Leonart Daytona 350i Bola 3 v2

The beginning of our story was this beautiful Leonart Daytona 350i, completely converted into the space between my car and the wall of my parking space in Barcelona... But it's an old story that you can read about on this website.

And yes, you read correctly: it was THIS beautiful Leonart 350i, to be exact. 100% built in Barcelona, ​​it was sold to a client in Madrid some time after I moved to this region. For many years, and due to the typical circumstances of life—work, changes of address, etc.—the bike was literally abandoned in the open, barely covered with plastic, and, what's worse, with all the liquids—gasoline and oil—inside. After almost five years, the original buyer called us to see if it was possible to "resurrect" it and return it to the city's traffic. The truth is, it was in a deplorable state: the tank was completely rusted inside, so much so that rust had pierced the walls of the base and the tunnel. The injection pump was equally destroyed, as were the rotten rubber lines. The engine block was a disgrace to behold: the intake manifolds were filled with encrusted fuel residue, blocked injectors, intake and exhaust ports also containing fuel tanks, blocked valves with heads pitted by rust, cylinders with rusted walls, pistons with rings embedded in the segments, a rusted crankshaft... a nightmare that dissuaded us from even trying to start it without first getting our hands on it.

The rest of the bike wasn't much better: the frame and swingarm had areas of bare paint and rust, the shock absorbers were equally rusted, the tires were rotten, the fender was rusted, the lighting was useless, and even the once-beautiful leather saddle imported from the USA was literally destroyed.

Despite the bleak outlook, we realized that nothing was truly impossible to solve with a little TLC and a few hours of work. Our "first love" deserved it, and we got to work.

Obviously, we had to open the engine and completely disassemble it to clean and derust the crankshaft, replace the clutch with a new one, clean the crankcases and parts of the oil suds, clean and re-ring the pistons, lap the cylinder walls to remove rust, replace the defective valves with new ones, clean and re-grind the valve seats, replace the gaskets, etc.

The tank was given a very special treatment to keep it in its current state, with all its "scars" but functional: fiberglass was applied to the base and tunnel to cover the holes, the interior was treated to remove rust, and finally, it was coated with chemically resistant epoxy resin. New pump and hoses, new injectors, and it's ready to go! Fortunately, the electronics were protected from the elements, so there was no need to change the installation.

Taking advantage of the fact that we had it completely disassembled, and with the experience of its past use, we decided to make some small modifications to improve its handling, facilitate its homologation, and give it a slightly lighter look.

As the 16" front wheel requires a tire with a lot of rubber, the steering becomes heavy, especially with the narrow handlebars we like the way we like them. To lighten it, we replaced the original inverted bars with conventional Leonart Bobber ones lowered by 75mm. In addition, the Bobber triple tree is narrow and help in achieve that sleek look we like. A 17" rim and a classic high-profile tire, narrower than the previous Avon Speedmaster, have further lightened the bike both visually and in terms of handling when stationary. Additionally, instead of the previous clip-on handlebars, we manufactured a very narrow handlebar to give the entire front end a rounded shape.

Finally, at the rear, a small sissy bar supports the original fender, which has been repainted with rustproof clear coat while keeping the traces of rust it previously had, giving the whole thing a more "old rat" look. The license plate is mounted vertically on the sissy bar, making it easier to legalize.

After many hours of work, the satisfaction of riding again with "my first love" is immense.