What should I do with this frame? Kona king Kikapu 97

Monkeeee01

Retro Guru
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I was thinking of getting it resprayed white and blue 96 decals from Gil_M to make it look like a For Play.

Now I'm wondering if I should it get it polished as it's one of the only old skool Kona frames that are polished aluminum.

It will still get 96 or 95 decals as it's my favorite style of font for the word Kona,

I don't know what to do about the magnesium suspension section?

What does everyone think?

Cheers

G
 
;)

I was watching that. Good buy, can't wait to see this built up. What's the plan?
Looks pretty clean as it is, i wouldn't paint it or remove those decals for new ones. Just give it a buff with some polish.
:D
 
I'm not sure, I quite like the idea of going old skool with it but the trouble is

1. I am total weight weenie and like to make a bike as light as possible

2. I like my bikes to be in pristine condition, no scratches, perfect paint work etc.

I am looking at some gold 95 Judy SL's in the states but they have limited travel so I'm not sure but the 96 Kona For Play had them!

I really want some Crossmax coz they are light and it's V branke only. I will probably put M951 XTR stuff on it as well as it's my favorite.

I was thinking about going really bling annodished gold with the white respray but noe I'm thinking about keeping it polished alu.

I might give it a polish first to see how easy it is but I will definaltly end up changing the decals as they are scratched and chipped etc.
 
If it was me, i wouldn't put earlier decals on that frame (or any earlier kit), it would just look wrong IMO. It's clearly a '97 Kona.



Paint will add weight if you're a weight weenie :p
 
Paint would add at least 0.25lbs, maybe 0.35 for powdercoat. I expect those 96 decals are quite heavy too :twisted: And there's no such thing as a 96 King Kikapu decal, nor a For Play either for that matter.

Nothing wrong with authentic I should have thought, and a weight weenie approach isn't right for this bike IMO. You need a Z1 on there, better a 98 or 99 as those 97s aren't as good. It doesn't suit an SID, nor a Judy SL. It could do with a riser bar too.
 

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LOL I am sure 96 style decals and 97 style decals aren't that different in weight.

I have definatly decided not to respray now. I want it polished and shiny but not sure excalty where to start. (I'm going to get a brillo pad shortly and see how I get on with that taking the scratches out, then if that works I will polish it)

Didn't mean 96 King Kikapu decals, I know the King wasn't made til 97 and this is a 97 frame. I just meant getting Gil_M to make me custom 96 decals that were either copy's of the FOR PLAY (if I went down that route) or King Kikapu in a 96 style font instead of 97 jungle style

I am getting more and more tempted to stay original in terms of the frame with polished alu and original details but I just like the 94,95,96 font so much better.

As for the forks I don't really like the look of any forks except Rock Shox or Pace - to be fair I have never used any other brand of suspension fork but I definaltly only like the astheic look of RS or Pace. Looking at a RC36 currently on the bay

But as for the Rock Shox Judy SL's. The Sex 1,2 & 3 and the For play all had Rock Shox and the Sex 3 and FOR Play both have the actual fork I am looking at so I thought it would be ok.

The look of the geomatrey of the 97 king kikapu doesn't look that different to a 96 sex three or a FOR PLAY although granted it does come with a 100mm fork which was long travel back in the day
 
Brasso as an abrasive paste, and so are polishes and t'cuts etc but brasso is a bit more abrasive, that's how it polishes, work it enough and it will get scratches out, but if its scored deep then maybe try some wet n dry on it first.

post a picture of the scratch you want to take out.
 
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