Misc: Everything Else Complete Restoration of a Black Shadow

greg brillus

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Unfortunately it is all a compromise........I try to go to as much detail as I can, but you can only go so far, unless you want to spend massive amounts of time which most of us don't have........ I spend countless hours of my own time trying to research things for the benefit of my customers bikes.......I do enjoy it, but it is tiresome and no matter how far you go, I don't believe they ever really understand the effort involved especially where it is ultimately an investment and part of a collection........That pretty much sums up restoration full stop.......That is why so many restoration shops go broke.........So hard to manage the time spent verses the cost you can charge out. People always tell me the parts are so expensive.........I tell them.......No in fact they actually are not.......But collectively they are. Most Shadows I have restored have cost about $25,000 in costs alone not including labor.
 

Magnetoman

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That is why so many restoration shops go broke.........So hard to manage the time spent verses the cost you can charge out.
That's where I have an advantage, because I'm retired and don't have to make a living doing this work. I do it for enjoyment. I enjoy the time spent researching as well as the time working on the bikes. No one would want to pay for the number of hours that go into one of my restorations.
 

TouringGodet

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The original paint on the cases was quite amazing. I have not seen modern paints that have the same look as the original finish.
 

TouringGodet

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No longer 100% original, but still largely unrestored. The thread in the seat cover lasted about 50 years. The cover itself is not too bad. The original Dunlapillo seat foam is still pliant and just now starting to get crumbly on the edge. All cables but the clutch cable are original. I have a NOS cable from Somer Hooker that I need to fit. Yes, this bike, built very late in 1952, came with solid Bowden levers. The brake lever, my father loaned to someone way way back, and of course, they never returned/replaced it. I have a Michael Breeding solid lever, but not fitted. When we put my fathers Shadow back together in the early 80’s, the only wiring I could salvage was the wires to the Speedo bulbs. I have heard that Rhode Island Wire makes a good harness, courtesy leg work from David Dunfey, I believe. The kick start rubber is a natural rubber John Bull, I think it will outlive me. Lots of little bits were chromed by my father back in the day. Original clutch would oil up when we first put it back together, but once we placed an o ring behind the nut, just smashed in there, no special machining, and non setting Permatex on the splines, it had been flawless for decades, now the o ring has hardened and is letting oil by. A lot of the mileage in the 80’s was done with Specialloid pistons, until I burned a hole in one while chasing a Porsche up a grade in the 90’s, now it has the Kemp Omegas. My father put about 17k miles on it before he took it apart in the late 50’s. I think the speedo indicates 27k now, but I stopped replacing broken cables way back. I estimate it has about 40-50k miles total. My father tore it down after an engine seizure, and had the big end replaced with an Alpha back then, but got married and family duties soon after got in the way of putting it back on the road, until Bill Easter told us about the 1980 Bass Lake rally. I was of college age, got the Vincent bug, and we pulled the bits out of the depths of the garage. It was back on the road just in time for the 1982 Shadow Lake rally. No other major engine work, I think one other piston/liner work, and a valve job. The gearbox does have an issue, won’t shift into third or fourth, crapped out on the way home (to Ireland at that time) from the Italy International in 2017.

Photo album

 

greg brillus

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Nice original bike there Steve......They are around, and the ones that didn't get used too much survive and are in generally good overall condition.........I can generally pick a well used machine by how worn the gearshift mechanism is in the kickstart cover.........some of them have had terrible lives, mistreated and abused. Looks like your right side forward tank bolt is missing.......The gearbox should be looked at, it might be a loose selector fork pin........ I might have as spare one of those Bowden levers you are missing if you need one.
 

TouringGodet

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Yeah, the tank bolt, put a helicoil in there, and that stripped out too after a couple of years. Thanks for the offer of a lever, I have a correct post, and a repro lever.
 
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Robert Watson

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Here is what I did to a seriously stripped out pair of tank mounts. That is a big OD (I can't recall what size) bolt drilled and tapped 5/16 BSF for the tank bolt. The original face is counterbored so the it all ends up in the same place. A drop of loctite holds the big bolt in place and then back to using the correct tank mount bolts. I think you could do this in place with some home made tooling but a lot easier to mount it in the mill!

If I knew how to crop the pic and blow it up you could see it better..... (Cropped pic inserted below main picture. BigEd)

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TouringGodet

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I was wondering about welding in some sort of insert, with the standard thread on the inside, but that looks like a nice solution.

I remember that magazine center spread, in the background.
 

Robert Watson

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And another. Not a Shadow but I was owner number 2. It was very unmolested and had about 22k original miles on it, from 1947. The original owner told me he had dropped it in the early 50's and just bought a new tank. I put the Neal Videan crash bars and air cleaners on it. Sold it looking at another project which in the end did not materialize........ :(

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