1998 NC30 Project

Post by **FreshPrince14** » Thu Jan 10, 2019 12:05 am

Hi all! New member here. Not sure if this is the right place to post this but I’ve decided to showcase my NC30 project. Hope you all enjoy!

So to start, I’ve always wanted an NC30. I’ve had NC29s, MC22s and a whole heap of other bikes but it was always an NC30 that I was after. To be honest, when I was in the market I could just never find a good one. So many had been rattled and destroyed, dropped and repaired very poorly. I drifted away from bikes for a few years after I graduated university as a car was necessary for work. Last year however I got the itch for a bike again. I figured that with work I’d hardly ever get time to actually ride a bike so buying something new and reliable that could be used every day just seemed a bit pointless. I figured that now may be the time to find myself a weekend toy.

I set about searching for an NC30. While I’ve always kept an eye on the classified section, I was shocked at how scarce they’ve become, in Ireland anyway. In around 2011-2012 for example there would have been 8-12 NC30s for sale at any one time in Ireland. €2k would get you a pretty decent one. Nowadays you’re lucky if there’s 1-2 up for sale... and they would be either half a bike which is likely going to wind up being used for spares, an example with missing parts or else a mint example for €5k. So I decided to find the best rough example I could and finally build my ultimate VFR.

The search was lengthy but in August 2017, I eventually came across one by chance about 40kms away. The owner had rattled the bottom end. The bike itself was tatty. It had been used daily until it was rattled (about 2 weeks before I came across it) and it wasn’t held together with zip ties and tape, but it was tired looking and left a lot to be desired. However the main thing was that it was complete! I was taking a chance with the engine rattling but considering I got it relatively cheap and I didn’t have to travel the county to find it.. I figured I’d give it a chance! Blown engine might just ad to the fun of the whole thing!

And here she is. Complete with a very poor RC30/NC35 paint job....

Hopefully the images are okay and everyone can see them. These were taken in August 2017 just after I picked her up. I have plenty of more images to show from the following months so I’ll try update this thread over the next few days and weeks.

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Post by **FreshPrince14** » Thu Jan 10, 2019 12:24 am

The strip down began pretty quickly after I bought it. As did the planning with plenty of hours spent on instagram, google images and forums looking at examples of NC30s and trying to decide how I wanted mine to be. As I mentioned in the previous post, my goal was to build MY ultimate VFR. So I had no intentions of this being a factory restoration. Yet I wanted to ensure I kept the gorgeous late 80s/early 90s lines of the NC30. But the plan was to upgrade it with some new fancy parts, a little bit blinged up and over all to make sure it turns out as spotless as possible. Considering I’ve never built a bike before, I wasn’t sure what to expect but as I was in no rush and could tip away in my spare time I felt it was worth pushing to build something good!

Decided to buy an engine crane to suspend the bike from. A bit awkward when you try to undo something and the bike starts to freely swing but over all it was very beneficial.

Until this was eventually what my bike looked like

Now the fun part... putting it all back together!

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Post by **FreshPrince14** » Thu Jan 10, 2019 12:51 am

The elephant in the room at the time was undoubtedly the engine and getting it sorted. (Rebuild myself, find someone to rebuild for me or simply replace) But the temptation to carry on with the build was too strong and pretty soon package after package started arriving at the door, to the point where I started to get to know the postmen from the national post service as well as many well known courier companies, on a personal level. Pretty much had to tell them I was rebuilding a bike because they were arriving at the door almost every day looking puzzled! But more on the shiny new parts later....

There was a lot of elbow grease put in to the frame and swing arm to ensure everything was nicely shined up. Although I didn’t go too heavy here as I figured they would likely get pretty dirty again during the build. So I removed as much heavy dirty, grease and grime as I could and left the crazy ocd level of cleaning to one side for now.

A friend of mine has a small sand blaster so he blasted a few bits for me which I had decided to paint myself. Amazing how you get a much better finish following a sandblast... I have the say the headlight/clock bracket and the sprocket holder (is that the word?) came up very well following paint and I owe it to the buddy for the serious prep work!

Blasted

Primed

And the finished product, in gloss black. I’ve just realized that I don’t have any great close ups of these

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Post by **FreshPrince14** » Thu Jan 10, 2019 1:16 am

A number of parts where then stripped down to be sent for sandblasting and powder coating. Top and bottom yoke, both front calipers, both front fork legs and clip ons and the wheels. The plan was satin black for forks and yokes, gloss black for clip ons, a gun metal grey for the calipers and white for the wheels. I had got a price from who I thought to be the only powder coating shop near me. However a mechanic at an independent garage told me about a company nearby who manufactured and powder coat fences and gates. He explained that a friend of his often goes to them to powder coat parts and now they’ve actually branched off and are advertising vehicle powder coating as well. Went and got a quote, turned out to be a fair bit cheaper than the original price I had been quoted and I left the parts with them. Turned out to be a stupid mistake!

