Moto Guzzi v50ii: Refurbishment of all the bits and pieces!

Over the last couple of months I've spent time in short bursts refinishing most of the ancillary bits and pieces. Generally the process was degrease and clean; remove all loose paint and rub down smooth; apply rust converter to any rusty bits; prime and respray. I've been using Simoniz Hard Gloss or Satin Black after a recommendation from one of the Royal Enfield group members. It seems to live up to its name so far and is nice to apply.

Pictures tell a thousand words:

I removed the paint from the horribly painted tank badges and repainted them with Humbrol model paint. Not perfect, but good enough.

Various black brackets etc have been repainted.

The rear light needed a fair amount of work to get rid of scrapes before I repainted it and I also gave the front indicators (that will mount into the fairing) a clean up and repainted the bodies.

The number plate looked like it had been jumped up and down on and then holes to bolt it on made with a large screwdriver! But it's a nice pressed metal one so seems a shame to replace it.

I managed to get it near enough flat but then needed to disguise the messy mounting holes. I cut a piece of aluminium can and epoxied it onto the back behind the holes, then filled with body filler and rubbed down. I sprayed the back satin black and used a Humbrol model paint that was almst the right colour and touched up where I'd filled in.

I then found a cool "Made in Italy" sticker to cover the mess! Again, not perfect but OK for what I need and smartened it all up for the cost of a sticker and a bottle of paint.

Another pleasant afternoon's work had the rev counter bezel, clutch lever and horn looking good again.

The forks were next to get the black paint treatment. The stanchions are a little pitted and I'll probably get them rechromed at some point but they are ok for now. The forks use a sealed cartridge system so there isn't a lot of oil under pressure there to be held back by the seals, as I'm used to. I replaced the seals to be on the safe side though and refilled with oil. I'm really impressed with the quality of the various bolts used on these assemblies - they clean up very nicely.

I've bought some Kawasaki switchgear and when I tested them, the switches were pretty sticky and inconsistent in the connections they were making, so I pulled them apart and gave each of the individual contactors a good clean up and lubrication. Very fiddly work and I was constantly waiting for a spring to ping across the workshop, but all is working as it should now. The bodies cleaned up pretty nicely as well.

Keeping on the electrical theme, the coils and their mounting brackets were horribly mucky so I pulled that lot apart and gave it all a good dose of brake cleaner and wire brushing.

And pretty much the last black bits then were the brake calipers - 2 front and 1 rear. I was originally going to just repaint them assuming that all was well until I could test them connected up to the bike. But I decided that I was better to be safe and bought Brembo service kits to replace the seals and stretch bolts. Expensive but it does give me some peace of mind. I've also bought a nearly new Royal Enfield 350 brake lever and master cylinder that matches the style of the clutch lever really well, so the braking system should be well sorted now.

I've bought various bits of chromeware and most of it looked decidedly second hand. I spent pretty much a whole day applying chrome cleaner and elbow grease to it all but was really pleased with how it all came to life.

Tarnished mess: