Project Thundercat

First topic message reminder :

evening everyone...

i figure this is the right area for a photo heavy project thread?? sorry im new to this forum and im learning as i go!

so i bought yet another thundercat a couple of months ago and it was in a pretty sorry state, so i decided to take if off the road and get it back to its former glory, perhaps dare i say it even a little better!

when i bought it the bike was covered in terrible blue paint and looked like it had spent a few weeks being dragged along the road by a digger, since the weather is shocking this summer i decided to get the bike in pieces straight away and make a start!

anyway, this is how it looked when i got it...:







as you can see, not great... and to make it worse the terrible decals were lacquered in so couldnt just be peeled off! :(

so i set about stripping the bike down and a couple of weeks later the wheels were done, powdercoated in gloss white, put them back in and took the bike to work to make a start on the panels!

much better than the polished rim rubbish they were before!



bike now at work with its wheels in, whoever painted the bike previously also painted the centres of the discs, so i had to repaint those, went for gold and they look smart now



cleaning is currently in progress while its all undressed!

just wow i want to learn how to do it

wow. beautiful mate, well done

thanks for all the comments guys, its great that people appreciate all the work thats gone into the bike so far!

heres a pics with a little of the back of the bike as none of the others show it...

now the heart breaking part, stripping it all down again, going a step further to get the frame looking as good as the bodywork!

managed to get a fair bit done this afternoon, still got a lot left to do and a lot of cleaning to do...

this is what it looked like when id finished today...

oh and ill give big respect if anyone can identify the two bikes in the background sneaking into my shot!

Have to tip my hat to you, what a fantastic quality job you have done. It looks absolutely astonishing. Must have cost a few quid but looking at the finish it is a labour of love. Really good work.

Ach.....you've made it look crap again.

I'll keep the faith that you'll get it tickety boo in no time though

As for the bikes....no idea

I'll guess the manufacturers though - Yam and Suzuki.

MevsyD wrote:Have to tip my hat to you, what a fantastic quality job you have done. It looks absolutely astonishing. Must have cost a few quid but looking at the finish it is a labour of love. Really good work.

yeah its definitely a labour of love, it worries me too much to add up what ive spent on it so far, the little things add up quickly, it stands me close to £3000 so far...

Rosco wrote:Ach.....you've made it look crap again.

I'll keep the faith that you'll get it tickety boo in no time though

its a means to an end, give it a few weeks, ive booked a week off in feb to hopefully get it finished! the girlfriend is off at the same time though and im sure she will come up with other plans for my time and money!

Rosco wrote:As for the bikes....no idea

I'll guess the manufacturers though - Yam and Suzuki.

yes and no.

£3000?? Wow!!

Looks stunning, well done for persevering.

Yeh sorry meant mirrors with indicators lol. Oh right, myt have to look into getting a pair and i would prob do the same, cant stand that cheap carbon effect. Why oh why people think it looks good is behond me. As for your bike, that is without a doubt the best looking Thundercat iv ever seen, should be proud of what ya have done there

Bikerchris wrote:Yeh sorry meant mirrors with indicators lol. Oh right, myt have to look into getting a pair and i would prob do the same, cant stand that cheap carbon effect. Why oh why people think it looks good is behond me. As for your bike, that is without a doubt the best looking Thundercat iv ever seen, should be proud of what ya have done there

Have you seen mine?

haha, no pics please???

Rosco wrote:

Bikerchris wrote:Yeh sorry meant mirrors with indicators lol. Oh right, myt have to look into getting a pair and i would prob do the same, cant stand that cheap carbon effect. Why oh why people think it looks good is behond me. As for your bike, that is without a doubt the best looking Thundercat iv ever seen, should be proud of what ya have done there

Have you seen mine?

Now there's an offer you can't refuse!!!

ellie wrote:

Rosco wrote:

Bikerchris wrote:Yeh sorry meant mirrors with indicators lol. Oh right, myt have to look into getting a pair and i would prob do the same, cant stand that cheap carbon effect. Why oh why people think it looks good is behond me. As for your bike, that is without a doubt the best looking Thundercat iv ever seen, should be proud of what ya have done there

Have you seen mine?

Now there's an offer you can't refuse!!!

Watch me!

