Right Trinity's in bits so what now?

Mid December and I've stripped my first ever bike into 100's of pieces.

The plan, get the frame and brackets (all 28 of them) powder coated black.
Have the wheels resprayed same colour purple, fit new tyres.
Clean up the engine, clean up the Ohlins rear shock, replace the broken fairings, selling off all surplus kit as I go along. Fit Stubbie Pazzo's, New Stainless Headers, Wavy Disc's & put her back together. Simple!

In my Dreams!

Getting the frame & brackets powder coated black was not a problem, well it would not have been if I had stuck to Plan A. Mark a Vanden Powder Coatings Ltd. 79 Manchester Road Westhoughton Bolton Lancashire BL5 3QD quoted me £120 for the lot which was a great price so off I pootled in the van to drop the lot off.  28 assorted brackets, Frame and Swingarm. All bearings removed by yours truly.

So I dropped this lot off & asked if they could colour match the wheel

"No" was the reply so I drove away with the wheels.

I called in to speak to Scott at Allbikes in Rochdale to see if he could point me in the right direction to get the wheels powder coated. "There's only one place to take them, Triple-S in Bingley" was his reply.

A quick search on the net flagged them up, followed up by a call and I made arrangements to drop the wheels off the following morning.

Arriving bright and early I met Andy for the first time, what a star. They could not match the colour but showed me a sample of a deep Metallic Purple on his display board. Perfect I thought, "you know what could you do the frame,sub-frame and swing arm too?" "Not a problem" I called Mark at Vandems there and then "Have you done the frame and swing arm yet Mark?" No came the reply. "Don't I'm on my way to collect them" and off I popped to fetch them. Grinning from ear to ear.

I collected the brackets a couple of days later and was charged £90

It took Andy a couple of weeks to powder coat the frame, sub-frame, swing arm, front fairing bracket & the rear brake torsion bar.

My Christmas Present to myself what a Fantastic finish.

It looks a different colour every time I look at it.

http://www.triple-s.co.uk/

That was it! The flood gates opened and Trinity just took on a life of her own. Next I was off to Kais in Atherton to get the rear Ohlins Shock refurbished as it had been fitted years ago and was looking very sad.

Not any more. It looks like new thanks to Nick.

http://www.kais-performance.com/

For some strange reason I chose to sell all the broken panels from Trinity and found to my shock that buying new ones would cost me over £2000. £580 plus vat for the nose cone alone. So it was back to trusty old http://www.ebay.co.uk/ to source a  bike with good pannels. £900 later I had the lot on a ZXR750 L2 with L3 pannels.

I removed every fairing panel, the tank, forks and wheels.

Sorry Micheal for destroying your pride and joy.

Since the panels were all the wrong colour schema for the Trinity I contacted Dream Machine in Long Eaton and got the ball rolling mid way through January as it is a three month job to get them sprayed.

All panels were lovingly bubble wrapped ready for the drive down.

I then spent an hour and a half with Darren getting every panel labled up ready for spraying.

You would be supprised at the number of changes in the paint design from L1 to L3

http://www.dream-machine.co.uk/

The black bike was re-assembled using spare parts from Trinity and another L3 which I bought just to strip and sell, as I was having a ball. Sadly after listing fees and final sale commission I only mad £100 but it was fun at the time. In the end the full fairing, tank, forks and wheels did not cost me a penny. Just as well as the respray is costing mega bucks.











Trinity Stripped Bare

Well the initial plan was to just strip Trinity down, clean her up and put her back together again.............

Ye Right! As if that was ever going to happen.

So within days of her arriving home I set to work stripping her down to the bare bones.

Trying to charge the battery proved a waste of time as  it was leaking. Great start.

Taking off the easy bits revealed the amount of work needed to get Trinity looking like new again......... A LOT!!!

Everything had to come off & I mean everything.

Job's a Good'en!

Job Done! Spot my Mum keeping an eye on things

"Love & Miss you Mum x x x"

Well that was easier than I thought, jut hope it goes back together as easy.

Trinity's History

Trinity was first registered on 15^th April 1993, sold to Martin P by R.A Wilson Motorcycles of Boston in Lincolnshire. Trinity was originally put on a private J registration plate with the owner’s initials MTP making up the rest.

Pre-Delivery Inspection was completed by R. A. Wilson’s with the first service being completed at 580 miles followed another in the October the same year with just 2951 miles on the clock.

The second owner Andrew G of Saffron Walden in Essex took over ownership in May 1994 so I presume the registration changed to its current K registration number at this time.

One further service book stamp shows a service was completed at John Pease Motorcycles in Braintree Essex in May of 94 with 4846 miles, average usage being just 373 miles a month. Not bad to say I did twice that this weekend! Sadly that is where the original Service Record Book stops.

Luckily she came with almost every single MOT certificate showing that Trinity’s use decreased significantly between 1996 & 2008 under the ownership of Paul H.

The first MOT dated 27^th March 1996 shows the millage at 11854, 1997 – 13679, 1998 – 14067, 1999 – 14241, 2000 – 14543, 2001 – 14673, 2002 – 14800, 2003 is missing so may have been SORN but the 2004 MOT shows mileage at 14908, 2005 – 14978, Seven of these MOT’s where carried out as the same Vehicle Testing Station, Continental Motorcycles, Goldsworth Road of Woking in Surrey which later became Woking Yamaha Centre.

