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Work is underway on the Rising Star and here's what I can report.

First of all, uncle Fester was curious about one thing and so we put the bike on a couple of weighing scales. With a full tank of gas and the oil tank topped up, the Rising Star comes in at a svelte 165Kg (or 363lbs for you non-metric reprobates), which is approximately 30Kg/66lbs lighter than a stock A50.

He's concerned about the oil tank being rather heavy, so the new arrangement will include rubber mountings and a new bracket to support the oil tank from underneath, including a new threaded bung that's welded to the underside of the oil tank. You can see it being fabricated here:

This means the tank will be supported at three points, and rubber mounted to absorb vibration. I will share more details on the specifics of the new system once it's completed, but for now I can tell you that finding the correct rubber mountings was itself a bit of a quest, which resulted in Fester now having a wide range of items in various sizes and ratings: contact him if you need some!

One thing I had not noticed, is that there seems to be a leak from rear of the gas tank. This is bad news as the repair involves welding, which is never to be approached lightly on a gas tank. We dunked it into a large container full of water and blew compressed air into one of the open taps: a tell-tale stream of tiny bubbles suddenly appeared from the rearmost corner of the tank, where the retaining bracket is welded. This is not an easy repair as there is limited room for manoeuvre and the sheet metal itself is quite thin. More on that soon.

The front brake shoes looked glazed/hardened all over, some coarse sandpaper seems to have revived them and luckily the hub is fine. Again, more on this once it's back on the road.