where the subframe could of been rattle canned on the parts you can see, however it was a bit rusty in the parts you couldn't see so I wanted that addressed also.

I use a local powder coater to my work and I have used them before and been pleased with the results, check out http://www.plasticoat.co.uk/ if you are in the Portsmouth/ Gosport area. A good powder coater will mask all holes and bearing surfaces all you need to do is remove everything including bearings.

The colour I chose isn't the same as the original Aprilia colour, the original is more of a grey which over time looks quite drab especially next to the brilliance of the main frame and footrests. I went for a silver with a little sparkle like a Honda swing arm, I hope this will lift the bike a little and give it a slightly more premium look... I hope I am right about this!

Swing Arm

before

After

After

After

Subframe

Before

After

After

Join the new Facebook Aprilia AF1 group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/apriliaaf1

My bike, parts pull down and paint prep

In order to move this project on I have taken the nuclear option and applied to take the AF1 to Stafford in October as there is nothing like a deadline to create motivation!

First thing was to get the rear subframe and swingarm off and get them to the powder coaters. I hit a small hurdle in the fact I don't have the swing arm main pivot lock ring tool, but a screwdriver and hammer moved that. I removed the rear hub, rear shock then main swing arm pivot and then finally the swing arm.

With the swingarm off the chain sliders were removed and the lower one has broken, so replacements will need to be sourced, and the bearings removed for painting. 

Taking the back end off and seeing the wheels also confirmed I need to look at getting these painted also.

Other progress: I ordered the decal kit of e-bay and started to clean a lot of the loose parts.

a few chips on the rim, meaning these need paining 

rear subframe ready for painting

swingarm ready for painting

cleaning up the rear of the engine case and frame mount

rear shock and alloy rocker cleaned

Join the new Facebook Aprilia AF1 group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/apriliaaf1

Paint codes - 89 Replica

 I have been looking at getting some panels re-painted so inevitably I've been looking for paint codes. I have unearthed a very useful thread on the Aprilia AF1 125cc page from 2021, for more colours view it here

For the 89 Sintesi Replica it looks like the following are correct:

Red = Rosso Custom JBT2

Lilac = Viola Chiaro JBR8

Turquoise = Turchese JLR4