All together!

This week has been spent putting the final touches to the bike, fitting the mudguard, engine cases and chain case.  It's now all together and ready for the MOT.  The only thing stopping it from being on the road is waiting for the V5 to come through from the DVLA.  As it had been stood for so long the V5 had been lost, and the bike was no longer on their system.  Thanks to David Casper at the NACC for processing the forms for me to reclaim the numberplate.  This is a great service that the club offers up and they are a sociable lot with plenty of knowledgeable members.

I've had one technical problem this week; the pattern fuel tap stopped working.  Upon further investigation it appears that the plastic components in it had swollen, preventing any flow.  I've fitted the original Honda fuel tap instead but I have a concern that this tap will have a similar problem.  This will be down to the ethanol that gets added to fuel these days, it's a constant challenge with older bikes to find components that are resistant to modern fuels.  It's caused me no end of grief with my '67 BSA as well.

Unfortunately the lack of a numberplate will mean that I can't take the bike on the Spirit of the Sixties run next weekend.  With the BSA in bits I'll be consigned to riding pillion on Dad's '57 BSA A7.  Perhaps if I promise him a beer in the evening he'll let me have a go up front too.

There are only 8 or so weeks left until the National Road Rally now, so getting on the road and racking up some miles is becoming a lot more important.  I can't wait to see how it runs on the open road!

It was such a lovely day here I took the bike into the back garden to get some photos to mark the end of the evenings in the garage (for now at least).  I'm very pleased with the outcome, it's quite a fine looking  machine.  I've come to quite like these little bikes whilst working on this one, whether that fondness persists after sitting on one for 524 miles in one go remains to be seen!