Well, here she is!

That's one to be proud of!

In my experience, they do rust very well so I would suggest Wash/Dry/Polish after every outting. I used AutoGlym Super Resin Polish on every part of mine (except the tyres/seat grips etc) and it kept the shit off at treat.

Oh, and if you want custom pipes, avoid the Italian Gemini drag pipes on Ebay, they're alright but theres better out there, you really do get what you pay for.

Cheers for the advice, pipes would be my next project, in a few months when my finances have recovered a bit! I'm thinking Jardine or V&H slip-ons, deep and grumbly but not too loud!

I'm not sure what you mean by they rust very well; do you mean they don't rust easily? In any case yes, apart from the regular cleaning, I'll get her acf50'd for the winter, a localish (sidcup) motorbike tyre place do it, and sell the stuff.

Here's some updated pics; now with saddlebags and new grips.

By saying they rust very well, I mean just that, they are very good at rusting. Leave the dirt on the chrome and it will rust very quickly. The wheels are particulary bad, it's rare to see rustless rims. ACF50 is good stuff, don't pay someone else to aplly it though, do it yourself its not difficult and you'll do a more thorough job and if a bit is misseed its at risk of corrosion so it needs doing well.

Very nice and shiney bike, and like Leatherat says ACF50 is cracking stuff to use as protection on chrome/metal, you may find these two products useful too, Bilt Hamber Autowash, for washing down/ cleaning and Bilt Hamber Auto Balm polish, the auto wash has anti-corrosive properties in it.and the auto balm polish brings up paintwork just like new. I use these when detailing my car.

http://www.elitecarcare.co.uk/index.php?manufacturers_id=33

Leatherat thanks for the clarification, I'll try and keep her clean as much as I can! Re ACF50, I know I can do most of it myself, and plan to, but for the hard-to-reach bits under the bike and inbetween the engine bits it may be worth having it done, once a year. Then I can touch up the more accesible parts more frequently.

NEV thanks for the tip; am a bit wary of polishes tbh, as it doesn't really need them, apart from one or two spots of discoloration and scratches. The scratches may be too deep to solve with a polish.

Nice and very tidy looking bike!!

The luggace support rails look particularly cool.

The luggage support racks are the same as mine except for the piece off the back that wraps around the rear indicator. My beast has the genuine Yamaha saddle bags that screw to the strap. I prefer the look of the bike without the screen and bags, but winter riding here, is a lot easier with the screen in place.

My bike was purchased new from Cross street Sales, Cheshire. The 1st buyer imported the bike to NZ about 2006.

Re; rust, When I removed the rear wheel for a tyre change, I found the front of the swingarm with surface rust due to the road chips etc probably sandblasting the frame as it flies off the tyre. Primed and painted now, but rust is a problem here when under going the 6monthly road warrant checks.

I agree the look of the bike without the saddlebags and screen is leaner and meaner, but I really wouldn't venture on a motorway or A road without a screen. And the bags are very practical. Come winter - paradoxically - I might remove the screen so that the bike cover can reach all the way down to the bottom of the front wheel; No motorway trips then!

The bottom of my left fork looks like it's had quite a few bits of surface rust rubbed off with wire wool or something; or maybe it's just from gravel chipping it. Not sure.

Soooooper looking bike

I thought Leatherats old steed was one of the best draggies ive seen, but it just goes to show that folk can ride their machines AND keep them looking terrific

'ERE....STEADY ON! That rather sounds as if you 're saying my dragstar was a trailered show bike which I can catergorically state it was no such thing! I put a lot of miles on that machine and used up most of the western world's supply of Autoglym products.......so there!

Any links to piccies of said old steed leatherat?

Well..... you did ask!

This is the current fave though!

Very nice! And intersting to see a classic with the front footpegs rather than the boards. Was this for reasons of comfort (I find the pegs more comfortable - you can adjust the angle of your ankle!), or so you didn't scrape along fast bends?

And the new steed is sweeeeet!

I believe, although I stand to be corrected, the foot pegs were fitted as standard on this (1998) bike, I certainly never had boards, although I wouldn't have minded them to be honest. The scraping might have gotten on my nearves though as the pegs were pretty easy to ground, as the chamfeured undersides will testify.

The new bike is less easy to ground, however it's a lot more powerful, a lot louder and as much fun, but in a massively different way.

Technically both girls bikes though :lol:

My 1998 Classic has pegs not boards, same colour as Leatheratts old one, will have to get some pics up soon.

Technically both girls bikes though :lol:

Funny, not seen many girls riding sporsters or draggies round my parts (South London)!

Campaman, it looks like leathy is right and the earlier classic models came with pegs as standard. Look forward to seeing your bike in the gallery!

Right, thought I'd get these up now, as with the new V&H exhausts she is now "complete"!

Smartpartz quiet baffles screwed in place. Still loud, but just right! Not antisocial.

and a final piccie of her gorgeous derriere!

That really does look a fine ride! Don't be lazy on the cleaning regime.........it won't take long for winter to really fuck it up.

Those saddle bags are good too, the way they un zip is a great help for maintainance and for touring. I'm guessing here, but they must have come as an option when the bike was new because mine came with them, although they had been badly neglected and were knackered.