Hello everyone thought I would start my 916 restoration project thread off. So to begin it’s a 1994 916 Strada built in Varese after the fire in Bolonga so ether the holy grail or absolute heresy depending on who you ask. The bike is currently rough as a badgers tadger cosmetically and on 26k miles much higher mileage than I would like but for the price I paid it was an absolute steal for a 1994. The bike is complete baring an original cajiva stamped screen and original faring rivets which I have already sourced from a member on here. I have reams of paperwork including the original bill of sale and dealers acceptance paperwork. So the restoration is going to be a full back to frame job as the bike needs completely repainted frame, engine, fairings the lot. but it has been maintained faultlessly mechanically by the previous owner. I even managed to track down the original owner who was delighted to find out the bike was still around and was thrilled with my intention to restore her and he was kind enough you send me some photos of the bike from back when it was new including one of it as his Christmas tree lol. So I will keep this thread updated as I go. This is the current progress after a couple hours work with my brother tonight
So made some decent progress today really hope to have the bike totally disassembled today but have given up for today after encountering the dreaded stuck swing arm bolt . The engine is ready to drop as soon as we can get the bolt out. Also finding more and more cajiva stamps as we go not sure what is unique to the 94 Strada and what’s on all of them
Big progress this afternoon finally got the stuck swing arm bolt to move after a week of soaking with WURTH creep oil and use of my new stainless steel drift. As soon as we got the bolt to start moving backwards and forward a few mm’s it finally let go and slid out no problem with zero damage to my great relief. Which then allowed us to get the swing arm and engine out so now I am looking for a top yoke nut key to finally finish stripping everything down then it’s onto the tedious process of cleaning everything up before shipping parts out for plating and painting
Good stuff - always great to see another Strada being saved - I'm going to enjoy following this thread. Were you aware that the Strada's shipped with Showa rear shocks? - Are you going for a purist "as shipped" restoration, or counting the Ohlins as a reasonable period upgrade? I have left Showa on mine, but made a concession on the front discs and have full floaters installed. Mike
I haven’t 100% made my mind up on the shock yet but think I am going to stick with the Öhlins as it’s been on the bike longer that the Showa ever was so it’s part of its history. I also don’t have the original so I think it’s the better option. Do you have any recommendations on what paint to use for doing the engine? as I plan on painting it myself
I was lucky a few years back and found a NOS showa shock on ebay IT (the original showa unit on mine wasn't in terrible condition, but nice to rid it of stonechips and suchlike. I've only had to paint one engine, and that was an 851, with a black engine - my 916 (photos here) didn't need much of a resto at all. Be very careful that you're selecting paint/laquer that is petrol resistant. I learnt the hard way. I've seen write ups suggesting that hammerite silver with a petrol resistant laquer works well, but that wouldn't be the same finish.
Your bike looks lovely mike it’s hard to tell from the photos do your fairings still have the original flat head rivets or have you changed to the later 4mm torques style ones?
I've got 4mm torx on mine, I'm aware of the original single-use rivets that were used on these bikes, they were generally swapped out by owners when one was lost, and the parts were discontinued. I haven't really spent any time looking into sourcing them, though I noted your reference to them in your opening post - I'd be interested in hearing more - drop me a PM if you can.
