Z1OwnersClub GB

I'm currently doing repairs and a light restoration on my 93 FireBlade in order to sell it in the Spring and buy a Z900 - the bike I almost bought nearly new in 1977..........

The FireBlade's right fairing sections have minor accident damage. OE decals are unavailable and the repro upper fairing decals are not an exact match to the pattern of OE.

The upper fairing is the focal point and needs to be done correctly, so was hoping that just the damaged section could be repaired in isolation by matching the existing paint/finish (Rose White) and leaving the upper OE decals in place. I appreciate that new paint can't be made to look old, but with the minimum of respaying the visual impact would be minimised. The lower sections also need repairing and respraying but the repro decals for these panels are pretty close to OE.

I have spoken to Dream Machine who can do the work but they will charge a small fortune (£600+), so grateful if anyone can recommend a specialist motorcycle painter in the South(ish) who could do the work at a reasonable cost and airbrush up to the edge of the OE decal so I don't lose it's edge?

Or maybe I'm being too OCD and seeking the impossible??





Cheers
Andrew

There is a company called Altamura at Camberly - who have done paintwork for me in the past, they do a good job, but they aren't cheap.

ADRIAN H wrote:There is a company called Altamura at Camberly - who have done paintwork for me in the past, they do a good job, but they aren't cheap.

Being local they were my first port of call in September, but discovered they had been taken into liquidation by their parent company in 2015 - not sure what happened to the staff?

https://www.insidermedia.com/insider/southeast/report-sheds-light-on-bikers-legal-defence-collapse

These lot are in Camberley too. Not used them but heard good things about them. I got the impression from talking to him last christmas that a couple of months wait would be what i could expect though.

http://www.ooeycustompaint.com/

Here's one a bit nearer to you. Again not used them but i know one person on here who has and was happy enough.

http://www.smartbodyshop.co.uk/

AL

I suspect Altamura went down the pan. Because the owners wife took over running the office, and she was quite a fierce scary woman.

Mark Brewer, aunt fannys paint emporium, in Warsash is a member of Z1 owners on Facebook. Tel - 07956076843.

Thanks guys, plenty of leads to follow-up this week.

Cheers
Andrew

have you thought about these kits i fitted one to a nc 400 about 6 years ago i was surprised by the quality of the panels


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fairing-Body-Ki ... S-&vxp=mtr

z1bman wrote:have you thought about these kits i fitted one to a nc 400 about 6 years ago i was surprised by the quality of the panels

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fairing-Body-Ki ... S-&vxp=mtr

Yes, been told these kits are reasonably good quality. However I would sooner get my panels repaired even if it costs me more as I'm a stickler for originality, but far from a 'rivet counter' I'm glad to say.

I didn't think £600 + was too bad considering the amount of work involved. That's assuming they do a good job.

Looking at the damage, £600 seems very reasonable - have they seen it?

If you're only selling it, why do you care about originality? If you can't get the original decals nor panels, then it's not going to be original if you do paint it. I suspect that panels in breakers in good shape for a sports bike, will be rarer than compassion in the inland revenue.

I doubt you'd get chipped that much for the non-original panels; probably less than the difference in cost between an invisible repair and the pattern bodywork.

walshyco wrote:I didn't think £600 + was too bad considering the amount of work involved. That's assuming they do a good job.

RALPHARAMA wrote:Looking at the damage, £600 seems very reasonable - have they seen it?

If you're only selling it, why do you care about originality? If you can't get the original decals nor panels, then it's not going to be original if you do paint it. I suspect that panels in breakers in good shape for a sports bike, will be rarer than compassion in the inland revenue.

I doubt you'd get chipped that much for the non-original panels; probably less than the difference in cost between an invisible repair and the pattern bodywork.

Apologies, I don’t visit the Bottom Shed that often so missed your replies.

No, Dream Machine hadn’t physically seen the panels and quoted a bottom price based on the photos above. The likelihood of the price rising on the repairs may well be high as their preference is to spray the panels and use the repro decals. My FireBlade is a very good original first generation UK bike (round headlights) with considerable provenance and in otherwise excellent condition, so it’s important to me to keep it as original as possible and if I can get the fairings repaired and save the OE decals this is my preferred route.

On the recommendation of a member, I visited Larry at Illusion Race Paint (Northampton) with the panels on Wednesday and discussed the work. Larry will cut out and stitch-in the missing piece from an OE donor fairing I’ve supplied and airbrush the repair. He will also repair the middle and lower fairings and airbrush the damaged graphics. I have seen his work and his skill is very impressive. Larry gave me a price I was happy with too and to top it off he’s a really top bloke.

Does all this it matter if I’m selling it? Yes, it does to me and, as bizarre as it may sound, I want to do right by the bike; losing money on using repro panels/decals is not a consideration as when I sell it it will be sold for what it owes me, which is less than it’s currently worth i.e. no profit, not interested in that as I’m enjoying doing what I’m doing; it’s a good release from the day job……….

Cheers
Andrew

Hi,
I used Revolution custom paint, over in Burghfield Reading. So not to far for you. The guy you need to speak is Graham ( 011 8957 4577 ). He did a brilliant job on my GSXR SRAD a few years ago, similar sort of damage to you bike. It came out perfect.

cheers
Kev

kevinm wrote:Hi,
I used Revolution custom paint, over in Burghfield Reading. So not to far for you. The guy you need to speak is Graham ( 011 8957 4577 ). He did a brilliant job on my GSXR SRAD a few years ago, similar sort of damage to you bike. It came out perfect.

cheers
Kev

Thanks Kev,

The panels are now with Illusion Race Paint and if they come back as good as yours, which I'm confident they will, then I'll be very happy.

Cheers
Andrew