PanzerWomble

Meant to mention this a little while ago, but one of the UK's greatest pilots passed way last Friday aged 80 . Pioneer of the SHAR , he led 801 NAS off Invincible in the Falklands , shot down more enemy aircraft personally than the whole of the RAF combined since 1945 ...and wrote a great book called Sea Harrier over the Falklands. Ward's son went on to fly SHARs as well until his untimely death at 45 . A true great of Naval aviation , and a maverick some would say . RN obit here https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-latest-activity/news/2024/may/21/20240521-sharkey-ward-obituary Clip of him landing at BBC studios in 1979 as a stunt to promote Naval Aviation in the midst of Defence Cuts. Clip of him discussing the Falklands We counted them all out ...and now counted one less back . Sad day .

I know ....the yellow jerseys were all French ?

So glad your cat's better Carl .....her random appearance on this forumm makes my day as a cat lover but not an owner .

Wow truly Texas weather . Never been to the US , but fascinated by so many of the States .....wife lived there in the 90's , we reckon a grand 90 day visa tour when we retire .

Sorry but all of that is dog puke to me , the cafe racer nonsense has destroyed many good classic bikes. ...IMHO. This FJ has survived 40 years ...it deserves to survive for another 40 . People should go ruin modern crap bikes for thier fads , leave the 40 year old bikes to people who appreciate them . They ain't building any more . I made a bunch of CR's based on Viragos .....sold them all to dreaming idiots who I doubt anyone did more than 200 miles ...... no one will miss Blandits or Diversions etc , GS500's or half the "adventure " rubbish sold today. It's like making a stretched Limo from a 1970 Mustang .....just ...no .

More spanner nonsense ....GS 1000 is running nice , got 600+ miles up now so that my summer rider for now . Turning attention to my other bike , 1986 FJ1200 . Bought this 2 years ago, looks good from 10 feet but....... has been sat too long . Tyres were 23 / 18 years old ....everything rubber had perished , so think engine seals, foil seals, brakes , clutch etc. Previous guy took a paintbrush to everything inc all the fasteners to "restore it "about 20 years ago from my guesswork . Thankfully the bodywork is pretty good, and it's low miles and not been too mucked around . So....time for me to strip it down to the frame and do it properly without hopefully loosing too much of the original bike . I had an FJ1200 about 9 years ago & loved it ! It was much higher mileage , but still could uproot trees . Hopefully will have this one back up and running in around 3 months unless disaster strikes. Today then , cleaned the workshop , made room for all the boxes of parts ...and into the rabbit hole I go .

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So true esp whilst 1/3 of the world's population collectively couldn't give a hoot about climate change .

Just bobbing in with a brief update . The '79 GS1000 now has a few hundred miles under it's belt . I'm absolutely loving it , the laid back power delivery , the nostalgia . She's a loyal old thing , esp given being parked up for a long time . So far , new tyres , new chain and sprockets, a lot of new bearings , changed the oil, been over the brakes & replaced the fluid, replaced the tacho, fixed the fuel gauge sender , balanced carbs etc . Wiring is pretty good , unmolested , and it charges the battery which was Suzi's big weak point in this era. Points and condensers working fine , so won't be swapping them out, just bought a strobe light for the first time in 20 years .. 🙃 Original colour was the dark blue ( as found under the tank hidden away) so a fresh coat of paint is in the cards as I have had way too many black bikes. These came factory Red or Blue , so the black is someone else's paint job, I won't feel bad about loosing it. Lol - me back to 1:1 painting instead of the usual airbrushing on here ! I'm fighting the urge to strip it down for a frame up restoration as I have way too much other stuff to be on with this summer (inc my FJ1200) , but think come winter this will be a prime candidate for some powder coating and fastener plating . I would like to keep it pretty original as there are plenty of modded GS1000's , and the L version wasn't imported to the UK so rare here. I need to find a cissy rail which maybe a hunt for a model made for 2 years only . Have fun gents Laters PW Sat in the sun like it's 1988..... Float and Gauge now in communication ! Back master got need seals . Good to brake at both ends now . Tyres were old enough to vote .... Seen better days........ no wonder it was making odd schwlerp schwlerp noises on the overun

Yay . I wish one of mine had gone into the services. No to try to steal your thunder |Scott , but my middle daughter announced last month that she had biologically booted me into the "Old Man" tickbox . Goddam I'm still 25 .....

That is a beaut .

Car... bike ...bike.... car thread ??? I've been off doing anything other than modelling recently , 3 stalled / failed builds .... I need a break , probs too much time on line as well . 🙃 Bought this 1979 GS 1000L , US Import - we didn't get this model in the UK . I last had a GS1000S in 1994 ...it was only 14 years old then . This one is now 45 . ..Being so old it's inspection exempt and taxes free. Needed a lot of maintenance, been sat a good long while 4-10 years , so been working my way through it . New fluids everywhere , new tyre ( last pair were old enough to vote) , chain and sprockets up next. Numerous fixings / cleanings, some small electrics , and just getting out and running it . Amazing how machines 'come around' when you use them daily. Plan is to run it over summer and consider a restoration during winter. Huge Grin / Nostalgia factor here , the ride is laid back but with some power , delivery being lazy rather than on / off as with younger bikes . Sounds and smells like a real bike to me . Keep up the glueing - I'll be back at some point! cheerz PW

Gonna be 1:1 scale for the next few months

I've just had a go with the MRP Super Metallic 2 as I refuse to buy Alclad from Ammo for 3 times the price it use to be - still all made 100 miles from me by the same people ...go figure. In the jar very thick , needs to be thinned 50/60% to spray . Looked finer pigment than Tamiya, bit tougher than Alclad. Tamiya's laquer thinner worked ok is , nothing water based (like X20A / IPA )worked & I don't own any MRP self levelling . I do cheat and use proper cellulose thinner ( toluene) when running laquers. Have to be careful as it can strip acrylics quick. Alclad as you know sprays straight from the bottle .