Everywhere Virtually

Not much news to report really. The BMW will be picked up on Monday by their collections agents. Already the finance people are after the remaining £1300 but I’m out of work so I wish them luck in trying to retrieve that money because If I don’t have it they certainly can’t have it. In the interim I am prepping the little Honda.

The biggest challenge for me is the ergonomics. I have been used to the stretched out riding position of the 800 and despite me being only 5′ 7″ (171 cm) the distance between the seat and the pegs is too short. The pegs are also behind me a little and of course the bars are low and set forward which adds to that cramped feeling. I’m hoping adding some bar risers and my airhawk will help in the short term.

The bikes engine is sound and the few things that are wrong with it are cosmetic. Somebody has previously tarted it up and not done a very thorough job of it. Springs painted in black paint without a primer so it just flakes off.

The forks, engine casings and other silver bits again have been painted in silver paint with very obvious brush strokes.

various nuts and bolts are rusty, so to save time and money I have been taking each one out, cleaning it up and spraying it in black satin hammerite which gives them a powder coated look. Hammerite also has the benefit of inhibiting rust. The scratched panels and gaudy pink decal will also be going. Everything is being primed and sprayed satin black. Matt black is not as hard wearing.

I replaced the bulbs in the headlight and instrumentation panel. I was going to install my HID 50w bulb but then realised that the lens is plastic and will melt or go brown as has been discovered on various forums. There is a fair amount of rust inside that light and I need to take the thing apart and clean it up. I haven’t got the time at the moment to start messing with the wiring loom so for now I just cleaned it up enough to get by until the summer.

My tired and battered Sat nav is also getting a make over. If you look closely the screen is cracked in the bottom left corner and the unit itself has a crack in it. It makes using the back button and certain keys problematic. So It is also getting the satin black plasti-kote treatment. I’m hoping it will all look good in the end. The British weather as always has been problematic. 5 celsius in May with damp and occasional showers does not make for good spray painting conditions.

My friend Greg in Austria gave me some good tips though. One of which was to put the cans in a bucket of hot water. This has the effect of increasing the pressure inside the can which will result in less blobs. Genius.