So I've had the recent urge to start another restoration / cleanup project, and found this 1999 Hornet on eBay, and after some bidding wars - won it! I had a Hornet 2007 a while ago and missed it, and thought what better than to take an old hornet and restore it back to former glory. I have previously restore an old 125 Suzuki Maurauder but this time wanted to work on a bigger bike. This is the first time I had bought a bike without first seeing it, so really no idea what to expect as to it's condition. The bike was over 120 miles away, so time to hire a van and go and pick up this thing...
Yeah so that's an old projector screen I'm now using as a bike ramp - supported with axle stands to stop it bending.
At first glance the bike looks pretty good! However it's only on closer inspection I start to see the many issues with it. Firstly, it does start but makes a nasty sound - my first though was that the cam chain was loose and slapping into the casing or something else, but there was also another noise that sounded like it was coming from the exhaust headers, like the headers had a leak - so yup they've got to come off. I initially didn't want to have to take out the engine, and my plan was to work on small pieces of the bike at a time - then put it back, work on another piece then put it back - then at least that way the bike was always whole at any point other than the part I was working on.
It's had some upgrades - most notably an Ohlins rear shock which has me quite excited! The shock probably needs a service, but there are lots of forums out there talking about how the Hornets standard suspection is pretty rubbish, and I certainly remember that from having my 2007 model. Renthal handle bars have also been installed as well as a carbon look rear hugger. However the brake light doesn't work, clutch cable seems partially seized, and there's quite a few spots of rust forming around different places.
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