Managed to get the whole lot stripped down and sent the frame off to the blasters on Friday, fingers crossed it should be back a week on Tuesday so I can start bolting it all back together.

in the mean time I can get busy making all the bits look like new! Talk about a deep clean!

can you point me in the direction of where you got the bar ends from?? would look good on my cat as will match the paintwork. cheers

Kwak z750/1000 at a guess? Bike looks awesome puts my cat to shame, may get some powder coating done now though thanks to inspiration :-)

got some good yesterday, my frame is all done and ready to be collected, hopefully it will be back on site tuesday and i can start bolting bits back onto it!

in the mean time i got some more good news, i was offered a low mileage engine from a dealer who has decided not to re assemble a bike! yay me!! so ive taken the engine off his hands and its going to replace the one that came with the cat as its done less than half the miles, he even gave me the MOT to verify the mileage!

so i got that and started pulling parts off it to make them look lovely and new....

this is where im at so far...

sprocket cover taken off and painted



took the clutch and starter covers off and masked them up ready for paint





ive also rubbed them down and blasted them ready for paint so fingers crossed i should be able to get them back on and get the engine in the frame soon... i also stopped by the bike shop and collected a few genuine yamaha gaskets at great cost!

Bikerchris wrote:can you point me in the direction of where you got the bar ends from?? would look good on my cat as will match the paintwork. cheers

they were from a company called oberon performance, but i think they were end of the line or something as they no longer sell them, since i havent ridden the bike with them on i cant say how good they are, but they weigh around 1/4 what the yamaha ones weigh so theres a good chance there will be a lot of vibration and some white fingers!

portadowntcat wrote:Kwak z750/1000 at a guess? Bike looks awesome puts my cat to shame, may get some powder coating done now though thanks to inspiration :-)

its not a kwak sorry.... think more European....

and powdercoating for the win, i think the powdercoaters have seen far too much of my money for bits of this bike! but the rearsets and rear hangers/pegs gear link and selector and brake made a huge difference and well worth the money and blisters pulling the rubber pads off!!

well ive had a busy few weeks but have managed to squeeze a little work in on the thundercat....

got the frame back from the powdercoaters then decided i wanted the swing arm doing after all instead of having it painted, so i sent that off and got it back on tuesday, i have to say the finish is outstanding, it really is looking like a new bike already!

i thought i had taken some pics of the frame before i started rebuilding it but i cant find them so this is how its getting on...

so i swapped all the bits over from my engine onto the new one, nothing exciting and looks a little bit of a mess in the pics but its an organised mess!



then i started putting it back into the sexy new frame!







the undertray looked all horrid so i spent ages with a cloth giving it a nice clean, looks like new now!

then i made a start rebuilding the swing arm, when the needle rollers were removed they were ceased and of no use.... £60 later and i have all new genuine yamaha bearings and new dust covers... then i took a closer look at the spindle and that had groves caused by the ceased bearings, so another £45 later and i have a brand new shiny swing arm spindle!



bearings, spindle and covers installed, also shown at the bottom are the old covers, spot the difference! :S



then i managed to get the front end back together and installed, cleaned it all up as i went along and all went together without problems...



also decided to polish the top yoke as it was looking quite 'used' doesn't look great in the pic as it was in a shadow, but it is shiny!



oh and i filled another draw in the tool chest with proper tools...

ah i forgot to mention that i also jazzed up the tired engine casings and fitted new gaskets...





they look loads better now!!

The more I read of this thread the more I want to go out and get myself a project. I just don't have the time to commit and I know I'd either end up doing a half arsed job or it would end up a pile of bits half done collecting dust.

So I'll just have to settle for reading about your adventures, keep it up its a joy to see the progress and the fruits of your hard work, well done indeed

so its been a busy month or so, not had anywhere near enough time to spend on the cat as i would have liked :(

that said i have managed to get a little bit done, managed to get all the wiring in place along with the headlight brace and air box and pipework...





i have also extended the wiring for the hid light so it doesnt all have to be crammed into the top fairing, its now neatly under the seat so fingers crossed that will still function properly! :S

then i decided i had a few mins to bolt a few panels on so this is pretty much how it looks at the min...







so not too much left to do now, im aiming for completion in mid April hopefully in time for some sun! just ordered a few more little bits and bobs for it, i cant wait to see it all together myself!

No doubt that is a stunning job... I've watched this from the start and I tip my hat geezer... Fantastic.

another busy few weeks have passed but i finally managed to get some time on the bike over the past week... started by fitting the top fairing, all lined up and fit back together without issue!



the hid wiring was a little bit of a headache but all went together well in the end, now all the electronic witchcraft is tucked away under the seat and it doesnt interfere with the tacho like it did when it was behind the light!

then it was time to suit up fully... on went the sides! again was a easy fit, so i must have lined everything up on the frame properly



infill panels and v piece were fitted which was a little more tricky but nothing abnormal, all fits nicely



almost there now!