Ok, I managed to secure some garage space at my Dad's and a willing helper/guide to assist in stripping down my bike, looking for a niggly electrical problem, replace the exhaust and header pipes, put new brake lines on, replace air filter, oil and filter change and general tidy up ready for the summer.

I put actions in place weeks ago to get all the parts delivered to the correct address and this is my story.

I ordered the exhaust and paid, but the online store doesn't actually stock it. They order it from Italy, so it will be here at some stage in the future. Bad start.

The header pipes, hand made in Germany were a bugger to purchase with bank transfers (no non german credit cards accepted) but with true german efficiency they arrived a blink after the money was deposited. One up the Germans.

The Oil filter and spark plugs I ordered from Ginger parts (online), both normal parts nothing super fancy, took more than 2 weeks to arrive so are now being returned to sender.

The K&N airfilter (Bike bitz) is not available in the UK "apparently" and so that could not be fitted either.

The Venhill brake lines, part ordered specifically for a 2001 TA, came and the rear line was 40cm too long and the front lines were about 20cm too short.

The upshot was the small bike shop around the corner (I never knew was there) managed to get all the parts I needed for a service much quicker and cheaper and actually knew what they were a: talking about, and b: giving me would fit. Not only did they get the new rear disk "pronto" they managed to source a rear caliper pin at the drop of a hat too.

Overall, Venhill was a major let down especially considering the money I was spending and Ginger Parts just couldn't get their act together. A transalp oil filter is the same as that used on most Hondas, a lot of Kawasakis, yamahas, the list goes on, it doesn't take 2 weeks to source.

In short, my expereince has shown it would be quicker and more efficient to ride to Germany to get a service, or to use MotorCycles Direct in King's Lynn (thanks guys).