Measuring the exact position of the Showa stickers as I was determined to find replacements and wanted them in the exact same position.

Made a bit of a mess taking the forks apart

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Post by **FreshPrince14** » Thu Jan 10, 2019 1:27 am

White waiting for my parts to come back from powder coating, a box arrived from Tyga Performance. Again, probably the least of my worries with a blown engine but they have a lot of shiny parts and I just couldn’t resist....

Carbon fibre clock surround, carbon brake reservoir bracket, reservoir with carbon lid and a foam cushion pad (still not sure if I’m going to use this).

And a carbon chain guard, carbon side inserts, carbon clock bezels, a gold 40T rear sprocket, aluminum top yoke nut, aluminum front wheel spacer set, cable bracket, rear wheel pin and a chain adjustment tool for good measure.

Also managed to pick up this rear paddock stand for just €30, which I was delighted with.

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Post by **NGneer** » Thu Jan 10, 2019 7:54 am

Looking good so far and always nice to see a good restoration thread.

I don't think there is any sort of 'rules' but the "Members bikes and rides" section is where people tend to put their build threads as everyone loves a good build thread, not just the VFR crowd

. Have a look at some of the build threads in there as you will find some great inspiration, ideas, and top tips therein to help you with your project.

With regard to the blown engine you will have to think hard about which direction you want to go with that. Whilst not impossible to rebuild the motor, certain key components are becoming harder, and more expensive, to find (IE a good crank and corresponding shells). If you do go down that route Rick Oliver in the UK or Mike Norman from the US are the only good source of shell bearings I know of at the moment not sure where you would find a good crank though.

For my 2p worth I would look for a complete engine which would be both a simpler and cheaper option.

Good luck with your project

Post by **FreshPrince14** » Thu Jan 10, 2019 9:14 am

NGneer wrote:Looking good so far and always nice to see a good restoration thread.

I don't think there is any sort of 'rules' but the "Members bikes and rides" section is where people tend to put their build threads as everyone loves a good build thread, not just the VFR crowd . Have a look at some of the build threads in there as you will find some great inspiration, ideas, and top tips therein to help you with your project.

With regard to the blown engine you will have to think hard about which direction you want to go with that. Whilst not impossible to rebuild the motor, certain key components are becoming harder, and more expensive, to find (IE a good crank and corresponding shells). If you do go down that route Rick Oliver in the UK or Mike Norman from the US are the only good source of shell bearings I know of at the moment not sure where you would find a good crank though.

For my 2p worth I would look for a complete engine which would be both a simpler and cheaper option.

Good luck with your project

Cheers for the reply NGneer! I tried posting in the Members bikes and rides section but I’m being told I don’t have the permission to do so. Had a look at the rules in one of the sections and as far as I can determine, you no longer need to become a VIB to post there? Maybe a mod/admin can chime in? But I’m happy to move it to that section.

I’ve found a complete engine and picked it up, however it had long been removed from the bike and so I didn’t hear it running. However it was bought from a reputable second hand dealer/breaker/mechanic so while I haven’t got a chance to fire it up yet, I’ve been guaranteed it’s good. Also managed to get it for a pretty reasonable price so I said while i had the opportunity I may as well take it.

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Foxy400 · Post by **Foxy400** » Fri Jan 11, 2019 10:44 am

Well done for embarking on a what appears to be an extensive rebuild, especially as it's your first! It's always interesting to follow these projects. You mentioned the Showa fork leg stickers. I got a pair recently from Havoc Hill. Cost a tenner. They look fine, although I can't fit them until I get the bike back from Graeme France (a name that might pop up during your research). Keep the posts coming

Post by **jim157** » Fri Jan 11, 2019 3:00 pm

Posting on the members section is restricted to site supporters only.

Good thread by the way.

Post by **FreshPrince14** » Sun Jan 13, 2019 2:35 am

Foxy400 wrote: ↑
Fri Jan 11, 2019 10:44 am
Well done for embarking on a what appears to be an extensive rebuild, especially as it's your first! It's always interesting to follow these projects. You mentioned the Showa fork leg stickers. I got a pair recently from Havoc Hill. Cost a tenner. They look fine, although I can't fit them until I get the bike back from Graeme France (a name that might pop up during your research). Keep the posts coming

Cheers man

I managed to find a set of fork leg stickers in the end... on eBay of all places! They look pretty good but won't be fitting them for a long time. They've disappeared somewhere inside my desk drawer anyway so I'll have a job finding them. Haven't heard of Graeme France but I'll check him out

Should get time to upload further updates tomorrow. Have plenty of more images to get this thread up to date.