done

That's the bike SORN'd.

And yes! I had worked out that I couldn't tax the bike without an MOT so it had to be done. Just need to decide how long I'm going to keep it off the road.

looking forward

Hopefully I'll have my finances sorted in the next few weeks so I can start thinking about what I'm going to do to the bike next time around.

It's not that I want to be constantly changing things. More that I had an idea of how I wanted the night train to end up and spread it over a few winters with riding the bike when the weather was better.

This past summer has been an exception as other things got in the way.
From here on I've decided that I'll make sure I've got all the parts I need before starting the work. So, soon I'm going to be buying bits and storing them away for the time to come round that I'll be fitting them.

There's a couple of things I need to do to finish off the current stage. I still want to remove the fairing to get away from the SOA look. I'm going to fit the apes I've got in my garage but that needs to have the wiring run internally. I'll need a longer clutch cable to fit the apes but the throttle cables and wiring should be OK. I also want to buy a black headlight. Which one will depend on finding something which looks good and fits my budget. I'm also thinking about changing the front indicators but as that's purely for looks is not that important.

Then there's the rear end. I would like to fit a short mudguard with a side mounted plate. I'm considering going for stop/tail light and indicators in one to make the rear look more compact. it will all depend on whether I can combine that look with some luggage carrying capacity. I fully intend to get back rallying next season. It's one thing I have missed more than anything else.

I also want to match up the rear wheel with the front. I'm going to have to research how wide a tyre I can go with the stock frame. If I could I would like a 240/16 though I may just have to stick with the 200/17 which is the stock size. So far I haven't been able to find anyone who has tried the wider tyre with the stock swinging arm. To widen the swinging arm would be beyond my budget for now. So maybe I will stick with the stock rear wheel. Who knows?

Watch this space.

D-Day

It's fast approaching the day when I have to decide if I'm going to tax or SORN the bike. As I'm still no nearer getting the cash together to buy the front discs I want, it's looking more and more like I'll take the bike off the road. I suppose it doesn't need to be for the duration as I can always re-tax the bike and get a MOT at any time. I can also think about starting on the rear end too.

The greater pity is that the bike seems to be going great. At least it starts each time on the button and settles down to a nice slow tick-over when the choke is pushed in after warming up.

I even took it out of the garage today though that was a bit hairy as I was going backwards down a slope with no front brake.

Here's the latest pics

spot the bits missing

where the ECU used to be

not actually as clean as it looks

ignition and coils

little by little

As the bike is not going anywhere until I get the money together for new brake discs, I've spent the last few times in the garage, tinkering.

I removed the plastic insert which holds the wiring in place beneath the tank and cut a hole in it. That way I could feed the cross-over line for the fuel tank through the gap in the frame which makes the space under the tank and above the engine much neater.

I refilled the tank today and had another go at firing the engine up. Started right away and is running sweet.

So now I'll get all the little things done that I need to do before I go out on the road. 

Can't be sure when I'll be able to afford it but I've decided to wait until I've got enough money to buy brembo discs for the front.

I'm nearly ready to get riding (at long last!) but my latest dilemma is whether or not I should re-tax the bike at the end of this month. If I do tax the bike I should really get a MOT done as I won't be able to go on the road without one. But that will mean the cycle for the MOT will fall at the end of the riding season and may not give me time to do any work needed. On the other hand, if I take the bike off the road and there's a good autumn, it will be over a year between having ridden the thing! I will also be doing more work over this winter, so the bike is going to be laid up for part of the time anyway. Then again, if I do have the bike road legal and there's an early spring I'll be ready to go whenever.

What to do?