The KTP rebuild, dedicated to Ben.
The
image on the left (shamelessly stolen from the internet), is
a fine example of what a KTP should look like. It's there
for inspiration, and if I can get mine looking half as good
as that I'll be very pleased.
The bike in question was rescued from a scrap yard 30 odd years ago by "Ben" my father-in-law, who sadly passed away last year, I'd always shown an interest in his bikes, and when I learned that the bike was to be mine, I felt honoured that the challenge of restoring it would pass to me.
Ben used to teach motor cycle riding in the Army when based in Yeovil, and quite often used to recall those years and some of the stories of the antics they got up to. He always intended to restore the bike and get it running again, and although he used to spend many an hour scouring the bike jumble sales for parts, he never quite got round to taking on the enormous task. The bike by the looks of it had led a pretty hard life, and I guess being chucked on a scrap heap probably means that various bits are going to need some serious work. At present I have most of the major parts, most of which are in poor condition requiring major overhaul or replacement, not having stripped the bike i'ts going to be like doing a jigsaw where you've lost the cover to the box.
Having had no previous experience of bike restoration,
let alone a classic as rare as this, I
guess we'll just have to work it out as we go. My goals are
not to build something necessarily historically correct, but
to make it something I would be proud to pass onto my son, and something that
Ben would have loved to have done himself. I don't have an unlimited
budget so cost will no doubt play a part in controlling what
we can and can't achieve.
I've started to compile a list of useful resource links
which may be of some use in the future.
- 01/04/13 started to review the parts I have, click the images for larger view.
