I've had vintage 2 stroke bikes, 80's cruiser bikes, and starting from last year, a 1987 Yamaha FZ700. This one was the tarriff beater, destroked from 750 to 700, and the first year for the full fairings. 18" rear wheel, 16" front wheel, 5 valves per cylinder and 94hp at 9400rpm, 60ft/lbs at 8,000rpm. High miles, stripped fairings/fender, and everything covered in flat black spray paint. I found what they look like in stock trim and fell in love with it. Fast forward a year later and I'm almost there.
The night I bought it:
I noticed some red peeking through the black on the top of the tank. I took some gas on a rag and started wiping. I found the original paint underneath.
A short while later I acquired original tail fairings and the other half of the front fender. The headlight fairing was sanded down and sprayed with a white base/clear. It took about a year to track down an original side fairing that wasn't either the wrong color, spray painted, or broke in pieces. Unfortunately I could not find a left side.
After browsing craigslist I was able to track down a guy selling complete sets from his collection. He also had the hand deflectors that are also very hard to find. The fairings were an original yamaha part, but did not have the paint or decals on them. I suppose they were a replacement item back in the day. I used an online vinyl lettering place print me some decals to add to the new fairings. Its almost there.
Anyone else have a treasure that started from trash?
