Paint findings and musings

Worked a bit more on cleaning some of the off frame parts.  Started to work a bit on the front mudguard.  This piece was pretty clean so did not require a lot of work.  Also started to work on the 2 cowls.  The paint mystery continues.  The front mudguard is fully painted the "newer grey" color but the front swing arm and hub are the original off white from the scooters of that time period.  The mudguard was painted while it was on the fork as the front spring has a bit of over spray on it.  I took off the front mudguard decorative piece and the original white color is still underneath.  I did not take any photos but it is clear the mudguard was repainted.  The rear engine side cowl is also the newer grey color but the opposite side cowl is the original white.

Yet the scooter frame is the original white with the exception of the front left hand side of the leg shield.   This paint work was done a  long time ago as the scratches and rust marks throughout the bike on original and new paint pieces are all very consistent in age and type.

The front mudguard decoration was taken off at some time in the past and was put back on incorrectly with the lock washers on the outer side between the frame and the decorative piece rather than being placed on the underside between the frame and the nut.  However this piece was not removed for the painting as it had very slight over spray on the edges and as I mentioned the paint underneath the piece was the original white.  At the time of the painting the piece had been masked off and then the piece was removed and replaced at some time after that painting event.

As mentioned previously the front fork had been completely removed once also and then put back in place, including the wiring, but without the proper bearings.  Very strange.

I can not for the life of me determine why someone would paint parts of this scooter (half leg shield, front mudguard and rear engine cowl) when there is no real damage to the body?  And why would you remove the front fork and put it back on without bearings?

The fork question I can maybe explain away as an error which, when discovered halted some past rebuild process but the painting question stumps me.  If you are going to paint a mudguard and a cowl why not paint both cowls?  I mused that maybe they were from a different bike but then how does the left half of the leg shield get painted the grey?  I just don't get it.  Maybe as I continue forward this puzzle will give me another clue.

Of course I am a bit disappointed that the entire scoot is not original paint.  This finding has me leaning a bit more towards putting a modern engine in and not working too hard to rebuild a wide body motor.  That is all much further down the line.