I spied James White-Cooper’s American Eagle outside a pub while on my way home – what an unusual sight this pair make. The Eagle now has 9,000 miles up since its rebuild and is developing a nice patina. Will see James and a few more Laverdisti next weekend at the ILOC Baskerville Hall bash.
So off-line for quite a while – things have been a bit up and down and now hopefully more up than down. During these ‘lost’ weeks work on the stable has slowed but not completely stopped.
Progress has been made on the RGA frame. The front engine mounting silentbloc bushes had refused to budge despite a diet of Duck Oil and the occasional beating with a big hammer. Time to take it all to the engineering shop and see what they could do – nothing more than me is the answer but they did cut the bushes out which meant I had no reason not to start sorting out the paintwork.
I’ve decided a rattle can job using Hammerite Silk Black will do the job – still think that but have had to put quite a lot of effort in to getting a smooth finish. Fine filler has gone into the rust pitted surface which I initially thought was going to be a pain to do but it turned out to be not so bad. It also proved to be very worthwhile as spraying onto the freshly blasted surface gave poor results but just a very small amount of filling and hey presto!
Filler has also been applied to the bodywork on the crashed #2 Atlas which is slowly being made road-ready. Indicators and handlebars have been replaced so now it is just attending to the cosmetics and it should be good to go.The real benefit will be having two road legal bikes to take away the need to work to ensure a bike is ready for the morning.
I have managed to do some touring in the past few weeks, most notably a week up in the Scottish Highlands. A family wedding prevents competing in the Scottish Rally so a quick check on the forecast and Mrs A and I were off – full report in the Trips section.
I’ve also recommissioned a Ducati 600 Monster for my eldest daughter to ride now she has a full license – just weird to see one of your children head off alone down a motorway, can’t help but feel a bit anxious and yet at the same time a little proud…
Nick 🙂
Bent screwdrivers, big hammers and old Laverdas 