Nice surprises don't come that often

Ive been tinkering long enough to know that with all old bikes - "prepare for the worst" is the only way to prepare for everything. This especially applies with engines you buy blind from the otherside of the internet "Because you have a good feeling" and "it ends on my birthday - its fate!"

to my astonishment these 2 sentiments are true of the VL motor. I dropped in on Baz while down with work yesterday and we whipped the heads of the motor. It came with a new set of +20 pistons and rings, but you can imagine my amazement when the tops came off, the rods were nicely wrapped in bubble wrap so as not to do damage to the great looking and freshly honed barrels. Not only that, but the valves looked good and freshly seated (and even had the markings of a fresh rebuild with which valve was which on top!

Not only was the motor a nice surprise, but the gearbox (which did not come with the motor) was able to shift nicely between gears, and all looked to be working fine! 

both the motor and the gearbox are going to have a good going through, but I left with a feeling I hadn't experienced before - optimism!