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Most of the Aluminium on the XJR is lacquered which makes things worse. Once corrosion gets underneath the lacquer it spreads like a horrible disease
	The aluminium parts started corroding when the bike was only about two and a half years old. Just out of it's anti-corrosion warranty
I have a brand new polished clutch cover to go on ........
	.........and some silver engine paint Hard to believe that aluminium can get in this state so quickly
Friday 27th August 2010 37,196 miles So..... The first job I decided to do was replace the swinging arm bearings that I knackered in Germany. I adjusted the chain too tightly forgetting that the extra weight of all the luggage would make the bike sit that much lower. The first picture is the swinging arm being removed from the bike
	Swinging arm removed time to get the old bearings out
I guess it wasn't just the too tight chain that knackered the bearings, this one looks like the grease got washed away years ago, luckily the bush wasn't worn too much although this will need replacing at some stage soon
	With the bearings and bushing out it was time for a clean up..... perhaps using the white hand towel wasn't such a good idea
This picture shows my home made bearing press being put to use (thanks Kev McCoy for this top tip)
	Shiney new bearings in, now it's just a case of putting it all back together and on to the next job.....
15th December 2010 39,465 miles So today was the day. it was all going to happen, New paint job, new wheels, new chrome then I looked outside and thought....Oh to hell with it
	25th May 2011 42,182 miles I decided that if I was ever going to get started on this project I needed a plan. So a couple of months ago I sat down and listed all the jobs that needed doing and then split them up into 'Bite-sized' chunks of one day jobs and two day jobs. I also listed all the matierials, parts and sundries I would need so I could buy these in advance (Thank god for Ebay) So when ever I had a day off work I could just get stuck in. Thus I had a plan, not a very good one but a plan never the less. So today was the day of my first 'Bite-sized' chunk, a one day job comprising of: Fitting new rear springs, new chain and sprocket set, new foot pegs and while the rear wheel is off I will give it a new coat of paint and laquer. Oh well the best laid plans etc. etc. I got 75% of it done, I guess I must have over estimated the size of my 'bite-sze' chunk
So first job of the day was to replace those rusty old rear Ohlin springs. I wasted about an hour trying an alternative method of spring removal, using mainly the power of suggestion (and a big hammer) this failed so I decided a more methodical approach was needed.
	So I utilised my trusty old home made bearing press to compress the spring while tying half a dozen cable ties around the coils. A crude method but surprisingly effective
Springs removed time for a clean up
	Job done two lovely new shiny springs fitted on the shocks and ready to go back on the bike
The next job was to remove the old chain and sprockets. Oh there is many a story to be told about this chain, we've been together now for over 22,000 miles and had our ups and downs it's only let me down once when it decided to spit itself off while I was on my way to work one morining. But it could have been a whole lot worse, as we'd only been back from Germany for three days. Then to add insult to injury the AA truck that came to rescue me ran over it. But that was 4000 miles ago and it saw me through another year. But all things must pass so adios old faithful
	The front sprocket had virtually no wear at all not bad for 22,000 miles
So this is the point where my plan fell apart, I decided that with the rear wheel and both springs off, it was too good an oportunity not to whip the swing arm off and give it a good polish
	Swing arm being polished
While I was at it a gave the bearings that I fitted last summer a good clean and re-grease too
	On to the next job, polish up those scabby rear foot rest hangers and fit some funky new aliminium pegs

	Rear Wheel back in and new D.I.D chain and sprockets fitted. So that's it I ran out of time. The front foot pegs and rear wheel re-paint will have to wait till the next 'Bite-sized' chunk
30th June 2011 43,300 miles Another day off work and another 'bite size' chunk. Today I thought I'd give the wheels a miss for a while and utilize the polishing kit I got for my birthday about three years ago and give some of the scabby aluminium a spruce up First job was the headlight brackets
	Headlight off, hope I can remember where all those wires go
The polishing was done in three stages, First stage was to remove the old laquer using Nitromors. Second stage was Autosol on a small buffing wheel to remove the corrosion, the third stage was pink polishing compound on the big buffing wheel. This is a wax type compound which gives aluminium a lovely shine.
	Next job was to remove and polish the top yoke
Yoke removed
	This again was a three stage process
Next job was to do something about those rusty hooters
	Luckily I found a pair on Ebay for £7- Bargain
New bar end mirrors, these things are tiny but the rear ward view is excellent
	Fitting the switchgear back to the handlebars I took the opportunity to replace all the bolts with A16 stainless steel ones, and some funky blanking plugs where the mirrors used to go
last job of the day was to get rid of the cracked headlight and fit the twin headlamp conversion. There is a lot less room inside these units for all the wiring connectors
	........so I decided to chop them all off and solder all the wires together. A bit drastic I know but I figure that if I ever need to replace something I can just un-solder them now I have a wiring diagram and I know where everything goes.
