Hi guys,
Need a bit of advice on a potential truppenfahrrad restoration I’ve found. I’m considering buying it as a restoration project and make it the first big item in my growing militaria collection with the intention of taking it to military fairs and events I regularly attend.
I’ve had advice on it’s condition and potential for restoration from an uncle who has experience restoring bikes/motorcycles and he advised me to seek another second opinion on how difficult it might be to restore. My main concern is that although the main frame is not too bad shape, the mud guards are looking quite rusted and may need very delicate work to preserve them. My other concern is spare parts I’d need to acquire and where I’d get them from, because although things like mounting brackets, handlebars and tires can be sourced without too much difficulty, if I needed to buy say another mud flap/wheel arch that may be quite tricky.
Guess my question would be does the condition look good enough to restore and are there any areas of the bike that may need to be replaced from what can be discerned from the photos I’ve got of it from a dealers website? And if I do need to replace some parts would it be at very least possible to do so and any useful websites/forum groups where I might have the best chance to acquire either original or replica parts?
I’m very willing to put lots of effort into this and money is not an issue, I’m buying it partly as a passion project to learn skills from I may need in years to come and I’m not bothered at all if it costs more than what the bikes worth to restore, I’d just be dead happy to own a truppenfahrrad regardless. I’ve also got several people willing to help me to make sure I do a good job of this and don’t make mistakes/errors that degrade its historical value (I.e not over-restore it which I’m conscious of avoiding). I just want to make sure this isn’t too much to take on and isn’t something that I’ll end up getting stuck half way through due to parts scarcity.
Thank you very much in advance for any help/advice on this restoration, I really appreciate and I’m grateful enough to know that enthusiast groups for these kind of military “vehicles” exist!!
Look forward to replying,
Oliver
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