Man down - rubberchicken

Very much the same as I left it in the last pictures. Aka fsck all's been done.

I've been away for 2 months moving house and stuff. I had hoped they'd have sorted the suspension in that time, but sadly they'd been too busy and the only thing they got around to was putting the FD on the bench and spending half an hour looking for the special tool to take it apart (and not finding it) before the next customer came in. I did fit a nice acewell unit when I was there 2 weeks ago, but still no rear wheel and no jugs so couldn't do much more substantial. Bit more wiring to do (front indicators) and a pile of smallish bits probably. Besides the rear wheel, engine, exhaust, getting the jetting dialed in for the modified engine, getting the suspension sorted, extending the side/center stand, stuff like that. Looks like it'll be a winter project again after all.

If a bit of frustration comes through in the above, that's because I am. I had really really really hoped to have it done long before now so I wouldn't have to take Bismarck to the National...

I'm doing fine. Moving has provided a bit of necessary exercise so the arm's fine again. I did notice I have grown old and creaky in the mean time (having turned 40), my back's knackered at the moment so I do wonder what camping's going to be like. ;)
 
*blows dust and cobwebs off this thread*

Camping went well. Looks like physically I am pretty much back to normal... :thumbsupanim:

I've had reports that the bike is moving along. Apparently the jugs and exhaust are on, the final drive has been modified to take the 1100 driveshaft, the modified 1100 swingarm is off to the powdercoaters and there's a bench full of rear shock parts waiting to be put together so it's pretty close to sitting on its wheels again. :thumbsupanim:

I am so very curious how this thing is going to ride with all the mods...
 
nice one,

glad you're pretty much all mended now :)

looking forwards to seeing how the bike turns out too
 
Coming along...

Photo_29-09-16_16_20_04.jpg
 
Ohh yes... :D

It's now got cylinders again, and an exhaust, will soon have proper rear suspension once the swingarm's back from the powdercoater (sharp eyes can spot the current 2by4 suspension), the fairing's on, new indicators are on and other electrickery is finished, got some nice beefy KTM rally footpegs. Really getting close to being finished (for) now.

And when it's done, Bismarck will go again.

It's been fun owning a battleship but it's not really my thing and while it's good as a commuter I'm not actually enjoying the commute all that much. It's allright in good weather, but let's be honest, it's all downhill from here for the next 6 months. Lotsa traffic lotsa filtering, soon to be in the dark, with shite weather. Would be allright if it were significantly quicker than the nearest alternative but it's not.

Doesn't help that events in the past year have made me a bit more aware of the risks (see also my near-complete inability to overtake at the National) and I can't help thinking that doing 25k miles a year is maybe playing the odds a bit much. And if I'm honest with myself, I wasn't getting a lot of quality riding in because I'm not going for a quick evening bimble if I've just got off the thing an hour earlier...

So sod it, I'll be giving the train a go. It's just about as quick, if I'm honest and count the time it takes to get kitted up/down on either end. I'll probably have more fun riding too and might actually make a dent in my pile of unread books. :D
 
First test ride after first start. Ran like a bag of spanners as it had only been synced by looking down on either side of the tank to see if they moved sort of the same and it'll probably need some jetting and more of an ignition timing tweak. But it ran! And how!

Bismarck has more power, true, but it's boring and clinical, a bit like adjusting the thermostat. This one is more visceral. It makes noise, for one... And it's so light! And the handlebars actually feel like they're connected to the bike! Elbows out, gas it, made me grin like a loon it did. :D

Trouble was that I was test driving it in a town I hardly know, where I do know they're pretty happy with the Gatsos, I'm on a bike I've been looking forward to for a year which is really happy doing those little full throttle second gear sprints (BRRRRAAAAAP!), and my new speedo's a dud and packed up as soon as I cranked over the bike. We'll see whether I got me a ticket within 5 minutes of riding the thing for the first time in 13 months... :D
 
Michel it looks brilliant. The only fault I can see is now when its all clean and painted. How are you going to graft that prehistoric green moss back on the bike?
 
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