Change of colour, would you?

[Melissa]

wow what gorgeous bikes

 

[Niels Svane]

Thank you If just money and space were abundant I would have kept them all. Or maybe not 3x CB400f's...

 

[Niels Svane]

....and now I saw a Norton 16H with girder front at a local car dealer when passing by. I have tried to contact him the last few days to get the price. If he wants to swap it for my K75 I'd be a happy man

 

[Millennium4can]

Ok.. So I need help with the paint situation. I have been to two well regarded body shops to get prices for my R4. I have under estimated the price of a full respray, including dealing with some minor dents nothing earth shattering were talking 1500 euro (1312.00 gbp for comparison). That's keeping the original color. What do you guys think? One of the shops is a British expat who does great work the other is an old school Spanish fella who has experience with Renault 4s the prices were within 50 euro of each other. I can feel myself reaching for the Tcut but preventing rust from spreading is also a concern. What would you guys do in my situation? Looking forward to hearing your opinions !!!!

 

[JonathanT]

Send us some photos so we can make a judgement

 

[Millennium4can]

 

[Millennium4can]

Sorry not the best photos camera phone is on the blink

 

[JonathanT]

Well the price you have been quoted is reasonable but the problem is it's hard to know what sort of a job they will ACTUALLY do for that. Unfortunately there are many companies (with profit and speed in mind) who will immediately reach for the high build two pack primer . This will give a good finish but a very unauthentic rounded one. Hard to describe but instead of looking like an honest little tin car it will look like a Dinky toy car made big with all the fine lines dulled and rounded. If your budget is very tight you might paint yourself? Getting a good finish is not impossible even with home style equipment PROVIDING. 1/ the preparation is meticulous 2/the rubbing down or cutting of the paint after its applied is considered part of the process . In other words if you get plenty on you can cut it back to give a great finish. This surprisingly can also apply to a hand painted finish

 

[Millennium4can]

Thanks Jonathan, food for thought I feel an evening of googling how to paint bodywork coming along. Problem is I don't have a garage to work in. Also considering how long it will stay intact and unscathed once I shell out the money considering I live in Spain and the R4 has become my daily driver this winter.

 

[JonathanT]

I once painted Aystin Seven wings with cellulose paint applied with s brush. After laying off with the brush and s couple of days later I cut it back - the result was the same as if I'd sprayed it with no brush marks. There are YouTube videos of people doing similar with Acrylic paint

 

[Niels Svane]

A Norton ES2? Wow. Niels, I have a BMW R100/7 and an R100GS-Paris Dakar, a Honda GL1000 and one or two MZ ETZ250s ;-) Plus a Lomax 223, a BMW 118d and a Renault 4GTL. And this morning when buying a rubber exhaust bobbins, the man asked my the Renault's registration number. As if I can remember !!!!

So Paul it ended up with not an ES2 BUT a 18H. I was driving to the university where I work and at a small scruffy car dealer and mechanic I saw a nice Nimbus (danish motorcycle). When I went there to check it out later on, a Norton 18H with a really nice patina was parked there too.

So after a week calling there to get the price, I went by in the R4 today. The current owner doesn't know a lot about old bikes, so he would be happy with around 2500 £ - I don't need to tell you that this bike is going home with me when they find the papers for it. That price is really low - especially compared to the british prices at the moment. But then again; Old bikes and cars are often quite cheap in Denmark.

The norton was renovated by an old man which sadly passed away. His son drove it to the funeral but as he was to leave the church the bike kicked back as he tried to start it. He saw this as a sign from above, saying he should not drive the bike anymore.
Then after some years in a carport its a bit surface rusty, but else in really good nick.

 

[JonathanT]

Not a motorbike man myself but this one is one I LIKE!

 

[Paul Narramore]

That's not rust, it's 'patina'. That's a fair price too.

 

[Niels Svane]

It is not going to be removed, rest assured. Only the flaky rust on the girder springs will have to go. The rest is signs of its 80 years of life.
And yes the price is simply too good to ignore. The car dealer that has it for sale (next to a mint morris 8) doesn't know that much about pre 1970's cars and mc's so I had to tell him the model and version.
If I wan't I can use their garage to get it to run and then I'll haul it back home for good.

I'll post a bit about it on this page: https://drivetribe.com/t/RD2J55VYScy082-q5FEUPw?iid=WbvjfNFWTUSVEPg-lX5D0A