It's been quite a while since the tank was in place. Originally I had done it in ford Red Hot but it is now in the correct Honda Winning Red.
This part wasn't welded very well, it had been done by somebody incompetent. I got it right the second time.
5 minutes later the newly painted fairing was back in place, the numbers and rider's name will be added later. I need to let the paint go really hard then rub it down and polish it.
With the screen reattached it looks rather splendid. I still have to connect the tank to the carbs and I want to make better stays at the front but it's pretty much there now.
Life has got a bit weird recently, the business has long gone, all my stock went out cheaply to clear it and now I am a full time carer for Mrs, who I nearly lost last year, it's amazing how something like that changes your outlook on life. We now have to downsize to a bungalow so everything pretty much has to go but the RC is one that I can not bring myself to sell, I just love it too much. Probably the only other keeper is the Triumph drag bike but to be honest I would love to see that back in to competition so if the right person wanted to buy it I would let it go.
I pulled the covers off the RC a little while back and was horrified to see the paint had crazed on one side of the tank, I have no idea why, the other side and the tail piece are fine. I used the same products throughout so really have no idea why id did it. I tried rubbing down but the cracks seemed to go right through to the primer. I discussed this with my good friend Robert Cooper who is a traditional signwriter, a brilliant artist and the guy that made an outstanding job of my Junkyard Dog chopper. He suggested it was moisture in the base coat, which could well be the case. He also suggested the best way to deal with it was to strip it and do it again. My heart sank, I had taken a lot of time over it and it looked really good when I first did it. My spirits were very quickly lifted again when he said that he would do the job. It's a bit like getting Leonardo Da Vinci to paint your lounge magnolia really but I was delighted that he would even consider it. He did warn me that he was very busy and that it may take a while to get it done, getting married and going on honeymoon would hold things up a bit too. I didn't mind, it's worth the wait because I knew he would do it right.
A lot of research was done to make sure the colours were authentic, we found that the red was called winning red, our favourite supplier - VRS in Boston were able to supply that in 2k, the only stuff these days that seems to be petrol resistant. Thanks EU, you really fucked that one up - the only paint we can use is full of cyanide and breathing apparatus becomes more important than ever before but they think it's environmentally friendly. Anyway, Rob found the correct green for the roundels, the silver for the fairing and the yellow to complete the ensemble. We agreed that the numbers would be vinyl so that one day when it has to be sold the new owner can just peel them off and apply their own.
In the mean time I set about generally smartening stuff up, I have it in mind to make some more authentic footpegs, the ones on there are just not right. I think it would be a rather fun project and it would definitely lift the bike's authenticity a bit. The chances of finding original items are so close to zero that it's not worth the effort.
I had spilt petrol on the exhausts so they needed repainting with high temperature spray, they look a lot better now. The rest of it was just general cleaning, the whole thing was covered in filler dust from where I had been working on the hot rod doors. Everything looked fine, no other paintwork nasties to deal with and everything still seemed to move as it should and not move where it shouldn't. I decided it would be a good idea to spark it up, which is when I realised that in scientific terminology the battery was as flat as a witch's tit than had been in a freak accident involving a mangle. Surprisingly after a few hours on my smart charger it came back to life and allowed me to try and start the beast. Start it did, almost as soon as I prodded the starter button, amazing!! It hadn't been run for months but sparked straight up, only on 3 pots for a few seconds and then the fourth one chimed in. It's still as loud as I remember it so it only got revved to about 9 or 10k, it's an amazing sounding thing.
I am still trying to find an original tacho as the one on there only goes up to 18k, the originals go to 21 or 22, which is what it needs really. I did find one for sale but at 170 quid it's a bit much now I am not earning. I am going to try and sell my GPX750R to try and raise some funds so I can complete this and my hot rod, that will probably then be an end to my dabbling. I don't want to sell it but have to admit to myself that I will never get to ride it and it's been idle for at least 2 years now so it has to go.
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