Again there is a gap in the MOT Test Certificates from March 2006 until 2008 when Trinity passed the MOT in May 2008 with 15250 miles on the clock at Fletcher Auto’s still in Woking at this time. I spoke to Kevin Fletcher the owner who remembered both Trinity and Paul who was a 6 foot 4 gentleman. Kevin was able to tell that Trinity had needed a replacement alternator which Paul brought in for them to fit along with a new battery as the bike was stood so long the alternator had burnt out trying to charge it the useless battery.

Shortly after this MOT and service Trinity was bought by someone who I cannot trace but one who could have only owned her for a very short time. There are no receipts or invoices for this period of 6 – 12 months.

Simon T of Salisbury then bought and sold her within 6 months to John M in 2009 with 17507 miles on the clock. Her last took place in May 2010 when Trinity had covered just 18476 miles. I bought her in November 2010 from John M with 18564 miles on showing John M had covered a mere 88 miles in 7 months but who had managed to be knocked off whilst sat a waiting to turn right at a junction. The driver drove straight into him as they set off from the junction. Trinity’s fairings were all broken in the accident which normally would result in a total write-off however John M “did a deal” with the insurance to prevent her from being written off.

Taking a closer look at the receipts I have it is clear that Trinity has had her ups & downs in the last couple of years with an MOT failure and a near scrap experience. In 2009 the rear roller brake test showed slight fluctuation in brake effort, rear suspension bush has slight play & alloy brake hose fittings fitted. Then in 2010 she failed the MOT due to rear suspension bearing having excess free play. The problems were spotted whilst Trinity was going through the MOT at Dynomite Performance Motorcycles, Boscombe in Bournemouth. It’s reassuring to know the work was completed as I bought Trinity with a valid MOT which runs until 29th May 2011.

To my surprise she came complete with a beautiful Ohlins Rear Shock absorber which was bought in May 1995 with 9666 miles on the clock. It was fitted by MSS Motorcycles of Chelmsford in Essex for the princely sum of £378.51. Fitting costs were £50 for Labour, oh to bring back the 90’s total bill £507.61

To buy the same unit today would cost £865 plus VAT at 20% plus labour at £50 an hour if you are lucky. I paid almost its original value to have the unit fully re-built by Kais in Atherton in Lancashire but worth every penny.

1996 Saw the bike Datatag’ed by Paul H and this was later transferred to Simon T in 2008 when he bought her.

Other bits and bats fitted included a K&N Air filter £29.99 & a Remus Carbon Road Can costing £85 in November 2008 bought at Motorpike (spelt right) Ltd Loughborough in Leicestershire even though the owner at that time Simon lived in Salisbury, Wiltshire.

There are 7 former keepers on the log book all of which I intend tracing and contacting re Trinity’s Re-build. At this time one name is missing but I have made a number of phone calls to MOT testing stations and numbers on invoices to trace all the owners in order to get a photo of them all for this document. Sadly to date none have been in touch! Another pipe dream shattered.

The owners to date were:-

1) Martin T. P of Old Harlow – 1993 (From New)

2) Andrew G of Saffor Waldren – 1994 (4846 miles)

3) Neil V of Wickford – 1995 (9666 miles) spoke to lady who bought house from Neil, her husband may know where he is & will call me if he does

4) Paul H of Farnborough – 1996 to 2008 (11854 to 15250 miles) spoke to Mick at garage he worked at who will try and contact Paul - Update I now have Paul's number & will contact him soon.

5) ? – 2008

6) Simon T of Salisbury - Oct 2008 (15500 miles)

7) John M of Bournmouth – Dec 2008 (17507 miles)

8) Me! – Nov 1010 (18564 miles)

And that folks as they say is that!

To be continued........................................................

"Trinity"...........In the beginning there was just a Kawasaki ZXR750 L1 1993

Why "Trinity"?

Why an 18 year old Kawasaki ZXR750 L1?

The first answer is easy. Have you seeen the film "The Matrix" then you now know who the bike is named after. Trinity is just amazing on that Ducati 996. So that's how she got her name "Trinity".

Why buy an 18 year old Kawasaki ZXR750 L1 is even more simple. I bought a brand new one back in 1993 whilst I was based in Germany and loved every minute of owning her. She was just amazing! Fast did not even come close, that thing flew, the road holding was not for the faint hearted but once you learned to trust her she just did the rest. Corners were a dream but God help you if you didn't commit 100% because she would bite your ass and spit you off in the blink of an eye.

I have very fond memories of blasting around Europe. Riding back and forward from Germany to England or more precise Rinteln to Chesterfield. With nothing more than the leathers I stood up in, wallet, passport, and a small rucksack with jeans, Fred Perry, socks, grollies & Gazelle's in.  Who gave a damn about AA cover, puncture repair kit & on & on. Just throw your kit in your "ruckie" fill her up and hope there would be a ferry waiting at Callais. Oh to be 30 again!

Well that pritty much sum's up most things.

So after trawling ebay for months on end & looking at numerous "Shed's" late in October 2010 "Trinity" appeared. A 1993 Kawasaki ZXR 750 L1 with 18,564 miles on the clock for £1,200 advertised as mint. After an email negotiartion we settled on £1000. So I got up at 1.00am in the morning to drive down from Rochdale to Bournmouth on the south coast arriving at 6.00am . I called the owner and picked her up at 7.00am

A quick scan of Trinity made me cringe, bearing in mind the last one I looked at had just rolled off the production line. The forks were pitted, the brakes binding, battery flat and every pannel on the bike was cracked or scratched all bar the off side front fairing. What had I bought.

A true project in every sence of the word & so "Trinity" was born!