Done for now. Turned up a black nylon disc to fill the original mounting hole for the front mudguard and drilled a new hole to line up with the centre of the upper caliper bolt which I had drilled and tapped a 5mm hole in the end off. I then just fitted a flanged screw to hold the mudguard in place. Works a treat and I think it looks acceptable.
Used one of the redundant ABS sensor ring mounting holes to take the magnet for the Acewell speedo pick up so that's up and running.
Ideally I wanted to extend the side stand as it was too short before I fitted the new front wheel and is even more so now. Unfortunately to extend it the required amount meant it would foul the centre stand, so I need to do that first. I'll resort to the faithful lump of wood for the time being.
This morning I was greeted with mild weather and dry roads so went out for a bit of a ride. Delighted with how things have turned out. I was expecting to have to wrestle the bike round corners and have to put up with slower turn in. I experienced none of that, turn in was wonderfully light....its as if the bike is suddenly a 100 lbs llghter. I've gotten all my bumpy mid corner stability back that I lost when I raised the rear end with the shorter GS torque arm....I never did like the steeper steering head angle it produced even though many people do. Wether this lightness of foot is a result of the narrower tyres front and rear I'm not sure, but I very much like the result. The Metzler Tourances felt great on the dry roads even though they were brand new. Towards the end of the ride I was more than confident to start attacking roundabouts and corners with real enthusiasm. Be interesting to see how they cope in the wet and what sort of life I get from them.
So, overall my first impressions of the wheel change is a very positive one. Roll on tomorrow for another ride, this time with Mrs.tree with me.
