The VFR has some stone-chip damage on her nose.
It is not serious, but it is there and it will, inevitably, cause flaking, over time.
The Daytona has a little minor paint damage too, on the leading edge of the pillion cover. The mark looks like it’s been caused by the previous owner’s leather-clad backside, rubbing in the saddle. The mark has been touched up, but been done so badly it looks worse than it probably did before.
I called a local company – one of those ‘chips be gone’ or what have you – and asked if they did bikes.
No.
But they knew a man who does!
He toddled round on Sunday, looked at the damage, gave me a price and went off to see if he can get hold of the appropriate paints.
The thing about paint damage is not so much that it looks like a cosmetic blemish, it’s that our inclement weather will get underneath the flecks, and start to lift greater areas of previously undamaged paint away from the bodywork.
This is true of cars, as well as bikes.
Anyway, it’s a case of waiting and seeing now. But if this works, I’m going to trundle the bikes down to his workshop and he’ll make them both look perfect again.
He asked what colour I would describe the Daytona.
‘Offensively yellow’, I replied.
Oh, how he laughed.
No, he did, really.
Anyway, the day before the paint guy came, the Daytona and I went to London.
These are some of the things we saw:
Ahh, Borough Market. I used to walk through there each day, when I was working down that London. Happy days.
At 04.00: “Cunt!” Really? He did actually stop… which is more than some would. The bloke at 07:25 seemed to be far more deserving of the finger, IMHO.
At 06.00: Folk songs. Really?