...that decent fellow Greybeard, whose twisting and turning troubles seemed never ending for a time.
To be honest, I'm not sure that saga is over yet
Wow, what a great intro Swarfy, (DuTch seems to have given you a familiar handle)!
I still have a scar on the palm of my hand from when in my first job after school I was employed at a small engineering shop, (£5 per week). I was told to move a wheelbarrow full of swarf out to the yard. I hefted the handles before I realised how heavy the load was. One side of the barrow slipped out of my hand and I toppled over on top of the pile of razor-sharp swarf, using my hand to save myself! Lots of 'claret'!
I also didn't know about Sludge traps back in the old days. Just got away with it.
Looks like you will not be short of friends in your area, to go out and play with.
Let us have some pictures, please!
Skip the next paragraph if you are fed up of reading about me and my bike:
My '55 Plunger BSA, my only motorbike, came to me in 1972, as a part exchange for a rigid Aerial Square Four, 4G, that I was selling for £120. I restored my machine after I retired in 2010. I had not ridden any motorcycles for over 30 years so was quite nervous about doing it again, but it all comes back to you. I was very lucky to have this machine to restore as it was complete and very original; after all, it had only had 20 years of use, not having been used since 1975 when my wife and I moved to Suffolk, albeit being rather rusty and very dirty, (bike, not wife) after being stored under various workbenches for so many years.
I had a decent pension lump sum after retiring so I was able to spoil the old girl, (bike, not wife) with things like a replated petrol tank, professional 2 pack paint, new stainless rims and spokes etc., etc. I ended up spending nearly £4k. I love my A10, I'm not a thrasher as I need this bike to keep going as long as possible without costing me an arm and a leg.
I'm 68 and hope to be biking for at least another 10 years.