karen from shameless, mz racer, owns a sporty and a ducati 750ss, got an sr500 flat track project, she's a great tattoo artist and likes to cook vegetarian food, black belt in karate, got a massive collection of rare soul vinyl, season ticket holder at derby, hates forest, she's ok i suppose...

wakan sporty, lick.

so, saturday morning, i'm up at stupid-a-clock for work, i'm feeling a little 'liverish' after the two and a half bottles of shiraz that mr's b and i consumed last night, the dogs look at me like i'm stupid as they turn over and go back to sleep, i'm at work for five to six, dreary, drizzly, kettle on for a brew, get the hgv's onto the yard to give us some space in the workshop, paperwork consumes an hour, seven am, phone rings, this will be one of my lads ringing in, 'sorry mate, won't be in, been on the shitter all night',' sorry mate, been up all night with one of the kids', 'sorry mate won't be in, the missus has left me', blah, blah, blah, 'ey up mate, it's kev, your piece-of-shit-wank-mz-swingarm is back from the powdercoaters, you coming up for it?'

the swingarm was really holding the project up, without it i couldn't fit the engine as the engine mounting plates have to be fitted first before the swingarm goes in, the tolerances are so slack that i had to make a couple of thrust washers up to get the swingarm to fit without any sideways movement, the shocks are now square to the mountings which is a bit of a bonus, at last we are moving forward and it's starting to look like a bike.

after me and dangerous picked up my swingarm and engine mounting brackets we decided to call in and catch up with neil at cornerspeed in sutton-in-ashfield, this is a 749 that he has prepared for a couple of lads who are running in the hotrax endurance race series, they are trying to do it on a real tight budget, [i know how that feels], they are so strapped for cash that they are running part worn road tyres instead of slicks as they can't afford a spare set of wheels for a set of slicks and wets, i asked neil about their sponsor, 'no mate, read it again, last one racing......'

swingarm still not back from powdercoater's so trying to bash on with the build, dropped a right bollock, roughed out rear brake mounting bracket then realised that it won't fit, need to dog-leg it to fit, two nights work wasted, i'm chilled though now, i was starting to get pissed off with all the delays and problems with the build but, i've been this way before, no rush, it's got to be right, get back to reality, can't afford to go racing so might as well make a proper job.

night matches, mid-week, can't have a beer like a saturday, the whole build up to the match, saturday, walk the dogs, big breakfast, shower and shave, iron your gear, got to look sharp, bus into derby at twenty to one, into the leaper for a couple, walk down to the vic and meet the lads, the crack is flowing, piss-taking, have a chat with the oppositions fan's, [it's straight across the from the train station so is the first port of call for away fan's], walk to pride park, buzzing, night matches are just a rush, started work at six, rushed home, rushed to take the dog's, rushed to get a shower, rushed to drive to five lamps, rushed to walk to the ground, we play 'boro tonight, they must have come in a taxi, 200 away fan's at the most, they go one-nil up, we pull two goals back to go ahead, 91 minutes in, everyone whistling when our left back jay mcevely wrestles one of their players to the ground, free kick to them, lovely ball in, leroy lita to head in for a point for them, bastard, we needed the three points, walking back to the car we get the news that the filth have been beaten by the mighty barnsley, suddenly the point doesn't seem too bad....

and a bag of chips on the way home, only one mind, loads of salt, you have to share them otherwise they don't taste the same.

front wheel spacers sorted, wheel now in centre of forklegs and running true, shame the same can't be said of the disc, i held bike up while dangerous span the wheel, i'm standing on the bench straddling the frame and looking down on the wheel run, the disc is out, maybe a little powdercoating behind one of the five mounting points on the wheel pcd or perhaps the disc is warped, have to drop wheel out, take the disc off and dress mounting points first, re-mount disc and try again, the disc mounts directly to the wheel, it's not a floater so no room for anything less than perfection otherwise it's not going to work properly.

right, after yesterday's failed attempt at a ride due to the dog's emotional blackmail i'm up early, breakfast, shower, walk dog's, [had a 'when jack russells go bad moment', 'watch your dog mate, the black and white one's ok but the white ones a nutter', my dog gus is on short lead, harness, his dog, a springer is on full lead, yapping and barking at gus, 'mate, watch him, he's a nasty bastard', he doesn't reel his dog in, i'm trying to pick gus up when the springer decides it's going to jump at him, big mistake, gus grip's him, starts to shake, typical terrier working dog, he's clamped on, no way is he letting go, claret, the blokes dog gets hurt because he can't contol his own dog, twat, get home, riding gear on and start the sporty, there's a pile of salt and crap down the middle of the road, you can taste the salt on your lips as the cars kick it up, check out my rear tyre, it's cold,but it really doesn't matter, springs here.