Today was a harder day to keep working due to the humidity, bugs, and disappointing polishing wheel which made a TOTAL mess of the bike after I finished with the clutch/crank covers.

That really set me back, seeing the bike covered in black polish specs... really felt like I had taken two steps forward and ten steps back, the ENTIRE bike was covered. Somehow, even on the OTHER side of the bike there was specs covering it. Rubbing with a clothe only smudged everything.. the bike looked like ass.

I'm glad the other cars weren't nearby at the time, or I would've gone ballistic having to clean all of them. I ended up cleaning and waxing all the painted metals and plastics... it looks better now, but it was frustrating having my first real 'set back'.

Work completed:
- Clutch cover polish = DONE
- Crank cover polish = DONE
- Rear rim lip polish = DONE
- Front rim lip polish = DONE

Things started
- Sanding/testing polish and pulse generator cover, will hopefully finish that off this weekend
- More polish testing on the valve cover.. it's looking good, but will require a lot more work to finish. Will look into removing the cover this weekend so I can finish it without having to leave the bike valve coverless overnight.
- Looked at the exhaust pipes... they're rougher than I remember, and the left one has a bit of rash from my drop last year. Replacements are hard to come by, atleast in decent condition. I know Cobra has the F1 slip ons, but they run over $200 USD and don't really appeal to me.

I really want high mounts, I think it'd toughen up the already stout rear end. The header-exhaust piping is 4-2-1, so I'd probably still stick to two cans. The way I've envisioned it is to remove the rear pegs/mounts and just run the piping up so the cans run at a parallel angle with the tail section. Welding is something I'd like to learn, but I'm not sure if a full exhaust system is something a beginner should try... I'll look into how to refinish pipes, I have a feeling that'd be the best bet at this point.

The more I work on the bike, the more I want to have it on the street next season. I know I've planned on getting something with smaller displacement as a street-runner, but after all this work I'm putting in, it almost feels weird to not get to appreciate it on the street. I'll get some quotes for insurance, and I guess we'll go from there. I still want a new bike... maybe I'll insure both? hah.. let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Plans for the weekend:
- Finish pulse generator cover
- Look into valve cover polishing
- Look into refinishing pipes from header back
- Check clutch to see wtf is going on, will probably bleed the lines and go from there
- Check all the wiring, see if anything past the master fuse to the solenoid was affected in the burn out. All the fuses are good, so I guess only the wires could be something at fault. I hope my battery didn't change polarity due to my lack of maintenance.

I'm starting to get these crazy ideas... I think once I have the carbs tuned I'll have the bike as a rolling chassis as I spruce up the frame and graphics. I'm pretty set on not going with a front fairing (bikini or otherwise).. it doesn't seem right, this bike is a retro hotrod, it needs to be treated as such. I think dual lamps (ala Triumph Speed Triple) should give me enough space to hide the wiring and still use the stock tach.. we'll see, the street fighter fairing I have now should fetch a decent amount of coin on eBay.

I could easily put the money I've set aside for a new bike (about 5k) towards the Nighthawk.. get a stroker kit, ohlins all round, new OEM graphics, new cluster, tires, and still have enough money for me to build a custom highmount setup..... (EDIT: After some thought, and staring at this photo, dual shorty pipes would look hella gangster and I'd be able to keep my rear pegs. Hot!! ). Or I can just get a used GSXR1000. Hmm.

Almost midnight, should probably get to bed. DEFLUV OUT! (hahaha, lame)

This was a Dawes 531 (or was it 501? I can't remember) 12 speed racing bike with drop bars. According to the seller it was a time trial bike - seeing how short it is, I'm inclined to agree.

I bought it off eBay in 2006 when I was very naive, quite skint, and desperate for a road bike. Paid about ?95 including postage - various people said that it was certainly not worth that - especially due to the dent in the toptube(!). I have to agree. I should have bought a better bike for less money from my local bike shop, but what can I say -- I was desperate!

It had a nice (but very girly) purple & white paint job which i was so embarassed about that I quickly painted it with blue house interior paint.... that looked so bad that I covered it all up with gaffer tape. About a year later, I wanted to try and revive the bike, so I tried to remove the gaffer tape. However, the paint underneath is matt, so the glue stuck really good. It's a shame really because I only rode this bike for a few months. Would have been nice to respray it black and get some red, yellow and green parts for it - turn it into a 'rasta bike'....

I removed the derailleurs, cranks, bottom bracket and chain, the rear brake and the brake levers, and cut the bars. The cranks are old bent ones off my work bike. Both of the original wheels got damaged and have been replaced. The rear wheel has been re-dished and the axle has been re-spaced, so it's now 120mm rather than 130. However... the chainline at the rear is too small (where a fixed sprocket would sit, is about 1cm too far towards the centre of the bike). A thinner axle cone locknut will help sort that out, and perhaps a shorter cone too.