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I was going to title this thread 'My New Bike' and could have probably gotten away with that but I decided not to mislead people.
For the past few years I have been collecting parts for my '83 1100E (and the Kat) because so many parts are getting hard to find. A couple years ago I decided I would like to have a spare set of body work 'just in case...'. I had one pretty nice set lined up about a year and a half ago but let it go because some other forum members needed some of the parts to get their bikes on the road (or back on the road). About a year ago a different forum member offered another set for sale. It was pretty rough with badly faded paint, some dents, lots of missing and broken tabs, and a few cracks. But the price was right so I bought it. It sat around in my garage for about a year before I finally decided earlier this year to drag it out and see what I could do with it, if I could make it useable. After many hours of work tapping out dents, repairing cracks, fabricating tabs, and sanding parts I felt I had a structurally sound set of body work somewhat ready for paint. Based on the advice of several forum members I contacted Larry Pearson (nvr2old on the forum) and started a dialog about a new paint scheme. I wanted something not quite stock, but stock-ish, something that looked like it could have come from the factory. I had several ideas including some that were completely different color schemes that would have required a different seat (mine has blue piping to match the blue of the decals) and even picked up a spare set of wheels in case I decided to do a different wheel color. In the end I decided to do something that would work with my existing seat and wheels. I have always loved Isleoman's champagne and red scheme and contacted him to ask for some pics. He sent me a DVD with 150+ pics and also told me that his paint scheme was an OEM UK scheme. It is similar to an 1100ES paint scheme with some differences. I also like the ES paint scheme so I had a good starting point. I discussed my thoughts with Larry and we came up with a basic theme based on the UK and ES schemes. The base color was to be a bright silver. My first street bike was a 1980 Honda CB750F Super Sport in silver and I always loved the color so I wanted to incorporate it into my new scheme. It turns out Larry also had owned a 750F, a '79 I think, and he was fond of the silver too. The tank and side cover insets were to be the same dark blue as my '83 1100E. This would allow me to use most of the stock decals with the exception of the tail decal. We discussed using the '82 champagne as the base color but decided it wouldn't work as well with the blue as it does with red. The tail was a problem because I felt it needed something but since it would be silver the stock tail decal wouldn't work. I like the red Suzuki 'S' on the Cooley bikes but didn't know if it would work with the silver/blue scheme. After discussing it with Larry and examining the tail, which has red side reflectors and tail light lens, we decided it would work.
So, off my stuff went to Larry. It was an anxious few weeks but Larry kept me informed and sent me pics of the progress. A couple weeks ago he finished it up and sent me a very nicely packed large box. To say I was pleased with the results would be an understatement. The quality of the paint and the new scheme made my bike look completely different. I love my dark blue body work but I think the new stuff makes the bike look a lot more sporty. The bright silver really pops and compliments the dark blue very well. The red 'S' on the tail piece looks great as well.
Along with the new body work I replaced all the rubber bits for the tank, side covers, and tail. Everything fits nice and snugly but can move around since the rubber is actually pliable now.
So, now that I have rambled on telling the story, here are the results:
Comments and opinions are of course welcome. Compliments should not be directed my way. Larry Pearson is the person who is responsible for this project and, at least in my opinion, is due tons of praise for his work.
As I said earlier, the new scheme is such a different look that I could probably pass it off as a new bike but that wouldn't be honest......
Thanks,
Joe
For the past few years I have been collecting parts for my '83 1100E (and the Kat) because so many parts are getting hard to find. A couple years ago I decided I would like to have a spare set of body work 'just in case...'. I had one pretty nice set lined up about a year and a half ago but let it go because some other forum members needed some of the parts to get their bikes on the road (or back on the road). About a year ago a different forum member offered another set for sale. It was pretty rough with badly faded paint, some dents, lots of missing and broken tabs, and a few cracks. But the price was right so I bought it. It sat around in my garage for about a year before I finally decided earlier this year to drag it out and see what I could do with it, if I could make it useable. After many hours of work tapping out dents, repairing cracks, fabricating tabs, and sanding parts I felt I had a structurally sound set of body work somewhat ready for paint. Based on the advice of several forum members I contacted Larry Pearson (nvr2old on the forum) and started a dialog about a new paint scheme. I wanted something not quite stock, but stock-ish, something that looked like it could have come from the factory. I had several ideas including some that were completely different color schemes that would have required a different seat (mine has blue piping to match the blue of the decals) and even picked up a spare set of wheels in case I decided to do a different wheel color. In the end I decided to do something that would work with my existing seat and wheels. I have always loved Isleoman's champagne and red scheme and contacted him to ask for some pics. He sent me a DVD with 150+ pics and also told me that his paint scheme was an OEM UK scheme. It is similar to an 1100ES paint scheme with some differences. I also like the ES paint scheme so I had a good starting point. I discussed my thoughts with Larry and we came up with a basic theme based on the UK and ES schemes. The base color was to be a bright silver. My first street bike was a 1980 Honda CB750F Super Sport in silver and I always loved the color so I wanted to incorporate it into my new scheme. It turns out Larry also had owned a 750F, a '79 I think, and he was fond of the silver too. The tank and side cover insets were to be the same dark blue as my '83 1100E. This would allow me to use most of the stock decals with the exception of the tail decal. We discussed using the '82 champagne as the base color but decided it wouldn't work as well with the blue as it does with red. The tail was a problem because I felt it needed something but since it would be silver the stock tail decal wouldn't work. I like the red Suzuki 'S' on the Cooley bikes but didn't know if it would work with the silver/blue scheme. After discussing it with Larry and examining the tail, which has red side reflectors and tail light lens, we decided it would work.
So, off my stuff went to Larry. It was an anxious few weeks but Larry kept me informed and sent me pics of the progress. A couple weeks ago he finished it up and sent me a very nicely packed large box. To say I was pleased with the results would be an understatement. The quality of the paint and the new scheme made my bike look completely different. I love my dark blue body work but I think the new stuff makes the bike look a lot more sporty. The bright silver really pops and compliments the dark blue very well. The red 'S' on the tail piece looks great as well.
Along with the new body work I replaced all the rubber bits for the tank, side covers, and tail. Everything fits nice and snugly but can move around since the rubber is actually pliable now.
So, now that I have rambled on telling the story, here are the results:
Comments and opinions are of course welcome. Compliments should not be directed my way. Larry Pearson is the person who is responsible for this project and, at least in my opinion, is due tons of praise for his work.
As I said earlier, the new scheme is such a different look that I could probably pass it off as a new bike but that wouldn't be honest......
Thanks,
Joe
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