How Important Is ‘Patina’.

[Barnaby WildeParticipant @barnabywilde70941]

I'm sort of totally out of touch with the classic bike market, but I finally found me my first restoration project.

It's a Honda C90 that has been buried at the back of a garage for 30+yrs.

Thing is, other than strip clean the carb & replace the battery it doesn't look all that bad. In fact it looks like a C90 that's done 4k 'ish miles.

I'll need to strip it down to component level to thoroughly clean it & regrease/replace any bearings, but should I be restoring it back to shinier than showroom condition?

[Barnaby WildeParticipant @barnabywilde70941]

[mike TParticipant @miket56243]

If you leave it as you found it, you will have 30 + years of genuine 'patina'.

If you want it to look like new, spring clean every thing.

If you want it to look like a restoration project, then chrome and polish everything.

Mike

[davebParticipant @daveb17630]

Antique dealers call it patina, we call it stains, dirt and corrosion. If you polish patina with a good quality wax polish, you get polished stains, dirt and corrosion. Highly educated persons of impeccable taste seem to like the effect.

Dave

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

It isn't a Brough Superior, it's a C90 – do it up so its how YOU want it to be and enjoy it, you won't be throwing away a fortune.

Neil

[Chris Evans 6Participant @chrisevans6]

Look under the seat/rear mudguard for corrosion they tend to rot through.

[Anonymous]

A "Bogseat" isn't much of a restoration project, patina is just faded plastic leg guards and iffypainted tinware just get it into a running, safe and legal state then use it as intended, not known as the best/most popular bike for nothing ,

In the 70's I ran one as a 45 mile a day commuter, for 9 months, a throttle to the stop 45 mph for 80% of the journey, 90mpg, never missed a beat, never had to adjust the enclosed chain, then the rear mudguard gave way as Chris mentions so I got rid.

[LathejackParticipant @lathejack]

Patina, used in more recent times to describe the original and sometimes damaged and decaying factory finish of old vehicles.

To some people that is important, whether for reasons of cash or historic value, or just nostalgia, nothing wrong with that.

As for your C90, if it isn't badly corroded and the original finish is mostly intact and quite good and you like the idea of a bike with its original factory applied finish then just clean it and leave it. But if you do find it is rusting badly in the usual area, or any imperfections and a less than new appearance irritates you then fully restore it.

I recently bought this 45 year old BSA. It retains all its original factory finish, including all the paintwork, and has no rust. But the once lustrous red paint on the mudguards and side panels has faded, quite badly in places. But it has a certain charm and I shall leave it, for now at least.

I quite like it as it is because it has the original finish that BSA put there all those years ago, pure nostalgia and historical value for me.

[DodParticipant @dod]

Think of how the bike would look if it was in your ownership from new ie. over 30 years use so restore it to that level UNLESS you want to have it in showroom condition and want to spend the next 30 years polishing it.

It annoys me to see to see any old machinery restored to an inch of its life, garishly painted and looking completely out of place because bikes, machinery, cars, tractors, trains etc are working lumps of stuff and should look well cared for not having every nut and washer chrome plated and each piece of brass and copper burnished like a dentists nameplate. (note the unpleasant reference)

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

I'd tidy it up mechanically, give it a quick polish and ride it. These days, so many old bikes have been restored, and over-restored, that original-paint "survivors" are getting to be worth more than the over-chromed and over-two-pack-painted restorations.

The other factor is that it costs the same to paint and chrome a 90cc tiddler as it does to do the same to a Manx Norton or Vincent. But the tiddler is never going to be worth a five- or six-figure price tag. Don't over-capitalize.

[JAParticipant @ja]

Surely a bike is for riding. Only restore it if it is too tatty or you are no longer able to ride it.

JA

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