Well, I have been getting some R6k fairings made in Hong Kong.
I also sent my tank to get repaired and painted at the same time. I have been dealing with Branda Wu who exists on eBay as Parts4Bike. At the time. Parts4Bike had an eBay feedback of 728 with 100% positive feedback. I note that this has recently changed to 776 with 99.6% +ve fb.
I recently got an email from Branda with a picture of my newly painted tank and ABS plastic fairings.
There are a few faults with the paint job:
1) There is no text below the red "PGM" on the front fairing.
The text should read
IGNITION SYSTEM
RC VALVE
CARBURETOR
2) The shape of the text/font is not quite correct for the RC VALVE text in the side fairings.
3) On the left hand side fairing, the "T" in TERRA is not located properly and is truncated too early by the edge of the fairing. I cannot see the other (right hand ) side fairing to see how the TERRA lettering is located.
4) The sequence of six flags through the centre of the Terra racing emblem has been done wrong. Basically, you can see that the decal containing 4.5 flags was put on the wrong way around. D'oh!
I emailed Branda to see what he could do about this and he is going to correct the sequence of 6 flags, but leave the other 3 problems as they are. I am actually reasonably happy with this. From the photo, it looks like a very professional job. I hope to have the fairings in about 2 weeks time, so I will post again then with high quality pictures. A real bonus was getting the tank repaired and painted for no extra cost. Well an extra NZ$90 to send it and US$80 for freighting it back actually.
Also I am getting a new clear windscreen blade from Branda for US$20.
Branda is a bit of an NSR fan too. See below for a picture of his MC28 SE.
Fairings cost US$475 (US$250 + US$225 freight)
So total cost for me was US$([475 + 80] + 20) + NZ$90 = US$575 + NZ$90
Total NZ$936 delivered with tank repaired and painted.
The engine that I bought via Ok!Shon has been an ongoing battle for the last month. K-Line logistics in Osaka insisted on treating the engine as "dangerous goods". They quoted me an airfreight price of NZ$1700 and a sea freight price of NZ$1100. This is just ridiculous!!
I am trying to pursue a guy who ships cars from Nagoya (approx 200km from Osaka) and get the engine shipped through him as he will almost certainly be a lot cheaper. I am not going to discuss the exact method of transit here. I just need an address in Nagoya to ship the engine to. Unfortunately my man in Nagoya has been sick all last week and I have not yet been able to get an address. Murphy's Law is really going hard on this whole engine issue it would seem :-)
I have recently heard back from the Hong Kong Police and have the name and number of an officer who is going to look after my case with OkShon, for being so non-responsive in getting my engine shipped that it basically amounts to criminal theft. However, ever since the mention of Police action, Ok!Shon have been positively pro-active about getting the engine shipped and are currently waiting on me (makes a nice change) to get information to them.
I hope to get the engine shipped to my man in Nagoya this coming week, although time will tell. I don't even want to think about what other brick walls "Murphy" is going to put up in the coming week.
Below: Old tank for repair and paint. Also, Branda's MC28.
For anyone interested, here are Branda's contact details:
Email: wu.branda@gmail.com
Paypal email address brandacat@yahoo.com
