45WLA, what would you do?

[English Steve]

Limey_Dave has kindly offered to post a couple of photos for me while I get around to sorting an album, so I'll send some to him this evening - thanks Dave, I owe you a pint sometime.
In the meantime, I posted a not-very-good picture here a while ago, but don't know how to move it to this thread .

[Limey_Dave]

That's very nice Steve,you couldn't buy a sadle with that patina,and still got the blakout stripes on the fenders.
Is that a leather grip? Must be Ruskie,never seen one.When the rubber ran out the US used canvas then plastic.

[45Brit]

surely a Russian bike would not have the white star or the black-out stripes? I would agree that it is probably an older restoration with some sort of re-enactment or film history somewhere along the line. It's very difficult sometimes to tell older restorations from original bikes, they don't tend to have the "over-restored" look and often use NOS parts rather than repop.

anyway, so what. If you have something as complete as that in running order, with that sort of patina and quality of finish, why fret about wheel rim sizes? Bikes like that are RARE.

[English Steve]

Right, I get the message, so I shouldn't respray it then?

I've not taken the grips off yet, but they appear to be a hard plastic of some sort - one of them has a small crack in it.
Star on the tank is painted-on if that gives any clues. The rear mudguard has been repaired at some time where the rack front bracket fixes on. A small patch has been gas-welded in but not re-drilled for the bracket which is why the rack is leaning forward in the photos - it's not fixed. The paint in this area matches the rest of the tin-work so I assume it may all have been repainted at that time? You can see that the forks and front fender light are a slightly different shade, these appear not to have been repainted but I can't be sure.

On the subject of paint, I have had to source some repro parts - battery box, chain guard, tool box etc which will all need to be painted. I bought some paint from my local tank museum (as you do) which was claimed to be the correct US Olive Drab, and I have to say it does look about right, if not quite completely flat. I put several coats on with a brush to get that 'proper military' look, it should weather back nicely over time.

Please feel free to keep the comments coming, I need as much help as I can get here!

[Noddy]

Thanks Steve.
I'll wait and watch as I am interested to see a slightly different variation on a theme.
Good luck with the 'on going' works.

[45Brit]

re-spray it? Depends entirely on what you are trying to achieve.

personally I would keep it as it is. Bikes that age have a history behind them, all these little odds and ends that they pick up along the way and make a given machine unique.

same with the repair on the mudguard, if it's safe fit the bolt and leave it, dab some olive-drab over it to stop it rusting.

I'm increasingly getting the impression that this bike is a Russian or Eastern European one brought in and partly restored by a military enthusiast. Do you have any documents or other information? These bikes come in from time to time, and they are sometimes in dreadful condition.

if you are going to respray it, how would it have been painted in Russian use> THAT would be something a bit different

[Limey_Dave]

More of Steve's pics.

[English Steve]

Thanks for taking the time to do that Limey_Dave.

45Brit, the respray comment was meant to be tongue-in-cheek. I really don't want to touch any more of the paintwork than I absolutely have to. I do agree though, a Russian military finish could be a good talking point.

I have the receipt from when my father bought the bike - he traded in a Rickman Zundapp for it - but there is nothing to suggest it had been imported, nor is there anything to give any clues to it's history.

In addition to the bike as it stands in those pictures, I also have a windshield with canvas apron which I took off because I kept bashing my head on it! That can go back on when everything else is finished.

[kevscrivener]

That really is as good as it gets for me, Steve. Nice patina, nothing OTT, looks used but cared for.

If you hadn't mentioned the 19-inch rims I may not even have noticed unless I'd looked on the tyres themselves.... and I've got a 45! Only a serious rivet-counter could find fault with that bike.

My mantra as far as these things go; less is more. Plenty around that are over-restored, but once done you can't undo it.

[Squiz]

Originally Posted by kevscrivener

That really is as good as it gets for me, Steve. Nice patina, nothing OTT, looks used but cared for.

If you hadn't mentioned the 19-inch rims I may not even have noticed unless I'd looked on the tyres themselves.... and I've got a 45! Only a serious rivet-counter could find fault with that bike.

My mantra as far as these things go; less is more. Plenty around that are over-restored, but once done you can't undo it.

There you go, I'd risk saying you can't get a better opinion on your chosen route than that one.