NaTalie's Rehab Has Begun

They look great, very glossy. I have decided to get some black reflective tape or stickers for my black bike.
I have had white reflective tape around the edge of the number plate for a long time. Our number plates have a white background so it is not noticeable at a glance in the daylight but stands out under lights.

Macka
 
looks like Natalie has changed her name to "little monster". ALL the different bikes I have had, I never thought of naming ANY bike, until I met the NT forum. most everybody has a bike name. so that prompted me to name my Spyder...................bUrp. just add the "U" (you), brp for manufacturer of the Spyder's.

guess I'll name my red NT, NT #2 , "2nd Chance"
 
Woodaddict said:
looks like Natalie has changed her name to "little monster". ALL the different bikes I have had, I never thought of naming ANY bike, until I met the NT forum. most everybody has a bike name. so that prompted me to name my Spyder...................bUrp. just add the "U" (you), brp for manufacturer of the Spyder's.

guess I'll name my red NT, NT #2 , "2nd Chance"
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No, that’s not NaTalie’s new name, just the theme. Those are actually scuff guards that I found. Those here the best of the group in that style that were available. The other choices were either lame or didn’t go along with where I wanted to go with the theme.

The other graphic would’ve tied it all together. However, seller is sending them snail mail from a non disclosed location. The estimates that eBay is giving me that they’re be here by next Thursday or later. 🤷‍♂️

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Tonight's Activities:

  • Installed the center that Rusty Iron had donated to the cause. Installation required the removal of the muffler to able to remove the pivot pin.
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  • Installed the replacement pannier covers. They look really sharp on the bike. I also transferred my external latches. I did a much better job this time around with the installation.
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I got NaTalie on her way to about 80%of her new look. All I can do that this point is to wait for those final items to arrive.

In the meantime, I will probably ride her into the office again sometime next week when I have to go in next. 😎
 
I got a little surprise in the mail today. The graphics from eBay came in today. I was excited to see what the look like in person.

I applied them posthaste. I greatly pleased how they tie in and bring everything together nicely for the pannier covers.

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There are a couple scars that still need to be addressed. I hope that I can get those addressed sometime during next week or so. Then I think I can present her to you all. Stay tune for further details.
 
Phil Tarman said:
Stranger and stranger!
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How so? It’s a matter of prospective.

The insurance company wrote NaTalie off as dead totaling her out. I have basically reanimated her into something different like Dr. Frankenstein. NaTalie is not that much different than the Bride of Frankenstein or a zombie from that prospective. Thus the monster theme inspired by the use of parts from dead bikes. Not all monsters are ugly or terrifying, just different than the average.

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I hope that helps clear up some of the confusion that you might have been having regarding my build and the way I went with it.
 
flying skulls and angry eyes on a bike named for a French seaside resort. 🤣

 
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NewTo700V said:
flying skulls and angry eyes on a bike named for a French seaside resort. 🤣

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That was a different era. Seemed that everyone rode a small motorcycle back in the 1960s. I meet so many people over the years that rode Honda clubs and an assortment of trail bikes.

My first bike was a S90 like the college student was riding in the video. It was a great little bike. It was nearly indestructible. I used to ride mine through the dessert, sometimes making my own roads.

My question is what changed in the 1970s? The masses moved away from riding motorcycles. I’m guessing those kids grew up, started working, and had a family. Motorcycles for the most part didn’t fit into their lives anymore. Also motorcycles got a lot of bad wrap from movies depicting motorcycle riders as trouble makers and outlaws during the late 60s into the mid 70s as well.
 
Brillot2000 said:
That was a different era...
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Sure, but at no point since did Honda develop as a "badass" brand. Imagine coming across a Goldwing Aspencade covered in tribal graphics, Punisher skulls, and get-back whips. I would find that hilarious and mildly confusing. I would be even more surprised to learn the owner likes it unironically.

The NT looks like a BMW touring rig for crying out loud. Nothing about the Deauville screams bad dude 'tude. :LOL:
 
NewTo700V said:
Sure, but at no point since did Honda develop as a "badass" brand. Imagine coming across a Goldwing Aspencade covered in tribal graphics, Punisher skulls, and get-back whips. I would find that hilarious and mildly confusing. I would be even more surprised to learn the owner likes it unironically.

The NT looks like a BMW touring rig for crying out loud. Nothing about the Deauville screams bad dude 'tude. :LOL:
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You are missing the point of the theme. "BADASS" or "BAD 'TUDE" was not where I was headed with this at all.

NaTalie is now a "ZOMBIE" that's were the theme I had in mind. It was either that or go for the "Grunge Look", everything covered in black primer with obscene graphics and subject matter.

Megas, my dual-sport is also a zombie. Reanimated from the dead more than 2 different bikes.

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Brillot2000 said:
My question is what changed in the 1970s?
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I would say a lot.
Things change very quickly. An average person's life is way different than in the 70's. I am often thinking back how much is changed. I guess that is part of me getting older and reminiscing. Bike specifically huge changes happened also. The manufacturers learned a lot through that time and bikes got better and more reliable. I don't know what happened, maybe the "new" of bikes wore off, maybe we just got too lazy to get out of our air conditioned cars and on 2 wheels in fresh air. Of course also remember that "fresh air is sometimes filled with smoke, cold, or sometimes wet.

Brad
 
ARKNT said:
I would say a lot.
Things change very quickly. An average person's life is way different than in the 70's. I am often thinking back how much is changed. I guess that is part of me getting older and reminiscing. Bike specifically huge changes happened also. The manufacturers learned a lot through that time and bikes got better and more reliable. I don't know what happened, maybe the "new" of bikes wore off, maybe we just got too lazy to get out of our air conditioned cars and on 2 wheels in fresh air. Of course also remember that "fresh air is sometimes filled with smoke, cold, or sometimes wet.

Brad
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You had air conditioning back in the 1970s?

My father never owned a car with air conditioning when I was growing up. However, my grandparents did. I remember a time I was shadowing my granddad. I watched him put a can of R12 into his 1965 Chrysler Newport. That had to be 1977 or 1978. It was either 455 or 255 for our air conditioning in the family car. 4 or 2 windows at 55 mph.

The 1977 Plymouth Volaré my father had to be the worst car from my perspective. It was gutless with a 225 slant six. He used to tow a 15’ travel trailer with it. It made all our trips Interesting, to say the least. My father didn’t get air conditioning until he bought a new 1998 Neon.
 
Latest Update:

I addressed the 2 outstanding scares that needed to be addressed. Retracting the left wind deflector and the top box trim valence.

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NaTalie is about 90% complete now. By the time I finished the ambient lighting not very good to take decent images. I think I am getting close to revealing the new and improved NaTalie to you all.
 
I received the good news from eBay saying that my Hepco & Becker crash bars will be possibly delivered tomorrow. I cannot wait to see what they look like. So the reveal will be postponed until I get these installed.

In other news, I have started to compile all the cost of NaTalie’s Rehab.

Here’s how the numbers are looking like.

Parts:
$790 - eBay Parts
$252 - Dealer Parts
$163 - NT Forum Parts
$1,205 - Total

About where I thought I’d be at. More less.

Improvements:
$88 - Graphic
$400 - Upgrades (Crashbar)
TBD - Miscellaneous

All together nearly $1,700 at this moment. Not too shabby considering that was my initial estimates to replace all the damaged Silver bodywork with all new dealer parts. Even if I spend an additional $300, that would be only half of what I received from the insurance company. No corners cut, quality was always paramount during this entire build. I’d call that a complete success.
 
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