Project: 2001 XC300 bare frame rebuild

[motogroove]

This is at least the fourth time in my life that I've torn a bike down to a bare frame. It is shameful that my nickel plated frame got to be so bad after the years. Put away wet, salt air, just plain poor storage (there's a woman or two involved in that story), the plating had gotten so bad there was no reviving it. The wisdom of the factory's change to powdercoating provided the motivation to do this job right. And so the project began.

It is out of control now, this project. And it reminds me why people just buy a new bike. But it's a labor of love. I'll dribble photos out of the project as it rolls along. I hope you enjoy.

-Dean

[Stoby]

How hard was it to strip the frame of the nickel ? my 01 is needing a redo also
Stoby

[motogroove]

Originally Posted by Stoby

How hard was it to strip the frame of the nickel ? my 01 is needing a redo also
Stoby

It was as easy as dropping the crusty frame off at the powdercoater who also does sandblasting. They did all the prep work too, for a mere $250. Another rider recently got a quote for $285, but that was a painted frame, one of those orange bikes.
I used these guys:
http://www.powdercoatingperformance.com/index.html

[Stoby]

I wasnt sure how easy it'd be to sand blast the frame of the nickel
I have a big enough blasting cabinet to fit the frame I just wondered how hard itd be to get the nickel off .Have a friend who does industrial PC. Still on the fence about taking her all apart.
Your frame looks great

[motogroove]

Originally Posted by Stoby

I wasnt sure how easy it'd be to sand blast the frame of the nickel
I have a big enough blasting cabinet to fit the frame I just wondered how hard itd be to get the nickel off .Have a friend who does industrial PC. Still on the fence about taking her all apart.
Your frame looks great

Thanks.

I'm not sure how tough it was to get off. But then, I wonder if you'd really need to remove good plating. Metal is metal as far as the powder knows. Not that I'm an expert. Your buddy would know.

As far as taking her all the way apart, Mr. Levy warned me not to do it. Because, as we know, they are tight little puzzles. I sort of had no choice. It was either this, or watch it turn to a turd. They are far too lovely to look so forlorn.

Unless you have a backup bike, I'd wait until the off season to do the full tear down, because the domino effect is amazing. Parts and services take time that could otherwise be used for riding. I'm way behind schedule on my project because I unwisely started remodelling my living room/workshop in the middle of the bike project. The new windows came in yesterday, but they might have to wait.

[GMP]

I had my '03 done and it turned out great, but there are a few things you should know.

First, the frame can trap water, from both riding and washing. There are some small vent holes in the tubing that are used as a relief when it it welded at the factory. First thing I did was scrub the frame down good with Simple Green, rinse out these areas as best as possible, and dry the frame on a heat sorce to drive out all moisture. This is important because if there is trapped moisture when the powder is baked, it will blow out these holes and ruin the coat. Make sure everything is completely degreased.

Next I removed all weld spatter with a small chisel.

Use bolts and flat washers to cover the inside motor mount and coil mount tabs so you don't have to sand the PC off later. You can remove the steering head races, but its not necessary. Block the inside of the steering head with large stoppers. These will be removed after spraying and before baking. Coaters that do frames regularly may have their own.

Finally, I let the coater sand blast and clean the frame before coating. He indicated that about half the nickel plating was in poor adhesion, and would have flaked off. What was left was sound and not worth the time to remove.

[flybars]

That frame looks great.

[Cruiser]

I am thinking about doing this on my 97.. but I really like the way the nickle looks.. the older when clean looks almost like chrome.. and with the bbr subframe it really looks good.. but mine is worn thru in so many spots it really needs a blast and powdercoat..

[motogroove]

Originally Posted by Cruiser

I am thinking about doing this on my 97.. but I really like the way the nickle looks.. the older when clean looks almost like chrome.. and with the bbr subframe it really looks good.. but mine is worn thru in so many spots it really needs a blast and powdercoat..

I seriously considered having my frame replated instead of powdercoated. The nickel plated frame sure did look awesome when it looked awesome. But I remembered how many times I'd pulled parts off the thing, muttering, just so I could polish the frame "like a Harley fag". And once it's worn through, then what? I had to stop the madness.

Incidentally,
as a result of the switch to powdercoat, I felt the need to get the frame guards. They should fit fine with maybe a trim near the master cylinder. It seems that these replace the rubber plugs that go on the swingarm bolt. But I'm not positive that there's not a special rubber plug to go under them. Need to find a picture, or get a clue from one of you.

[HenrikSchmidt]

Originally Posted by motogroove

It seems that these replace the rubber plugs that go on the swingarm bolt. But I'm not positive that there's not a special rubber plug to go under them. Need to find a picture, or get a clue from one of you.

Just took apart my 06, and the frame guards do replace the plugs, no other plugs needed than the ones already on the frame guard,

BTW Your frame look awsome, looking forward to see the bike when you're done with it..