a pile of bits

I'm beginning to gather box loads of stuff waiting to get fitted on the the bike.

At least they're waiting to get painted before getting fitted. I've primed the tank but will wait for a couple of dry days before attempting the top coats. The front mudguard will be next. The rear can wait as I've decided to get the bike MOT'd before I fit that and the new headlight.

I finally bit the bullet and made a decision on the rear mudguard. I was tempted to go for the Zassell's fender as I could get that in a longer style and fit a numberplate on the rear. In the end the price won out and I ordered a NCC flat fender without cut outs. As it saved me about £500 there wasn't really a contest in the end. I'll fit the guard on soon to see how it lines up and then make a decision on whether I'll fit a side-mount number-plate. I would rather fit a centre one as that way I'll be able to mount the rear indicators to the plate. Otherwise I'll need to use all in one light/indicators and either drill holes in the strut part of the guard or get a tab welded on to mount them to. As I'm going to drill holes for the pannier supports I don't really want to have two holes on either side.

I'm also considering an alternative to using the stock speed sensor as finding somewhere inconspicuous for the step down transformer is not presenting itself as easy. This is just another of those things that have to be re-visited. I'm about to start making another bracket for the seat as the one I've already fabricated proved to make the whole front mount too wide to fit in the space between the frame rails and would have meant me packing the underneath and raising the front of the seat by about two inches.

Oh the joys of customising!

moving

The first dry day for weeks saw me spend most of it in the garage.

I made a bracket for the new seat and as soon as I sort out the speed sensor I'll get that fitted. Re-fitting the stock VSS is one of those jobs I've been putting off as I've got a funny feeling that the rear wheel will have to be removed to get at it. Working out the wiring for the step down resistor will also take a bit of pouring over manuals before I'm confident. It's one of those things that can't be tested without putting every thing back together again.

As I've got lots of other things to do, like painting the tank, fitting the front indicators and fitting the brackets for the seat, I'll be able to put it off for just a bit longer without putting the rebuild back too far.

I've ordered the front and rear mudguards. They'll probably take a bit of time to come so I can't really plan for the rear indicators or number-plate 'till then.

time slip

It's now the middle of January and what have I done?

Not a lot really. 

I've got the tank filled and sanded and now just need a brighter weekend, than we've had here in Glasgow recently, to get the primer done.  I've bought some sheet aluminium and am going to make a bracket for the seat. I got brackets with the mounting kit I bought but they are completely different from the "universal" one I bought which fits the seat. Before I fit the seat I'm going to take the battery out to re-wire the speed sensor and fit the stock one. Hopefully I'll be able to do that without the need to remove the rear wheel.

I've also bought front indicators and Rebuffini mounts so they'll be fitted this weekend. I need to remove the front wheel and drop the forks to fit them but it will be worth it as they're much neater than the ones in two parts.

I'm going to order front and rear mudguards this week too. I've almost decided on which rear one I want. There's a choice between flat and rounded. As I probably wont be fitting the rear one right away. I will take my time to decide. Once I've got it I will then make a decision on whether to have aside or rear mounted number-plate. That will then settle which rear indicators I need. If it's a side mount I'll fit stop/tail indicators and if its a rear one then I'll fit a separate tail light.
So, still a lot to be done but I'm still looking towards March for a MOT.
Just need to get my arse in gear and hope for some fair weather,