Oct 31st - Halloween and Boss's Birthday Pt 1

Still suffering from to many other non fun things to have completed further work. Tank is 3/4's done and I should have that finished soon. Then on to brakes,sparks and oil.

Took the boy child to the National Motor Cycle museum when I was up at the in-laws last week. Some images below including a namesake ? (see other posts), didn't know Chris W. had a motorcycling pedigree but there you go. Some nice images of the original Triumph engines and you can see how much Kawasaki lifted the design from these original brit bikes.

Couldn't resist including the oil containers as a reminder as to why the old brit companies are no longer with us (Mr Bloors fine rebirth of Triumph excluded of course.) A Barry Sheene Norton, Vincent and a few other nice bikes below.

Great museum, recomended for a visit but avoid the cafe with it's truly horrible coffee.

Deep autumn here although I was able to get the TL out last week for a good spin but I suspect it may be some time before the next one as the weather is pretty grim.

May 2nd 2010

Progress...kind of.
have new used battery and full of hope, plugged it in and... fark all.
no light, no ignition, nada spark. Accept completely that it was unlikely to turn over straight away but the fact the there is obviously a failure to see electrics running through the system is a problem seeing as I'm hopeless at wiring. am pursuing a multimeter and have to get a proper works manual before attempting anything else as I'll be just firing off on uneducated and poorly thought through tangents as best. on a positive note the front brakes have been cleaned and stripped and i'll bleed and replace the fluid at some point.

MotoGP - dud race today except for the last 3 laps. Lorenzo/pedrosa and rossi in that order. jerez looked sunny but unfortunately pommie land has returned to it's normal weather pattern of continuing shitty and wet with more possibility of the same.

best to Mr West now residing in the land of tea parties, gun ownership rights and cheese whip. Enjoy!! Are you allowed to go to 'Spring Break'?

Feb 7th 2010 Update

My hopes soar on the fact that it only took me 1 and 1/2 hours to remove one bloody stripped nut to remove the f.....g rear fender. Thankfully the children were out of earshot as my language skills were excerised to the fullest. The good news is that I have the fender off, the tank and airbox out but again am thwarted in my desire to get the battery out by mechanical incompentence combined with stupid black and white pdf print-out of the workshop manual. If I may pose a question - I understand that a battery on a motorcycle should be enclosed and protected from the elements but putting it below the seat, requiring airbox, rear fender and electrical system disconnection/removal does seem a little extreme and I suspect that Mr kawasaki designer was either suffering a severe sake hangover or his wife had just slept with a more successful Suzuki or Yamaha exectutive...f..k me it's been a frustrating two sessions in the shed and to further enrich my life the weather has been as cold as a brass monkeys.
Sensational....
Photos to follow and if you squint real hard you can kind of imagine what the bike will look like at some point in the future with a single seat and the rear frame hacked off.

The Start

It has begun.
Taken delivery of a Kawasaki W650 in terrible condition with the intention of turning it into a bobber. Engine hasn't run for about 2 years, rust has set in, battery is dead... on the plus side I have a limited budget, the engine has compression and there are plenty of good ideas on the web for inspiration. happy to accept hints on restoring, parts or details of suppliers you know of who are doing good things with W650's.