Presenting…

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am proud to present, the new Alonso.

It’s really difficult to get a good picture of his true colour, which is much more green than these are letting on. In any case, he is done. Repainted, and put back together. I haven’t taken him out for a spin yet, but I’m happy. Aside from having to remove the rear wheel and put it back on three times (my own damn stupidity), the reassembly went quite well.

I did decide on what to do for the head badge. I painted all the relief black. With nail polish. I then gave it a couple good clear coats, so hopefully it will stand the test of time.

I had a little bit of funky stuff go on with the paint job in one place, hopefully that doesn’t cause problems down the line. I made sure it got a good coast of clear coat (can’t you fix the world with Duck Tape and clear coat?). It’s not paper-y like it’s about to flake off, it’s just crackled. Weird.

The difference between sanded and un-sanded.

I also gave my fenders a one (twice, and in some cases thrice) over with some sandpaper to get rid of corrosion. They too got clear coated.

After a night and part of the day to dry, I put him all back together to find that while I had thought he was turning into a she, he is indeed still a he. Alonso is here to stay.

I also changed out the old rear reflector which was faded, and probably not the best quality anymore with one I had bought a while back when I needed to put a white one on the front. I figured that I already had one on the back, why replace it. I kept it though (why throw it away, it’s a perfectly good reflector).

Now I just need some really nice weather so I can go for a long ride. Happy times.

-Cheers folks!