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Down the “1998 Blade Restoration” rabbit hole :)

16K views 287 replies 15 participants last post by  S4m 
#1 ·
So I picked up a 1997 Blade with 48k miles that has had a pretty hard life, looks like it’s been used for commuting year round but it runs and rides great so hopefully no gearbox/engine problems. I will use this thread to document my progress and post as many Pics as I can, everyone loves pictures! I’m going to need direction from you all as this is by far my biggest project to date.

Pic from Last night
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I have stripped all the fairings for now and uncovered all sorts of stupidity....
Pics to follow
 
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#97 ·
Have a look at any markings inside the fairing to see if you can determine the plastic used. On the 954 the cowl is ABS, and the sides are PolyEthelene. (As an aside the PE is probably better at handling heat which is why the Chinese ABS need heat shields).
The polyethelene can be welded with a soldering iron and is easy to do.
The ABS can be melted with Acetone or MEK etc. You can buy powder and mix it with acetone to form a glue. Or sprinkle it on the acetone in the crack.I have done this with aluminium flyscreen to give it strength. Basically melted the flyscreen into the fairing with ABS. Its easier to do than you think.
 
#98 ·
. . . You can buy powder and mix it with acetone to form a glue. Or sprinkle it on the acetone in the crack.I have done this with aluminium flyscreen to give it strength. Basically melted the flyscreen into the fairing with ABS. Its easier to do than you think.
A friend has done this on another forum, with success. He'd kept a couple of trashed fairing and cut them up and ground them into powder for such a repair.

Not sure if he used his wife's kitchen blender though. I wouldn't be fancying the next chocolate cake!! :eek:
 
#99 ·
I have replaced the generator gasket today and polished the cover, I painted the water pump cover and it’s looking good. The engine itself is pretty corroded and it seems a shame to have shiny new looking parts bolted to it. Has anyone ever had the corrosion soda blasted? I’ve had a go with various wire brushes etc but it still looks terrible
 
#110 ·
Unfortunately 1998 wasn’t the cbr’s finest year for colour options, of the below which does everyone prefer? Think I am going to take a punt on a Chinese set of fairings and have a go at repairing my OEM set in due course. The original set is red white and blue/purple but I am swaying towards black... would mean getting the tank painted though, needs it anyway after I repair the big old dent!
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#119 ·
So I painted my rear wheel yesterday and it was clear I didn’t prep the surface well enough, with weeks of prepping the engine ahead I decided to farm it out :whistle: my powder coating pal said he can do both for £70 which I thought was pretty good and I dropped them off today. While at his workshop he offered me use of his vapour blasting cabinet whenever I like so that may come in handy in the future
 
#122 ·
I keep buying things :oops:

Ordered new front and rear wheel bearings to fit in my freshly powdercoated wheels that are due back in a few days, a full coolant hose kit in black, new jubilee clips for everything as well as a set of throttle cables

Monday I need to order a radiator and rear shock, I’m trying to space it out a bit so it’s a little less painful.

So far including buying the bike I’m at around £1300, still need rear shock, Radiator, fairings, the tank painted to match fairings and I need to do something with the front forks. Other than that I’m not far off putting it all back together! Oh and I need a new chain and sprockets....
 
#123 ·
#136 ·
I know that some of the radiators are compatible, but what that means is a 97 will work, but the main hoses mount indifferent locations. You can see that by looking at pictures on the web. The 96-99 were all curved and mount exactly the same, but the 98-99 SC33 changed their thermostat location and the location of the main hose on the right side of the radiator.
 
#138 ·
Ordered my Yss rear shock today and had a good chat with the guy at Brookes, I’m going to order some ktech springs suited to my weight and refresh my front forks as well I think.

I bought the bike from my mates boss and it turns out that he bought it from another guy at their work. He said to my pal that if I returned the battery optimiser lead that was left on the bike he would swap it for the original exhaust and rear sets, seems like a pretty good deal to me 😂
 
#139 ·
I have a shelf of parts that I have cleaned up and painted that I for got to post, I wrecked my original carbs trying to remove the seized mixture screws, I admitted defeat and ordered a set of flea bay and transferred my jets and a few other bits over
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I cleaned and painted the triple clamps
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And I’ve had a go at painting the clutch cover (I inlaid the Honda logo and surround in black after a suggestion on here ;)
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loads to do, will do my best to update as I go (y)
 
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