National road rally

This weekend I completed the National Road Rally. I entered for the 'Platinum' award which entailed taking 6 bike tests and riding 540 miles through as many checkpoints as possible. My route took in 21 checkpoints from Leicester to Warrington, down through Shropshire and across to London before returning West to Chipping Sodbury. The route planner totalled 540 miles but between setting off and getting home the true mileage was nearer 845! 24 hours of biking joy. Very tiring but very, very enjoyable.

Disaster!

Having plugged all the obvious holes and poured acetone into the tank to get the resin out. Next I filled the thing with gravel and put it in the cement mixer with the duvet from my bed as protection. (wifey not too impressed!) 8 hours later and after a bit of a clean up this is what it looks like.

Basically as much use as a wire basket! Not sure what to do next. My mate in work thinks he might know someone who will take it on, but I think this tank is beyond economical repair.

The working week completed

Another working week completed and another weary step on the shale path to my own demise has fallen.

Have I bettered my life or the lives of my fellow men, placing joy in their hearts or a song in their ear?

No.

Have I forged in the fires of human endeavour a deed so great it stands on the shoulders of Zeus and lives in the kingdom of folklore?

No.

Will this passing week inspire the young or bring comfort to the old, will men of words feel compelled to record in sonnet and verse the echoes of the things I have done?

No.

Oh well... best get shit faced then!

:-)

Shed time

Got some shed time in today so I've plugged the tank with some "Leakfix" and popped a litre of paint stripper in. Not to sure it's the right kind of stuff to use, but I'll give it a week and see what happens.

While I was in the shed I got on and cut down the stainless steel mudguard I picked up at Stafford. This will get painted eventually, but for now I've popped it on to get it out of the parts bin. Next on the list will be the tail light assembly.

Hmmm!

Set about stripping the paint from Abigails' tank and the it's not looking good. First job is to get the worst off with paint stripper to see what lies beneath. Hate this job as everything gets covered in caustic goo and the shed stinks! Once the worst is off, I concentrate on cleaning up the seams and any other area I think is leaking so I can get a glimpse of what I'm up against. Eek! Bottom pictures don't do justice to the teabag I have for a tank. For most of the length of the LHS seam rust holes can be seen and I'm starting to doubt my original plan.

Off to my mate Tom for some technical advice. His diagnosis is that the tank is repairable but before it can be patched the resin liner inside will have to come out, and the job might get a tad expensive. Heyho. This is the tank I want so I'll have to press on.

Plan now is to seal the leaks externally with a suitable putty, soak the inside with acetone (nasty stuff), then chuck the tank in the cement mixer for a few hours with some bolts inside and one of the kids duvets on the outside.

Pictures of that fun afternoon to follow.

Really lovely little bikey film. Just makes you wanna ride!

Fuel tank

After visiting the Cardiff VJMC show I've decided I must, must, must crack on with Abigail, my long forgotten cafe racer project. I have a shed full of bits waiting to be fitted, so I thought I'd begin with the tank. The tank I've got is not from an XBR, but comes from a GB version of the bike. Good thing is it doesn't have the side panel mounting lugs attached. Bad things are... Well... it doesn't fit the frame! I can, with a bit of modification, get it to sit on the rear frame mount but I'll need to re-site the front mounts.

Another bad point is it's peppered with holes. The previous owner has tried to repair it with an internal epoxy resin but it hasn't worked. This means I also have to get the resin out before I can use it. Problem is that to soften the resin I need to use a solvent, but because of the holes the solvent leaks out. Answer is to wash out any trace of petrol, strip the paint off and solder repair all the pin holes before attacking the resin. Plenty to keep me busy. Anywho, here's a couple of pictures of the 'before' tank. You can just make out some of the paint blisters from the leaking fuel along the bottom edges.