2300 Mile Inspection
Ok its now 7 weeks old and I've now done 2,300 miles (just come back from a 650 mile blast around the Lake District).
Riding has been in a lot of rain, no off-road, mostly tarmac albeit gritty and very bumpy and usually covered in mud.
Its been washed and about to go on another 200 mile trip around Herefordshire tomorrow.
So I thought I'd have a look around.
Notable Points.
1) The Centre Stand is taking a lot of stone chip damage. Its right in line with the front wheel throwing up gravel. This will absolutely need to be repainted. I've been down to Halfords (store) and bought some Hammerite Direct to Rust Black Paint. I'll be repainting this later this morning. No need for warranty claims, its a waste of your time and theirs, and will only go the same way very quickly. A lick of paint every now and then is whats needed. I might put a Lizard Skins neoprene mountain bike chain stay protector on it as well to be honest.
2) The rear swing arm is getting scratched as the centre stand is used. This'll polish out, but I might put some Carbon Fibre Vinyl on the offending area to give it a better chance.
3) The front Engine Case is peppered in tar spots and some scratches from washing (so it must attract a fair amount of grit), even with a front Fender Extender. I'm going to wax polish this and see how it responds to that.
4) Crevices, so many hard to reach places on this bike. Engine cooling vanes are a nightmare to get to, so I don't expect them to last before corrosion sets in. I might end up super cleaning those and repaint them in black using Hammerite paint again.
5) No signs of rust on frame or welds. All good so far.
6) I removed the frame protectors and all good behind them.
Here are the pictures...