Well this year has turned out shite ! Read what I wrote in february of all the things I was looking forward to, and the opposite is what has actually happened.
Just one tiny bright glimmer of positivity....the seat unit that went to the painters for a repaint, and got "locked down", has returned and my bike is again whole. I fitted the refurb'ed item yesterday, and washed off the copious amounts of ACF50 I had liberally coated the bike with, to fend off the ravages of winter.....and then, fired it up. The motobat battery still lit everything brightly when I turned the key, and the motor crackled into life after four prods of the kicker....albeit on just one pot. Straight inside to find my lid, and a quick rip around the block to get it firing on both. 50 yards, and number 2 chimed in, and a brisk squirt through the village until it cleared it's throat was in order. Wow...this bike is rapid...despite owning a 150 hp R1, the old T500 never ceases to surprise and please. I never get off this bike thinking it's slow...cos it isn't. Twist the throttle to the stop, and it pulls like a train, the front wheel skipping over the tarmac....it's bloody lively. What's more it handles so well...I'd forgotten just how sorted I got this bike when I rebuilt it. I love it. The crackle from the chambers is bloody awesome, and I had forgotten just how great it is......I've owned this 500 since 1977 when I was just 19, and I will never be selling it. No amount of money would prize it from my grasp.