LORENZ:To fettle,one '88 VFR750 for 5000 mile trip,having spanked it verily for the last 5 years.
1)Bars needed raising.One up is active riding but two up needs to be at least a bit ergonomic so up go the clip-ons by 7 inches courtesy of two hours of lathe work/ally welding at the Smalley Emporium of Great Skill(Rick and Andy's garage in Yeadon)
2)Luggage.One set of ex Guzzi Krauser luggage supplied at extortionate expense (£60)by Mark at Moto Strada in Shipley in need of some fettling and adjustment to fit aforementioned shabby VFR(more welding at the Smalley ranch)
3)About time for a chain/sprocket set as the existing collection of loosely intertwined bits was hanging off like bloomers so off to Gravelrash in Shipley to obtain a brand new(to me)chain and rear sprocket from Alan,sadly I had to buy(ouch)a new front sprocket but a man's gotta do.....
4)Horn.I had one but not the one I wanted.(Sounds familiar?)Asthmatic frogs could out-croak the output of the corroded original item so after an hours rummaging in my stockpile(shed)of crucially important spares(crap and rare gems)I emerged with a set of air horns and a class 1 grin.4 hours later they were on and live,even the relay!A tight fit in the front fairing but with great pride I scared a collection of spiders off to next door.
5)Rubber.Given that a shakedown trip to Wales was in the offing,the centre groove in the rear tyre was a bit near the tyre surface so failing the skill to wrap extra rubber round the outside my trusty 9"angle grinder persuaded the groove to sink 4mm nearer the axle.
Hoorah!All we need now is lashings of ginger ale and we're set for an adventure...
Part 2,post Wales fine tuning
1).New plugs,after 5 years with me and however many with the previous owner they still looked fine but the thought of pratting about with the fairing off etc.etc. in a Polish field did not appeal so battle commenced...not easy to shift the rad out of the way with that set of air horns in the way-bu66er it!Eventually the air cleared.
2)Tyres-after the shock of perusing price lists Ian at BFM in Shipley steered me towards Avon Roadriders which seem fine,so far so good.
3)Oil,yes it's new oil!Another shock to the bike - I'm sure it won't be new for long,semi-synth 10/40
4)Airfilter,again the previous owner was happy with it and so was I but circumstances dictated that it be replaced,oh well-leave it to last.It'll be reet!But no,the Gods thought otherwise,it didn't fit by 5 bloody mm so we've got the original one back in washed out with petrol.
'Tis the night before launching,11.50 pm and I'm whacked.That's it.Bed,perchance to set off in time for the ferry tomorrow
Cheers chaps/esses L.