2000 Yamaha Dragstar/V Star Bobber Conversion

Hey folks.Back in August I got my first ever motorbikes - a 2000 Yamaha Dragstar 650 Classic, and a 1983 Honda Sabre 750. The Sabre is a non-runner and next year's project, but the Yamaha ran well despite having done no miles in the last 5 years, and having been left under a car port on a farm in all of that time. Plenty of corrosion and rot to work with though...Anyway, the idea was to have the Dragstar as my "get your year's no claims bonus" bike and then sell it on, considering it only set me back £600. But after a while of riding it and putting a good 1000 miles on in just two weekends, I had fallen for it. So began the cosmetic work.First off, dealing with the rot. The front mudguard was rusted through, and the forks were corroded to hell. Plenty of work needed to get these looking good again. Several hours of cursing and several gallons of elbow grease later, the forks were looking much better. But that mudguard? It was a lost cause. It's riddled with holes and is falling apart, so I thought I'd order a replacement from Yamaha. After seeing how much it would cost, I opted instead for an alternative route.Enter Blue Collar Bobbers.Some quick Googling threw up the fact that they do a Dragstar 650 conversion kit, for the low price of - gulp £1,200. Casually spending twice what the bike cost me...Seeing some of the results on their website sold me instantly, so I ordered the full kit, and before you knew it it was filling up my living room.After waiting for some sunny days, I started on the frame rust. And boy, was there a lot of it.. Protip: surface preparation attachments for drills are great, but you can't beat the results from using an angle grinder instead.A new coat of primer and then a fresh layer of satin black paint and lacquer and the swingarm was looking good as new.The last step was to attach the self-painted front and rear mudguards, along with rewiring the rear lights, fitting the custom bobber seat, and then standing back and admiring the view.Suffice to say - I'm extremely pleased with the results.TD;DR: Bike was rusty.Made it less rusty. via /r/motorcycles https://www.reddit.com/r/motorcycles/comments/ebdsqx/2000_yamaha_dragstarv_star_bobber_conversion/?utm_source=ifttt