After a rather hectic Saturday and a detour to Ross on Rye with Sarah on the Sunday, I headed back to London via the A40 and Gloucester in the early afternoon. The journey went quickly enough as I was listening to the radio commentary of the Open, which is just me harking back to my former life, a time before I was ruled by two wheels and an engine. When I have a few days, I could quite easily head back that way on the way, heading into South Wales and some great riding roads.
I finally managed to get back home around 17:00 and during one of the warmest afternoons/evenings of the year. Slowly but surely it all started to come together and you can see my progress in the photos below. As I mentioned earlier, the finish in one area of the nose isn't perfect, but this may polish out, so the next time I clean the bike, I'll pay it some serious attention. I had some real trouble with the left fairing, mainly due to the Samco hoses, which make the internals a little wider, and the side panels also seemed a very tight fit due to the additional paint layers on the tank. Finally at 20:30, I tightened the final screw, wheeled it out of the garage, fired it up and rode it the 200ft down the road. All seemed well so I went to bed happy. Hot and sweaty, but happy.