Slow but Steady...

...kind of sums up Team Thumper I suppose!

A bit of a progress report on the current state of play:

Today I fibreglassed the necessary fixings and exhaust brackets onto the tail unit; you can see the standard of workmanship here...!

I also got a (barely) functional rearset linkage on the go, to at least allow me to knock it into gear when the time comes to try to run it.

On top of that, we now have a chain (to facilitate the same), and I've cleaned up the front fairing bracket to allow a bit of welding to be done.

But its almost a bike now: the tail unit is ready to go, and the brackets for the little ally tank have been bodged out of some flattened tube. I have the distinct feeling that when it comes to actually running (reliably), then they'll have to be re-made, but they'll do for just now. She is beautifully narrow across the waist tho; we have faith in the belief that when she runs, she should be a good 'un. Getting to that point has just been more problematic (for oafs like us) than we'd ever though would be the case...

Slightly more problematic may be mounting the rear master cylinder as space would appear to be rather tight. Nice rearsets tho, eh??

Note the lower bolt in this pic (there are 4 in total) which support the seat unit and rider's weight; impressive given the lack of subframe.

Oil lines should be on within a week. Ditto the front brake line. Then after a bit of wiring, and finding a clutch lever and handlebar bracket, I would hope that we can start to think about fuelling up and putting some oil in... then Boyd can break a sweat pushing me and a dead bike up and down the street!!