Naish: ‘I’ll be picking Rick’s brain’

Here’s what Naishy’s got to say: “Even though I don’t mind – in fact I quite like – the scruffy look of the bike, it does need quite a bit of work. The shocks look pretty tired, cables could do with replacing and Rick noticed play in the steering head that may require new bearings.

“But surely, those sort of things are just about the same for any bike; the Big One for anyone like me, brought up on Japanese bikes, is the engine. Just how do you make them work? I know they can be made to go very well – it’s a matter of learning how. It’s clearly not as simple as just following what it says in the workshop manual and I hope Rick can impart some of his knowledge to save me going too far wrong. I’m hoping that some kind of ‘mind meld’ could be arranged...”