I've been slacking so here's an update - part 2: SRX antics

Aah, now, since my last SRX related post, which sounded quite promising, disaster struck.  The black SRX tank, which I had transferred to the running (previously blue) SRX, managed to lose all the petrol overnight. Investigation revealed that the recently applied paint had bubbled in a couple of spots on the underside of the tank.  I investigated further, using glass-paper and a stanley-knife blade. I found holes, lots of holes. Holes from which the petrol had escaped.....

Now I had two SRX tanks in need of repair. I had to make a trip to and through Wolverhampton to deliver them to the man who could work magic on them.  Believe me, unless you have pressing business in Wolverhampton (such as a hospital appointment or tanks that need mending) - avoid it like the plague.  The traffic is a nightmare; the traffic system is a nightmare - I felt fraught, I felt grateful that I live in Telford and only occasionally need to have hospital appointments in Wolverhampton or take tanks there to be repaired.

I delivered the tanks and the man who works magic was sure that the magic was strong enough to fix both tanks. I endured Wolverhampton once more and was grateful for Telford once more.

Some time later I received a text to the effect that one tank might not be salvageable - or at least, not cost effective to bother with. I waited for the next update.....

Hurrah ! Both tanks were salvageable - just about.  I waited patiently....

Then, earlier this week I got the text that they were ready. I battled through Wolverhampton again, swearing and muttering and sighing. I survived.  I'd expected to see a painted tank, with matching tailpiece and front mudguard plus another tank in primer. What I got was both tanks painted, plus the tailpiece and front mudguard.  A hole had been cut in the bottom of the dented tank so as to gain access to push the dent out, both tanks had plates welded in to cover the sieve-like areas, both had been lined with tank sealant, then they'd been primed and painted.  Apparently, it took seven hours to weld and undent the first tank ! I think I got a very good deal.

Anyway, they look far too smart for the rest of the bike(s). I also noticed that the MOT ran out on the day I collected the tanks. Also, I was told off for noisy exhausts at the last MOT. I've got no spare dosh at the moment so I've decided to just use the best bits of each bike to get the running one back on the road.  I checked out the project bike and it the original standard Yamaha exhaust system so I thought it would be worth pinching that for the running bike.

The project bike is pretty rusty looking so I sprayed all the bits I wanted to undo with WD40. Even so, I was pleasantly surprised by how easily most of them came undone.  The tricky part was removing the exhaust system - I couldn't remove the downpipes from the collector box in situ and ended up removing a small crossbar from the front of the frame so I could manoeuvre the system out in one piece. Once that was done, it was easy to wiggle the downpipes out of the collector/silencer.  There's a lot of surface rust which I have attacked with a wire brush and wire wool. I found three small holes under one of the brackets but apart from that it is in very good condition and I think the standard downpipes are stainless.  I've treated the collector/silencer with Krust and will spray it black tomorrow (weather permitting), polish the heat-shield thingy and polish the downpipes. I think it should look pretty good.

To be continued....

I've been slacking so here's an update - part 1: Little Honda

Sad to say but I only have one bike with tax AND mot at the moment - Horatio, the XL185 at last got through his MOT this week.  That was far more complicated than it should have been - the first time I booked him in, he decided that his battery wasn't charged enough to work the indicators so I had to cancel.  Then we noticed that the back tyre was looking a bit perished on the sides so I had to swap it with the back wheel from Herbert, the other XL185.  We checked everything over and all was fine, everything worked.

Off we went in the Special Bus for a fabby weekend at Mallory Park, thanks to me winning the RC caption competition on Facebook. Or rather I was runner up but the winner didn't want the prize of two weekend tickets for the VMCC Festival of 1000 Bikes, so I got it by default.

The MOT was re-booked for Wednesday, I went to work and BH was to take Horatio for his MOT. I got a ranty phone call along the lines of "What's wrong with this f**king bike, the handlebars and forks and front wheel are all out of line, it's f**king f**ked !" Or words to that effect. Frankly, I was baffled.  Last time I'd ridden him, everything was fine - we'd ridden to Leicestershire and back, a round trip of 120-130miles, without any problems.

BH was able to straighten out the forks and front wheel but the clocks, headlight and handlebars still looked wrong.  On examining the bike, it was clear he had been dropped or fallen over as there were scuff-marks on the headlight screen. And as I hadn't dropped him or found him lying down he must have managed to stand up again, put his sidestand down and pretend nothing had happened !  All I can think is that,while we were away at the weekend, kids had kicked a ball into the garden, clambered over the fence (over six foot high) and somehow knocked Horatio over, panicked and picked him up again and run away.

Anyway, I had to take the headlight off, disconnect all the wiring, unbolt the headlight bracket, bash it back into shape with Mr Lumpy and reassemble.  That worked reasonably well. I decided to swap the front wheel with the one from Herbert, so that Horatio had a matched pair.  That worked well too.  I decided to ride to the car wash - it's only just down the road so I decided to ride in shorts and a t-shirt. I hated it, I felt far too paranoid about falling off, or the front wheel falling off, or something else disastrous. As it turned out, the closest thing to disaster was that the car-wash was broken so I'd gone through all that paranoia trauma for nothing ! I washed him at home with a sponge and a mop bucket full of soapy water, then treated all the worst rust patches and touched up the paint so he didn't look too neglected.

He at last passed the MOT without any advisories, although the MOT man (having already commented "You've made it at last then!") kindly tried to tell me that he'd failed miserably.  Hahahahaha ! NOT funny ! But I got a £5 discount so all is forgiven .....