1971 Triumph Tiger 650 restoration

Hello everyone, welcome back and a very happy 2021 to you all. While we  may have had even more free time than usual this Christmas -- normally perfect shed time -- my better half decided it was a good time to redecorate the bedroom. That is to say, it was a good time for me to decorate the bedroom. Or perhaps I say it was a good time for me to rebuild the bedroom.  So there has not been very much progress on the bike for a while. When I have been able to escape into the workshop I have mostly been cleaning things. Degreasing, derusting, wire-brushing, polishing (but not too much) all sorts of parts from footpegs to exhaust pipes. It is a gentle, pleasently mindless process and one that should not be rushed. Part 22... snapped. Part 25... busted. Part 26... loose. One material victory was repairing the kick-start mechanism. No more will it randomly let go and snap ones knee ligaments. Once I had bravely taken the gearbox outer cover off, the cause was very obvious. The kickst...

It's our second COVID lockdown here in the UK, there's no work to be had and it's winter. A boy needs a project. I'd been toying for a while with the idea of doing up a classic British motorbike -- I've only played with 90s Japanese stuff in the past -- and started watching a few things on ebay. And yes perhaps putting in the odd cheeky bid after a few beers. You guessed it. I 'accidentally' won an auction. I am the new keeper of a 1971 Triumph TR6R Tiger, freshly imported from the US of A. The Tiger is the single-carb version of the famous Bonneville, and is the same model as ridden by Steve McQueen in The Great Escape. Quite a heritage. And now this one , is mine:  Bought sight unseen, for £4300. No history, not even registered in the UK. What had I done? Promptly the next morning, a friendly chap from the dealers calls, we sort out the readies and he also offers delivery at a reasonable price. No going back now. In a few days it will be here... While I wa...