PAINT MY WHEEL

I took advantage of the remarkable warm weather to paint the hub of the rear wheel. Hammorite, smooth, aluminium paint was to be used and after a final rub and wipe down I started to apply it with a small brush. It went on very well and I managed to keep the spokes reasonable free of paint.

The photos were taken after the first coat and part way through and the finish was better than I expected, although I did give it a second coat to be on the safe side. The hub will never be seen as it is tucked away under the rear end, but like the swing arm, I feel the need for it all to look good.

The rear tyre posed a bigger problem, the existing, rounded tread bike tyre needs to be replaced with a flat profile car tyre.  My wheel is 17 in. and the recommended Avon sidecar tyre requires an 18 in. wheel, this would mean having my wheel rebuilt with a new rim and spokes at a cost of nearly £300.  However some extensive web searching came up with  
www.longstonetyres.co.uk  They have a new cross ply tyre of the right size 400/425x17 with all the correct markings required by MSVA (Motorcycle Single Vehicle approval). This tyre is actually designed for the old Austin Ruby car, but I asked Arthur, the manufacturer of my kit, to confirm it's suitability and he has given the thumbs up. The new tyre should arrive in a couple of days.

What has arrived is my engine crane. I don't know how the delivery guy got it to my front door as one box weighed over 50 kilos and the smaller one 16 kilos. I put it on my trolley and took it back to my garage and assembled it. I checked it out before partially de-assembling it and loading it, with some difficulty into the back of the car, for transporting over to Reigate tomorrow where it will be put to work removing the engine from the bike.