They are addictive, take Max for example- he bought one new, had some major issues, sold it and reprogrammed himself with a massive shed full of BMWs and still gets cravings even now. You should have bought that R65LS. My mate has now done 2000kms on it, 1500 of that was gravel roads. He phones me and says it's totally brown now with gravel dust, and loving it. Meanwhile he has a couple of very nice Guzzis gathering dust of their own- from sitting in the barn
"reprogramming", lol, i could use that "buy a new bike and be done with it" would be my program of choice
"have done with it" wouldnt happen tho. there are folk for whom that is the ultimate, but then there is folk like us...love to whinge about our crappy old bikes, but really we love the thrill of the hunt and the challenge of keeping them on the road
Originally Posted by psyguy - Today 09:53 "reprogramming", lol, i could use that "buy a new bike and be done with it" would be my program of choice The older I've gotten, the more I've become averse to the silent curse of vehicle depreciation, especially for "toys" such as bikes. Different story for business vehicles, but for personal vehicles I'd rather pay a little more each year in maintenance than lose a multiple four figure sum each year in depreciation. OTOH, the lovely Mrs Headroom has an equally intense intolerance for vehicles that "fail to proceed" so she tends to favour more modern conveyances. IMHO, new vehicles have their place . . . . otherwise there would be nothing for me to drive/ride in twenty year's time . . . .
I know Dodgy. I know.
I often wonder when playing with these old bikes......some of the technological advances are very very good.......i think i would like to have both worlds.....a new bike and some older ones...
I just set the timing on the Ambassador this morning, what a machine! It reminds me of Pommy cars from the 60's. You can't knock it really, there is so little to fail. If it leaves you stranded, then it has to be pretty terminal. If a new bike leaves you stranded, and they do from time to time, what do you do? It feels emasculating (I can't even spell it) not to be able to fix something, or at least try, or even know where to start. You can also earn a special place in a woman's heart from fixin' stuff it's just all the gear you need to do it that they don't like, try explaining the need for a $2000 lathe "It will come in handy" "It costs how much?" "Theres also some tooling we need to buy with it"
not much of an update but i wanted to share an LOL moment - went to lay another coat of clear yesterday, done all the prep, got the tools out and put the suit and the mask on etc etc, but when i opened the tin of hardener for the clear... uhm, well... the hardener had hardened in the tin (solid as a rock) ... so need to get some new stuff from the shop before i can go any further. i must have opened the tin too many times and it got exposed to too much air, i guess...
Or got a bit of paint in there on the stirring stick? Never had that happen, weird... all dressed up and nothing to paint.
grind it to paste and sell in in Otara.....
nah, definitely no paint dropped in. but as i opened it a few times each time i would have to tighten the lid cap a little less as otherwise i couldn't undo it - had to put the tin in the vice and use pliers to open the cap. (the cap is like what you have on a drink bottle, not a tin lid). the guy at the shop said that the packiging isn't original but that they pour it from a bigger container and that the shelf life isn't that great once opened (again, apparently because it gets exposed to air while pouring it in from the container). may try the otara market to recoup some money, thanks cmoore, lol
and the wait is over! (when was it that i started this thread, lol? oh, well, better now than never, eh?) the paint job looks better on the pics than in real life but even in reality it's not too bad a job i think. maybe you pro's out there can enlighten me on this but the paint looks much better on all the vertical surfaces than on the horizontal (i.e. the top of the tank and the tail don't look as good as the rest of the surfaces in that the clear coat didn't flow to a mirror finish but has a bit of an orange peel "effect") however, i've laid several coats of clear and it's quite thick so may decide to go down the "cut an polish" line some day. i didn't particularly want this many coats of clear but i went back and forth about 4-5 times (lost count, lol) on the tank, sanding back to a smooth finish and clearcoating again. but the depth of the finish now is really great and the contrast between the stripes and the black keeps bringing a big grin on my face... i have more than once gone to garage just before the bed time to have a peep at the paint, ha ha
Bikes looking sharp Psy, pity about the shape of that exhaust outlet though!! Where've ya been?