13th August 2011 44,250 miles Another three days off work and I thought this would be a good opportunity for some serious renovation. However, my adventures in Speed Superbike Land put an end to that. So my three days turned into a day and a half. My bite sized chunk for today, and we go back to the very first photo in the article and time to tidy up those scabby front forks The work involved in polishing these was just too much for my hand tools and no work bench, so I decided on a paint finish.
	So to get the front forks off you have to get the front wheel off and to do that you have to get the front of the bike supported in some way. The easiest method is a car jack but because the exhaust down pipes are right where the jack needs to be that has to come off too
Front forks off and on with the paint stripper
	Nitromors is nasty stuff and you should always wear goggles. If you haven't got any goggles then you have to improvise
OK, so the Nitromors has done it's stuff, now it's time for the wet n dry paper used wet to get them nice and smooth
	On with a coat of grey primer
Then two coats of Silver and two coats of clear lacquer. The second coat of lacquer should be applied "wet" so as to get a good shine. It helps if you have an enclosed warm environment to do this, unfortunately I don't and as the weather was not that warm it lost it's shine somewhat on drying. This just means that I will have to get the T cut out in a week or two after the paint has had time to fully harden.
	Once the paint was reasonably dry it was time to re-assemble the front end of the bike - carefully
While the exhaust was off I gave the down pipes a fresh coat of matt black exhaust lacquer, this is the result complete with greasy finger marks
The before...................	.....................and after shot.
25th August 2011 A year since I started 44,496 Miles Bloody hell, two lots of bite sized chunks in the same month, probably because the end is in sight and it was this or cut the grass. OK today's job is to finish the front end and paint the wheels and fit some new Goodridge brake hoses. The Bite sized chunk actually turned into two days because of a problem bleeding the front brakes, but with some help from ace mask maker and paint sprayer Mikki I was able to concentrate on the brakes while she finished off the front wheel. First job was to mark the tyre where the wheel weights go
	Rear wheel sanded, masked......
....... and primed
	Rear wheel finished and ready to go back on the bike
Front wheel finished
	Now time to fit the new hoses This picture was taken about three hours after fitting the new Goodridge hoses and there is still no fluid coming down the lines!
Finally after about 6 hours solid of pumping the brakes were bled and the wheel back on.
	On with the rear wheel complete with new disc, and that finished today's major bite sized chunk
26th September 2011 45,204 Miles One of the jobs for today was to remove, strip and polish the badly corroded cam cover
	This is brilliant stuff, just spray it on and watch the grime just fall off and the best thing is it's water soluble and environmentally friendly. So next time you need some heavy duty bike cleaner.... Muck Off
After an hours polishing it was clear that the rocker cover was just too badly corroded, so I decided on a temporary measure spraying it with some aluminium paint, not a great job but it'll do until I can afford one of my mate's refurbished cam covers.... see below
	My mate Hairy (not his real name) runs a new and used motorcycle parts business. He specialises in XJR parts probably cos he owns one. This baby cost £70 exchange and are sprayed in Cromex, which is a heavy duty chrome powder coat . The advantage of this is they never need polishing
on with the new Beowulf chrome oil cooler grill	Next,
	19th October 2011 The Paint job Time to go indoors. Early attempts at spraying outdoors worked ok so long as the air temp was high enough. However, October is starting to get a bit chilly so our spare bedroom was stripped and sealed using disposable plastic dust sheets. A side panel primed and ready for top coat
20th November 2011 46,531 Miles The paint job took exactly a month and so now it's time for the last bite size chunk this year, putting it all together. First job was to fit the new tail tidy which turned out to be a lot harder than it should have. I think the main problem is that it isn't a precision fit and it's up to you where you drill any mounting holes so as a result I ended up fitting it about half an inch to far forward which didn't become apparent until the tail piece went on. Not a big problem just needs re-positioning at a later date
	In this shot you can see where the mounting holes don't quite line up, also a new number plate is needed as now I have two sets of holes that I don't need
However, all said and done I think it neatens up the bike quite a bit
	So that's it for this year, I ran out of time before the bad weather starts which means road salt. The bike is now completely covered in WD40 in an attempt to keep the worst of the winter away. Next year will be the last job and that is to strip and repaint the engine and fit all the bling that I've been collecting all year. Hopefully a new exhaust too. See you next Spring
3rd March 2012 47,491 Miles The first job of the year to strip off all the winter protection i applied last November and give the bike it's first proper clean of the year. As I started to "un-wrap" the shocks I could see my bin bag had been a complete success
	6 hours later