indian summer

It's come at last.
The weather these past few days has been as good as it was all summer. No doubt it will go back to being cold and wet now that the weekend has arrived. I'm going off for the weekend to Killin, next Friday, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will at least be dry. No-one else seemed interested in camping (not that there is really anywhere suitable near the village) so I'm bed and breakfasting it with the others.
So, this should be a rather more refined weekend than the usual riders club get-togethers. We'll see!
I went through the box with my yokes and stuff and found a set of riser mounting spacers which I hadn't paid for. As they cost about £30 this was a real bonus.
Well it would be if I could be so dishonest and to be truthful, had they come from a HD stealership I may have succumbed to temptation. As the supplier is a small independent there was really no alternative so i contacted him and paid up. The warm glow I felt when he thanked me for my honesty was worth it.
Now I need to get moving on pulling the wheels apart. I'd like to get my hands on the correct tool to do it myself but they can only be bought from the States and are expensive. I can borrow one from the rider's club tool store but as will need it twice with a good stretch between that will be a nuisance.
Probably take the wheel into a bike shop to get the bearings and the tyre removed and then look at buying or borrowing the tool when I come to rebuild the hub after powder-coating.

delaying tactics

I haven't been able to get out on the bike since I came back from Walesby.
Various things and events have got in the way. I was training last weekend, ill this weekend and the weather in the evenings this past two weeks has stopped me going out after work.

This state of affairs will probably have a big influence on whether I re-new the bike's tax at the end of this month. I just hate missing out on being able to ride.
There's a couple of things I want to attend. One's a final camping weekend for region two in Killin in October and the other is a national MAG EU hands off biking demo on the 25th September.
This is in protest against the European Union's plans to regulate biking out of existence for anyone who doesn't want to ride a brand new, completely stock, restricted motorcycle. It's an action that ALL bikers should take part in.

So, I'll put my bits on the shelf in the garage and wait just that bit longer to start the work. Though I could start stripping down the front wheel. As soon as I get a set of levers to get the tyre off that is!

what next?

My yokes and all the bits to go with them arrived the other day.

So, the box is sitting in my bedroom and, every so often, I've been pulling things out of it. Just to have a look.
The black yokes look really substantial. I'm glad I decided to go down the way of a bigger front end. All I have to do now is get the front wheel sorted. I'm thinking of changing the spokes to stainless and getting the rim powder-coated at the same time as changing the bearings over to 22mm ones. That way I will have the look I want, instead of part doing the job then finishing it sometime in the future.
I could send off the hub and rim to a wheel builder in England and get them to do it but this is another one of those things I'd like to try for myself. Well, what I actually mean is I'd like to find out if I'm capable of doing it myself! Maybe I'll get the tyre off first and then see how I feel as I do each of the stages.

Wanting to work on my bike has also opened up a further dilemma for me. Should I renew the tax (the reminder came through the post today)? Or, should I take the bike off the road early, for the winter, and so get started on the work?
If I do that the weather will most likely get better again and I'll regret it.
On the other hand having all these parts lying in boxes in the garage is giving me twitchy fingers.