Saturday 15 March 2008

Well, I haven't done anything constructive to any of the bike collection this week but progress has been made in that I seem to have someone very interested in buying the Bantam B175 - which will mean a bit more space in the workshop/conservatory. My better half (BH) has been off work for a while and he has been able to rearrrange the workshop so that the bikes residing there are more accessible and a work bench has been moved in from the shed.

It's wet and miserable today so even less has been done, although friend Myles came round on his B40 to show off the bar-end indicators he has fitted & soon the trailer he has been building should be on the road - and that will be the B40 in full touring mode!

As it is a wet & miserable day and I'm feeling lazy, I have been browsing some favourite websites and remembered a couple I had missed previously so I will add them to the list now. The first is Odgie's website. Years before BH & I met, Odgie was writing for BSH and AWOL magazines and inspiring us both to take hacksaws and welders etc to our old Jap Fours, leading to many happy hours cutting things up and modifying them to suit. Check out his website and make sure you look at the Speedster Project in his photo albums - it really is beautiful! Another favourite site is dedicated to the Kawasaki W650 and, as well as lots of W650 pictures and information, there is a very good list of biker friendly accomodation and meeting places.

The Radian has had a reprieve in that I have decided to keep it. It needs a bit of work but it was always a good bike. BH bought it for me a a gift a few years ago and we have fitted some slab yokes that an old friend made for a GPZ550 I had about 15 years ago. I've also got some nice risers and a lovely little brass brake splitter to be fitted, made by the same friend (thanks, Doob!). I've been to Belgium, France, Holland and Luxembourg on the Radian and it was always fun to ride and reliable - it would be a shame to part with it. I've got a picture on the kitchen wall of how I want the it to look (flat tracker style) - that picture has been there for about 4 years now so even if it takes me another year to get finished, it will be worth the wait.

I've just been reprimanded for missing off one important link - the W650 Riders Yahoo Group - an excellent source of W650 help and advice, and since W650s don't go wrong very often, a lot of jolly banter between lots of lovely W650 owners around the world.

Saturday 8 March 2008

Why a blog? Well, apart from the possibility that someone else might be interested in some of what I have to say, I have this idea that if I set myself some targets and tell people about them, it gives me more incentive to get things done!

I have come to a conclusion that I may have too many bikes. Or, at least, too many bikes for the space I have. So the plan is to get one of the Raleigh Runabouts finished and sold, get the BSA Bantam B175 finished and sold and the same with the Yamaha Radian. No 2 Runabout needs some work to get it running and I need to reclaim the registration number. I have the original logbook and a couple of tax discs so this should be possible. The Bantam is pretty nearly there but lack of time and my falling in love with the Starfire 3Ta have meant that it has been shamefully neglected. The Radian shouldn't take too much work either. I get too attached to my bikes so I want them all to go to good homes. So those are the targets I am setting myself for this year - not to mention getting around to doing some much needed decorating and DIY to the house and making the garden presentable. This includes making room for a new shed to house the bicycle collection, which currently resides in the kitchen......