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Result! My tank passed the pressure test, so I am GBP600 better off than shelling out for a new one. Also I get to choose another colour for the bike, since the only coloured bits are the fender and the tank, so I am plumping for dragon red. I’ll probably replace the scuffed fender with an aftermarket carbon jobby to match my hugger, and maybe a carbon belly-pan from the money I just saved. Ordered the various levers I need from Three Cross, so hopefully she’ll be back on the road this side of Christmas. Unfortunately, that’s my Christmas holiday money blown, so I get to have another cold wet yuletide in blighty. The moral of the story is not to buy a rare expensive Italian designer bike if you wanna throw it down the road from time to time.

Holy Crap! Three Cross (Cagiva importer for the UK) wanted £740 for a new petrol tank, plus other bits would have landed me bill for £1000 or so :-( Needless to say, I spent a while trying to find someone who could patch up my tank. No easy task since it is made entirely of plastic. Anyway, I eventually found a specialist in Kingswinford, near Dudley, mho took a look at it and think they might be able to fix it. Now I have an agonising 2 day wait before they can tell me if they can seal it well enough to pass a pressure test…

Lost traction on a right hand bend at 40MPH tonight, and forgot about the kerb while I was trying not to ground the bike by getting it upright. I managed to get most of the speed off before the front wheel hit the kerb, but the back wheel was already off the ground so it flipped right over. I jumped off to avoid the bike landing on me, bashed my lid, scuffed my leathers and picked up a few bruises. The raptor fared less well though: broke the footpeg off, twisted the clutch and gear levers, scuffed the front fender and split the petrol tank. I’ll be needing to call the importers tomorrow and find out how much it will cost to repair. And to really put the icing on the cake, all the buttons burst off my fly as I skidded along the ground, so when I stood up to survey the damage… my trousers fell down. :-| At least all my limbs are still attached.