Where does the time go?

I managed to get a bit of momentum going on the ZXR early this summer, but as usual this situation regressed to the norm and I have hardly taken the cover of this last few months.

One reason is that I haven't been able to get the bike running without the choke on. I had a few small attempts at trying to get the engine running nicely, but to no avail. So I though "Sod the neighbours" and kept the thing going until the temperature gauge reached running temperature, but it still wouldn't run without the choke. This might be down to the fact that I disconected the choke to clean the cable and maybe I just need to readjust it. I just haven't got round to it, partly because it is a bit of hassle getting to it (...remove seat, side panels, tank, airbox...). In itself the engine not running smoothly is not a problem though, it goes and that is the important thing... it just needs some tinkering.

The other problem that I have been pondering and the one that is really holding me up is, as I think I have already mentioned, the forks, which are really quite badly pitted.

I either have to find some second hand stanchions or get the old ones re-coated. Either way I will have to remove them from the fork legs, a task I would rather not face. The solution, I have decided, is to remove the forks from the bike and take them to my local mechanics to separate. Then either find some second hand ones or send the originals off for re-chroming. This raises the problem of how I keep the front of the bike up without forks? - Blocks of wood under the engine/downpipes? Which means I then have to remove the side panels... and I have to spend some time finding out what is the cheapest option...

Really it isn't much to do, but I haven't had the time recently and now summer is pretty much over, evenings are too dark and weekends at the mercy of the weather and family obligations.

There is a very real prospect now of nothing more being done until next spring. Still I might yet surprise myself and pull my finger out...