Shiny painted toolbox + keys sorted out

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New headlight reflector fitted to Siegfried

The old reflector was rusty so it had to go. Here is the new one fitted. One of those jobs that look simple but which took a lot of time due to making old rubber seal and oddball retaining clip fit. Beam a bit yellowy, just waiting for new charger to arrive to plug into new on board connection.

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A tale of 2 tool rolls

Siegfried came with the black roll - velcro in 1958 ? Plus oddball contents. In keeping with the period is the proper type of roll complete with original, but now purely ornamental, Simson feeler gauge set‎. It'll be fun filling it with relevant tools / spares.

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Manx GP 2013

All set for 2013. Heysham overnight ferry out plus evening return plus homestay all booked. Following the disappointment of the Past Masters parade on the most interesting bikes screaming past in a bunch at racing speed I can't see the point of staying on until the Wednesday for that so will return on Monday evening.

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Siegfried electrics tidied up

Painted the inside of the battery box then added a trickle charger connector so that when Siegfried is parked up I can open the side box up and plug straight in. All due to being shown a neat crimp that feeds 2 stripped wires into 1 connector. Great + electrics work ok, so far so good.

Also boxes of new shiny parts arrived today from Germany. Complete new exhaust system with all connectors and silencer. Wow looks great. Mmmm....silencer bracket not in same place as old one but, methinks the hefty bracket to which the old silencer was attached with a non standard clip may turn out to be a handily placed sidecar bracket‎. We shall see.

Also today the new headlight reflector arrived, relieved to see it has the requisite slot to attach the bulb unit.

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In for a penny.....

As tends to happen with bike refurbs today was decision day. Having gone so far with new carb, new full exhaust and a host of other small but costly parts it was decision time on what to do about the worn exhaust valve. A rummage online led me to Stu Rogers in Wisbech. After an hilarious phone conversation rambling into all sorts of things the decision was made. The whole head was couriered to him today to work his magic. It is a relief as I was loath to end up butchering such rare and hard to replace parts. He has decades of classic bike experience plus mountains of parts and full machining facilities so best let him do the job. I can now finish off loads of small but significant stuff so that when the head returns it will be fun to bolt on all the shiny new goodies and finish the job.

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Siegfried's piston before and after

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