3D painting

A couple of days ago, the XBR looked like this:

What has happened??? Well, I had decided to start the painting of the fairing. At the same time I needed to change back the bike to a normal state to pass the road test. It is only due in June, but I want to continue to change the bike to ‘rally mode’ and switching back later is too late. So I went to Germany today and passed the test without any problem. On the way back it was snowing! Chilly, chilly.

It was also a test ride with my new Russell seat that has arrived this morning from California. Wow! It not only looks big, it IS enormous. But what a comfort! I only rode 215km today, but this felt very, very comfy. I even didn’t get a comment about the Bol d’Or handlebars I had mounted replacing the original ones. My seating position is more upright and relaxed, not to speak of the new seat. Now I just need to put back the fairing and I’ll be in LD heaven :-) . Well, in the meantime I was painting the fairing: grinding, two layers of primer, one layer of black (all applied manually) and then one layer of sprayed black – and then the disaster happened – the freshly applied layer wrinkled within seconds!!! All the hours of work for nothing…I ground the wrinkles after drying, but I have a 3D painting now. Whatever, not everybody has such a unique fairing, ehem …The reason was most likely that the first black layer was not dry enough and/or the two paints were not compatible.

What else? I had received the Krista LED light and mounted them. Unfortunately, I had not taken a picture, but I will post one later. The lights are amazing, night becomes day! This is some serious stuff.

I also tried to squeeze the Dispatch distribution box under the seat, but this is tricky despite the smaller battery. this will be one of the next challenges. I have also changed tyres and I have spare tyres for the next months. I have received the temporary insurance for the bike in June/July.

From now on, the serious preparation on the bike starts…