Baby's come home!!!!! - 1994 Kona Kilauea

Re: Baby's come home!!!!! (1994 Kona Kilauea) FINISHED p5

Another vote here. There are some cracking bikes there and if not for yours then I'd have got for the purpled up Hei Hei or Xizang but yours is the one closest to what I'd build right now given a clean sheet.
 
Re: Baby's come home!!!!! (1994 Kona Kilauea) FINISHED p5

Can only echo what everyone else has said...

...really good thread about a very nice bike :cool:
 
Re: Baby's come home!!!!! (1994 Kona Kilauea) FINISHED p5

+1, you deserve it. the job and the story are awesome. and it's my beloved frame too ;)
 
Re: Baby's come home!!!!! (1994 Kona Kilauea) UPDATES

Ok so I have been wanting to use the original Gripshift I had specced on the bike when I bought it in 1994. The grips were not looking great so to use them I needed to replace them ideally.

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Old ones came off (couldn't figure it out to start with but they were just a tight fit)

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Gingernuts/badger came up trumps with these lovely new grips (I've been looking for new ones for months!)

So I put them on.

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When I had these first time round I bought the new metal spring upgrade which made the shifts snappier. I also have the stronger rear mech spring upgrade too (anyone remember who made them?)
The shifters springs were still in there. Phew! Plus the remnants of the Jonnisnot which was a bit sticky so I dabbed a bit of grease in too.

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And voila! On the bike!! Look quite new and in keeping with the high standard of finish I want to achieve.

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The eagle eyed among you will spot another change.

I'll explain later..... ;-)
 
Re: Baby's come home!!!!! (1994 Kona Kilauea) UPDATES

It's been said before above, but AMAZING story and build, Rob.

I finally got my very own '94 Kilauea just last week (after lots of searching for a decent deal) and can't wait to get to work. Looks like the reavers got to her first, and stole half the good parts replacing them with rubbish (adjustable stem! #$**-me!) :(

I'm also a huge fan of gripshift. Still running smooth on my '98 Cinder Cone. It's seriously underrated!
 
Re: Baby's come home!!!!! (1994 Kona Kilauea) UPDATES

Ok.............. update.....

Been on quite a few rides on my beloved Killy and I love it. Handles so well, a joy to ride.

Turned out the riser bars made it handle like crap. I have no idea why, it just did. Maybe it just had a benny when I tried to make it look less retro.... ;-) Flat bars back on again then!

Another annoyance was that the gripshifts don't work with the Pauls levers. Even though I have the longer Love Levers they just arent long enough with the gripshift and it is a real struggle to reach the lever. So back to thumbies I think. I will keep the gripshift as they are the original parts I specced when I first bought the bike.

The biggest change will be to the front end. It is simply very very rocky round my way, and it's hard work riding a full rigid bike with my advancing years. Like so many I want to ride my old bike more as it's so good so I want to make it more versatile.

I already had some 1998 Marzocchi Z2 Light forks I had installed on the DMR and to be honest they have been restored by me so well they deserve to be on this bike. I ordered a blue FSA headset to match the decals on the forks (£18 down from £60 on ebay!). I already had the Hope stem which should be just right for the build.

I think it'll still look the part and I'll be able to ride it faster and further which is the main thing. I think it is an upgrade I would have probably done myself if I had owned the bike longer originally. Obviously I'll keep all the original parts to return it back to the right spec if I ever wanted to.





As you can see I am also tinkering with installing Maguras. I have 2 sets, one 1994 HS22 set which is EXACTLY the same ones I bought back in 1994 so would be perfect but they might need longer hoses. I have extra hoses and a bleed kit but I really hope they are the right length so I don't have to bother...!
 
Re: Baby's come home!!!!! (1994 Kona Kilauea) UPDATES

UPDATE

Bike now ready to ride again, some workshop time has got the forks dialled in, thumbies back on there (the Gripshift just didn't work with the Pauls brake levers) and everything ready to ride again.

Took me 2 mins to set up the gears compared to 1hr on my new 10sp setup on my modern bike :rolls:



 
Re: Baby's come home!!!!! (1994 Kona Kilauea) UPDATES

That's a slightly weird thumbie angle?
 
Re: Baby's come home!!!!! (1994 Kona Kilauea) UPDATES

Not really set up properly yet.

I want to change the Pauls Components brake levers really, want to swap with some XTR ones.
 

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