So now that it’s home safe and sound, it is time to address any issues…
First up, this is what the decal was hiding beneath it. The good news is, it obviously didn’t go down too hard. I track the Lady owner down from all the paperwork in the file. She confirms it was a sub 20mph drop and that she was on tippy toes. It was her first bike after passing her test and her baby.
A part of the same tumble seemingly resulted in a new fairing panel however the decal is of dubious quality since the OEM ones have been unavailable for some time. This sticker simply won’t do, it’s not even close to the original in size, details or anything and has been poorly applied. The remainder of this poor quality decal kit is with the parts that came with the bike, along with the rear cowl to replace the pillion seat for that racier look.
The Chesterfield decals are notorious for UV fading. There’s a little of this in evidence around the rest of the bike. Most of the owners group swear by ‘image works’ for their RS250 decal kit as the oe ones are no longer available. A call to Graham there and a new decal kit is on it’s way.
It’s not the easiest of decals to apply, the side fairing one which is one piece on the original, is in three pieces as separate decals.
I carefully measure off from the original side to ensure that the spacings are all correct and symmetrical , and lo and behold a few hours later…
I’m very pleased with the result! The rear fairing needs attention also and will be next for some treatment…I manage to source a NOS one on Ebay to replace the grazed original;
The image works decals are duly applied to the new rear fairing.
I’m in two minds whether to replace the decals on the good side, I like the fact they are the originals, however they have some light scuffing on the red Chesterfield ‘C’ no doubt from being kickstarted and the yellow is a little faded so it’s likely that I’ll replace this side also in due course.
The tyres are the originals from 1996!! These will be requiring replacement before it’s used in anger however surprisingly they still feel soft and have no cracking evident.
I look over the rest of the bike and discover that the rear brake hose has an old piece of black gaffer tape covering a part of it. I peel it off to discover a nick in the rubber brake hose.
I called the supplying dealer up who MOT’d the bike and mentioned that they MOT’d the bike and this should be an MOT failure and I felt that it would only be correct on principle for them to at least cover the cost of a Goodrich rear hose which I would gladly fit. They apologised and kindly ordered one up straight away for me. A shiny new Goodridge hose duly arrives to match the braided front lines which will be the next job on the list…
